2018 Frugal Living Challenge

CheshireCat

grandma247 wrote: »

Cheshire cat a visual helps with motivation for paying off the mortgage.

I taped the two short ends of A4 paper together and drew a thermometer on it.

I drew a line down the middle of it then drew sections on it across that line.

The amount owed went into the bulb at the bottom and i coloured the bulb red.

Each section represented one week as we arranged with the mortgage company to pay weekly by standing order.

On one side was the amount paid and the other was the new sum owed (Brain fog so can't remember the correct term.)

I coloured in a section weekly with a red crayon after it was paid so it stood out.

The paper was taped to the side of a cupboard so it was easily seen.

My hubby got on board after that. We have paid off the mortgage and built up a small savings pot and are still adding to it even though we are living off one pension and tax credits for our youngest.

Thanks for this tip grandma247! I'm getting this on our fridge ASAP!:T

sinkorswim2018

£1.19 spent today, charcoal toothpaste ( whitening apparently, makes my 16 yr old very happy) and 19p for paracetamol, we were out. One the bright side took a prepared salad to work and tea bags (lemon and ginger) even though on a course so money saved there. Cooking my.bargain turkey now (4.48 from Aldi) smells good. Cooking giblets for stock and treat for the dog....better turn it off now, thinks It's done.

mumof3.12kindebt

Started painting my hall with paint I already had in the shed. It looks better already but its going to take forever

nannygladys

Hi everyone
Not much has been happening here, I haven't been out at all but u can't seem to get myself motivated to do anything.
Right when I get up (and it seems to be getting later and later) I must start some cleaning, I think I will start with the bathroom and then go through my clothes (that won't take long) and then do a freezer inventory. These jobs wont take very long at all but I seem to be a cba frame of mind!
I had lo for lunch and then different lo for tea, but it was very nice, anyway I must get some sleep if I want to be up at a reasonable time.
Nannyg

PennyGrabber

Why am I awake?!! Will head back to sleep if I can soon - that's frugal!!

Ended up spending £1 on the parking, which I was annoyed about as was in and out in five minutes, and then realised it was extra fuel too as the place was over four times further away than my normal dr surgery. Was sorely tempted to buy takeout for both lunch and dinner but it's becoming easier to say no to myself. Just had something from the cupboards, which used up some ridiculous stock! I made double, so just need to ping my dinner tonight, saving on gas usage.

I need to enter a shop today as the cat has run out of wet food, so will need to resist temptation to wander around. My main shop isn't until Sunday, and I don't need anything else until then. Must resist!! Hopefully having the flu will work in my favour for this, as I'll want to be back home asap...

PG x

bustiblondilocks

Spent 25.66 yesterday on eggs, RTC Christmas cards for December (at 38p for pack of 20) and mainly a paper shredder.
I've decided the frugal life will be eased by going minimalist ( a lifelong dream) and I need to seriously declutter. I have every bill and bank statement and weekly wage slips since 1998! Time to have a clear out! So whilst I'm mad at myself for not having a no spend day yet I will spend my time clearing out and shredding not shopping and getting more stuff....or that's the theory!

Rosesandrainbows

Yesterday was an NSD and I made all meals from stores.

Today will be a small spend day as I am going out for a pub lunch with family. I only intend to have one course to see the costs down and on the plus side it means I don't have to cook tonight.

Jobs for the weekend include,
stocking the fire baskets with wood as the weather is set to turn a bit colder
making some pizza bases to pop in the freezer
use up some of the rhubarb in the freezer and make a crumble
clean the house

It all very boring but should be enough to keep me occupied without finding the need to venture out. We had a very busy year in 2017 and I am really embracing this new simple, frugal routine.

Have a lovely Friday and weekend

CheshireCat

NSD today. I'm in the depths of marking hell today (I'm a teacher). Trapped in the house due to sheer amount of work I have to do before Monday. On the plus side, means I cant go out to get a coffee, my ultimate weakness. ASDA instant tastes alright after a few cups. Son is having the time of his life at grandmas today...but will no doubt be full of sugar and completely hyper when he returns!

PlaysNicely

:wave:

Hope everyone's well or at least feeling a bit better, those of you with flu

Frugal successes this week:
* Almost on NSD goal of 5/7 as am currently on 4 and still have the weekend to go. I'm not working this weekend so am hoping not to have to venture too far or spend owt - my NSDs refer to non-budgeted spends, if it's budgeted for, then it's ok?
* Been given a lovely bunch of roses by neighbour for keeping an eye on her house whilst away, so these are now cheering the living room in place of the Xmas tree.
* OH did market trip in the rain yesterday and spent just under £10 on fruit and veg. We've meal planned around this and what we have in the fridge / freezer for the coming week, so that's a good start for the overall reduced grocery budget.
* He also raided cupboards and batch soaked and batch boiled some dried pulses (beans and chickpeas) whilst I was working today / yesterday. So, chickpea curry tonight and portions of beans now in freezer ready for making veggie chili with some other time ... seems he's really on board now with checking cupboards and bulk cooking to help reduce costs.

Simple pleasures
Particularly loving the spreadsheet, I have to say. I know the categories are editable and when I started to use it I looked at the 'postage' section thinking I'd take it out. But then I realised that with some of OH's family living abroad and several close rellies living throughout the UK, we do actually spend a bit on postage through the year and I always end up raiding the food purse to do so. So, postage is now part of the budget and (sad but true) I'm going to be very interested to track this area of spending!
Slightly early finish from work today so high tide walk along the beach to blow away cobwebs before more weather sets in.
Not working this weekend, so post-festive declutter will get underway ... totally agree with you Bustiblondelocks, frugality and simplicity do seem to go hand in hand.

CheshireCat & Grandma247 - yes, visuals really do support trying to pay things off. When we were doing this with the mortgage we used a house shaped chart, where the 'bricks' were £1000 goals which we coloured in when paid off. Helped us to keep count and inspires action as you can see how much is owed vs how much still belonged to the bank! Really recommend using any visual that works for you!

Finally, :T been paid so pots sorted for January!

Happy weekend everyone, PNx

debtaghh

So since joining this thread:

I have cancelled my dd tutor, cancelled my ds school lunch once week and resisted going to a coffee shop with a friend.