2014 Frugal Living Challenge

Living_proof

icontinuetodream wrote: »

My frugal living is going to be taking on a new meaning very shortly as I have just quit my job!! :eek:

Time to batten down the hatches and account for every penny.....

Me too icontinuetodream! I start my self-employment tomorrow after my training today, although it is in precisely the same field I have worked in for many years. I have months of food stocks, toiletries, cleaning stuff, etc. and my main bills are covered by the rent from a lodger, but I am going to have to be very strict with all other spending. I have car bodywork to be done and probably a replacement electric shower but these are a necessity really, together with two new tyres..... and so it goes on.

What are you going to do next?

Frugaldom

Hi guys, glad to see everyone planning ahead. My 2015 budget spreadsheet is already up and running, all prepared for another year of extreme frugaling but with the budget shaved even closer to include even more.

Still sticking with my original 'living on £4,000 a year' budget simply because my situation allows it and it has become routine, but now this also includes a savings goal.

Christmas, for me, involves gifts for 16, so I now opt for household hampers, rather than individual gifts, and some extra spends on grand children.

Spent the weekend with some fellow frugalers who visited to help plant the gifted trees at frugaldom.com as we are now part of the Woodland Trust's World War I centenary woodland project. Those taking part donate space and time to plant new woodlands as living memorials to all who endured, fought and/or died during the War. We chose to plant harvest varieties of trees, like crab apple, elder, hazel, sloes and dog rose, so foragers of the future can share the free food picked from Frugaldom. Photos are on the frugaldom facebook page, if anyone is interested.

Doing NaNoWriMo writing challenge this month, good luck to anyone else giving it a go.

Frugaldom

Best wishes to all who are launching themselves into the self-employment stratosphere! I have certainly never regretted following that route.

[Deleted User]

icontinuetodream wrote: »

My frugal living is going to be taking on a new meaning very shortly as I have just quit my job!! :eek:

Time to batten down the hatches and account for every penny.....

A brave decision, I wish you every success and happiness in what you go on to do in the future.:beer:

his_missus

Hi all,


Been MIA recently but life has been frugal-ish.


We went glamping last week and spent a total of £7.19 whilst we were there on a bottle of wine (which we only half drunk and brought the rest home) a packet of biscuits and some bread.


Hubby cancelled parts of the BT package we don't really use and our monthly bill has decreased by £29. First Utility are putting up our DD payments by £16 a month, not quite sure why as we haven't yet had a monthly bill anywhere near the £52 we pay already. They reckon I'll be in debt by £90 come May if it doesn't go up. I suspect come May I'll be demanding money from them


I'm starting a spending diary from next pay day, I really need to track where my money is going better.


CW, that is a comprehensive plan you've got there, I'm in awe.

just_the_two_of_us

Morning - just popping on to update signature. Have now spent £165.24 out of my £200 but have already got meals to last until the end of the month so need only milk and fruit and veg to top up. Not away this month so that will be a saving!


Hoping to reduce to £190 a month from 1st January as touch wood seem to be doing OK.


I don't bother with whoopsie items except bread and maybe veg from Mr S local nearby as not enough room in my fridge freezer! It means I don't find stuff all frosted up at the bottom!!!
Have a new recipe book so propose to try some new ones just to ring the changes!!
Keep up the good work everyone. x

cw18

Yesterday was an expensive day for me :eek:

I have three toilets, and over the last 5 years all of them have developed "quirks" which required attention - two needed the handle pumping to flush and the other made the whole house vibrate when flushed! One of the pump ones has been like that for 3.5 years with no signs of getting worse, but the other's only been going for 12 months and had got to the point it was tough to do even that way. And then there was the water inlet to the washer - I discovered about 18 months that the stop tap on it had stopped working, flooding a cupboard in the process

So after DD cancelled the plans for me to visit yesterday (Monday was GD4's birthday, and it seems GDs 3&4 had that many E numbers they'd had DD up all night) I decided to try and sort out a plumber. Didn't like the quotes of £150+ just for the toilets, but managed to knock a very local one (who's only recently set up on his own) down to £120 including the washing machine.

