2014 Frugal Living Challenge

COOLTRIKERCHICK

I used to have a milkman, and even though he was more expensive, in the long run it was cheaper, as I didn't have to go to the supermarket to buy milk, and come out after spending £20 lol


I can see you point about the extra freezer...but I am also thinking if one freezer decides to pack up, I would potentially have a chest freezer full of meat, so I was thinking it would be a back up freezer too.


BUT knowing me... if I carried on shopping at the supermarkets it would be full of Yellow stickered meat lol.. ( I personally don't its worth putting bulk buy reduced bread in the freezer, as you can get it regularly reduced... but meat is a diff matter..


I think will try online shopping form next week, and do a weekly one... and see how it goes, and if I got the urge to go bargain hunting reduced stuff, then maybe a trip now and again would help lol...


I also find sometimes shopping round you end up spending more money... with fuel costs even though you might be doing everything in on hit so to speak...


I do bulk buy my cat food in morrisons as its only £2 for a pack of 6 large tins...


maybe it will take a few weeks for me to ajust, and get right back into the zone...


wish it was back in the day when supermarkets used to except any money off voucher as long as they stocked the products... my shopping was pennies then lol

quidsy

Eat down what you have, see how far you can go without buying anything other than the odd veg, milk & eggs. I did this one month with only 1 freezer & store cupboard, it was fun to see how creative my meals could be but also eye opening that I was spending less than 10 a week on the basics. it also got rid of the food that had to be eaten as even frozen food should be consumed within a reasonable time frame.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

quidsy wrote: »

Eat down what you have, see how far you can go without buying anything other than the odd veg, milk & eggs. I did this one month with only 1 freezer & store cupboard, it was fun to see how creative my meals could be but also eye opening that I was spending less than 10 a week on the basics. it also got rid of the food that had to be eaten as even frozen food should be consumed within a reasonable time frame.

this is what we are trying to do..so I do think a weekly online shop is the best thing for us at the mo...


I must admit we do have a fair bit of food in the house....so this is why I thought £35 a week food budget would be more than enough... but obviously not with my weakness when I am shopping in the supermarkets.. its just those extra 5 or 6 items that is doing it lol

Frugalsod

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

I used to have a milkman, and even though he was more expensive, in the long run it was cheaper, as I didn't have to go to the supermarket to buy milk, and come out after spending £20 lol

I found that as well. You might have paid more per pint but it was fresher as you would get it every few days, and could always get other items if you managed your account online.

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

I can see you point about the extra freezer...but I am also thinking if one freezer decides to pack up, I would potentially have a chest freezer full of meat, so I was thinking it would be a back up freezer too.

If your freezer is older then it would make sense. Though if you are insured the freezer contents might be included. Though I would not know what they do about multiple freezers. Also if you have a power cut you lose three freezers worth.

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

BUT knowing me... if I carried on shopping at the supermarkets it would be full of Yellow stickered meat lol.. ( I personally don't its worth putting bulk buy reduced bread in the freezer, as you can get it regularly reduced... but meat is a diff matter..

Agreed. Though mine is filling with YS items as well.

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

I think will try online shopping form next week, and do a weekly one... and see how it goes, and if I got the urge to go bargain hunting reduced stuff, then maybe a trip now and again would help lol...

Well if you do it weekly then you might save more if they have a delivery deal. The problem with that is that it ties you to that one store so could miss out on deals elsewhere. Though the £3 delivery charge can be saved in the reduced wear on your own vehicle plus petrol. Though I found that if you do it online and more infrequently you can pick only deals that will last until the next shop. It works well if you get meat and veg from local stores. In fact the £3 delivery charge is so infrequent I do not mind it. I try and spread the cost over as many items as possible so that the delivery charge makes up a very small fraction of it. If you do a shop more regularly then £3 on top of a £40 shop weekly is a higher percentage than £3 on a £150 quarterly shop. Plus you have a lot more of them.

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

I also find sometimes shopping round you end up spending more money... with fuel costs even though you might be doing everything in on hit so to speak...

That is why you should use MSM and then pick the best supermarket for you.

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

I do bulk buy my cat food in morrisons as its only £2 for a pack of 6 large tins...

Well if you did a really big order of 6 months worth then you can pay only £3 for the delivery and really save the wear and tear on you car from not carrying that load. The only problem is where to store it all?

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

maybe it will take a few weeks for me to ajust, and get right back into the zone...


wish it was back in the day when supermarkets used to except any money off voucher as long as they stocked the products... my shopping was pennies then lol

It can take a while to find a system that works for you, I am still tweaking mine. As supermarkets keep changing how they operate you have to continually adapt to the new circumstances.

