2016 Frugal Living Challenge

HOWMUCH

Hello everyone hope you're all enjoying the Easter Break, we really enjoyed our frugal £41.28 Haven break we got back in Good Friday had 4 nights away. The weather was lovely and sunny and we managed to get on the beach with DGS. We had our bargain fish and chips £2.20 per portion they sell them as a small portion but they are normal size for us. We also had our magnum ice creams from Heron Foods 6 for £2. I've totted up the food receipts for this month £87.85 we've yet to refill the car with petrol but didn't run around in it so should be too much . x

FunBrum

Hope you all had a great Easter! :easter_os

I'm still packing for my friends house move and will be glad when this week is over! I'm stressed and its not even me moving! :eek:

I've done well this month with my spends, only shopped 4 days so far! :j
I was frugal with my Easter egg spends and only bought eggs for my 6 GC ,and a bar of chocolate for my my friends. A huge bar on offer. Was £3.99 down to £3.

I'm painting my spare room tomorrow and was going to add a splash of colour to the white walls. I've got plenty of Magnolia and white paint, and I was going to mix the colour up with a tester pot. Wilkos had 2.5or for £8 reduced from £12, so I bought some. It will jazz the room up a treat and I'm won't have to worry about not mixing enough paint to compete the job!

I've been given a chest of pine drawers that I will shabby chic to match the wardrobe and bed and the carpet is in good condition, so it will be a very cheap make-over! Can't wait to get started! :T

I'm off to finish off the last of sorting and packing for my friend. It's tools so anything that is duplicated or unwanted, it will be in a box for the carboot!:D

milasavesmoney

I'm setting my goal to cook and eat the food we have in two & 1/2 freezers and my huge food glut. I have already started doing this in Feb., but just found and subscribed to this challenge. I plan to supplement with my garden and buy fresh veggies, fruit, eggs and dairy. I will average last year's monthly spends on groceries and TA and then set my grocery spending goal for half that amount. This will also include cleaning etc supplies as I have no way to separate those items out from my monthly average.

I'm working on taxes at the moment so as soon as that's done I can set my monthly goal. I plan to deposit the money saved into my Christmas account. I have five children, two with spouses and one granddaughter. We have big holiday events. My goal is to use no CC while also cutting back on gift cost. It's ridiculous how much I spend at Christmas.:eek:

FunBrum

milasavesmoney....sounds like a plan. Good luck! :T

I have enough toiletries and cleaning items for at least the next two years. I have challenged myself not to buy any until all is used up.

cw18

FunBrum wrote: »

I have enough toiletries and cleaning items for at least the next two years. I have challenged myself not to buy any until all is used up.

For me it's that and then some, and that's after buying almost nothing in those categories for the last 2 years :eek:

Although I'm having to allow myself to purchase a few special items such as lip salve (with SPF) and eye drops, which I'm finding a need for since I started working out of doors. And I may run out of my daytime face cream this year - an essential for working out of doors, especially as I always get one with SPF10 or SPF15. I don't get on well with sun cream on my face - most I've tried bring me out in blotches or spots after a while, and the rest were much dearer than the face creams I've found I get on with

HOWMUCH

Hello everyone, well we've refilled the car and it cost £28, so the total cost of the holiday was £69.28 for 4 night. I'm over the moon with that spend.

Treasurequeen

My money will be reduced this year due to a change in my circumstances. I have budgeted for Christmas and birthday presents throughout the year. And so far on birthdays have come in under budget and only have three more people to buy birthday gifts for this year. I have also done a main bill budget spreadsheet and I will only have a little bit leftover each month. I won't need to buy many toiletries this year as I seem to have stocked up on a lot of them on special offers. I don't use body moisturisers anymore I now use coconut oil and wow the difference is great and it's only £6.00 for a large jar that lasts months. Cleaning materials I either make or use natural cleaners due to my asthma. I make my own room sprays, reed diffusers, mould spray and toilet fizz bombs, so have saved some money there and they last longer.:)

[Deleted User]

Treasurequeen wrote: »

My money will be reduced this year due to a change in my circumstances. I have budgeted for Christmas and birthday presents throughout the year. And so far on birthdays have come in under budget and only have three more people to buy birthday gifts for this year. I have also done a main bill budget spreadsheet and I will only have a little bit leftover each month. I won't need to buy many toiletries this year as I seem to have stocked up on a lot of them on special offers. I don't use body moisturisers anymore I now use coconut oil and wow the difference is great and it's only £6.00 for a large jar that lasts months. Cleaning materials I either make or use natural cleaners due to my asthma. I make my own room sprays, reed diffusers, mould spray and toilet fizz bombs, so have saved some money there and they last longer.:)

I used to use coconut oil years ago and loved it. Thanks for the reminder - I must start using it again. But like others here I have some body lotion to use up first. The stuff I used to get was in superdrug, but I'm not sure where I would get it now. Where do you get yours?

I save and budget for birthdays and Christmas throughout the year too. And I often buy things as I see them and stash them away. I have my eye on a wee bag in accessorise for my niece's birthday (which is in November) which I am hoping to see in their sale soon.

Treasurequeen

allie I bought the last jar in sainsburys,but I usually keep an eye out for Holland and Barrett's penny sale or buy one get one half price as I collect loyalty points on top too. :j

milasavesmoney

Cooked out of my freezer tonight. Burritos.
I bought the tortillas and cheese but the rest was stuff I had on hand. I hate making tortillas. I guess I'll have to add those into the 'things I will buy list'.
My OH is going on a fishing trip for a week, so I should be safe from grocery store spending for that length of time.