I watched what he did to the cisterns, so should the same faults develop again I can hopefully tackle them myself and save a lot of money

At least that's another set of essential jobs the house needed I can tick off as done

icontinuetodream

Living_proof wrote: »

Me too icontinuetodream! I start my self-employment tomorrow after my training today, although it is in precisely the same field I have worked in for many years. I have months of food stocks, toiletries, cleaning stuff, etc. and my main bills are covered by the rent from a lodger, but I am going to have to be very strict with all other spending. I have car bodywork to be done and probably a replacement electric shower but these are a necessity really, together with two new tyres..... and so it goes on.

What are you going to do next?

Haven't got a clue!! :rotfl: Something will turn up, but for now, I will just relax and let it happen!!

I echo Frugaldom when I say good luck with the self-employment!!! It sounds like you have really planned ahead.... I hope it is everything you dream it will be :beer:

carbootcrazy wrote: »

A brave decision, I wish you every success and happiness in what you go on to do in the future.:beer:

Thank you! It's not really brave, it's just a case of sticking to my principles - some things just are not worth the money...:( I am looking forward to putting it behind me and moving forward

Well, I shopped a lot yesterday Probably not the best time to do it, but I needed to get a few things and decided that I would stock up on some things on offer. I am going into the local city tomorrow so will make the most of it and visit places like p*oundland etc to pick up toiletries then that should be it for the month!

I have enough food in the house to keep us going for a while - the meal plan has gone to pot as a result of my quitting my job. I have decided that the most sensible way forward is to just use up whatever I have in the fridge, freezer and cupboard for now - I have soaked, boiled and frozen job lots of chickpeas, kidney beans and cannellini beans and have plenty of rice, lentils, polenta, couscous and quinoa left.

I made a huge pot of pasta sauce yesterday; onions, garlic, carrot and celery base with tomato puree, white wine, tinned tomatoes, thyme, basil, black olives and capers. I will add some caperberries and feta cheese at the last minute (have half a packet of feta in the fridge and a jar with about four caperberries in!) and serve it with pasta tonight. The rest will be frozen for another day

I bottled my plum gin & vodka that I put on in the summer yesterday - nomnom!! The alcohol is lovely and I put the plums into white wine and caster sugar syrup and cooked them gently until they were totally softened. I then blended them along with the syrup and pushed it through a sieve. OMG!! I have an enormous jar of the most fabulous plum goo ever!! :D:D it will be fab on ice-cream, a sauce for game or red meat, as a base for a cocktail...who knows!!

I have started to get the garden weeded today - very hard work, but if I keep doing 30 mins or so a day, it should be done before I know it!! On the plus side, the swiss chard that I haven't seen for the summer has appeared now that I have pulled the butternut squash - it will be nice to have some fresh greens during the winter

Happy frugalling!!

his_missus

Well Hubby hasn't been particularly frugal on his xmas pressies for me spending today, however, with a bit of guidance in juggling with B00ts points vouchers, adding a few essentials to reach the required spend and doing two shops, he's earned me £14.50 of points which I can now spend on him :T


I'm trying to empty my freezer at the moment to defrost it so meals are becoming a little mismatched but it adds excitement to meal times


Icontinuetodream, it's very brave to give up a job for whatever reason, I'm glad you're happier though x

p00

icontinuetodream wrote: »

Haven't got a clue!! :rotfl: Something will turn up, but for now, I will just relax and let it happen!!

I started working when I was 13, albeit weekend babysitting and waiting tables in their B&B weekend mornings. Years later and several jobs I ended up at a point of three part time jobs, which I liked. Now turned 60 I decided that because of health reasons to cut back to one part time job.

Yes we are used to the money but over years I have become quite frugal and we dont have a mortgage or debts so can survive on less money than those with mortgage, rent and debts.

I enjoy foraging to make jams and so on. I enjoy reusing things. I enjoy being frugal and it is no hardship.

Once you get to a certain age you realise that material things mean less and less and time is far more important.

Good luck icontinuetodream and enjoy life as it is now with time to relax.

xxp00