2018 Frugal Living Challenge

Kerry_Woman

This month I have achieved 22 nsd's. Did go over what I have spent this month. Some of the spends I am not going to feel guilty about as there was things I wanted to do on my bucket list(nothing else planned on the list until next year). Did achieve 3 things off my bucket list this month - going over the O2, the shard and the Sherlock Holmes Museum. Going to see The Mousetrap play this Thursday. Did not buy the shampoo bar, as I still have enough of the one I already in for now and used up some cream samples. Decluttered somethings from the flat. After Thursday I am going to concentrate of repainting the flat etc. Am still doing charity walks. Finished my temp job in the school office. Looking at goals for the rest of the year.

FrankieM

I'm on the group Frugaldom I'll leave you to figure out who I am!

So, the last day of the month, tomorrow is the first and pretty much all of the direct debits will have been taken by then so all I'll have in my account is fuel and food money and then personal spends in a seperate account.

I'm going to give cash a go this month. Wish mer luck cause I'm generally terrible with cash but want to make sure I stick to my 'weekly' budget and not borrow from future weeks, giving myself a tiny amount to finish the month on. It's all about balance

I took my lunch into work 22/22 days
No spend days 19/22
Extra money £155.68/£310

Not an altogether awful month, certainly not on the lunch taking anyway. I'm hoping it continues after DS is back at Uni and I'm just feeding myself.

It's just the diet/food/exercise/healthy stuff I need to concentrate on, because the budget feels like it's going to take care of itself.

Currently the only way to stay on track seems to be going to bed at 7.30pm...any other ideas?

spudsmum

Hi all,

Still here lurking - not posting much as nothing much to report just plodding on really.

I have now paid £1300 extra off my debts in the last 6 months and my budget is looking quite healthy too - currently £1048 under. I also have money building up nicely in all my various savings pots and £300 pit away towards Xmas so I'm quite chuffed really. Have to keep on top of it though as I know when I am complacent i tend to let things slide.

On a positive note I was expecting to have to replace my car in July however it massively surprised me by scraping through its MOT with only £400 of work needed so that was a huge bonus and boost to my savings (will carry on saving for a car so might be able to get a slightly better one when the time comes)

Recently I've had quite a few shopping vouchers so I've built up a stockpile of non perishable food in my garage. I am hoping that with careful planning I can now survive on minimal outlay for food (just fruit, milk and a few fridge bits) for the next few weeks at least. Wish me luck.

Good luck with your plan to use cash Frankie - I must confess I've never looked back since I stopped using cards - i just found it so hard to keep track - now I just get my money out once a week and that's that - really makes me question every penny I spend. I do have to be ultra strict with myself though - once the money is gone, it's gone - absolutely no borrowing from future weeks allowed. It does get easier though after a while

Moll

mumof3.12kindebt wrote: »

Kids broke up on Friday for I'm really excited and determined to prove to myself I can give the children an amazing summer without spending a fortune and becoming skint . All of the days out we will take a picnic and snacks and drinks so most of the days will be no spend.

We are off blackberry picking ........ farm foods do a frozen pack of apples for £1 , so should have a lot of puds for the freezer and a fun day out , Going Geocaching later in the week another cheap day out

I

Moll

Im back from my holiday in Cornwall , felt really chuffed with myself that i raised the hotel cash by just de cluttering and being frugal , My friend was amazed. .....we had HOT weather but from what everyone else was saying we had a breeze that some didnt , so we was better off than some ,
My American friend wanted to go to a film convention in London ( Lots of famous people there) i wasnt sure about spending the extra cost , but she had already booked overnight in a hotel . and because id saved the extra money , it covered flights to London from Cornwall and tickets in to it etc etc , it was AMAZING , ive never seen so many famous people in one place , ,Sam Neil ( Jurassic Park ) Aiden Turner (Poldark ....and my mates hero lol ) Jason Mumoa ( Aqua man ) Lots from the star wars films , a lot of the dr who doctors , david duchovny ( x files) lots of people from science fiction series like firefly , etc etc etc , mind you there was some eye openers too , Like remember the dukes of hazard with miss daisy ,,,,,,they were there but so old they was unrecognizable , meatloaf , i didnt see him myself but was told by another friend there that he was on a mobility scooter and looked a bit frail, ,but it was amazing to be there and something ive never done before ,,,,,,,, home for a week , and then i meet up with my friend again for a week in London , before she goes home for another year , enjoying reading what everyone has been up to

