2019 Frugal Living Challenge

stirchleygirl

Frugaldom
Words of wisdom (as always) :-)

Crafty_Lisa_Hampshire

Greenbee - that would explain why I can never get gym stuff in charity shops then if that is the case.


Lifeisforliving - as to make up wipes I gave up with wipes altogether (due to the plastic they contain) but I decided to crochet some make up pads to use with make up remover (a stash of which I am working through at the moment) to take make up off. They can be used then put in the wash with the towels and then they can be used again. Saves on buying cotton wool and wipes. When I run out of make up remover I am going to try Body Shops camomile make up remover which is a cream that comes in tins (so plastic free).


I have had to have a bit of a spend recently. I am participating in a dance show to raise money for charity and we are currently sorting out costumes. Although I have the basics they needed us to get hold of some diamante jewellery that stands out from the stage. I don't own any and I wasn't able to source some to borrow from any friends or families. I did look in the charity shops but most of their jewellery are beads. However, I did go into Debenhams and found a necklace which is bold enough and it was in the sale for half price so managed to get that. I didn't really want to spend money on something like that but its for charity and I can keep it in my costume stash for any further shows I may be in. I did look at buying bracelets as well but I think I will try and make do with just the necklace.


I also had to buy some new dance trainers as my current trainers are starting to hurt my feet. Again I have found some in the sale on line and ordered them. Hopefully they will be good enough as they are only £20.00 compared to usual price of £40.00 odd. For the other costume I have got some fabric which I am hoping I can make something appropriate with. I would rather not have any more expenditure like that this month.


In respect of my groceries expenditure this month I am still on target but there are still 10 days to go before pay day with £20.00 left in the budget. I was very good last week. I had a load of veg that was getting past its best so I threw it all in a roasting tin and baked it in the oven. I then used it over the next few days with pasta for my lunches. I was rather chuffed that I was able to do that. Thanks to the advice on here I am now starting to see the benefit in my evenings of batch cooking/freezing portions. I now get proper evenings as I just have to throw something in the oven to cook that I have previously prepared so by the time I have had my shower it is ready to eat and then I have time to relax before bed. I shall be doing my best to keep this up.


My challenge for this month was to try and increase my no spend days. I don't think I am going to have done much better than last month (which was only 5 days) but I will have a check when I do my monthly tally/spreadsheet on 25th. The problem is that it is now "allotmenting" season and, although I do make my own compost and do have lots of seeds which I have bought previously in the sales, there are always things needed. I still need to put some glass in the shed and replace some trellis work and my compost I am making isn't quite ready yet so I have had to buy some to start the seeds off. I love it when things start to warm up and you can start to look forward to planting crops. Potatoes are in as are the onion sets and broad beans (although I may be a bit late for them). I'm looking forward to the long bank holiday weekend to really get cracking on the whole plot to get it up together so I can then stay on top of it.


One very small frugal thing I have done this month is I have now registered for online prescriptions so I don't have to send a request through via post and provide a stamped addressed envelope for it to be sent back. I know it is a tiny amount (cost of two stamps) but it is something.