Goldiegirl

DawnW wrote: »

Starting to get cold feet a bit as i only have a few weeks left at work. I can't wait not to have to go to work every day, especially as it is really being piled on at the moment, but the thought of going from what I consider to be a very reasonable salary to a small pension is a bit scary :eek:

Certainly can identify with the cold feet thing.


We are in the process of arranging a long cruise in Feb 2016. So by making that booking, we'll be committing to stopping work by then (although planning to do it sooner). By making these arrangements, it's making it seem real, and as you say, a bit scary having a big drop in income.


But so far this year we are living quite happily on a day to day basis on the income we get from our pensions, so I know it's do-able.


Also, I've never yet met anyone who says they regret retiring early!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Frugalsod.. our milkman was an independent one.. and stopped even before the 2 big supermarkets came to the area... I don't think Milk and more deliver here, not the last time I checked anyway... same with Morrisons they don't do home deliveries here yet, but I ont think it will be long..


I have started using msm, to compare my shopping, Mr t came out cheapest BUT as Arsda are now offering £1 delivery, then it could work out over all cheaper, I think min shop is £25 with Arsda.. so for a £1 someone to pick, pack and deliver my shopping ...


We would have 2 freezers at the house, and one in work..


The more I think about it, for me I think online is the way to go, also the online shopping is done at the big supermarket, so carries a lot more value ranges than the one across the road

Frugalsod

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

Frugalsod.. our milkman was an independent one.. and stopped even before the 2 big supermarkets came to the area... I don't think Milk and more deliver here, not the last time I checked anyway... same with Morrisons they don't do home deliveries here yet, but I ont think it will be long..


I have started using msm, to compare my shopping, Mr t came out cheapest BUT as Arsda are now offering £1 delivery, then it could work out over all cheaper, I think min shop is £25 with Arsda.. so for a £1 someone to pick, pack and deliver my shopping ...


We would have 2 freezers at the house, and one in work..


The more I think about it, for me I think online is the way to go, also the online shopping is done at the big supermarket, so carries a lot more value ranges than the one across the road

I would use it for the value stuff. In my case it is usually 20 cans of chopped tomatoes or 20 jars of vinegar for cleaning and so weigh a lot, by getting them delivered it saves my back carrying it all as well.

abby1234519

I've given up on Frugal March. April is time to start afresh however I will be done £100 as in according to YNAB I will be £100 short of paying the bills etc. I've upped our food budget from £100 to £200 a month as I can't manage the £100 at the moment EVEN THOUGH I could probably live of the £100 as we have so much food. But I'm giving myself the breathing room. I need to work out how I will tackle April. Am I going to try to shop daily/weekly or what. I think the problem is I try Monthly and Weekly at the same time!

We've run out of grated cheese so I either go to Costco or I make do without. Problem is it works out quite cheap to go and get their big big big bags of grated cheese, I think its cheaper than block cheese at Asda. I also am nearly out of Maple syrup. I looked at Mysupermarket and costco is £11 for a litre which is a lot cheaper than maple syrup from a supermarket. I don't want the one thats got carob syrup in I like mine pure. It lasts for ages though, think the litre is something like a year old, maybe a bit younger. But we have it in porridge, I use it in baking. Its mainly for my porridge.

I try to meal plan and always stray or it goes wrong. I've just made a huge mince base from two smallish minces from the co op. Bloody rip off evne with my 10% discount but didn't have time to go to asda. So mince for the rest of the week! I've made a lasagne with my zero calorie lasagne noodles, I hope they are okay :S

DawnW

Goldiegirl wrote: »

Certainly can identify with the cold feet thing.

We are in the process of arranging a long cruise in Feb 2016. So by making that booking, we'll be committing to stopping work by then (although planning to do it sooner). By making these arrangements, it's making it seem real, and as you say, a bit scary having a big drop in income.

But so far this year we are living quite happily on a day to day basis on the income we get from our pensions, so I know it's do-able.

Also, I've never yet met anyone who says they regret retiring early!

Thanks GG - you are right of course. No plans for cruises here etc though, we won't be able to afford it, and I don't think I would like it tbh

They seem to be in denial at work, as things keep being piled on, which will outlive the time I will be there :rotfl:

I worked out, after the 31 March (next Monday) I will only have 15 days left, due to taking some booked holiday around Easter :eek:

Anyway, payday on Friday, my next-to-last one :eek:
Some frugal things for today:

Used up some hot crossed buns, toasted for breakfast
Leftovers to work for lunch
Stuffed jacket potatoes and baked beans for supper, and there is a couple of pieced of stuffed jacket each for lunch tomorrow, so no need to make sandwiches in the morning :T
Scavenged a paper left on the train this morning to read on the train home
Collected a great big brown egg from the chicken house when I got back
Kettles are singing away on the woodburner ready for a cup of coffee and the bits of washing up that can't go in the dishwasher

skintygerlinky

Loving the poems Frugalites! xxxxx