2018 Frugal Living Challenge

debtaghh

This week I managed to get a tax refund and save on my son’s swimming lessons. I also found a lovely place to take my dd for £1. I can see the next month being costly due to birthdays.

Aruba

Hi everyone, I dont post but I certainly am watching this thread with interest and awe. I hope youll have me on board.

We ran into huge financial turmoil during the diagnosis of our son with autism in 2009 and I had to take a career break for 5 years to attend to him, all his therapies and I worked so hard with him. DHs business went bust too. We have been to hell and back. Back to work since 2012 and certainly on the other side of it. We are still renting but are now at the end of our debts and starting to save towards a deposit for our forever home.

I am budgeting like crazy. No spending and groceries have been tackle by stockpiling and mealplanning

I feel so in control for the first time in years

Pipsmum

Hello everyone, it's another cold, snowy morning here today. It's great to see everyone doing so well.


Things are going quite well here, although I have found that the less I spend, the more creative I get, and the more determined I am to repeat the exercise the next day - does anyone else find this? As a result we have had some "interesting" meals this week, mostly from what has been in stock, but all have been tasty and appreciated. I've also managed to reduce my electricity bills, so very pleased.


I am also keen to reduce plastic and also chemicals from our home. I have been reading about the effects on some detergents and cleaners on the environment, and have decided to reduce our use, as much as I can. My plan is that when something I have in stock is just about used up, to find a safer and kinder replacement. I have been using homemade soap for a few months now, and love it. I've now started using laundry gloop, and this week I'm experimenting with homemade washing up liquid, and a facial cleanser. As a bonus, they are also working out at a fraction of the cost - so that feels like a win all round.


Wishing you all a great day, wrap up and stay warm.

Moll

Kerry_Woman wrote: »

Used price guarantee voucher £6.16, so food shop was £1.14.






what are price guarantee vouchers? and how do you use them ?
thankyou x

Moll

PennyGrabber wrote: »

Well, no spends yesterday or today. Only left the house yesterday for the doc,


hope you feel better soon , stay warm x

Moll

Aruba wrote: »

We ran into huge financial turmoil during the diagnosis of our son with autism in 2009 and I had to take a career break for 5 years to attend to him, all his therapies and I worked so hard with him. DHs business went bust too. We have been to hell and back. Back to work since 2012 and certainly on the other side of it.


Well Done Aruba ,as you say your on the other side , With a warm heart and a caring family , its surprising the mountains we can move. x x

Kerry_Woman

Moll wrote: »

Kerry_Woman wrote: »

Used price guarantee voucher £6.16, so food shop was £1.14.






what are price guarantee vouchers? and how do you use them ?
thankyou x

When you shop at @sd@'s you input the receipt number into the price guarantee part of their website, if the shop is 10% difference, you get to print off a voucher. You will need this voucher and the receipt from that shop that you got your voucher when you next go into @sda's. Hope that helps.

Tanya12345

Afternoon Fruggies, hope you're all warm n snug - weather pretty gruesome here !
Spending update - £10.60 at farmers market on Friday, £1 to row yesterday - still with budget !
Looking after a neighbours chooks and got given the contents of their fridge - happy days ( Ithink of it as a kind of foraging !!)
Today is a list and planning day, trying to make menus and stick to them ! Am also following the same path as Pipsmum, although eliminating plastic seems nigh on impossible, so I'll be asking for plenty of help and suggestions !!

PennyGrabber

Feeling like I'm over the worst and starting to recover now. Dr tomorrow will tell me if I need more time off or if I have to go back (would need dr note if still off).

I spent £3.49 stupidly today. Well, not really... It was for a rental movie on ama30n which dd wanted to watch. She'd had a fairly cr4ppy week and weekend and really wanted to watch that, so I thought stuff it!!

To be fair, I'd had a bargain already today. Bless my oh. He told me to give him a shopping list and he'd get it for me today. Well, he dropped it all off and I asked him how much I owed him and he said not to worry! In all fairness, it more than evens out as I often feed him, so I'm not feeling guilty about it.

My mum came up and did loads of housework for me today, and brought up a tub of homemade minestrone soup for my lunch tomorrow.

Feeling very loved and looked after. I'm going to try and do a few things tomorrow, to test out my health - bit of housework, nothing major, but will give me an indication of whether I can go back to teaching!

Overall, a very frugal (/lucky) week.

PG x

Ps - I like the idea of homemade soap and gloop. Can I ask how much they cost to make?

Moll

well I have a figure to aim for , for one of the holiday hotels ,.............£930 . which I think is ridiculous for a holiday in Cornwall . but everywhere is booked up already and we don't go till the end of July ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, so it was bite the bullet and book , Soooo I know how much I need to save on my frugal mission , And if I have more , im paying towards the hotel in London , the first week in August, ( If you remember my American friend comes to visit every year and me and her take 2 weeks off travelling together before she goes home till next year) , we love it , and I think hubbys are glad to get rid of us lol , 2 weeks in and ive saved a massive £89.01 so far. Ive had good weeks and good fortune so far, BUT this week Ive already spent £18.44 out of my £70 budget for the week and its only Sunday , I needed "Most" things though , I was dithering in a charity shop . they had postcards at 29p each ....and a friend collects stuff on the Bronte's...( Jane Eyre lot ) .these postcards were OLD , and had the parsonage, and Bronte stuff on them ,,,total £1.16. and I was umming and arring wether to buy ,,,does anyone else get like that lol ,,,,,anyway I bought them of course for my friend ,,,,Luckily we are a frugal family and share stuff, I buy a sack of potatoes , and share them out , Dad always makes stew for everyone so we get the potatoes back really , and also he buys free range eggs off the market for us all , so theres always eggs to go at, My ds and family descended on us unexpectedly today , ( That's the right word you don't know my middle gd Molly ) ,sooooo they needed feeding , and me on a budget !!! so the spuds and eggs came out and everyone was happy with chips, beans and eggs . Ive decided ive got to do more decluttering and ive put them on a local facebook bidding site , and its payed off, Any money I earn this way , I can put back in the shopping money,,,,,,,,,,,and If everyone pays , ive earned £15.60 . Woohoo , first time ive done it , must find more stuff , Stay warm and safe everyone , our roads are covered in snow , so I haven't been anywhere today x