2016 Frugal Living Challenge

lynnejk

Evening all


Oh dear oh dear - far too many using the horrible failed word. You haven't - it's just a blip, a slip, mortal frailty, a bump in the road


Come on - what does the song say 'Pick yourself up, Dust yourself off and start all over again'. Learning to be frugal is a definite learning curve - or should I say wobble - and no-one's perfect.


There's still four months left of the year - still time to reinvent the wheel :rotfl:


Hope you all have a super September and get back on it
Lx

cw18

The fridge part of my (14.5year-old) built-in fridge/freezer finally gave up the ghost - having to tip 3 lots of milk in 5 days being the big clue !!! For the last 3 or 4 years it's been running colder than it should, and I've not been able to defrost anything in it overnight (as per many instructions), but now I can't get the temp below 9 degrees, and that's due to it being over a freezer

Problem I then had was that the freezer is full, and I've nowhere to rehome the food to. I can't order a replacement built-in without emptying this one, pulling it out, and measuring to ensure new one fits. I'd then have to wait for delivery, install, and wait 24 hours before filling freezer. So I need freezer space for (probably) a week as a minimum - and that's not possible as things stand, but I need a fridge !!!

So I went out after work and picked up the cheapest under-counter fridge I could find, which is now in my hallway as that's the only immediate space I had for it - but by the end of the weekend I want to move my stand-alone freezer to there, and put the fridge in the space that's currently using in the kitchen.

I then plan to work my way through freezer contents gradually. I was already planning to start my batch cooking ready for the winter months, so I can always come home to something easy to cook that suits my need for winter 'stodge' foods (stews & casseroles in the main, but bolognese, chilli and cottage pie type foods as well). Those will take up more space than just the raw (frozen) meat, so it'll have to be done as I free up space by using things like sausages, pies, breaded fish and such.

But doing this means that (hopefully) before Easter I should then have used up most of the batch cooked meals, so if I can stop refilling the freezer from New Year on I should then be in a position to have an empty freezer so I can replace the built-in appliance. In the meantime I'm looking at using the now-defunct fridge space for storing fresh fruit and veg, as the rising cold air from the freezer still means it's cooler than the ambient kitchen temperature.


I did look at counter top fridges, but they were a lot smaller without being much cheaper - and I don't really have the worksurface to put one on. Nor did I really have the time to try and find a cheap second hand fridge, which was another option I considered.

milasavesmoney

cw18 great plan. It should also give you time to look for sales and save for the purchase.

nannygladys

Hi everyone, Frugal day for me no shopping, dgd sitting tonight and eaten food out of the fridge. Tomorrow (today) I will have to do a bit of shopping nothing too special and go to lottie to collect more runner beans to freeze and the sweet corn is ready as well so more veggies to eat and freeze.

Nannyg

miss_empty_piggy

allie23 Welcome back to the wonderful world of teaching. I hope you are enjoying it. As a teacher I'd like to say that I have "areas for improvement" with regards to the frugal living. I'm totally skint as I'm currently buying and selling houses which is proving very expensive, especially as I've had to have some essential repairs done to the house as I couldn't leave it for the next person. This has included having a new shower fitted (which will hopefully be no more than £1k) but have also just spent £900 having the central heating system completely flushed through also - it took them a whole day but they did an amazing job and it works beautifully now. However, these unexpected expenses have meant that frugality is even more of a necessity than usual.

the thing I have mainly been doing is going back to basics - especially with regard to food. Made a huge sunday dinner which fed 5 of us. As I had (purposefully) made more than needed, I chopped everything up and stirred in all the gravy to make lunches for DB and I for 2 days. (1 days worth was frozen. Yesterday we had beef stew in the slow cooker, again with extra veg. This fed 5 of us again and the leftovers have made 2 lunches again, plus I made some pastry and we now have 5 pasties for work/snacking. They've just come out of the oven and they are delicious. It's not much but I'm trying to not let things go off in the fridge and planning meals etc is all helping to keep the bills down.

Took DB to Mr L's for the first time and he was blown away by the fact that we had a trolley full of food for £62. He is used to shopping at Emm and Esss and said he'd have a small basket half full for the same amount.

Oh Yes - he will be converted!!!!!

Happy frugalling everyone. xxx

Savvy_sewing

Juggling money around everyday has become second nature now.
The debts are on 0% so as long as the DD clears them before their end date, I will be fine, and there is no real need to pay them off any sooner as there is no financial gain.
So I have started the various savings pots once more. I'm also looking to up my income by selling off bits and pieces etc.
At the moment I've managed to raise £180 this month from this and that.
But I still keep over spending on the food budget because my can't be bothered attitude after work means I'm slipping into Tesco or co-op and buying daily instead of using my stores.
We are also eating out with new friends more! So I know what I need to do, and I just need to put it all into practise!
Tonight we are out again, for one of my grandchildren's birthday. So I have told myself that I will go back to basics on Thursday. I probably will need to as the double lot of rent goes out, after all the benefit mess ups since July.
I'm still waiting for them to sort it all out.
I'm waiting for a cheque to clear before I can pay them anything more off the council tax.

milasavesmoney

I've been buying a few things as I see great sales for the Christmas stockings. That is almost completed now. Just the candy/nuts to go now.

By drastically cutting down on eating out, I have seen a very big improvement in my monthly finances.
Mooloo you can do this! Just getting back to menu planning...I do this loosely...will help so much. It's a bit of organization but you know how. Cheering you on!

miss_empty_piggy

Just about to go and complete this weeks menu plan before the "big shop". Spent £10 yesterday on fresh fruit and veg for the week. Have got a rough budget of about £20 tops for this week as am amazingly broke. Will be doing a quick stock take and then as frugal as possible. Got unbelievably busy week at work, daughters birthday and mother's 70th! We're buying a house and planning a wedding. I need to stop panicking and just get myself organised. have a great week everyone. xx

Frugal_life

Hi all,

It's been FAR too long since I posted on this thread and I have well and truly slipped out of my frugal ways.

Trying to get back into the swing of everything and trying our best not to overspend on food in particular.

Looked through last month's bank statements and was appalled by the number of frivolous spends at our local Co-Op, simply because we hadn't done a shop that week and failed to prepare breakfasts and lunches.

REALLY need to get back on track and am determined to make tomorrow the first day back on track.

Aiming for a NSD and will prep various bits for lunches and dinners for the week ahead.

Looking forward to getting back on track! Hope you're all having a great weekend

nannygladys

Hi everyone, well things have improved a bit on the frugal front but it could be a lot better, so as I get my pension on Wednesday I'm going to sit down and work out what I'm doing in the next four weeks and then seeing what money I need. I have a freezer full of something as every drawer is full so I will have a sort out in there and October is my winter big supply shop so I will have to go through my cupboards to see what stocks I need (I do this every year and have a budget for it, I live quite rural and it snows in winter so I like some essentials in in case I can't get out) so that's my plan for tomorrow and Tuesday.

I know I have an eye test tomorrow but new glasses are budgeted for as I haven't had any for about five years!!!!

And I have a few babysitting bits for my dd`s but they shouldn't cost me anything and two birthdays so will have to have a look round for things for presents and hopefully that's it, so I think I will go and start cupboard inventory whilst dgd is watching her dvd, oh and I will sort the recycling out as they will be here tomorrow first thing (usually 6.30am!!!!)

Nannyg