2015 Frugal Living Challenge

his_missus

Worked out this morning I have enough meals in the freezer to last us until (and including) next Thursday. We're away Friday and Saturday evenings and going out for a friend's birthday on the Sunday.
So I just need to plan and buy food for Monday 16th - Friday 20th which I'll do this weekend as we're away the weekend after.


Sorry, I'm waffling. I'm going to set myself the challenge of feeding us both for £20 for those 5 days - I know most of you will think that's a doddle but DH will see it as " we only need 5 days worth, let's treat ourselves as we've plenty of money still!"


I'm sure a frugal life would be much more achievable if I was single

Bobarella

His missus - it would be. But less fun

cw18

Being single through the week but half of a couple at weekends / on holiday works just fine for me

miss_try_to_save

been reading all this talk of pies and crumbles has inspired me to make a fruit crumble for our pudding tonight I have masses of frozen fruit from my rhubarb plant and raspberry bush last summer and as I went blackberry picking in summer as well so have a load of them in freezer as well so job done perfect with custard which I have so still a nsd for me today this week I am attempting to spend £20/£30 on shopping and eat out my freezers so far so good not to many complaints from my family but im planning it again next week so may have a different response when things start running out that they love as I plan to get essentials such as fruit veg milk lactose free milk or soya etc only. its started out as a very frugal month so fingers crossed will all go as I have planned for the first time I will actually be able to put a little in my savings account this month so very impressed since doing this challenge and the grocery challenge I am actually watching how I spend my money and what on so thank you all who run these challenges

Wombatchops

happybird71 wrote: »

Just a wee question I'm pondering. We need a new family car soon. We will get a few thousand for our car but not enough to buy a newish (within 2 years old) car. Is it better to buy a newish car which will hopefully be reliable with some finance we hope to pay off sooner, or an older car we can buy outright? Thanks.

Happybird, I don't know if you've now made a decision on this yet, I've been so busy that I'm catching up on the thread. However, we had this dilemma in December when we needed to get a bigger car in preparation for becoming a family of 5.

I looked at various finance options for a newer car, and then did a budget based on the largest monthly repayment amount I was quoted. My DH and I then got my FIL to look at the budget, and he asked us questions based on the length of the loan we would have to take out, such as "you can afford it now, but when your fixed rate mortgage comes to an end, can you afford the higher mortgage payments and also repay the loan?" And so on.

Having someone else look at our outgoings and ask us those questions helped us make our decision, and we opted for the older car that we knew we could pay for outright, rather than being tied to a loan for a fixed term that we couldn't guarantee we could afford one year from now.

I don't know your circumstances, but maybe doing a budget and then getting someone impartial to look at it and ask you the "what if" questions might help you make a decision. Does that help at all?

happybird71

Thanks wombatchops. That's really kind and helpful. We went car shopping on Sunday. We now know exactly what car we want - we just have to find a good deal for ours and for the 'new' car. We're not in a huge hurry so that's a good thing. X

Wombatchops

I'm glad you know what you want, that makes it easier. Rather you than me with the car shopping, though. I hate it. My car is a 59 reg, and I'm hoping, probably naively, that it lasts at least five more years so I don't have to shop for another one any time soon.

maria3104

Have splashed out and bought a quilting ruler! Living wild, hoping it will distract me from the shops and I can recycle some old childrens flannel dressing gowns into baby ragged quilts. My first attempt has been dire, so bad, its almost good, lol.

Hoping for a frugal feb and staying within all my budgets as no real disposable income until april!
M

cw18

Wombatchops wrote: »

My car is a 59 reg, and I'm hoping, probably naively, that it lasts at least five more years so I don't have to shop for another one any time soon.

Guess it depends on how/where you drive it, annual mileage, and how much care you take of it.

The car I have now is a 52 plate with under 60k on the clock and still throws few problems at me (puncture, cracked windscreen and tatty wipers aren't really her fault)

My previous car was bought new in 1993 and was scrapped in 2006 (just before she turned 13) with about 120k on the clock. She'd have gone on longer had a pipe in the cooling system not corroded - new not available, only a vague possibility of getting one from a scrap heap, and body work around where they'd have had to weld it in looking unlikely to handle the work!!

Broken_Biscuits

hehe finished early today and realised ive been missing the 3pm yellow sticker run.
3x fish pie at 39p for the freezer and a nice gormet 12" pizza for tea tonight for a quid.


mad rush to the library today too after realising i was about to go into charges on one of my books
sorted and now pinned the receipt for the next lot up on the fridge so in more aware of dates. Should be fine... Was reading a bit less with starting a new job .. Back to full steam ahead