Nonnadiluca

End of July update:
Shopping: remaining budget - £1,471.82 / £3,600
Other spends: remaining budget - £1,400.30/£4,800
Annual spends: remaining budget - £8,022.28/£18,000
Premium bonds winnings to date this year- £325
Interest to date this year- £254.66
Roadkill to date this year - £10.12

Shopping still pretty much on track, Other spends budget waaaaay overspent, Annual budget doing well. This is a very instructive challenge!!
How are the rest of you doing?

Tanya12345

Returning after too long !! Everything's somewhat gone to pot, no debts but budgets and plans shot full of holes !! Moving in 10 days so am just going to have to get through the next 2 weeks and rise like a Phoenix from the ashes of the first half (!) of this year. Will be re budgeting and generally spending a couple of days working out what's what ! Well done all those who are still here and in control ! Hopefully that'll be me by sept 1st !! X

FrankieM

Your holiday sounds wonderful mol I love Cornwall.

I had to pick up a bit of salad yesterdat to see me through until Saturday...and some beer, and crisps, and chocolate and cookies. The last lot are out of my personal spending, so a different budget but I need to reign that in if I still want money at the end of the month!

I cooked salmon for tea last night. It was quite nice. I need to work on the flavours a little but I'm putting that on my 'list of teas'

I'm trying to find about 10 different evening meals that I can rotate and just shop for those.

My lunchs are already organised. I have 5 of those.

I think veg buying is going to be a little different when DS goes. Currently things like a packet of asparagus and an aubergine do both of us so I'm gong to have food left over that I can't necessarily freeze, or I'll be eating the same thing two days in a row.

Anyway, lovely to see a few more faces about.

Moll

FrankieM wrote: »

Your holiday sounds wonderful mol I love Cornwall.


I cooked salmon for tea last night. It was quite nice. I need to work on the flavours a little but I'm putting that on my 'list of teas'


i buy 4 salmon pieces from Farm foods and make a cooked dinner with it , with mash and veg , but also add cheese sauce to pour over, it makes it a favourite meal for us . if you havent tried it , i can recommend it ,

Our holiday in Cornwall was done on a budget but we found some beautiful places to visit , also there was a local coach company that did trips. We went on one one day that took us to 3 different places,,,,,,,,,,,,, Started off at Boscastle , a proper Brigadoon type village , no mobile signal lol ,,,,, lovely place , then on to Jamaica Inn for a coffee, and last to Tintagel ( King Arthurs Castle ) we enjoyed shopping in all the little gift shops there ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and the coach trip only cost £12 ,bargain as we were gone all day and travelled all around the coastline

Tanya12345

Sounds like a great holiday Moll, I live not far from Boscastle (next time I'll give you my number and you can pop in for tea n cake ) and still am thankful everyday for the privilege of living here.
FrankieM the list of meals seems like a great idea, I'm going to try and work on much the same idea - thought if I work on simplifying things it would be better both in terms of cost and time !
After a discussion with my kids I decided I would post/ read once a day in the evening ( they're both in bed now so this is a sneaky one !!). I had started to lecture them on spending too much time wedded to their electronics when they pointed out that I don't even make eye contact when they talk to me as I'm on my machine !! Had to gulp and admit it, it has crept up on me as I want to read everyone's stories and that leads to other things then hours pass..... Busted !!
Back to the packing....
Catch up tonight my friends x