2014 Frugal Living Challenge

his_missus

Hi all,


Pay day for me so today I start my spending diary. Been looking at my finances and it's going to be a tough month again but Hubby's on board (the thought of being able to afford a big holiday next June is motivating him) so it should be ok.
Basically I have budgeted £320 for everyday spends (£80 a week for food, pets, any nights out) and there's £184 left for our trip to London and Christmas spends. Hubby is very keen to get the weekly spends down so I'm feeling quite optimistic!


We've agreed we'll buy each other token gifts to open on Christmas day and we're going to buy each other a more expensive pressie for Easter instead (once the holiday is paid in full)

Bobarella

CW - As BlackCat says NT membership is really good value, if there are enough places near you. For example Kent is not very well served for properties, but there are some good ones. We pay for annual family membership. Until our car broke down we had many amazing days out at Chartwell which is very close by (10 miles) & loved visiting Knole deerpark too. Because of our situation now though we will have to review membership for 2015 as I am not paying £100 a year to not see anything. But lets cross that bridge when we get to it. Overall I would recommend it wholeheartedly. And what a nice idea to have a 'you' present to treasure.
My favourite saying is 'I am not my stuff. The best things in life arent things' which comes from the Minimalists, an American pair who have written an excellent book on Minimalism, & lead a movement on leading a simpler life. I truly believe that anti consumerism is the way forwards.

cw18

Been through NT website in detail. Within 30 miles of my house (g00gle maps distances rather than NT which appear to be as the crow flies!) there are 9 properties that could be done in bad weather - unfortunately all are closed by mid-Dec (many already closed) until between mid-Feb and mid-March. From where we go on holiday it's the same story, although the winter closures aren't an issue there as we only go to the Lakes between May and October.

EH is definitely a non-starter. Only 2 within 30 miles of home (one of which is closed until further notice due to structural repairs to the roof) and 1 from the holiday location. (Distances on this site also way off actual distances)

Going to trawl through through the HHA list after tea. If their distances work the same I'm looking at a maximum of 11 from home and 13 from holiday location.

So it's going to come down to how many HHA close over the winter, how many of theirs still aren't free even with membership, and how much we'd like to have ruins/gardens to mooch round/through in better weather (HHA has no ruins, and at first glance appears to be short on gardens compared to NT).

creditavenger

For those considering buying National Trust and/or English Heritage membership, why not consider joining "Heritage New Zealand" instead? Google their website for details.

HNZ membership is open to UK residents and costs considerably less than either NT or EH memberships alone, but gives access to all the properties of both NT and EH organisations under reciprocal access agreements.

See the "Visiting Rights to Overseas Heritage Places" section towards the bottom of the "Membership Benefits" page.

Family membership for a year is 79 New Zealand dollars which works out at approximately £39.82.

Some people may question the strict ethics of joining an overseas organisation in preference to the UK ones, but I can't afford NT or EH prices. I salve my conscience by buying the kids sweets and ice creams from the NT/EH shops, which is money they wouldn't have otherwise.

Apologies if this suggestion offends anyone, but this is a money saving site afterall :money:

cw18

Will check that out - thanks

Frugaldom

Great price for NZ membership, does it cover National Trust Scotland? It is about £70 for annual family membership but often has a deal for first year. It is part of the global exchange, other countries listed at http://www.nts.org.uk/Site/Membership/Reciprocal-entry-sites/

cw18

It lists Scotland with the others it has reciprocal arrangements with

Joining up via NZ actually makes it a price I could have justified spending on him, rather than doing it as an 'us to us' present - but I'm coming round to quite liking the idea of doing it that way

Definitely looks like NT for us - but there's nothing open around here until mid Feb That means there's plenty of time to go the NZ route and wait for the membership cards to arrive, and the lower cost makes it more attractive given we'll only be able to visit places for 8-9 months of the year

Something for us to discuss in detail while he's over this weekend....

Nicki_Sue

Hi All!

Have caught up again after reading through, some fab and inspiring posts.
An update from me: Some might remember that Dh was made redundant this summer (he was made redundant in Oct last year too so we've not had much luck!). Long story short it has worked out for the better as the new job is brilliant, he loves it, the pay is much better (he's just had a payrise after completing his initial 12 weeks) and even though we had to buy a car and must run / maintain it we are still a little better off. Onwards and upwards.

Christmas is mostly sorted, with Park vouchers having done a lump of the shopping. I've just DH's bits and pieces to get now which I'll do shortly. Christmas dinner is just for us four and we'll do the same as last year and enjoy a Lidl Xmas dinner. We don't go mad on food at Christmas so it's just a (tasty) special Sunday dinner really.

Feeling really optimistic about next year and have bought a new page a day diary (thank you cheap deals shop at 1.29) and have already entered payment / savings goals and the like.
We are far from swimming in ten pound notes but the going is going at the moment so we are saving as much as we can and enjoying the frugal lifestyle still. It's second nature now!

Does anyone have big goals for 2015 in mind?

quidsy

Finally got to costco today and spen 50 quid on new led bulbs. They had a deal on so managed to get 12 baton bulbs and 2 lanp screw ins for that price. I'm hoping they will make some difference in our energy consumption.

Bobarella

First day in my new temp job. £4 in tips. Plus free coffee & lunch. Cant complain. Super shattered now but off until wednesday so will soon bounce back. Great to hear about the NZ situation for NT very interesting.