2014 Frugal Living Challenge

Frugalsod

Welcome to the thread.

Personally if you tell everyone that you are concentrating on paying down your debts then most people will understand. Also how many birthdays do you expect in the time before you are debt free?

Look at the direct debits and bills and see what you can cut down on. Look at switching any service that you are currently on. Also you might actually be able to give up some services without really noticing. Personally I would rather have a landline, for the broadband rather than a mobile but that is me, plus it can be cheaper. Though you could switch mobile contracts and make savings like opt for a PAYG service if you do not use it much. If you can switch all your light bulbs to low energy or LED bulbs and as you are renting keep the old bulbs to put back for when you move out. That will pay for itself very quickly. I use motion sensor LED bulbs in the hallway to turn the lights off all the time when there is no activity in the hall.

Food is best if made from scratch and is cheaper as well. I will not buy food if I know i can make it myself. So no grated cheese or even cakes etc. Avoid ready meals like the plague. Make everything from scratch and you will save money. I make my own pasta and pizza and it is all healthier as well. I do not make any savings on my pasta but I do get fresh pasta for the price of dried pasta. I am currently making my own bread from a bread mix kit from Approved Foods and it is a fraction of the price of bread from the supermarket. Also concentrate on reducing food waste and you will save money that way. If necessary shop little and often and only for things that you need.

In terms of presses for kids and their friends birthdays you can make some savings without impacting the quality of the parties. Maybe have a craft party which can be fun for the kids and dirt cheap to do yet they will have plenty of fun.

student-mum-2

ty frugalsod I am going to look across everythink possible this week and see where we can cut back


things I do already
1. use cloth nappies
2. grow some stuff ourselves (this is a working project)
3. I use money off codes etc as much as possible
4. I have switched my gas tariff but not sure how I do my electric as I have a key metre and want to go to quarterly billing
5. I have £35 of vouchers to use at next and a friend Is referring me so will get a futher £20 off a £50 spend
6. I meal plan / make lists
7. I recently got 20 books from the works for £16.40 using on of there online offers and then going through a cashback site
8. I buy mine and my kids clothes second-hand as much as possible
9. I have recently invested in a sewing machine
10. I love to bake rather than spend ridiculous amounts at the supermarket and it tastes so much better then brought


off to scroll the threads on even more ways to save

Frugalsod

student-mum-2 wrote: »

ty frugalsod I am going to look across everythink possible this week and see where we can cut back


things I do already
1. use cloth nappies
2. grow some stuff ourselves (this is a working project)
3. I use money off codes etc as much as possible
4. I have switched my gas tariff but not sure how I do my electric as I have a key metre and want to go to quarterly billing
5. I have £35 of vouchers to use at next and a friend Is referring me so will get a futher £20 off a £50 spend
6. I meal plan / make lists
7. I recently got 20 books from the works for £16.40 using on of there online offers and then going through a cashback site
8. I buy mine and my kids clothes second-hand as much as possible
9. I have recently invested in a sewing machine
10. I love to bake rather than spend ridiculous amounts at the supermarket and it tastes so much better then brought


off to scroll the threads on even more ways to save

To be honest you are doing pretty well already. As for the electricity key meter that is probably easier to change if you have no electricity debt outstanding or are paying off. If that is not the case you could still apply for an ordinary meter and pay by direct debit as that is usually the cheapest way, then you could possibly switch. Try calling the electricity company to see what they suggest. Though if you have an idea of what energy you are actually using then it could make it a lot easier to switch. I use the meters app for my iPhone and that allows me to track loads of meters. At the moment I track my parents meters as well. Monthly direct debits also keeps the outgoings more even and so reduces the impact on your bank account.

A sewing machine is a great investment. If you can make more of your own clothes or repair clothes it could give you a second income as well.

I noticed the nappies which is good and if the child is under two then you have other options like making your own baby food but do not cook with salt as babies cannot regulate their salt. Then blend what you would eat yourself and get them used to as wide a variety of foods as you can before they are two. That stops them being food fussy as they get older. It may also eliminate food allergies as the body is learning what is food. My parents feed me peanut butter as a baby and I have no food allergies at all.

[Deleted User]

Welcome to the board student-mum-2. I am sure you will find lots of ideas and support on this thread. It looks like you are doing really well to begin with.

I have been much better this last couple of weeks with bringing my lunches to work rather than stopping at the local supermarket on my way to work. Planning to continue this in August when I return to work.

End of term always costs me a small fortune as I usually bring is sweets for my classes. I was thinking of maybe baking something simple like choc crispie cakes but not sure I have the energy this week. I will have a think and see how I feel.

