2018 Frugal Living Challenge

Grezz24

What sites do you go on for earning money via surveys?

DawnW

Grezz24 wrote: »

What sites do you go on for earning money via surveys?

Others will have other suggestions, but I use Pinecone, Yougov, Ipsos I say, Prolific and Onepoll.

Pinecone and Yougov don't send many surveys but don't screen you out. I have used them for years. The others I have joined more recently. Ipsos screen me out of loads, but always award a few points by way of compensation, which do add up and can eventually be exchanged for Amazon vouchers.

I am not the ideal demographic for most of these companies to be honest, not being interested in brands, being older and not having children at home, so don't earn that much. Others on these boards do much better.

Nonnadiluca

Frugaldom, I didn't know you were a hedge fund manager!

MadamMim2013

Hi all,
Loving that you've bought all those trees Frugaldom, I live with a few beauties near me (the outskirts of a town) so many people have said we should cut them down as we can't get a certain provider of tv programmes here (their dishes just cannot get a signal) pfft.. :mad:
I would much rather enjoy the trees and it's saving me tons of money not having the overpriced tv service too! :rotfl:

Glad to see I'm still on the list, been doing my sums this morning and I too have to start getting a lil more tough with myself! I've done well with the book situation, no more in unless from the library, they then get to go back! Reading what I have as well..
Really want to save as much as possible this next year as my eldest will be leaving college next year and then any financial help/tax credits, etc will be reduced by over half! Want to be in a good place both financially and frugally to see me forward :T
Thanks for all the encouragement and ideas, it keeps me on track and looking to the future :smileyhea

shish100

Evening!
Been reviewing my spends and my habits are definitely changing, food spend is moving in the right direction. Socialising spend too, a bit more difficult with this one, but switching the last drink to a soft drink and drinking slower is helping
Been set back overall by a couple of big spends - car repairs in February, work on the camper this month. But the impact of that has been softened by the frugalling.

My fingers are crossed that everything goes to plan for the next few months - no unexpected bills. Then I can make some headway with overpayments on debt.

Looking forward to getting out in the garden and seeing what I get from the seeds I have planted. I think my fruit trees might need another year yet, before I get any fruit.

Hope you all have managed to get a bit of sunshine over the weekend - even if it was a bit breezy.

Nonnadiluca

End of April roundup:
Amounts remaining of annual budget:
Shopping - £2,402.48/£3,600 , on target so far
Other spends - £2,464.85/£4,800, way over, not helped by dishwasher dying and having to get a replacement. I've worked out though that an average underspend of £55 per month for the rest of the year could bring it back so careful planning needed.
Annual spends - £12,036.22/£18,000.
Extra money so far this year - £250 premium bonds winnings, £8.00 roadkill and £276.30 interest on my ISA.
OH salary increase and my pension increase give us about £20 a month extra, whoopy doo!!!
Thanks again for the inspiration, this challenge definitely focuses the mind!

Rosesandrainbows

Evening everyone No 67 reporting in.

I am still here and reading daily despite not posting lately. Still trying my best at saving the pennies but a broken boiler and a few other unexpected expenses have meant things haven't been exactly plain sailing. On the positive side, if I wasn't being careful with my money then things could be much worse.

Well done to everyone else with the frugal activities. Its all very impressive to read about. Keep up the good work.

DawnW

Evening all
I don't post every day by any means, but read every post and religiously record all spending in my spending diary / trusty spreadsheet
Nonnadiluca's post inspired me to look in depth at my spreadsheet and my total spends for April and all of 2018 so far:
April spends: £1984.36 :eek: which included a hefty car repair bill plus 4 new tyres.
Spends to date in 2018 (this includes everything): £7063.68
It has been an expensive year to date OH has required expensive private physiotherapy / chiropractic treatment on his back, now thankfully much better, we had to help out a relative who had fallen on hard times and was homeless, and this month it has been vehicle costs
This means I have £10,521.76 left out of my annual budget of £17,585.44, so economies will be needed, especially as most of the annual bills still need to be paid once due, and more hefty vehicle costs are expected during the coming month :eek:
I am enjoying the challenge - if we end up spending over the budgeted amount, we have savings to cover it, so no debt will be incurred, and we won't starve - though of course I would rather avoid overspending if possible!

Now looking forward to more home grown produce to help keep the grocery bills down

FrankieM

Morning

My money tracking has gone by the way side the past couple of months so I need to get back on that this month.

I did my monthly delivery shop last night so I'll be batch cooking this weekend, which has worked really well for me this month.

I've also swapped out the expensive coffee and I've picked some up from Aldi and I'm using up some cheeapish shampoo and conditioner that I've got and then I'm going to give the Boots stuff that was recommended a go.

Unfortunately the past couple of days I've either had to put the heating on or the electric fire, due to the temperature dropping. It feels like a bit of a failure. I was really hoping to see those bills going down.

Robi90

I've used the spreadsheet to calculate my budget for the remaining 2/3 of the year based on my expected income. Will be tough but I think it is doable. Eating out and spontaneous social events are my biggest hurdle. I tend to be an emotional spender. After receiving some counselling my mood is a little more balanced so hopefully this won’t continue to be an issue.

The sun has at least decided to make an appearance today! Hope everyone is having a good week so far.:T