2018 Frugal Living Challenge

spudsmum

Indigo warrior- so pleased you managed to get sorted out.

CW18 - well done! I doubt i could run to the end of the street so i have massive envy of anyone who can run a marathon.

Interesting the discussion about people using their cards - I'm the opposite, I try not to use my cards at all - over the years I've managed to convince myself its not real money and I find it a little too convenient and so hard to keep track of the spends and thats whats led me to overspend. Now I draw my money out once a week then my card goes away. Interesting to see how we all manage things differently.

Still plodding along nicely here - its been a bit of an expensive month so I'll be glad when I get paid on Thursday and can reset everything.

Its now exactly 3 months since my LBM so I did some reckoning up the other day

In the last 3 months i've:

:A paid £673 extra off my debts
:A knocked 10 months off my debt free date
:A squirreled away £1714 of money that would normally have been wasted
:A put £400 + in my emergency fund plus money in various other savings "pots"
:A made extra income of £420 from surveys and online sales.
:A come in a total of £506 under budget so far.

I'm absolutely blown away by what I've achieved in such a small space of time with minimal effort. This has really spurred me on to keep on with it. Frugality rocks!!

indigowarrior

I am the same as Spudsmum. I went to a pub the other day for food as had an hospital appointment was very hungry. The barmaid automatically turned to get the card machine when I paid and was surprised I paid in cash.

Frugaldom

Hoping to hear you did OK, CW18 The weather in England was certainly not the lashing rain we had here in Scotland so let us know you survived your scorching ordeal!

indigoWarrior, Glad you managed to get yourself sorted with housing, hopefully it didn't take too much drastic action to get you there. I sometimes despair of the whole system! Concentrate on keeping the regular bills paid even if you need to live off baked beans, eggs, cheese and toast with the occasional banana & yoghurt treat, everything will fall into place nicely once you have total freedom from any debt.

Card spending, for me, is about having a running account of all my spends. If it isn't paid by card, I try to use bank transfers so it is a simple case of keeping note of all transactions without the need for paper receipts. Trying to be as waste free as possible (particularly plastics & polythene) when relying on online orders makes it impossible. I never spend what I don't have, then no matter how much it is, the card gets cleared within the interest free period and I get 1% cashback. No doubt the cashback element will end at some point but it is handy for now.

Well done with your debt payments and savings, spudsmum, could you use all your savings pots to pay off more of the debts? As soon as they have all gone, think how much more quickly you could recoup and amass new savings! Have you calculated that figure yet? (How much you will have each week once all debts are gone)

cw18

I'm alive, I'm home, and I'm able to move around

Apologies for the length (and rambling) of the rest of this post - I've basically compiled one report that I'm sharing in all the various places people wanted updates


I was hoping to make 6hr 15, but looked safe for 6hr 30. However, I've always said that as long as I got round in time to get a medal I was happy. (That was 8 hours after the last were due to start, and I was about 8 minutes ahead of that crossing the start line.)

At the 6 mile point I had a few minutes to spare on the 6hr pace, but between there and the 7 mile point I started to lose it. After the 8 mile marker I walked much, much more than I attempted to run because of the heat (and also had to take a short break just before mile 19 to get a blister dressed). I saw several runners lying on the ground with St Johns staff taking care of them, and an ambulance tearing off on blues and twos from one of those spots (with two others still on the ground), so there was no way I was going to over exert myself and risk ending up like that.

I eventually crossed the finish line in 6hr 48mins 50secs, and I'm pleased with that. The longest organised event I've ever done before was a 10km which was just over 7 years ago, and the training really didn't go to any kind of plan due to work pressures (I'm a postie, so late Oct to mid Jan is our busiest time of year with longest working days). The longest (and only real outing of any significance) I managed was mid-March when I did 19.75 miles in 5hrs 30 on roads in the Lakes (with 3 serious inclines)

The final push I needed to keep going was the knowledge I've raised around £1,300 for When You Wish Upon A Star (I had a ballot place, so this was all done with no pressure), and I felt that I owed it to those who'd sponsored me to complete the course.

The thing I'm taking away with me more than anything else is the support from the crowds. I didn't have my name on my top (wouldn't have shown as I had a water bladder strapped on), but that didn't stop them cheering everyone on. And I was especially grateful to those who were offering jelly babies or jelly beans (I'll definitely be carrying jelly babies next time I do a long run), and one little chap who was sharing his beef hula hoops (I thought his hand was out for a high-five, and only realised at the last second he was offering food).

I was very grateful for my water bladder given the number of water stations that had run out before I got there. I counted 3 for sure but think it was actually 4, with 2 more about to run out where I was relieved to be able to turn down the offer and leave for those behind me. Plus an empty and by then well deserted Lucozade Sport station, and also a gel station! My bladder take 3 litres, and I came back with a third of that left - but I'd taken a 250ml bottle of water waiting for the start and at two of the early stations (I was worrried about supplies later on if I ran out of my personal supply), plus a 380ml bottle of Lucozade at the first of those - so I actually took on more than the 3 litres (which is more than I think I've ever drunk in a single day before) and I still felt dehydrated back at the apartment. I managed without a single toilet stop after leaving the accommodation at 7:40am until we got back to it which amazed me.

The one thing I didn't appreciate was a 5:04am text from Virgin Money with an updated weather report - which stated that there were 'possible wet conditions early on' and temperatures that 'might rise to 23C' !!!! My alarm was set for 6am, and I never really nodded off properly again.

