2018 Frugal Living Challenge

mumof3.12kindebt

today i have sorted all the toys in the lounge, baked flapjacks with the kids and it ended up having to guesstimate the weights as my scales died after weighing the butter. we made two lots one lot dark chocolate and the others white chocolate and cranberry and they are delicious all the family loved them so that was fab ! i did the housework. played jenga with the eldest, managed to get the babies first steps on video, and the middle child was happy enough playing with his sand and was in his element sorting the toys with me he kept passing me everything saying "rubbish" :rotfl:

today was also a NSD so thats good ! all the kids are asleep so im off to have a shower and get an early night as ive had a headache all day.

food shop day tomorrow and im determined to get this weeks bill under £50
also need to get electric, tobacco - we are slowely cutting down. , and fuel for the car .

im looking into possibly doing usbourne books as a side line to try and make some extra pennies , has anyone done this , is it worth it

PennyGrabber

Nsd for me today. Didn't even set foot in a shop as I knew I needed nothing but would just be tempted.

Instead, I did some decluttering, listed my second ever thing on eBay (the first one was yest and already has a bid!), tidied and played with the children. The washing basket was empty for over 12 hours!!

I'm quite excited by the whole selling on eBay thing. I know you get 10 free listings per month, so I think I'll try and sell some more bits and bobs. If they sell, great, the money will go towards paying off some debts. If not, they'll go to charity shops. It's good to know the stuff I've wasted my money on over the years could get me back a few quid here and there!!!

I suspect my mechanic will ring tomorrow about my car battery, and I need to ring a plumber and electrician tomorrow too. Going to be a big hit on the old savings pot, but oh has a bit of a plan that he can do some of the work to keep the costs down a bit. He's a good boy!

Night all, hope we all have a frugal week coming up!

PG x

FrankieM

Morning Everyone

Bought wine (and a couple of snacks..oh dear) on Friday on the way home from work.

Dentist and chilling on Saturday, though I really needed to get some jobs done. I've just got myself down to working 6 days a week and I'm finding that sometimes I just crash on my day off at the moment. I'm sure I'll get into a routine with it though.
I need to get a tooth extracted, well it's either extraction, £56 or root canal and crown £250. Thankfully it's a back tooth so out it's coming.
Worked yesterday so no spending and came home and had an interesting chat with my 19 year old who lives with me about the cost of running the house. She thinks I shouldn't work extra on a weekend and that with my salary (over £20k) I should be able to run the house, go out and save...mmm. Me thinks she has no real understanding of how much it all costs.
Just fuel to buy today and off to my Monday - Friday job. I've also put my timer on 'once' so no overnight heating now that it's a bit milder. I'll hopefully be able to get the timer back on soon.

Hope you all have a good day.

Savvy_sewing

FrankieM wrote: »

Morning Everyone

Bought wine (and a couple of snacks..oh dear) on Friday on the way home from work.

Dentist and chilling on Saturday, though I really needed to get some jobs done. I've just got myself down to working 6 days a week and I'm finding that sometimes I just crash on my day off at the moment. I'm sure I'll get into a routine with it though.
I need to get a tooth extracted, well it's either extraction, £56 or root canal and crown £250. Thankfully it's a back tooth so out it's coming.
Worked yesterday so no spending and came home and had an interesting chat with my 19 year old who lives with me about the cost of running the house. She thinks I shouldn't work extra on a weekend and that with my salary (over £20k) I should be able to run the house, go out and save...mmm. Me thinks she has no real understanding of how much it all costs.
Just fuel to buy today and off to my Monday - Friday job. I've also put my timer on 'once' so no overnight heating now that it's a bit milder. I'll hopefully be able to get the timer back on soon.

Hope you all have a good day.

