2014 Frugal Living Challenge

Shortie

Take care of yourself Sparrer x. Can you pack quick to make food to take with you? The fuel economy sounds good - savings wherever they can be found eh? :-)

So, the boys did a garden egg hunt yesterday and they found 58 eggs between them!! 1 was bad, 3 were slightly cracked so we need to use them asap, the rest I need to decide if we have some kind of massive cook up or freeze them. Mr Shortie donated some to neighbouts last night

That's a lot of eggs, and we already had an excess in :-S

his_missus

HI all,


Been lurking rather than posting on here recently. We were doing really well, managed to save up what we needed for the house renovations, or so we thought. As I've chosen better than the basics range for the kitchen appliances (though I've not gone OTT or bought from the top end ranges) we're just under £2,000 short.


The chap's not in any rush to be paid. Fortunately he's an old school friend of Hubby's, he doesn't start the work until next week and he has said we can pay as and when but I don't like the thought of being indebted to him when we've worked so hard to become debt free.


So my plan is to save £2,000 from the next 3 pay packets, eek!

alja

Hope everyone's plans are going well...


I put a couple of items for sale on fb in the last few days, and one thing has sold so that's a nice extra £4 in. Didn't think that particular item would sell either!


Still trying to curb my spending where I can and have just received another £5 from sw*gbucks and I'm halfway towards my next £5 target. I don't seem to be getting many surveys I can do on on*poll at the moment though?!


We're about to place an online order with Mr T, I'm going to try out a few of their own brand *ahem* ladies monthly items, as I usually buy two particular types from brands. So I'm hoping I'll like these ones as it'll work out quite a bit cheaper and I could really do with finding a few more ways to save the pennies!


Went shopping on the weekend and managed to get a new outfit for the summer. £5 top and £5 skirt, very pleased.


This weekend coming I have a birthday meal to attend, I already have the presents & a cheap card. This person recently gave me a £15 voucher and chocolates for my birthday, so I felt obliged to give the same amount back. I usually spend £5 at most on birthdays (using sales they usually look like they're worth more!), but as this person is a guy and I wouldn't have a clue what to get him I thought I'd let this one slide and I have bought him a £15 voucher and some chocolate back!!


We're off to a nice restaurant, so I will look at the menu before we go and choose something affordable but nice...

LolaLemon

ALJA wrote: »

Hope everyone's plans are going well...



We're about to place an online order with Mr T, I'm going to try out a few of their own brand *ahem* ladies monthly items, as I usually buy two particular types from brands. So I'm hoping I'll like these ones as it'll work out quite a bit cheaper and I could really do with finding a few more ways to save the pennies!
...

Hia hope all is well, I havent been on here for months! still frugalling away, nice to see some old faces from years gone by.

I still regularly recommend this thread to people i deal with day in day out (i work in debt collection, i hate it but its a job that fits around the school and alos means i can finish my degree via open uni! )


***Completely gross but necessary money saving conversation ***
Have you looked into mooncups? or similar brands? I have one that i have had for 7 years now. Best £12 i ever paid! They retail at about £20-£30 but sometimes you can find them cheap like i did back then. I'm now on the look out for a new one, they last a minimum of 10 years. I just feel its time to get a new one.

Here are the links to the 2 most popular/common companies - other places sell them and for different prices. quick search will show the differences in price.
http://www.mooncup.co.uk/
http://www.femmecup.com/

Also have you thought of re-usable pads?
a quick search gave loads of results and prices and patterns and sizes and types and everything else you can and cant think of associated with them haha. 2 companies jumped out because i remember dealing with them previously - but no recommendations as i went for the cup instead.
http://www.minkinappies.co.uk/just-for-mummies-c-31-1.php
http://lunapads.com/

Also seen a thread to this type of convo on here too!
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1808249



ETA
seen these whilst looking for pads. Im sure i could make these haha! https://www.ecomenstrual.co.uk/shop/The_Washable_Crochet_Tampon.html#a135

LolaLemon

[Deleted User] wrote:

Just cleared out the bathroom and decided to inventory all the toiletries I have. I am amazed at how much stuff I have got. It's unlikely that I will have to buy anything other that toothpaste/mouthwash in the next 2 years!!

Alot of the stuff is things I have stockpiled that were given to me as gifts. Time to get stuck in and start using it all. I was sure there used to be a 'no buying more toiletries thread' but I can't find it. If its still around I would really appreciate someone pointing me in the right direction.

Update: Found the thread, time to start making use of my stash.

