2014 Frugal Living Challenge

quidsy

Poor you carbootcrazy, it isn't a great situation to be in & I totally understand your wish to be DF as soon as possible but if you feel you are causing yourself undue stress or neglect then an extension would be worth it in terms of your own health & wellbeing. Depending on how much debt you have you may be eligible to have it written off. I saw something about it on the web, maybe a call to the money advisory?

That said, do you live alone &/or do you have a spare room? A lodger might be a solution or even foreign students for part of the year?

I can't think of what other advice to offer & I know sharing your home with a stranger isn't ideal but my mum was a single parent with 2 kids & found having foreign students every summer a great way to boost out non existent income. Even if it did mean me & sister having to share a room for 2 months a year & nearly killing each other because of it.

I wish you all the best.

Bobarella

Thanks Frugaldom for the explanation you must be very proud of all you inspired. I hope your son was ok in the end?

CW - I think your son is still getting great value for only £5 more.

His missus - early retirement is a great goal good luck with all your plans.

Sparrer - my friends father tells the story of when his mortgage was at 15% in the 80s. And a former neighbour said that people used to just hand back their keys to estate agents when negative equity was at its worst. I'm glad to hear you've turned it around so well. Your holidays sound great.

car boot crazy - that must be very difficult. Sorry.

Bob

Frugaldom

Bobarella wrote: »

... my friends father tells the story of when his mortgage was at 15% in the 80s. And a former neighbour said that people used to just hand back their keys to estate agents when negative equity was at its worst...

I am one of those people and, being in Scotland, we also had the then £180 rates bill leap to about £600, as the introduced the poll tax here a year ahead of the rest of UK. Many here have never forgiven Westminster for that, as they lost everything, even bank accounts, as the powers that be simply arrested them and any wages. In saying all of that, being pregnant, having an out of work husband, a 2 year old and being made homeless with a mountain of debt brought me to where I am now via a very, very hard lesson that was never discussed back then. (Son recovered fully iafter his accident in 1999.) Negative equity still caught us out AGAIN, 12 years later when getting divorced etc.

Well done to everyone who joins our frugal living challenge.:T This is our normal. I can't wait to get the real 'Frugaldom' up and running, I just hope it hasn't too long to get started.

Frugaldom

Carbootcrazy, nothing is impossible, just keep on going. A few more pennies got saved here by parking car a mile closer to home and walking the difference. (No longer have a car here but still manage a couple of weekends away each year.)

Becky_2

Thanks to all for posting on this thread. I read them all but rarely post myself.

After we downsized in June from a 3 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom house our spending has been cut dramatically. Unfortunately we are renting but the rent in itself has saved us £200 a month. Gas and electricity will go down quite a lot since this house is a "warm" house and much better insulated. My guess is that our usage will go down between 30 & 50%. I need to look into this a bit further though.

Over the last 2 months OH has cut down on his alcohol consumption to only drink at the weekend and then we only buy 1 bottle of wine rather than several. Previously he could easily drink 1 bottle of wine per night so this is saving us a smaller fortune.

I have cut down on my snacking particularly crisps and peanuts. If I have none at home I cannot eat it.

Having 1 less bedroom means that we have less space to store reduced items so we are making an effort to use up what we already got which means that we are spending less money.

My challenge up to Christmas is to spend as little as possible on Christmas presents and still give presents that means something to the person we are giving it to. Thanfully 50% of our presents are already sorted.

Thanks for all your inspiring posts.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

my/our journey..


when i first found mse back in 2006 we were well and truly sinking in debt, BUT my train of thought was, always pay our mortgage as we need a roof over our heads.. 2 young kids under the age of 2 - 3.


Also i have always had a dream of having a smallholding, soooo over the years.. we got out of debt ( still had/got mortage) and started saving... it wasn't easy, but once we were out of debt and started saving, its true money does make money... as the more you can save, the more interest, or loopholes you can take advantage off.
like the Halifax and bank of Scotland accounts, by putting £1000 into their account each month they will give you £5 each month.. then i used to put that money back into my 3 Lloyds advantage accounts, where it would help me get 4% interest.. etc.
Now it was all about making the money i was saving work for me, and get me my dream...


ok we did have to re-mortgage and have a loan, and a loan from my parents on top of what we had saved, but in march 2012 we had enough cash in our account.. ( saved and borrowed) to buy a smallholding at auction...


it needs loads of work, BUT by juggling, and being extra frugal, we can still honour our original mortgage and loan/credit card repayments... until we can get it habitable for us all to live in, and then we can sell this place.


some people think we got loads of money, we haven't far from it, we are now very good at juggling, saving and know when to be very cautious with our spending decisions, and know when we do spend it will be worth spending on...


I personally think diff people have got diff views on what is an essential, and what is a treat etc... and what you can or cant live with/without.


I all about balance, and only you know what balance you are prepared to have...


We are going to buy a secondhand bathroom suite for the smallholding, where as, people who i have spoen to, and told them this, have just screwed their faces up and think its awful how we can even think about it, but once its all plumbed in, no one will notice... but my bank balance will lol... especially as we are looking at on on the bay, which is a £100, and no bids, finishing tomorrow, including shower cubicle, and all the fancy taps etc... saving us well over £1200-£1400


next year, i really need to see where we can cut back even further, as not only do we need to get more things work done on the place, but i want to chizzle away at the credit cards...again..

cw18

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

We are going to buy a secondhand bathroom suite for the smallholding, where as, people who i have spoen to, and told them this, have just screwed their faces up and think its awful how we can even think about it, but once its all plumbed in, no one will notice...

Is it really any different to buying an established house and not changing the bathroom suite as you move in? Don't think so

COOLTRIKERCHICK

I know CW18, or even staying in a hotel etc..
I think its the thought of removing a used toilet, and then re-plumbing it lol...


Its like quite a few years ago, I bought some used pots and pans in an auction, and some people's reactions to that wasn't good... its at times like that you realise these are the people who want to keep up with the jones, and have been brain washed by the tv adverts lol....


right back to batch cooking for this week's meals

[Deleted User]

Good on yer, COOLTRIKERCHICK:beer: Unless the toilet is absolutely disgusting and chipped or crazed there's nothing that a bottle of bleach and some elbow-grease won't put right.

My Mum would never contemplate owning anything second-hand whereas I was always an avid car booter and charity shop bargain seeker even in my profligate spending days when I didn't even 'need' to worry about prices. I once gave her a gorgeous M&S silk blouse (new, unworn and still with original M&S tags) but because I bought it from a charity shop and it had one of their tags on she refused to accept it:eek:

Frugalsod

Becky_2 wrote: »

I have cut down on my snacking particularly crisps and peanuts. If I have none at home I cannot eat it.

Have you considered making your own snacks? Crisps can easily be made at home, and would probably be a lot cheaper as well. Without all the preservatives they could be healthier as an added bonus.

I used to snack on biscuits but now that I make my own I eat them it has slowed down my consumption of them as well as saving me money.