2014 Frugal Living Challenge

mrsinvisible

good morning, ended march with some credit and an NSD again yesterday, but needed stuff today, so not a good start. However, lunch and tea are all catered for from yesterdays LO soup and chilli.
More seeds have germinated, peppers chillis peas and courgettes, happy mrs i.

cw18

Spreadsheet up-to-date to end March, so time for my monthly declaration



a bit more jiggery-pokery done on budgets (and previous spends) as follows
Mobile phone : I've 'upgraded' my contract by changing to a cheaper package with a new handset. I've got twice the minutes for calls (it got doubled on this handset 2 days before I went in for it , so I have 500/month to cover the 26 minutes a month I've averaged ), the same texts (5000/month, and I use around 600) and half the data I used to have (now on 500Mb instead of 2Gb, but over the previous 23 months I've averaged 29Mb a month so it's more than enough ). This saves me £7.50 a month starting from my April bill :T
Windows : I wasn't sure if I'd paid for 5 or 6 visits in January, so I logged it as 6. But it was only 5, so my January spend has been decreased. I then paid for 7 when he came last week, so it shows as an overspend because I'm already paid up to the end of June.
Anything Else : increased in line with the reduction on my mobile phone line. Really pleased with March's spend, which was 2 reduced to clear CDs, and I almost certainly wouldn't have got them had I now been trying to get to a £40 spend in order to be able to use a £6 off voucher April won't be as good though, as I need to get a few bits and pieces for the holiday home we have use of (belongs to a family, and we do small repairs / updates in return for access to the property). I also have 3 second hand double CD's in my Amaz0n 'save for later' basket which I've been waiting for the price to come down on (2 now within the price range I'll pay for them, and third looks close to getting there).

As they were are
Council Tax : new bill arrived with no increase on last year. means I'll be over £40 in credit at year end
Water : even though I've just spotted that after they read my meter at the end of Feb they reduced my payments. I've just submitted another reading, and once the bill's been generated I'll be in touch with them to get it put back to £20. I wish their system let them flag the account NOT to drop the payments automatically, as I have to contact them after every bill gets generated and my credit isn't really growing by much (certainly not the £2.50/month they try to drop payments by)
Gas/Electricity : just submitted readings, so will see what they do to payments once the bill's been generated. At a glance it appears that in the past 3 months I've used as much as in the previous 4 months - so hopefully I won't have to negotiate with them (had to get them to reinstate higher payments twice last year).
C/H Cover : not due renewal just yet
Bldg/Contents insurance : won't get renewal until November
Phone & Broadband : unchanged since last month, but have since discovered that if I pay within 24 hours of the bill being generated (and my receiving an email) instead of waiting for D/Debit to go out I get a 15% discount. Means I should end the year comfortably in credit on this one if I keep doing that Currently showing as an overspend because I've paid 2 bills in March (the ones that would have gone as D/Debits in March and April).
Gym : having a think about this one but haven't made any changes yet. I use in fits and starts so was debating cancelling, but I know that if I do I'll regret it (the local swimming pool isn't cheap, and doesn't run many sessions where you're guaranteed to be able to swim unhindered lengths). Further confusion over what to do as I've just had an email to let me know that if I commit to a new 12 month contract I can save £5/month (which means £60 saving over a year, which is the equivalent of 6.5 weeks free).
Presents : budget unchanged, but a significantly higher spend in March. I got Easter chocolate for 8 people (had already got for the other 2 in Feb), a charm bracelet for GD4's christening in May, a couple of Dr Wh0 jigsaws for my Dad's birthday in December (from a discount store, so get when you see), Mother's Day card and pressie for my Mum, and a couple of bits for OH for either his birthday (Nov) or (more likely) Christmas as 'stocking fillers'. Easter spends have come in well under budget (£7.04 from a £28 budget), but the 'spare' has covered the bracelet (£15.34) as I'd forgotten to budget for a christening present
Car Insurance : unchanged since last month. Spend was to add DS1 to my policy.
Breakdown Cover : unchanged, and already paid for the year
Road Tax : unchanged, and already paid for the year
Mot : unchanged as not due until July
Service : unchanged as not due until July, but may shortly have to find some money for some repairs (which will have to come out of my anything else! hoping one of DS1's friends can do at least one of the on the cheap as he's a trained mechanic)
Petrol : unchanged, but hoping to come in well under budget even with the car covering more mileage now DS1's on the policy. Haven't used anywhere near my allocation in the first quarter, and now have a Clubc@rd on DD's account so I can use her petrol savings (she spends much more in Tesc0 than I do, and neither she nor her fella have a car).
from DJ : unchanged. This is DS1's contribution towards CT (as his being here means I don't get 25% single person disount), utility bills and groceries.
from DJ for car : unchanged : this is his contribution towards insurance (the extra it costs to have him on the policy) and a mileage charge (petrol plus something towards repairs). Still need to give him a bill for March, as he owes for 152.3 miles (agreed I'll bill him after he gets paid on last working day of the month, but I barely saw him yesterday so he'll get the bill today).
Wu@ki : (streaming service) unchanged. fixed price as long as I don't miss a payment or cancel.
Contact Lenses : unchanged, but I'm about to contact them to ask for a payment holiday as I've got far more in the house than I'm going to use before my next review in June (they'll only exchange one delivery which is 60 pairs, and I've got 150 in unopened boxes plus another 23 pairs). So I should hopefully be able to reduce this by £60 before the end of the month
Camino : unchanged
Groceries : unchanged
Toiletries/cleaning : unchanged

alja

Hello! I haven't posted in here for about a month and a half, so I do hope it's okay for me to pop back in and say hello?!

