2018 Frugal Living Challenge

Tanya12345

Yes I see them, on a post I put up - as well as others !! Sorry folks, makes it look like a keyboard has exploded in the middle of my saga ! Bit of a Luddite re the techie stuff so will prob just avoid those lovely smilies etc as can't work out what's wrong ! X

lynnejk

Evening all

The problem with the weird !55555 is so annoying. From reading across several threads it seems to be when people use the 'quick reply' on mobiles or something like that. Wish MSE would get it sorted soon.

I've done my monthly budgets for February and am pleased to be slightly ahead of myself two months in :j

We are off on a week's break to Valencia next Saturday to meet up with my DS who lives/works in Ibiza but is on his winter break atm. It's all paid for and we have a small budget for any extra spending whilst there. At least it'll be warmer than here

Good luck with being frugal in March. Hope you're all staying safe and warm
Lx

mumof3.12kindebt

having today and tomorrow off due to the snow. If I've worked it out right I'll be 1 shift down in wages, so hopefully I can get an extra shift at somepoint this month to break even.
I've started a spreadsheet for this year's finances.
Yesterday was a NSD today will be a NSD and hopefully tomorrow.
I'll need to get fuel and electric Monday. I also need to look at switching my electric to a direct debit. Like the rest of my bills.
I'm in work 4 days out of 7 this week.
We have a had a chilled day. And I haven't really done anything other than play a board game with the eldest and do Lego with the two boys. and seen to the kids and ran a bath for myself.
We are watching Mrs doubtfire tonight. Can't beat a family classic.

Frugaldom

Yes, I also see the crazy nunbers and ! marks, I thought it was because I'd tried to log in n my Kindle but they are still gere and I'm back on the laptop.

Things here have been a little chaotic despite us not geting the snow. Temperatures plummeted so we were 3 days without water, relying on going to the river for water to flush toilet and having to stretch tap-filled, bottled water as far as possible. Thankfully, I was prepared and have filled bottles in stock most times but it got worse when the outlet drainpipes on the sinks froze solid and then the gale force winds (or something?) took out the electricity. So, my visiting stdent who arrived from Germany on Monday has been enduring a week of survival skills as well as learning about frugal living. This is, so far, most definitely a minimalist month.

PennyGrabber

Today marked my first spends of March. I did the weekly shop a day early as I have things to do tomorrow. I bought toiletries, pet food etc too, but the food part represents just under £1pppd, as long as I don't shop again until next Sunday. No plans to, anyway!

There's a full night of telly-watching planned tonight, but I'm going to try and do bits during the adverts, such as tidying a side, washing up, putting some clothes away, etc. this way, I'll feel like I've relaxed as well as got things achieved.

The upsetting part of this weekend is that I need to make two major purchases. The first is a new battery for my car, which completely died a couple of days ago. The second is much worse... I had a leak from my kitchen ceiling Thursday evening. Oh came round and stopped the leak, which was coming from the bath. He tried to fix the problem today, but unfortunately I'm going to need a new bath. The old one will take a lot of work to take out, as it is a jet/spa bath, so will require electrical work too. No idea how much it'll cost, but the botch job from before will require a proper professional, rather than us doing it!

This will change my year's plans in terms of saving and paying things off. I'll know more when I've paid those bills.

PG x

mumof3.12kindebt

mumof3.12kindebt wrote: »

ive just sat down for the evening, going to go and make a cup of tea and then im going to do a spread sheet. this month will be our trial month to work out what we really spend . next month will be a realistic budget for the rest of the year, id love to save another £13k before the year is finished but i also think this would be more-a-less impossible.
we will see

id need to make £360 extra a month to hit the £13k target

we cant cut our budget back any further so i need to try and work out how to up our income by £360 every month or close to it :money:

CosmicZebra

Checking in. Hope everyone surviving the cold... been double duvet weather here.
Feb has some expensive one offs- mainly involving the dog. But I still managed to squirrel away £700 and overpay the mortgage by £250. Also overpaid Jan & March- will keep it up if I can.
One thing I thought about was cards- I spend a fortune on these. Bought card stock, Washi tape and have made a couple. V easy and they look great. There are loads of ideas on Pinterest. March has a big £535 bill for Ds school trip, so I’m not sure how much I’ll save. Also, lost £75 of second job income this week because of the snow. We’ll see...
enjoying reading everyone’s posts.

System

Well, its snowed again here this evening, after it all started to thaw this morning. So tomorrow's plan is to stay in and do spreadsheets and lists for more money saving ideas and plans for next few months. Had a good cheap food shop today.... Veg, bacon, turkey steaks....that will last a week and everything else will be from freezer and cupboards.

spudsmum

Our snow has finally gone (for now!) and feels a little warmer, still blooming freezing but not bitter like it was midweek.

Hope everyone is managing to stay safe and warm.

Food shopping yesterday and came in a measly £1 under budget - really must try a bit harder with that! Noticed I was getting tempted to stray "off list" again and buy things that werent needed. But I suppose at least I've recognised it so can nip it in the bud before it becomes habit again.

Trying to use up things from the store cupboard but really struggling for inspiration at the moment. On a positive, did manage to save £28.61 from last weeks budget and got paid £30 for dog sitting so, together with some money from online sales I managed to make another payment of £75 to my credit card. That £447 in the last two months so I'm quite proud of that. Already have £8 towards the next payment as cashed out from some surveys.

Also my soapnuts arrived today so looking forward to trying those. No washing been done here today as DH has man flu (thats his saturday task) so will have to wait a bit longer.

Next week may be slightly more frugal as I fear DH will want some time off work (and doesnt get sick pay for first 3 days off :mad:) and his wages will already be short as he came home early a couple of days due to snow - obviously his safety is more important than any amount of money but will just have to juggle a bit more than usual.

Still need to pay £30 cubs subscriptions on Monday as well and eldest son just presented me with a letter from school asking for school trip money. Two nights at an adventure centre for the bargain price of £375! Oh and they want it by the week after next - I'm sure some of these schools live in a dream world - I'm sure it cant just be me who would not just have that kind of money lying around?? :mad: He's not sure about going anyway as he doesnt want to leave me (awwww ) so hopefully he will decide he's not going and save me from having to make a hard decision.

indigowarrior

waves! Hello all. Back from my trip up north exhausted. I have decided to keep doing the frugal challenge but literally living off basics as I have decided to move up north in the next four months. I am saving every spare penny I have coming in (Come on quidco!!). I am also doing surveys to earn some extra cash. (£11) earned in 3 days isnt too shabby.