Does your 19 year old contribute to the cost of living at home?

patentgirl

Morning everyone
Things going well on budget front here still stashing away in our retirement fund apart from few unexpected problems one being battery went on our car on Saturday so waiting for our garage we use to open at 8.30 we could have brought one yesterday from Halfords but prefer to use our local the mechanic is so good to all our family. Second thing while out delivering meals on wheels through work on Friday fell flat on my face straight on to my glasses which went into side of my face so black eye, bruises everywhere and sprained wrist later ! Unfortunately visit to opticians too :mad:! hence DH going shopping for me and spent way over budget but he did try so can't moan at him.
Frugaldom I take my hat off to you in the way you cope with the weather.

mumof3.12kindebt

morning everyone,

off to do the food shop when i take ds2 to nursery then work later, ill get fuel on the way and also need to get electric. spreadsheet is all upto date, i think it will be a real eye opener for us as i know we are still wasting some money each month although its not as high as it used to be. one of the disney games i purchased on ebay has arrived, it was a game i had as a child so brings back wonderful memories somewhere along the line i lost/ got rid of mine . we also have another one on the way, once that one is here we are having a disney themed board game night with the eldest, we have alot of board games already but i plan to add to the collection over the coming years, so the kids have no excuse to ever be bored !

have a good day all ill update tomorrow after work as im on a late tonight and early in the morning, i hate back to back shifts but needs must

Nonnadiluca

Patentgirl, I feel for you, having had my face break my fall a few weeks ago too. Hope you heal quickly. Take care.

System

patentgirl wrote: »

Morning everyone
Things going well on budget front here still stashing away in our retirement fund apart from few unexpected problems one being battery went on our car on Saturday so waiting for our garage we use to open at 8.30 we could have brought one yesterday from Halfords but prefer to use our local the mechanic is so good to all our family. Second thing while out delivering meals on wheels through work on Friday fell flat on my face straight on to my glasses which went into side of my face so black eye, bruises everywhere and sprained wrist later ! Unfortunately visit to opticians too :mad:! hence DH going shopping for me and spent way over budget but he did try so can't moan at him.
Frugaldom I take my hat off to you in the way you cope with the weather.

Ooh....hope you recover quickly

Frugaldom

indigowarrior wrote: »

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...

When you say 'up north' do you mean Scotland or still staying south, in England? :rotfl:

EmergencyNurse wrote: »

Hello everyone. I am on a mission live on a £50 monthly grocery budget. I think it's definitely possible do you?

Absolutely possible - I have been doing £1 per person per day for several years now and it isn't becoming any more difficult. If anything, it becomes simpler as time progresses. I simply adapt the diet to fit the seasons, trends and availability. We have a zero waste food policy in our frugal household right down to scrubbing the veg insead of peeling them whenever possible and we have hens and composting for everything else. Living in a rural location also means very little choice without incurring fuel or travel costs but I cook mostly what I call 'bowl food' - meals from whatever is available cooked into soups, stews, curries, stir fries etc and served in bowls with rice, pasta, cous cous, pancakes, wraps or potatoes.

patentgirl wrote: »

Morning everyone
...Frugaldom I take my hat off to you in the way you cope with the weather.

The snow missed us completely, otger than a sprinkle now and again to alert us to the fact that there is snow falling elsewhere in the country. Winters now are nowhere near as bad as they used to be when I was growing up further north so it always amazes me to see entire TV programmes dedicated to weather and seeing everything grinding to a halt. Although I do understand the need to halt traffic etc for our modern day H&S, it seems there is a general lack of common sense surrounding simple events like weather. :rotfl: I now realise that it isn't 'common' sense, it is simply the difference between rural sense and urban sense. We are fairly used to off grid hiccups, so it's par for the course. It is good practice for when I finally get around to building a cabin.

Student left for home this morning - I hope she makes it to London for her Eurostar connection! We got no trees planted, as they are stuck somewhere between here and Edinburgh so she had a week of survival training while helping look after ponies and chickens. :rotfl: She reckoned city people would definitely pay to come and try this lifestyle! I'm still not convinced.

No spends this month yet but gearing up for the next big one and hoping to start my long-awaited cabin this summer. :T:j

PennyGrabber

Kept the purse tightly closed today! And, as my bath is broken, the children had their showers at oh's house, saving me water! And, he bought us all take away for dinner for dd's birthday! Bonus!!

Can't see me spending anything for at least the next two days due to a crazy work and family schedule.

One thing I'm really enjoying atm is having an emptier fridge. I can actually see what I have, and it just feels better. Must remember this when I'm tempted to hoard again!!

PG x