It's been a crazy few weeks, with pretty much everything that could happen...happening!!

I was supposed to start my new job yesterday, but unfortunately I've been ill. Starting to feel a bit better though, so I'm hoping to be in tomorrow. Not sure how the new job will go, but all I can do is try. I'd be getting more pay, so it's worth a shot...

I've just gone through my spreadsheet for err, the "C" word. It's a long way off, but this year I am more determined than ever to curb my spending on it. So I've started putting plans into place.

I've still been saving a lot of money, but could do with tightening things up again now as I'm almost hitting a very big savings target. Hope to keep up with things again now that I'm back

sparrer

Took the bull by the horns and turned the heating off yesterday. Freezing this morning so gave in again . I cut back on everything I possibly can but daren't get cold due to COPD, I dread chest infections so it's a bill I never begrudge. Much as I dislike governments and their lies I have to be grateful for the winter heating allowance.

The potato tubs have had their second covering so if nothing else I'll be able to have boiled/mashed/roast/chipped/etc in the coming months . So pleased they're such an easy crop to grow.

Two nsd/npd's in a row as planned. 11 for March, aiming to make at least 16 in April. I never think to include DD's, what do others do?

cw18

If I have a D/debit go out of the bank (or the one regular payment charged to my credit card) then I count it as a spend day.

If I spend in the shops (either cash or card) it's a spend day UNLESS the only things I buy are fresh fruit/veg/milk. I used to try and stock up on those on spend days, but ended up throwing loads away which isn't a good move when trying to cut back on spends !! If I only spend on those fresh items then it's an NSD for me (managed 25 last month, of which I didn't spend anything at all on 19).

I've also recently decided that petrol won't count as a spend, but that's because I've put DS1 onto my insurance which means I can't estimate mileage between spend days anywhere near as accurately. Haven't used that caveat yet as the only fill-up was on a D/Debit day, and I'm hoping to hold off until Friday which is another spend day (regular payment from credit card).

I don't count paying a credit card bill as a spend either, because I've already counted the days I used the card(s).

Goldiegirl

Florenceem wrote: »

What steam mop did you get?

It was the Morphy Richards 9 in 1. It was about £52.00 on Amazon, which is the cheapest that I've seen it

Goldiegirl

sparrer wrote: »

Two nsd/npd's in a row as planned. 11 for March, aiming to make at least 16 in April. I never think to include DD's, what do others do?

I think everybody looks at it slightly differently.


I don't include direct debits, or paying the credit card bill as I've spent the money already. Also I don't include anything that I've spent from my PayPal account, as that is money earned from eBay sales for household oddments and treats.


What I do include is all other expenditure - petrol, food, cleaning equipment, Kindle books, clothes, entertainment, outings, holidays etc. etc.


I managed 16 NSD's in March, but to be honest I was finding it a bit restrictive, so I will try for 12 in April

Goldiegirl

Been quite busy today.


Had my groceries delivered, including a gammon joint. Previously, I had bought the premium range sliced ham, which was delicious, but obviously on the expensive side. So I dropped down to a cheaper range, but I found it bland and tasteless, and wasn't worthy to eat with my home made bread! So I got the gammon, and I've cooked it in the slow cooker and will slice it up, so I'll have lots and lots of nice ham, for the same price as the few slices of premium ham I used to have.


Washing has dried nicely on the line.


I've made a couple of cakes, some for now and some for later to go in the freezer. Also prepared some individual sponge puddings to go in the freezer for desserts on Sunday.


Then, this afternoon prepared some eBay listings.


Tomorrow, I'll prepare a beef curry to go in the slow cooker and will do the ironing, and Mr GG will power wash the patio.


Then in the afternoon we will put our feet up.


I really feel I need to have some relaxation, as I'm in danger of losing my mojo. I think I just need to stop for a while


Although I generally enjoy eBaying, I'm fed up with late payers. These days, every week I usually have at least two people who need a non payment case opened against them to prompt any payment at all. Just getting bored with it - so my eBay mojo is low too. I think I'll have a couple of weeks off eBaying too.


I'm sure I'll perk up soon - must remember why I'm in this challenge. In the long run, it'll be good for me!

SarahB1989_2

Treated myself to a new pair of boots today. The old ones need re-soleing, but it would have cost nearly £30... So instead got a pair in the sales today, found the tiniest stain on them and negotiated a further 1/3 off the price, so new boots for the grand total of a tenner!

I don't include DDs in my NSDs, I can't control when the bank decides to take money from me and it's the same amount each month so all budgeted for in advance. NSDs are just the days when I don't personally spend anything, either online or in the shops.

alja

Lately I was thinking of buying some new clothes for my new job, especially dresses. But I think I will take a good look at my wardrobe this evening and decide if I really do need to buy anything or whether I've just been *thinking* that I need to.

I must say though, that I have struggled to find decent easy-to-wear casual day dresses at an affordable price in recent months. Either they have weird uncomfortable sleeves or the material looks too cheap and is already looking used!

Can anyone recommend anywhere to try? I keep my eye on the charity shops when I can...