2014 Frugal Living Challenge

ecodude

Count me in too please will post my situation nearer new year. cheers

nikki2002-2008

Im up for this going to try for £9000 for the year for everything it's going to be a make do and mend year

Mrs_Cheshire

Helen, you can do it and we're all here to support you!

parsniphead

I've always enjoyed this thread as a lurker but felt unable to join as it's very full on as I worried I couldn't stick to it full time. I really want to be able to get my head around it this year as I'm so close to being debt free and want to start getting some savings as a back up. So as it's a come and go I will feel less pressured so I'm definitely going to give it a go.

I need to go away and start working on my budget for the coming year and how to reduce some of these figures. I have been growing veg for a few years but want to increase this in scale this year.

Going back to post 1 to see where more cuts can be made.

Buffythedebtslayer

Hello,


I'd like to join in please,

I have 4600 of debt, need to buy a new(to me) car and have some dental work done. I have taken a pay cut in my new job and it is just till July- still I am FAR happier!

I would like to have my 0% cc paid off by July which means making a payment of about 657 each month.

my outgoings are about 1000 per month and that doesn't leave much really.

If I am careful with Christmas I may be able to make a payment of 600 to the CC which would lower my monthly payment to 557.

I have savings for the car 200 pounds! I have to pay money each to cover my rent in August when I won't have a job. I have a 100 saved for that already. I have a number of savings pots.........

Pets - currently 160, pay in 40 a month (covers insurance and some vet bills)
52 wk challenge = 171, pay in a different amount each week.
365 = £1 a day for Christmas
Virtual sealed pot = small change in account currently going on car.
Sealed pot = physical small change left at the end of the week to be saved for either Christmas or the Car.

I also have 2500 in an ISA. Realistically this could be used for the ca or the CC or to survive my month without a job.
I have am in the very fortunate position to have options.
have to get ready for bed (!) will ponder some more


xx

Liliyanna

Hey all,

Count me in, this next year is going to be a tough one! We aim to be debt free by 31/12/14 so have our work cut out for us :eek:

Lily x x

amber03

I'm in, became debt free and hope to continue, hopefully this thread will keep me on my toes.


One thing I will do will pay for everything in cash. Each week I will take the money out for that week, hopefully any money left over can go into my savings account.x

helencal80

Thanks Mrs Cheshire!

On a frugal note I had some dodgy celery and leeks in the fridge, I would normally chuck them out but i made a really tasty casserole with some reduced diced pork, homemade chicken stock from last month (frozen) and a £1 bag of stew veg. It was delish! And cost about £3.50, feeding 6 of us.

annisimmy

Can I join in too...:D

My income is possibly going to reduce by one third sometime in early 2014 if not sooner.

I was made redundant earlier this year, my marriage fell to pieces after I found out my ex husband had gambled our house and everything away to the point he went bankrupt, then I had to go bankrupt too as the joint mortgage debt fell on to me, so now I have a one bedroomed HAssociation bungalow in a lovley place but the bungalow was lived in by a smoker:eek::mad: and well Im in the process of eradicating orange nicotine ceilings and walls and am doing a weekly battle with the HAssociation to sort out my leaky porch...

I need to cut my food bills, heating bills etc as I wish to pay to have the leaky porch and storage room sorted, I know its not my responsibility but this bungalow is in such a lovley place Im ashamed to have this carbuncle of rotten wood and peeling paint attached to it.

So while I have a small extra bit of money Im going to save and cut back and get quotes to have this done whilst I can. If my income does drop then I will not be able to afford to do this and for my own sanity as well as I need it doing.

I have lingered and lurked for a while now so its time to put into practice what Ive read..so roll on January 1st 2014 and let the savings pot start to be filled up.

I will work out my budget and announce my living target for 2014 soon, I just hope my income can stay the same for the next two months then its a possibility to have my rotten porch done if not then its serious cutting it to the bone to achieve this..doable and possible if I can just get started Id be unstoppable as they say;);)

Anni

[Deleted User]

helencal80 wrote: »

Thanks Mrs Cheshire!

On a frugal note I had some dodgy celery and leeks in the fridge, I would normally chuck them out but i made a really tasty casserole with some reduced diced pork, homemade chicken stock from last month (frozen) and a £1 bag of stew veg. It was delish! And cost about £3.50, feeding 6 of us.

Well done Helen that's brilliant stuff.Its amazing what you can make out of almost anything isn't it.I use up all the past-its best veg in soups or casseroles.Yesterday I even used the trimmed stalks from some mushrooms to help pad out a curry made from the cooked stripped chicken leg my DD had given me to take home.She had a large chicken for dinner on Thursday night as my brother and her family had a pre-christmas meal together before he went home to France and as there were 6 of them plus us 2 there was enough left overs for her to make a leek and chicken pie for Friday night and a spare left over leg -quarter for me.I was going to have it witha salad but decided to make a small curry with it.I ended up with two take-awy boxes of chicken & veg curry that have gone into my freezer,so two free meals made from odds and ends in the fridge:rotfl::j

I love concocting meals out of odds and ends.When my children were small back in the 1970s we always had odds and s*ds pie on a Thursday .It was usually a savoury pastry (easy-peasy to make with flour,soft marg and a small amount of grated cheese and a few mixed herbs) case baked 'blind'then filled with what ever there was in the fridge to use up
a couple of chopped cooked sausages,diced onion, a rasher or two of streaky bacon cooked to a crisp,any left over veg or even a small tin of baked beans spread on top then topped with mashed potato and grated cheese ,chuck it back in the oven about 160c until browned on top and serve with any green veg,cabbage or carrots & sweetcorn and its a filling meal and stretches two sausages into a meal for the four of us

Quiches back in the days before supermarkets were just basically egg and bacon pie.almost the same with a baked blind pastry case filled with some streaky bacon (Morrisons do a 500gms of bacon bits for 81p,thats an awful lot of chopped up bacon) a couple of eggs a splash on milk and poured into the case and cooked until set.Costs pennies to make and tastes far nicer than those ready-made ones from the SM.It will slice up when cold for picnics,with salad for lunch or even go into school/work lunch boxes instead of sandwiches.
I do like to try and make stuff as much as possible myself and there is very little sold ready-made that I can't make cheaper and tastier at home, as you have found out yourself .Well done on your meal for 6 for under £4.00:j:j:j