I ended up with a large blister on the inside of the heel of my right foot, a matching blister on my left foot (the one I had dressed), another under my left foot (central on the ball, which is making walking uncomfortable but not impossible even after bursting it - and I'm back in work on Thursday), and two on the toes of my left foot (to the left of the nails of the two nearest my big toe). Lots of dressings in place, but my legs are fine. Managed the 3 mile walk from finish line to accommodation (hobbling because of the blisters), the walks from accommodation to tube, tube to train, train to bus and bus to home (via chemist for dressings) yesterday, and almost 3 miles to a local hospital today for a shoulder x-ray (I was booked in for it before the marathon). I did bottle the walk back though - partly due to the under foot blister, but mainly due to the fact it started pouring down and I hadn't taken a waterproof with me

But I now have a Personal Best for a marathon (to add to my 5k, 5 miles and 10k PBs) which is something I can try to better. And I'm already looking at Manchester in April 2020 for my next, as it's close enough to home to mean the only expenses will be entry fee and car parking. The travel and accommodation for London has put a serious dent in my already feeble bank account balance, but it's a Bucket List item thoroughly ticked off and we made good use of our 1st class train tickets by spending time in the lounges before trains enjoying additional free tea, coffee and cakes (and also when we arrived in London so that I didn't have to pay to use station facilities ). Gives me 2 years to train better, and means that any office sponsorship this time next year is there for one of my colleagues who's already signed up for Manchester 2019. I suspect she and I may have to cross-check plans for big events that merit asking for sponsorship to be sure we don't clash, partly because of asking colleagues to cough up but also because of getting time off to get to them and recover afterwards.

Would I do London again? Unlikely, but never say never........

DawnW

Well done CW18, a great achievement
Hope your blisters heal quickly though, especially given your line of work!

spudsmum

Frugaldom wrote: »

Card spending, for me, is about having a running account of all my spends. If it isn't paid by card, I try to use bank transfers so it is a simple case of keeping note of all transactions without the need for paper receipts. Trying to be as waste free as possible but relying on online orders makes it impossible. I never spend what I don't have, then no matter how much it is, the card gets cleared within the interest free period and I get 1% cashback. No doubt the cashback element will end at some point but it is handy for now.

Well done with your debt payments and savings, spudsmum, could you use all your savings pots to pay off more of the debts? As soon as they have all gone, think how much more quickly you could recoup and amass new savings! Have you calculated that figure yet? (How much you will have each week once all debts are gone)

You're a lot more disciplined than me frugaldom - i always found it was the little things - the two pound here and three pound there that i'd just forget about but all added up and I'd be thinking I hadnt bought anything then get a nasty shock when i checked my bank balance. Now I use cash and make a note of everything in my little book. That said I'm so much more thoughtful about what I spend now so I probably wouldnt make as many of those small purchases. Perhaps in a bit I'll try reintroducing cards to see if i can trust myself.

That an interesting thought about the savings pots - i'd not really considered if like that. When all my debt is gone I'll be about £380 per month better off - if I'm also lucky enough to be able to sell my second house I'll be mortgage free and about £1200 a month better off in total - that would be amazing.

Most of my savings pots are for specific short term goals - the main one being i need to replace my car in a few months Also I'm putting money away towards yearly insurance to avoid the monthly interest cost and also for any other forseeable expenses like car tax. Unfortunately at the moment if i threw all the savings at the debt although I'd save some money on the interest I worry it wouldnt be enough to allow me to recoup the amount I needed for those bills by the time I needed to pay them. All advice snd suggestions are very welcome though - I'm trying to find a way to spread the cost of big bills and have money put aside ready for all my expenses so its sustainable and I dont fall back into using my credit cards like in the past if that makes sense? However I do have some savings for the longer term (eg retirement) sadly I have a good few years before thats a possibility so it may make more sense to pay that money off the debt then start those savings afresh - hmmm!

CW18 wow thats really impressive - well done and i hope your feet feel better soon.

Pipsmum

Congratulations CW18 - that is fantastic. I hope your blisters heal quickly.

Savvy_sewing

Nearly 5 months into the year and I am no where near the plans and budget I want to be. I have struggled to keep up with my work and home life etc has been very hit and miss. Last week I did my business accounts and before I get them to the accountant I am looking at just breaking even. Where I am loosing it is with higher staff wages etc and huge fuel bills. I am not going to keep my shop when the lease comes up for renewal in September 2019.
The problem I have is that I have not been able to pay myself regularly and my personal account is also dire.
I am going to have to start all over again.
Going to reread the thread, revisit my entitlement to any benefits and cut staffing levels. Somehow I have to keep the business going until the lease runs out. Not feeling very confident at the moment.

Frugaldom

Mooloo wrote: »

Nearly 5 months into the year and I am no where near the plans and budget ... Somehow I have to keep the business going until the lease runs out. Not feeling very confident at the moment.

Oh no, poor you, Mooloo, after trying so hard to keep afloat. Are your staff actual employees or self-employed freelancers? Hopefully the latter, as I know the costs of paying staff off can be just as crippling, if not worse! What with pensions, paid holiday entitlements and final pay-off sums etc, it is a sad day for little businesses struggling to suvive. I know so many small or family run businesses whose staff grumble about wages while the owners - their employers - do without a wage in order to keep staff in jobs. Are your staff members aware of the situation and if so, can they suggest a way to actively support the business t get it bac on its feet and functioning as a profitable enterprise, one that covers your own costs as well as theirs? Could you do your own tax return to save on accountancy fees? I will rack my brains for ideas, but I'm not sure what tpe of business you have, sorry. (For some reason I am thinking swimming coach juggling twins, so apologies for mixing you up with someone else if that's completely off the mark.:o )

Kerry_Woman

Mooloo - Sending you hugs.