2015 Frugal Living Challenge

lynnejk

Needhelpsaving wrote: »

I am going to read back over the older threads, but would love to hear any tips you may have and how you are all getting on. :wave:

I wonder if you would like to join the monthly Grocery Challenge. We are all trying to help and support each other to keep to a sensible household budget - according to our own needs. You will find the next one at

July 2015 Grocery Challenge

kb_soma wrote: »

Hi Everyone, I've been absent from this board a while... I think my last update was two weeks before my debt free date.
Well, I made it, I'm just over 3 weeks debt free.
Edited to add - I'm going to save for early retirement? Why not!

Great News and very well done :dance: :T
Good idea saving for early retirement as well - good luck.

Hope you all have a frugal Friday
Lx

Kerry_Woman

Still plodding along.


Recently I transferred my Cash ISA to another provider to get a slightly better rate on interest. Did not take too long to be transferred.


Was able to get a free new mobile phone when my upgrade date was due. Got an android phone. Managed to get £6 off the monthly price plan and got £5 off the case for the phone. Only got 250 minutes and 250mg, but that should be alright for me. Need the phone really to phone my Mum if and when I am working or out and about. And to check the bus arrival time and the Underground if need be as I care for my Mum.


Managed to get rid of some paperwork and a couple of things in a carrier bag for the cs, will see if there is anything else that I can put in.


Got a tax rebate which has boosted my savings. Am saving up for my future, as I really want to move to a different area, but this is a long term goal.


My only downfall at the moment is M&S. Must try and stay away from the shop as much as possible. Used to go to the area where the shop is every week about a year ago, but only every so often now and try to get reduced things now.


Did get the W@itr0se card and got a free tea/coffee 3 times so far. Did a few bits of shopping there 3 times, as it is the only shop that stocks the natural and organic brand of things that a women needs each month so I stocked up. The nearest one is 2 bus journeys away and can be reached by the tube. If I am doing voluntary work at the area where it is, then I will stock up if need be.


Have finally managed to claim some voluntary work travel expenses. Am still waiting for 2 claims to go through.


Trying to use up what is in the food cupboards and managed to do some baking last weekend.

maria3104

Hi All

Love reading this thread. It gives me so many ideas.

I have spent the last few days in the garden picking blackcurrants and then trying to process them after in the kitchen. This has given me lots of thinking time.

I have always saved for my children and now my GS is on my savings list. I am amazed by the comments made to me by people, from the Ooh well done, I keep meaning to do that to, why would you, it spoils them, this is your time, you should spend all your money on yourself etc. People are so interesting. Our views and living choices are as diverse as can be. I really enjoy cutting back on stuff, living as simply as I can and slowly building a nest egg, currently pension funds, for children and GS. Yes, small amounts, but with compound interest these small amounts will grow I hope. I currently spend £40 a wek on groceries including toiletries, clothes, cleaning stuff and food and genuinely can not tell the difference between the value range products we still buy and their branded alternatives. I have exceptions, I hate cheap red sauce, cheap bread, but I love love cheap butter, tea bags, washing powder, etc and these choices allow me to save for the people I love.

Not sure why I am posting all this here, I blame the vitamin C overdose from too many blackcurrants!

Have a good sunday night all. Please keep posting your ideas and tips.

Maria.

Frugaldom

Welcome to frugaldom frugal living challenge, Maria, I think you posted as you did because you know there are a few like-minded fellow frugalers here, so well done finding us.


Disappointed to see from 20 September 2015, BT's line rental is going up by another £1 per month just to have a phone line without even making a call or accessing the Internet. I suspect they may one day totally shoot themselves in the foot and find many more people migrating to mobile telephony. I would if I could but unfortunately mobile signal is something that hasn't, yet, reached our little rural corner of southwest Scotland.


Approaching the end of month 7, supposedly in the peak of summer, and I am sitting here with fire lit and electric heater on just to keep the place from getting too cold and damp. Forecast is predicting temperatures could drop to near freezing this week - how crazy is that when I'm now almost as far south as I can get in Scotland? Maybe summer will arrive in August! LOL Still, all this rubbish weather means no incentive to go out spending money and the site pool is free, so all the extra swimming is helping with the frugal fitness challenge.

cw18

PlusNet are also putting up their line rental in September - no real surprise as they're BT owned. Won't impact me at the moment though, as I paid for a year up front when I moved to them in March. Suspect everyone will see an increase regardless of provider, as they all seem to go up at the same time....

I know a few people who only have mobile phones (and mobile internet if they use that), but I've not investigated enough to see how mobile internet would work when you have more than one device connecting up at a time. I suspect that it'd be too slow for gaming (DS1 spends most of his time doing that) or streaming Netf!ix and such. DS1's been chomping at the bit for fibre so his games will work better, but it's not available around me unless you're on cable - and cable never got laid to my estate so I can't get that either.

