2018 Frugal Living Challenge

Frugaldom

Glad you are feeling better, FrankieM, and pleased to see the grmmit surgery was pain free, Moll. Sorry to hear about the lost £20, clearancer, but like others said, it was a lovely thing to do re the £5.

Weather here has been chilly, wet, occasionally frosty and with a few bursts of watery sunshine so we need heating, otherwise everything starts to get dampness through it. I have bubble wrap 'double glazing' on the glass door and on the bathroom window t try and insulate a little, as we are single-glazed throughout - home and caravan.

I'm busy collecting items for our fundraising auctions online, in between prepping apples and making apple cider vinegar. I tried giving away the apples but with so few people passing by, nobody sees them and very, very few locals who see the ads ca warrant the journey just for some apples. So... apple cider vinegar it is, as it's expensive to buy and we use it for the rescued & rehomed ponies.

[Deleted User]

Well, I'm not doing brilliantly on the frugal front as the work on the house is starting this week so I have started to haemorrhage cash!
I know that I have the cash ready for the vast majority of the work but it's scary watching the savings balance reduce so quickly despite it being there for this very reason! I know that it is all going to be worth it in the end and if I hadn't done so well on the frugal front in recent months I wouldn't be in such a good position - I just wish it was all done already...I seem to be focused on little else at the moment!
I'm doing well on the grocery front - I've kept within budget and had cash left over for the past two months so I'm really pleased with myself for that.....fingers crossed that we can keep it up!
Hugs to everyone who needs them x

Couldsavemore

Hello
Some what late to this party!! But better late than never.
I need to get frugal as seem to be wasting a lot of money.
Will be back to read more soon and look at what I need to get sorted to start this in november

Kerry_Woman

Has been a spend day today. Brought a Christian devotional, tv mag and a glass butter dish from a cs. Managed 18 NSDs so far this month.
Have added up everything for the month, as I am hoping it will make me not spend any more money for the rest of the month. Have everything in until next month eg food and toiletries. Made a list of what I have to get next month that is not food related.
Will spend the rest of the day chilling out, doing some household chores and self care. Did walk to and from flat/recycling point/cs.

Frugaldom

I think it sounds as though everyone here is doing not too badly and it's very satisfying to hear your updates, even when some of you consider them more like tales of woe. It's the taking part that counts and being aware of your own spending habits (good, bad and ugly) is our primary concern when debt-busting and/or saving.

I struck it lucky this week, even though it meant a spend of £45, which I was able to pay from my cash tub! I am now the proud owner of a 10 drawer food dehydrator and a big electric urn that can be used for all sorts of things, as it's thermostatically controlled. This means I can now dry my herbs and make the apple cider vinegar much quicker than previously! I've been informed that the 2 items to buy new, would be over £250. :eek:

For those new to the frugal living challenge, we look at frugality and savings from cradle to grave, so for anyone in UK, November is WillAid month. https://www.willaid.org.uk/ We did ours at the point we dropped all our savings into buying and setting up Frugaldom project, it's never too soon to make provision for later.

FrankieM

Welcome couldsave more It's never too late

I've finally got my curtains up and the electric blanket on my bed. I'm not sure about the blackout thermal curtains that I bought for the lounge, they seem very plastic. But hopefully they'll keep the room warmer, which is the main thing.

My curtain poles are very sad looking...I'm not very good at diy, so I'm going to have to get better and I may need to look into buying a drill at some point in the future. Perhaps I'll put it on my Christmas list

It's payday on Friday and I need the factory reset of a new month. My spending has gone down hill as the month has progressed.

Frugaldom

Couldsavemore, I have now added yor name to our chalenger list on page 1 (post 2). It is definitely never too late to start off on an adventure into frugal living.

FrankieM

A better night's sleep last night. It seems that keeping the cats out is the way to go. They are just too awake and disturb me all night.

The curtain on my window is also making the room darker, I've got a street light just outside my house and I'm sure that's helped too.

A decent night's sleep means that I've woken up this morning feeling more on it.

Lunch is made and tea is a tub from the freezer as I'm seeing my DD2 after work for coffee and I don't think I'll feel like cooking after that.

I also had a letter from tax credits about a payment they gave me at the beginning of last year that they now want back. I applied when I was on a very low wage and then the next year when I'd managed to get a better paid job, they decided they wanted every penny they'd given me paid back. So it was a complete waste of time and no help at all. It's annoyed me quite a lot but for now, I'm just paying it all off

FrankieM

Morning

Payday here and factory reset time!

Back to sticking to the menu plan, taking lunch every day, having NSD's and getting a good night time/sleep routine in place.

I've made the first over payment to my loan so that is still on track for the pay off early date.

My weight is back up to where it was, hence the needing to stick to the menu plan, so I need to focus on that for the next couple of months. It's my work Christmas do 6 weeks today and while I'm not going to drop a dress size, I'd like to be under the next 'stone'.

I've been given over time shifts so my emergency fund is building up and I have some items to sell to build up some spending money for my holiday at Christmas, I just need to get them on the appropriate sites.

Happy Friday

Couldsavemore

Thanks frugaldom.
I read your house saving thread... very inspiring!

I've given myself a budget of £80 this week... for food, going out and clothes.

I went food shopping... spent 36 pound. Theres only 2 of us. How on earth do people meet the challenge of £1 per person per day for food! Although £12 was on cat food / litter!

Help please!

I'm already well within my budget but I still seem to be wasting / leaking money.

I'm trying to overpay my mortgage.

Frankie congratulations on that first overpayment!