2014 Frugal Living Challenge

quidsy

SP are trying to double my elec & gas bill, have told them to shove it & instructed the family to walk around in the dark & turn off everything at the plug. Never realized how much stuff just sat on "standby" so turned off telebox at the plug last night & OH & DS computors over night. If they want to use any of it they will have to switch on at the plug & wait for warm up. Have always switched off kitchen plugs but OH has a tendency to leave things like the dishwasher live after a cycle. I am now on "Nazi" mode so they will get IT if they don't comply. lol

This came in the same week the car died & it is costing 500+ for a new clutch. So all hands on deck, they will cut costs or else.

Flutterby83

Hi all,
Well I started off the year so well, then my sons disability deteriorated and he's had a rough time to say the least! Huge leg operation on the 13th August leaving him unable to weight bear, back in surgery in two weeks time to remove the cast and review so won't know much more until then.....I need you lot to kick me back into frugaldom as I've gone back to my old ways of spending way too much, although I have paid off two creditors and halved another in the last two months, go me lol! I'm hoping you lovely people can inspire me again so that I can repay debts to start my wedding fund faster as I want my boy to be able to walk me down the aisle, any help/tips/advice gratefully received on a side note, we are a family of 6 (4 kids, 2 adults) I knit, crochet, sew and know my way around a kitchen!

cw18

((hugs)) to your son - if he's willing to accept hugs from a strange female
and (((hugs))) to you, as you'll need them if he's even half as bad a patient as I've been
I hope the review is good news

I can (at least in part) sympathise with the cast frustration, having had to cope with a broken wrist (mine) since 7th July.

When I've been counting my blessings as to how much worse things could have been, one of them has always been it wasn't a leg I broke !! With an arm out of action I can't drive, but had it been a leg I wouldn't even have been able to walk to the shops. So at least I can still get out for a walk to get some exercise, even if I can't swim or do the yoga/pilates/aerobics classes. (I've also restarted my running last week - but only since they took the stitches out following an operation to insert a plate as it wasn't mending in the right position.)

I had to rely very heavily on ready meals while I was out of action - nasty, overpriced, full of salt and additive things that they are :eek: I'm now able to cook simple things if I take my time (especially have to pace myself with veg prep), but still can't batch cook as I can't handle large pans. I also discovered on Saturday I can't lift hot casserole dishes out of the oven - but only after I had one needed lifting out!! Thankfully DS1 was around to lift it out for me

By the end of next week I hope to have performed a fresh stock take of my freezers - again a job I'm going to have to pace myself with, as some of the (very full) drawers are quite heavy !! Once I have that in place I should be able to get back to menu planning (last done at the end of May for the whole of June) which should bring my grocery spends back down again. While exercise is limited (meaning I'm in the house more but not able to do major dejunking because of all the box lifting that requires) I also want to at least make a start on a stock take of the long life groceries.

Flutterby83

Thanks cw18, he'd accept a hug from anyone!! I'm hoping he's only got another 2 weeks after next surgery left in cast but it could be up to 6, going back to school has kept him occupied although he did get reprimanded for 'zooming round the halls' in his wheelchair! I hope your arm heals soon, sounds like you've been through it a bit x

Now to catch up on all these threads with my pad and pen handy........

Frugaldom

Quidsy, SP have just been out to read and check my meter because I haven't used as much electricity as they think I should have, but it is prepayment and my £199 max top up lasts about 5 months, so they can go raffle if they dispute the figures. I have been logging weekly meter readings since 2007 to try and drive down consumption. Www.imeasure.org.uk is a good little site to use for weekly gas and electricity readings.

Flutterby, sounds like clearing 2 debts and halving another has set you in the right direction. Perhaps it's just a temporary blip when you fell off the frugaldom wagon, so here's a lending hand to vet back on again. We are doing 'September simple savings' challenge in our own forums, it does help to reprioritise spending habits and break some bad habits, if any have crept into your lifestyle. Best wishes to your DS, I hope the op is successful and he improves soon.

CW, can't thank you enough for keeping this thread and challenge heading in the right direction. Not sure what has happened to SF after she volunteered to hold the fort during my lengthy absense. I think maybe real life got in the way. Hope your wrist heals soon and I'm glad you are back to the running. Who knows, maybe we'll get a visit from you one day in the future now that we finally have the space we've saved for since the very beginning of my frugaldom/living on £4k challenge began.

My best suggestion for anyone getting back to basics to pay off debt is halt all spending bar necessities and start from scratch, looking at where all the money goes. Once you have stripped your spending to bare minimum, the kitchen seems to be the pot of gold at the end of the frugaldom rainbow. There are always extra savings to be made from there, even if only pennies. They just take time to find and implement.