[Deleted User]

Line rental seems to go up every year. I do buy the annual line rental every November. I am thinking of getting rid of my landline phone - friends and family tend to text or phone my mobile and 99% of the calls that do come to the landline are nuisance calls - either silent calls (ironic the phone just went and guess what another silent call), pre-recorded messages and people asking if I'd like a free boiler etc.


I'd love to be able to get rid of line rental but I need the phone line for internet access etc.

I have been busy having a major declutter as per the Marie Kondo book. I am really enjoying it and the rooms/categories that have been done look fab. It is quite draining though as lots of decisions to make so I am having a break today. Lots of stuff to charity shops and a bag of old towels taken up to my local Dogs Trust today. I am selling some unwanted books on Amazon and have made almost £100 which is nice.

Also been using up some bits in the kitchen - carrot, beetroot and coriander soup on the go just now. Never made it with beetroot before so hoping it tastes nice - I love beetroot which helps. HM cookies made and some cheese & Bean pastries being made later.

The sun is shining here today for the first time this week so a washing out on the line too.

I hope everyone is having a good week.

Kerry_Woman

Have now managed to claim back most of my volunteer travel expenses. Just waiting for one to go through. My plan is that after August, I want to cut back on the amount of voluntary work I do, as I need to have more time to work on the things I want to achieve within the next 5 years. One of them is to save up so that I can move away from the area that I am living at.


My Mum and I went to Clacton on Wednesday for a day trip. Was picked up from flat and dropped off there at end of day. It was a disablement association who does day trips in the summer. The minibus was full. Was very handy to take my Mum in her wheelchair. Did buy lunch there. Popped into M&S there to buy some muffins to go with the flask of coffee that we brought with us. Was cheaper than buying pudding there.

his_missus

Hubby has been away with work all week (was expected back on Wednesday but things went pear shaped).


This means that I have no need to do any food shopping this week other than a few fresh bits and pieces as I've not touched any of the meals in the freezer (they're all portioned for 2)


I have also fed myself this week for £10 - I can eat so much more cheaply than Hubby can


Unfortunately I've had to fork out £21 on bus fares

Wombatchops

his_missus wrote: »

Hubby has been away with work all week (was expected back on Wednesday but things went pear shaped).


This means that I have no need to do any food shopping this week other than a few fresh bits and pieces as I've not touched any of the meals in the freezer (they're all portioned for 2)


I have also fed myself this week for £10 - I can eat so much more cheaply than Hubby can


Unfortunately I've had to fork out £21 on bus fares

His missus, this could so easily have been written by me. My not-so DH (he'll be back in my good books when he stops eating the kids' cereal) is eating us out of house and home. It's getting ridiculous. I actually doctor his food by substituting mince for porridge oats, and hiding snacks like biscuits and chocolate because he has no restraint. People ask me how old my kids are and I tell them that the big girl is 5, the boy is 2, the baby girl is 6 months, and my eldest is my 37 year old husband.

I recently tried an experiment. He slathers margarine, he doesn't spread it. When he makes sandwiches he has two fillings, one of them being the margarine. It's obscene how quickly we get through the stuff. So, in June, I bought two 1kg packs, dated them both, and labeled one as his and one as mine. His was just for him, mine was for me and the kids. He finished his in a little over a month. I still have a third left. It would be more but it took me a while to realise he'd started using mine. As soon as I realised I put a stop to it and made him buy his own with his own money. I wanted him to realise just how ridiculous his eating is getting, both for our bank balance and his already overweight waistline. Sadly, he got the message but has no intention to change his ways.

My problem is he has previously been classed as obese, and this meant we had to pay more for his life insurance. His overeating is affecting his health and our finances. But he's stubborn and wants to eat. He's not going to go on a diet. So I need to do this stealthily.

He is a massive meat eater. It's not a meal without meat. Plus he doesn't do vegetables. I know this would be a good place to start. So how do I trick him into eating less meat, eating more vegetables, and thereby helping his physical health and our financial health?

Any ideas on this or anything else would be gratefully received. I really need to get our shopping spend down. Thank you, and sorry for the rant.

cw18

Wombatchops wrote: »

He is a massive meat eater. It's not a meal without meat. Plus he doesn't do vegetables. I know this would be a good place to start. So how do I trick him into eating less meat, eating more vegetables, and thereby helping his physical health and our financial health?

DS1 (aged 26) is another who has to have meat, meat and more meat - and puts loads of the veg I serve him into the bin.

With regards to the meat, I regularly do mince dishes that I doctor with oats and/or lentils. He's not happy when he spots the lentils, but I don't think he's spotted the oats yet :whistle:

When I do bolognese or chilli it's not unheard of for me hide veg in them (finely diced courgette tends to disappear fairly well), though he's more than happy with loads of mushrooms in the bolognese (I normally use 750g mushrooms with 450-500g lean mince, a good handful of oats and another of lentils) and I've been increasing the quantity of kidney beans I put into chilli (now up to the equivalent of 2 tins to 450-500g mince plus oats and lentils). And I normally get away with finely diced pepper in either (red is best as he's thinks it the tinned chopped tomatoes that he's happy to have in them ).