2014 Frugal Living Challenge

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Icontunetodream...... be careful when collecting wood, we have a public footpath running through/beside our land.. and people think they can just help themselves to to the wood etc... ALL land is owned.. whether private/council or forestry ..I strongly advise against foraging for wood that way..


Its not very nice when you got to tell people to F off and stop pinching/stealing your wood/trees let alone the trespassing..

debtfree2014

[Deleted User] wrote:

Welcome:wave:, this thread will definitely help focus on what you are spending and encourage you to reduce it. The debt free wannabe board is fantastic for support too, specifically for getting out of debt. Good luck.

Hiya Allie, this is the place to be, I also have weight to lose too. Maybe think about starting a diary, you can post there daily in your own thread, then we can subscribe and chat with you. Let me know if you start a diary and ill pop in

icontinuetodream

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

Icontunetodream...... be careful when collecting wood, we have a public footpath running through/beside our land.. and people think they can just help themselves to to the wood etc... ALL land is owned.. whether private/council or forestry ..I strongly advise against foraging for wood that way..

Thanks ctc.....fortunately, I know the landowner where I walk the puppy very well, he has been telling me for years that I can take home whatever wood has fallen but I have never taken him up on the offer due to lack of storage!! Hence the need for a wood store

COOLTRIKERCHICK

icontinuetodream wrote: »

Thanks ctc.....fortunately, I know the landowner where I walk the puppy very well, he has been telling me for years that I can take home whatever wood has fallen but I have never taken him up on the offer due to lack of storage!! Hence the need for a wood store

Brilliant.... that is the way to do it.... I was saying that in my post, to also make people aware, you just cant go around picking up/cutting down wood etc ...


We had a HUGE pine tree cut down in the garden last year.. and cut into manageable chunks, so we could then cut it up further, and some people were going off the footpath into our garden to get it.... plus when we have been thinning out, or cutting trees down etc, some people were even trying to take them while we were doing it...... you can imagine my reaction to that!!!!!!!

Goldiegirl

ForMyGirls wrote: »

I have worked out just how big the black hole of debt is and have put together a budget that will enable me to claw my way back to the light. But the bit I don't have yet is a community of people who are in the same space to check in with, be accountable to and be motivated by! I am hoping MSE can be that

I am not sure if this thread is the right spot for that kind of support - if any of you know a different thread that might be the right space I would love it if you could point me in the right direction.

I think you are in exactly the right place. I think the community element will be one of the most important things for me. We have various reasons for being on this challenge, but we all want to reduce our living costs.


I posted on the de-cluttering thread this year, and I found it was a great way to keep focussed on what I wanted to achieve in that area,


It worked so well, that I wanted to find a place to help me with my retirement plans. It wasn't appropriate for me to have a debt free or mortgage free diary, as I no longer have a mortgage or any debts. I did consider doing a diary on the pensions board, but that is quite a serious high finance sort of place. The figures thrown around on that board are way out of my league !


So I found this thread, and I really do feel that we'll be able to help each other along, to try and achieve our goals.


I have to admit, money has been spent today. One of my aims is, wherever possible, to spend money during sales and offers. ( if it needs to be spent in the first place!)


So I did go out to the sales at the local shopping centre. We were looking for clothes for our new retirement life, and for a cold weather holiday next Christmas....and came away with some scarves, thick socks, a jumper each and my husband got a nice thick shirt. Oh, and we got some Christmas cards for next year too !


We were well pleased with our haul.


I'm also intending to order my bread maker this afternoon, which will be an essential for my money saving efforts.

pm2326

Hi guys I wanna join in!

I've been looking at my spending this year and lack of savings and it's annoying the hell out of me!

I have debts and am able to make the payments without problems, the majority of them will be cleared by the end of 2015, however I have nothing to show for the 'spare' money I should have each month.

So I've done a budget and I'm allowing myself £9000 next year, this includes all debt repayments except the mortgage.

I don't have a pantry but I do have a spare room where I store stuff. I must have been, on some level, thinking about this as I already have a years supply of loo roll, tea bags, washing powder and fabric softener up there. I also went back to shopping at Aldi this month, which I've not done for at least 2 years.

I currently have a well stocked freezer, enough cat food to last until end of January and the kitchen cupboards are fit to burst.

I had a tidy up this morning and moved all the bulk buys upstairs into the 'pantry' as I have a huge floor to ceiling dvd stand that is ideal for storing tins and packets on (was standing gathering dust).

As a result I've found a few out of date bits and pieces that need to be used up. So this morning I've dug out the slow cooker and I'm making soup using some whoopsied chicken thighs, out of date dried casserole veg mix, out of date stock cubes, dried herbs etc. I should get at least 5 portions so that's next weeks work lunches sorted already!!

Now that I've thought about it and looked at the amount of food in this house and considering I'm 5 stone overweight I have a slight suspicion I know exactly what my money is being spent on :rotfl:

Shortie

ForMyGirls wrote: »

Hello,

I am brand new to MSE. About a week ago I had what i called my "rock bottom" (which it seems is called a lightbulb moment in this space) and have committed to changing my relationship with money.

I have worked out just how big the black hole of debt is and have put together a budget that will enable me to claw my way back to the light. But the bit I don't have yet is a community of people who are in the same space to check in with, be accountable to and be motivated by! I am hoping MSE can be that

I am not sure if this thread is the right spot for that kind of support - if any of you know a different thread that might be the right space I would love it if you could point me in the right direction.

Also - I have used a CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) program quite successfully for changing my relationship with food so am on the lookout for any CBT programs for changing spending habits. Does anyone know of one?

I'm new to this thread too ForMyGirls but that's exactly what I'm herr for too - like minded people and support xx

icontinuetodream

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

Brilliant.... that is the way to do it.... I was saying that in my post, to also make people aware, you just cant go around picking up/cutting down wood etc ...


We had a HUGE pine tree cut down in the garden last year.. and cut into manageable chunks, so we could then cut it up further, and some people were going off the footpath into our garden to get it.... plus when we have been thinning out, or cutting trees down etc, some people were even trying to take them while we were doing it...... you can imagine my reaction to that!!!!!!!

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: OMG!!! Can't believe the cheek of some people!!!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

icontinuetodream wrote: »

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: OMG!!! Can't believe the cheek of some people!!!

yep, as you can imagine the colour of my language was a very loud shade of the finest blue you could hear...

quidsy

Wow. Birthday budget has been set. 10 family = £380 5 friends kids = £50 12 ds school pals = £120. GRAND TOTAL £550

Of the 17 kids we only buy gifts if they have a party, approx 7 wont, so should save there but wanted to budget in case they all needed gifts.

Have just ordered 4 things off of toys r us website plus 20 moshi blind bags for party bags on ds bday in May, total of £32 will get some more bits in other online sales this week. The family bdays I will have to be creative but am determined not to spend all that.