If anyone can't find washing soda in supermarkets, try small general store or local hardware stores, just make sure you get washing soda and not caustic soda.

Flutterby83

Thank you frugaldom this morning is to be spent trawling the forums and seeing where to rein in my spending whilst I have peace and quiet! I've also realised I have a huge stash of wool I can make blankets etc out of for the winter so I'm starting to get back into the right way of thinking. Where can I find the September simple savings thread please? I don't think it's going to take a lot for me to get back into it, but we had a huge (to me anyway) lump sum of money in July and I think that's what threw me, it's also why I was able to clear some of my debts and start a healthy emergency fund which I've never been able to do before, I also would not have done it if it hadn't have been for being on here at the start of the year......I also used the snowball calculator (on a different thread I think) and my debt free date was/is November 2016 which doesn't seem as far away as what I thought and has given me a bit of a boost in terms of cutting back to clear my debts. Attempt number two starts now

LESLAMP

I'm afraid I have become very lax lately and haven't been very frugal but as my Stepson has moved away to live with his Girlfriend and her baby. My 24 yr old son is leaving for University this weekend and that has cost me a fortune in rent he hasn't paid and trying to get him kitted out for his new independent life.

So as of Sunday it will be me, Hubby and Arthur the greyhound .

All a little scary but I'm hoping that will give us a new chance to cut our costs. The leccy bill will probably halve as Luna the Boa is going to Uni to and all the computers, x-boxes and tvs are going to.

Food bill should be halved to as Hubby and I are going back to basics. We both have a referral to Slimming World from our doc and we are going to make the most of our lifeline. We are both seriously overweight so walking and eating healthy are to be our new way forward.

Will be online later to read back some of your posts for any hints and tips.

Frugaldom

Flutterby, I now only run the challenges via frugalforums.co.uk as I no longer have the time to post them in more places. If you read the handy links section of posts 1/2 for this challenge, you will find links back to all ones we have done on here.

Food waste bin goes out today and I had nothing to put in it last week so I saved a little bag of peelings & coffee grinds for this week... silly, I know, but I would really like to help keep the collection folks in a job. I normally use coffee grinds and tea leaves in the blueberry bed and split the rest between the wormery and the compost bins.

Get out foraging, frugal folks. This looks an absolute bumper crop year for apples, brambles, rowans, rosehips and, soon, sloes. Going to sow some winter seeds soon and bring in a selection of kitchen herbs. Still following my frugal 'get fitter, not fatter' challenge and have gradually lost almost 2 stone, so that will continue for another stone.

Feel free to pop over anytime, join us and maybe even meet up at Frugaldom. It has taken 7 years of extreme frugal living to afford it and the whole story is covered online, it would be a shame to have come this far then none of my original frugal living challengers be able to share it but they must be off to pastures new, affording bigger and better things. Still, I love frugal living and won't be changing my lifestyle for any amount of money.

Follow your own dreams and care not what others think. As long as you aren't spending someone else's money, it is no business of theirs how you spend (or don't spend) your own. Happy frugalling!

Aphidgirl

Hi everyone,

I challenged myself to a spending diet this month, giving myself a maximum of £100 to spend on non-essentials. Two weeks in to the challenge and I've spent £83/100! That's just from 2 weekends of going out to pubs/cafes etc. Reducing my spending at weekends is definately where I struggle most as my social life revolves around pubs usually :beer:

I've also been very un-frugal by going into the overdraft to buy flights for a holiday next year. Hopefully I can pay this back quickly as the charges have gone up recently :eek:

A few frugal things though, have been given lots of free vegetables lately from my boyfriends parents allotment, so I've been trying to use them all up and not spent alot on food. I haven't been in a supermarket once this week which is good for me! I'll keep trying to eat out of the cupboards this weekend.

I've had 4 No Spend Days so far this month and will aim to have a quiet weekend this weekend, avoiding the pub. That should save me a few pennies!

mummy2threeboys

Flutterby and cw18 laods of love to you both sounds like your having a bit a time of it lately, hope the rest of the month improves for you all x
leslamp. Best of luck with the new health regime, i'm also on a kick now youngest has started nursery (eldest two I home ed) It means i haven't got a toddler running under my feet. I won a treadmill on fleabay for £15, but id sold a few bits so it's free
Ive done a huge declutter upstairs , popped some bits out the front for people to help themselves too. Today im definatly putting some of that blow dry on clingfilm for windows, and an upstairs window quilt, as its getting chilly in the mornings at night time. On the plus side me and hubby are getting more sleep (coughs) as we are going to be early because its darker and colder. i think my digital wall stat is off as it says 20c still ha ha. Im also making some blankets keeps me warm too!
Anyway have good weekend all, if you have time this weekend is free english heritage weekend there may be something near you , well only if you live in England of course Just type in your nearest town x
http://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/directory