Living below your means

sophistica

My tips for living within your means are:
1. Get rid of your debts, loans credit cards and if you can't pay cash in one instalment don't buy it.
2. Never pay retail use pound shops, ebay and charity shops, 70% off internet sales for everything that you would normally buy on the high street
3. Get an alternative source of income that you don't need to work for e.g. rental income
4. Put away a sum of money as a priority to make yourself bullet proof against job losses and other disasters like appliances breaking down.
5. Learn to cook properly so if you want a good meal you can have it at home.
6. Don't get seduced by brand labels and other people's ridiculous spending habits.

[Deleted User]

Well here we are again and its October 2011 .The country is even a worse state than it was back in 2005 when the thread started.

I am still on my normal frugal path and at the moment I'm working my way through my freezer so I can defrost it.I now cook more in the way of HM cakes and biscuits to help my DD out with her hollow legged sons

Both her and her OH have to work full time to keep a roof over their heads and she also does a part-time job at the week-end With five children you can imagine it takes quite a bit of juggling.but I'm on hand first thing in the morning at 07.45 to help with the three youngest and at 3.30. to get the boys home safe from school I stay until one of the parents arrive home which could be between 6.15-7.00 at night.I also do full time for her during the holidays .The boys are brilliant and help their Granny out with tidying up and stacking the dishwasher etc.Things have got harder for so many people over the past 6 years

I hope that those of you who were here in the beginning are still coping o.k.
I allow myself £100.00 on the first of the month for food and essentials, and last month I had £4.50 left over This goes straight away into a seperate account towards next years holidays.I can manage very well on this as I make a lot of home made soups and all of my food is cooked from scratch.(I don't do 'pinged ready made meals' meals )I always make extra so that I can freeze surplus portions for later.

This time of the year is excellent for foraging blackberries and fallen apples so a few pies there with a bit of ingenuity for Jan-Feb.I'm not a huge bread eater and picked up a seeded brown loaf from tesco's last night for 25p this will be split into portions of four slices and then frozen as four slices at a time in my bread bin is more than enough.

I always have a piece of scrap paper by the kettle (usually an old envelope) on which I write down exactly what I have run out of or really need.This I take with me when ever I go to the shops and buy only what's on there unless I see a real bargain like my bread last night that was reduced from £1.50.I use only cash to buy food and once my weekly amount of £25 is gone thats it until the following week.Its amazing how quickly you adapt when seeing the money go out of your purse to making sure you have enough in there to last the rest of the week This is how the majority of women shopped when I was young and we always had 'Thursday night dinner' which was usually what ever was left in the fridge cobbled together to make a meal before your Oh got paid on a Friday.Helps you to focuss no end

This month the first is today, so I have £25 in my 'food purse' to last me until next Saturday.I have nothing to buy today so it will stay there until tomorrow or Monday.Any money I have left over next Saturday will go in with the next £25.00 and so on until the four weeks is up.What's left, if anything will get deposited into the holiday fund which is in a building society a bus ride away so I'm not tempted to 'break into it'.

All of my other bills Gas,Electric insurances,t.v. licence,water rates are paid for by DD monthly.I top my car up with diesel once a month, and use my cash back credit card to do that which is paid off every month .I do have several different savings accounts that I stick some cash into some of which I can't take out for a certain time .So I think I manage very well at the moment .When you live on a set income of a pension you learn to adapt your spending needs accordingly.

Things that are free are :

Library books ,my library also do jigsaws which in the winter are great.

a nice slow walk in the park in the amazing sunshine that we have at the moment

Museums: I love the Maidstone one and can spend a lot of time in there wandering around.

Foraging for blackberries at my local country park (I never go without a tuppaware box)

If I go to the movies I have a cinema exhibitors ticket that gets me two tickets for the price of one so my friend and I spilt the cost of one ticket and see a film at half price

My local cinema also does a 'seniors morning' where you can get a fairly new movie for £3.00 plus a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits Its usually very busy as us old 'uns enjoy the cinema

I also like a good wander around the CS although I don't often buy much as I have enough junk in my own house .My expensive items that I buy are good shoes as I can't be doing with 'unhappy feet'.My Mum gave me the best piece of advice ever .Make sure that you have good shoes and a good bed, as if your not in one, your in the other, and once every two years or so I will treat myself to a good winter coat.

My heating only goes on for an hour as and when needed, the hot water is on timed at two hours in the morning which heats up a full tank of hot water.
If its chilly in the evening and its not worth putting it on I will wrap a knitted blanket around my knees to keep warm as I don't stay up that late as I'm up early in the morning .
Sitting watching t.v. is o.k. but unless it something I really want to see I would rather go to bed and read.
I boil the kettle up first thing in the morning and what's left I will top my flask up with for a cuppa during the day

I bought a Remoska a couple of years ago and its more than paid for itself
Saving your money is a case of organising yourself really .+I don't live below my means, but well within my means and have done for many years .My treats are my spring holiday with my best friend and my fortnights summer holiday with my DD and her tribe Its a case of balancing what you need against what you buy,two very different things

Lost_and_nervous

Hi everyone, I am a newbie to this post and after reading lots... wow so many good ideas and things that dont take much effort!!!!! Looks like I am going to enjoy cutting back even further!! Thank you all for the tips! xxx

VfM4meplse

Great post JackieO!

JackieO wrote: »

Foraging for blackberries at my local country park (I never go without a tuppaware box)

I really fancy doing this tomorrow, any ideas for where to bramble on the East London / Essex borders? Haven't seen them in Epping Forest which would be my most obvious choice.

ETA I went foraging earlier and was a bit disappointed - most had dried up on the bramble and the remaining ones were red, ie unripened. So there were slim pickings, although I found a load of wild blueberries which were perfect. I picked a couple of leaves and am googling images as we speak - just to make sure they are in fact blueberries!!!

westcoastscot

What an interesting thread - jackie I always enjoy your posts, thankyou.
I'm living below my means just now - I work 17.5 hours a week in a job I love, but currently am working an extra 12, temporarily until next summer. I'm also studying full time, which comes an end in May. I plan to only continue with my permanent contract from next summer onwards, so am living on that amount, using the excess to build up a wee savings pot, and to get rid of my last bits of debt. I've found that the more I work the less time I have to be frugal, and I've remembered that i'd rather work at home to save money than earn more - I'm missing having time to garden every day, to craft, make my own clothes, sit and watch the sunset, so that's my plan. It's completely doable - cannot wait until next summer!!!
WCS