I have made it through to the last week of term in what has been the most difficult and stressful year in teaching for me so far. I am not sure how much longer I will last in teaching but hope to do at least another few years and then decide from there what I want to do.

his_missus

student-mum wrote: »

Hello Everyone please could I join for the remainder of the year I need to get my debt gone and start saving and tbh the list goes on but that's for another time lol ...



I also need to start budgeting for christmas' and birthdays


how much do you spend on :
family members xmas and bdays
your own children xmas and bdays
school friends of your kids xmas and bdays
etc. etc. to give me an idea please ty in advance


also how much is realistic for 5 days away spending money self catering tia

I often buy Christmas/birthday presents throughout the year in sales but I also use vouchers from surveys to buy presents too.
Don't feel obliged to spend a specific amount.

As for spending money for a holiday - can you take some food with you? There's just the two of us and usually I make a chili, spag bol, curry and shepherds pie and freeze them to take with me. They double up as freeze blocks in the cool box and I take stuff for butties/picnics too. It can get expensive eating out.

It also depends what activities you plan to do whilst you're on holiday too. Look for discounted activity vouchers or swap some points for Tesco day out vouchers if possible.

Also if you have a few children, it may actually be cheaper to find a frozen food shop and buy a box of 3 lollies/cones instead of a trip to the ice cream kiosk;)

quidsy

Listed 4 pais of shoes on ebay & after paying postage am 41.98 up, the bootfare was a disaster, 4 hrs sitting int he hot sun, about 100 punters & a total profit after pitch fees, buying ds a cup cake & a £1 gun I made the grand total of £5.50. I would have gladly taken an extra few hours in bed instead but ho hum, it was poorly advertised, my mum lives 5mins away & had not heard it was happening! I will do the BIG ONE next week with 500 pitches & people practically ripping items from your car as you pull up. Last time I made 300 quid just standing there watching 2 women fight over my 2nd hand bras!

Shortie

Hi all

Hope everyone's okay Sorry for being very silent recently, and thanks for the well wishes when I posted last xxx

My Dad has been out of hospital for just over a week now and is doing okay. His recovery will be long and slow and he's gone from fairly chirpy but tired, to starting to get frustrated (understandable) and tired which is hard to see as I can see now he's suddenly not my usual over-active Dad. Mr Shortie has been great I have to say.. I think he say a side of me for the first time ever in it's full force - I shut people out when I'm really, really affected by something and I think he found that quite hard. When things started to ease up and I'd realised what I had been doing, I did say thank you - he's had the patience of a saint recently which has helped loads

I've had a really very odd change of life-attitude as a result which I don't entirely understand - I've become very 'teflon' which is great - I don't care to allow myself to get embroilled in other people's dramas suddenly - I'm there for them but I'm not getting myself emotionally sucked right in. Hope this lasts!

I've also reassessed money and realised what is important to get sorted, what to not stress too much about.. As a result, instead of saving for the building work I (as of today) finished saving for the tax return and I'll move it to a joint account - it dawned on me that if something happened to me tomorrow, Mr Shortie would have had no means to pay my tax bill so I prioritised that instead of the building work. I'm keeping it aside for now incase a dire emergency comes up, but it's there ready to pay as and when needed now.

We are also changing car - it was a mistake to buy the car we did and whilst we have lost money on it, I realised it was worse to stick with it. it's already devalued, we can't do anything about it - it's pointless to stick with something we're not happy with just for the sake of it. So tomorrow we should be 'swapping' it at the same garage for an older estate car that has a much more responsive engine, is much more economical, and is a much higher spec one so is also nicer. It has very low milage, and by keeping to one a few years older than what we have the price difference was nominal

Also, I was looking at buying a super cheap, super old car for the staion run - my classic car won't fit up the grassy banks near the train station and it's getting expensive to park. So, I was looking at a dirt-cheap old car instead. I asked my Dad if he wanted to come and have a nose at it (mainly to get him out of the house and keep him occupied) and he said I might as well use his car for the next 6 months, and if he gets use of his hand back, then he may well need an automatic anyway and then I can keep it. The ironic thing is, this was Mr Shortie's car that we sold him back at Christmas :rotfl::rotfl: I do feel a tad bad though - we only commented to each other as couple of weeks ago that if my Dad ever sold it we'd look at buying it back as it's a lovely car - didn't quite mean *this* soon though :rotfl:


So, Friday was pay day - I just scraped through last month above my buffer but I put a lot of money in savings pots etc so did quite well. This month:

- I've put the last of the tax savings money aside, and I have the architect's first set of fees to pay.
- Mr Shortie is taking my Dad's (do i call it mine yet? Not sure either Dad or I want to admit the defeat but I think we both know he won't be able to drive a manual again) car to have a slow puncture repaired which I've already budgetted for
- I'm buying in bits for DS2's birthday party at the end of next month. I already have his pressies (bought them in the sale at Christmas :money:) and am trying to keep the party to under £100. The money has already been budgetted for in another account that I save into each month. The money will be going towards: hiring the school pool if it's available; buying in food for school friends, non-school friends and parents; party bags (scouring the internet and getting lots of lovely ideas for not much money - I refuse to put cheap rubbish in party bags); craft things for the children to make when they get back to ours


I've moved the planned money into savings already, so now's a case of keeping a close eye to stick to the budget and hopefully I'll have a bit more money I can put aside at the end of this pay-month too


Apologies for the waffle

Merrylegs1

Morning,

Sorry for the long absence, been a rubbish time over the last month or so. Unfortunately, I have had to have the horse I was sharing put to sleep for health reasons which was very hard, but the kindest decision in the end. Also a pesky health issue which had started to worsen meant work has been problematic at times.....on a positive note this has hopefully sped up the waiting time for my treatment, hurrah!

All this has meant that
a) I've eaten my own body weight in ice-cream.
b) my saving plans have been a bit knocked.

However I'm back in a frugal mind set, kicking off with me managing to get £17 a month knocked off my gas & electric bill, woohoo! Also last week made a real effort to get organised with meal planning & taking my all my own meals into work with me, feeling good about this as well as a bit healthier. I have tried using cash instead of my cards when shopping to make me think a little harder about what i'm spending (also giving me two pound coins to go in my saving pot!)

Currently I do a 50 mile round drive to work 3-4 times a week, with longer drives 100-500 miles at least once a month. I'm doing this in a 10yr old small petrol car. Im not really knowledgeable with motoring but have been thinking a diesel may be more economical, although this would involve a monthly credit payment??

Shortie, sorry to hear your dad has been poorly, glad to hear he is on the mend.
Hugs to those who need.
Merryx

cw18

Merrylegs1 wrote: »

Currently I do a 50 mile round drive to work 3-4 times a week, with longer drives 100-500 miles at least once a month. I'm doing this in a 10yr old small petrol car. Im not really knowledgeable with motoring but have been thinking a diesel may be more economical, although this would involve a monthly credit payment??

There's a time when I would have agreed (back when I bought a diesel car in 1993), but would have to think long and hard these days.

A diesel car used to cost more than a petrol (not sure if that's still the case, as I've not been car shopping for almost 8 years), but diesel used to be cheaper per litre as well as giving more miles per gallon. Now it's dearer, and the last I heard was that they worked out pretty much the same as a 'pence per mile' calculation looking at just the fuel costs.

I suspect that it would probably take a good few years for you to see any kind of payback, and if you'd have to take out a loan to buy the car then it'd be even longer than if you were 'just' losing interest on savings (the latter being if you were in a position to pay it all up front).

My car (petrol Punt0) is 12 years old and still returns fairly good mpg (around 40mpg since DS1 was put onto the insurance and started doing half the mileage, before then it was closer to 43mpg) even with most of the trips being done in it being under 5 miles each (probably the most inefficient type). But I do notice it improves after each annual service (due next month) and then gradually slips back down until the next.

sparrer

I'm so sorry about the horse being pts Merrylegs, even though it's necessary it's one of the hardest things to have to do. DD had to do the same some time ago and it's heartbreaking

Been very erratic with posting lately, DM is in hospital in Reading so a 180 mile round trip to visit every day. Day off today as others are going, I don't know what to do with myself. Housework? Nah, not that enthusiastic hence playing on here . And Merrylegs has just reminded me, there's a new tub of ice cream in my freezer - that's lunch sorted!
Have adjusted my driving to the point of getting 49.2mph average, pleased with that and can still drive at reasonable speed on the mways without holding everyone else up!
At last my water butt is full after yesterday's storm. It was a beautiful storm, a free light show and cracking good rolls of thunder.
Planted a tray of trailing aspersions (nasturtiums) bought from the £ shop a few days ago, they're already 3" tall so will plant them in an old three-tier veg stand DM gave me to throw away.
Gave away 4 cane wigwams on freecycle. Beginning to downsize the garden and just grow perennial shrubs etc., for ease of maintenance in future.