2014 Frugal Living Challenge

DorsetGirl_2

Count me in please. Have spent the morning looking at my figures and I have set us a budget for living expenses of £9000. That is for 1 adult, 4 children, a cat and a rabbit. I realise the figure seems quite high but having looked at our figures there isnt much else left to cut .

Today is a NSD - start as you mean to go on

yukkibear

Happy new year everyone

Savvy_sewing

Happy New Year.
Today I am back home and ready to tackle all those jobs that have been left too long. Although my energy level is at zero!
The bed has been stripped and the washing is on.
A reduced pork joint is roasting in the oven, ready to portion up and freeze for later.
I have TV recordings to watch while I potter, make menu plans, shopping lists and what ever I fancy doing. DGD is home about 3. From her Grandads.
Catch up time as no work till she goes to school on 8th. Plenty of time to sort my world ready for the what ever happens next.
Will need to buy a new iron as the one I had gave up the ghost before Christmas.

WantToBeSE

Happy 2014 wishes to you all
I am fired up and ready to succeed this year!

I need to go food shopping, but the weather is atrocious so am going to make do with what is already in the house. That's a frugal start to the year!

DorsetGirl_2

Does anyone have any experience of the energy company OVO? Am thinking of switching to them from BG?

littleskintdragon

I'm in this year, i'll be on maternity leave until june and moneys very tight for us.

First job is to get my breadmaker fixed, broke at the start of dec, and allthough its easier to buy in the shop i love homemade rolls!
Need to ring the company and see if they sell parts.

I want to work out a budget that we can live off for the year.
Also i bought a cheap book before xmas about growing veg.i grew pots in 2012 and they were lovely.the only problem is that if they dont grow sufficiently ill have wasted money?? I'll have to get oer to the green fingered threads and see what they can teach me

Happy 2014 everyone, hope its a good one x

hollieinbloom

Afternoon all! I'm in this year as I was always lurking last year but thought I'd start the new year as I mean to go on.

Here's what we have planned so far!
OH's parents got us a bread maker for Christmas so we're going to be making our own bread.

We have some money stored by for when we see things we use regularly on offer so we can stock up on it. (if it's got good dates obviously!)

We have a horrible concreted over garden but have loads of pots and seeds for veggies so I shall be growing whatever we can. Also going to be buying some fruit bushes (blackcurrant and possibly raspberries) to make our own jams and chutneys with and will forage where possible!.

OH is in love with building things from wood scraps so he is going to be making us some new furniture for the bathroom to store our shampoos in. Fingers crossed it's ok! hehe.

Me and my DD go out looking for dropped pennies so we shall be saving those up! She's 4 so I get her to do the picking up

Looking forward to finally starting the challenge properly now! xx

happycrafter_2

DorsetGirl wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience of the energy company OVO? Am thinking of switching to them from BG?

I have been with ovo for the last 2 years as they were the cheapest in our area as we have more expensive pipes (for the home owner but cheap for the builders) and the other companies charged extra on the bill. I have had no problems with them and currently in credit so I get interest on my credit.

quidsy

Happy 2014 all

Today has been very frugally spent for far. Used the last of the Christmas veg and a pork loin I cooked saturday making a curried stew for dinner and lunch today and tomorrow. Also cooked a huge batch of bolognaise to make up individual lasagnes for the freezer. I picked up 6 small aluminium take away tins for 75p, they have lids so perfect for freezing then cooking in the tin. My ds loves lasagna so perfect for oh to just pop in oven after school.

I've also written the family manifesto for the year, no takeaways, no random spending, make at home as much as possible, no shop bought work lunches unless in emergencies, write down all spending in a note pad and use the family food shop pot to buy extras like milk and bread, and keep the receipts so I can review for wasteful spending.

I've also done a fridge and freezer inventory which oh and I plan to go through later to make some menu plans for the next week or so. I would have done the pantry but there is so much in it, I have to do at the weekend.

So feeling positive right now, just have to keep the momentum going.

sparrer

I need save for a trip to NZ next year. (Ouch! Yesterday I was saying the year after next but now it's only 13 months away :eek:). I have the state pension and small company one to live on which covers me, the dog and mog, and the occasional weekend away throughout the year. In 2013 I had to replace my old car so saving took an enormous drop which I'm trying to recover.

This year I estimate my general shopping bill, inc the pets, will be in the region of £75 a month, and as long as there are no major catastrophes I think (hope) I can save £250 a month after all other bills. A bit ambitious but it's a target to aim for and I shan't get another opportunity for 'the holiday of a lifetime'.

I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a bit of scrooge so how much more frugal I can be I'm not sure. It will be good to find new ways so will be reading avidly to see what tips I can pick up here