I don't know where i seen this idea, but i know it came from MSE. - take out your least favorite shampoo/conditioner/body wash etc, put the rest away.
When one bottle finishes, you go into your store of other odds n sods to be used up and buy a bottle - put a jar or purse or container in with these other bottles and pay yourself £1/50p or any amount you think you can manage. once all these bottles are used you should have a few pounds to then buy the kind you like without feeling guilty, you have also gotten rid of the excess clutter. I do this and now when i see them on offer i still buy them but the go into the 'store' and i need to 'buy' them back to use them . Works for me and helped me out when i was really struggling.
My shop is a bit dear, i charge myself £1 for any bottle/tube etc. i started off at 50p a few short years ago.

alja

LolaLemon wrote: »

Hia hope all is well, I havent been on here for months! still frugalling away, nice to see some old faces from years gone by.

I still regularly recommend this thread to people i deal with day in day out (i work in debt collection, i hate it but its a job that fits around the school and alos means i can finish my degree via open uni! )


***Completely gross but necessary money saving conversation ***
Have you looked into mooncups? or similar brands? I have one that i have had for 7 years now. Best £12 i ever paid! They retail at about £20-£30 but sometimes you can find them cheap like i did back then. I'm now on the look out for a new one, they last a minimum of 10 years. I just feel its time to get a new one.

Hello! Yes, I have been made aware of the mooncup before. Will definitely consider giving one a go at some point in the future I don't like the idea of how many of the normal ones just go to landfill, so I will definitely give them a go soon thank you for reminding me about them. Heard about the other idea too! Another to consider!

Nicki_Sue

Morning all.
Bit of an update from me.... I have no update! DH still hasn't been paid (8 days late now) which has caused havoc with our finances, things simply haven't been paid. The word on the wire is that the big boss man will be back from his Dubai honeymoon and back in work on Monday (alright for some) and hopefuly will get his finger out and sort something!! Unfortunately this is just news that has been passed down the line so how true it is I have no idea!
ACAS say he neeeds to keep going into work desprite no work to be done and all employees and families are wearing out the internet banking with constant checking of balances!

On the upside he has an interview on Tuesday so we'll see. It won't help in the short-term but in the long it gets him out of a toxic and unreliable work situation.

Thanks to my years on here I'm fairly frugal so we are still eating lol. I'm self-employed so have taken on a load of extra work for this weekend and next week too so come the end of the month we'll have a bit extra coming in but crikey I'm shattered! Working all day, evening, weekends and early mornings is not doing a damn thing for my youthful looks.

Sorry for the whinge, I try not to here as poor DH feels awful although it isn't his fault in any way! Onwards and upwards though!

cw18

Nicki_Sue wrote: »

Sorry for the whinge, I try not to here as poor DH feels awful although it isn't his fault in any way! Onwards and upwards though!

Have your whinges / throw your tantrums here all you like - we won't tell on you :shhh:

I'm quite sure your DH feels like he's letting the side down enough as it is, and all he needs from you is support through this tricky time. Who knows, there could come a time when the boot's on the other foot and people are giving you work but being shoddy when it comes to paying for your services, and then it'll be his time to return the favour

Nicki_Sue

Thanks CW18 - just such a crappy time! He was made redundant from the same place (different owners) in Oct last year which pretty much cleaned us out but we'll get there.
No light at the end of the tunnel at the mo but when there is, and it always appears eventually, we'll know what we are doing and can crack on x

icontinuetodream

Sorry to hear you are having such a rubbish time Nicki_Sue Hopefully there will be better news for you soon....

I have been slightly off the wagon over the past couple of weeks due to a some expensive weekends, but am back on the wagon again now.....I have to do a food inventory and meal plan this weekend - I have loads of stuff in but have not organised anything at all...I did a big FFoods shop about two weeks ago but can't find anything in the freezer and I put away the AF order in such a rush that my cupboards are impossible to navigate!!:o I will take the time to pull it all out, list it and work the meal plan around it....having not done a meal plan for the past couple of weeks, it has become very apparent that without one, I spend a lot more cash!!

I have a mountain of laundry to put away and to do this weekend too....it's all been so hectic recently, I have let everything slide and it's really starting to annoy me...however, a couple of hours work should sort everything out and then I can spend the rest of the weekend doing some serious slobbing!!

Garden is in dire need of a major weeding but that will have to wait as the weather is definitely not playing ball....I have cut down my broad beans now as I hadn't staked them properly and they ended up snapping :mad: However, I did get two meals worth of beautiful produce from them so not all a waste of time!! I have plenty of tomatoes starting to form, rhubarb waiting to be cut, some lettuce ready and another bag of potatoes to come out so despite not having a great year with veg from the garden, it has all helped with the finances

Right, better get on with it....have a fab weekend everyone!!