stirchleygirl

Week 3 of using up my food stocks is going well and no mini shop from the local shop was needed this week.
Due to Easter staffing my working from home days this week are Mon, Tues & Thurs and I've only 1 on-site day which is tomorrow and Friday is a bank holiday so no work required and I've also given my wonderful PA the day off :-)
So only 1 packed lunch needed of H/M pasta salad, H/M egg mayo, H/M mango & ginger smoothie, H/M veggie fruit jelly, 2 satsumas.
There are still plenty of veggie sausage pasta bake in the freezer and as I had the last one out of the fridge for my lunch I'll probably use up the rest of the H/M egg mayo in sandwiches for my tea. I've given my PA the list of what to make for my tea tomorrow and Thursday all from using up stores. Making some interesting/unusual combos :-)
Wednesday tea will be slightly out of date parsley sauce (granules) poured over last bit of frozen cauliflower 'rice' with some frozen veg, a chunk (the frozen ones are about 1/3 - 1/2 of a fresh corn on the cob) of corn on the cob and a frozen veggie burger.
Thursday tea will be using a couple of cup-a-soups mixed with less water than normal in order to make a sauce to pour over 2 egg noodle 'nests' with frozen veg & corn on cob and the other frozen veggie burger.
There are still quite a few veggie sausage pasta bakes and 2 portions of cooked pasta in the freezer that my PA made last week.
I'm a bit disappointed that I broke my resolve of not doing an online shop for 5 weeks (I'd forgot about Easter and my PA being off for an extra day with the Friday B/H) and placed an online order to have some treats for Easter (see my 14th April post) but I've thought some more about it and whilst I do want (want not need) some treats (as due to my disability apart from work and medical appointments I rarely go out or do anything) I've been back over my food inventory (now about half of what I had 3 weeks ago) and strategically planned items to buy (as they would be cheaper at the S/M than the local shop) that would go with my existing items to make meals so I amended the order accordingly. So I'm classing that as only half failing my challenge.
I haven't 'given up' as I'll still be making my way through my existing stocks of food and am really trying to use up those items that are well past date but as they are dried/tinned they should still be ok to eat (the veggie jelly packets were absolutely fine and they were years out of date).
I've got a few packs (different sizes) of dried circles of the thin covering that you use for 'spring roll' type food that I purchased about 20 years ago and have never used which I found 'lurking' in the back of the mug cupboard. I'll have to do a bit of research on those to see how you use them (soften them) and then get my PA to have a go with one sheet to test if it is still edible - and if they are then she will be working her way through the packs.

stirchleygirl

Crafty Lisa
Praying your charity show goes well.
Go on you can do it :-) and make that £20.00 last 10 days especially as you are batch cooking/freezing meals and not wasting food - have a good rummage through your food stocks even if it makes for some 'interesting/unusual' combos.
Enjoy your allotment and consider the money you are spending on it now as an investment in future money saving (which is exactly what you are doing so why not create as M/S investment column in your budget spreadsheet and then over the year keep a running total record of the weight of each type of produce that you have grown and compare your investment to the cost of buying that amount of produce at a S/M) and with a by-product of improving your physical & mental health thrown in - which you can't put a price on.
Well done on the stamp savings as every little helps - do you get free prescriptions? If not have you got a prescription pre-pay card as depending upon how many prescriptions that you have in a year it could save you loads of money
see https://apps.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/ppc-online/patient.do
They do 3 months or 12 months and you can pay all at once or by monthly direct debit

chocolatelover93

Just a quick check in for me.

Already I have realised how much I spent on carp. I can't just pop to McDonald's now or order a takeaway and I'm checking my fridge everyday to see what needs using up and adjusting my meal plan to fit that

I ran out of money yesterday but made sure I saved a few £ for hospital parking tomorrow as DS has an appointment. It means no buying a xhoccie bar when were there. So I'll make sure I take us a drink and snack each. I'm hoping that this will be good on my wasitline as well as my wallet!!

C xx

Kerry_Woman

Came back from my holiday last week. Still trying to catch up with sleep and sorting out things in the flat. I have to be more frugal until I put my flat up for sale and move to a new location. Hoping to put the flat up for sale within the next 3 months. Did bring back some of the spending money. Planning to be meeting up with people from where I used to work, went to school/college with before I move. Checked my cash ISA and am happy with the amount of interest added.

Hettyhound

My grocery budget is looking very tight for the rest of the month but I should be able to stretch it. Bought a couple of off list items today leaving me with £9 food budget until payday on the 30th. The mushroom and feta (actually salad cheese!) quiche that was plannned is now mushroom feta and beetroot and I’ll make some beetroot falafels with the remaining beets and a tin of chickpeas from the cupboard.

Seeds I’ve planted for bits of veg over the summer are doing well. After promising only to plant 2 courgettes I planted 3 as there were only 3 left in the packet and all 3 have germinated; courgette bonanza again this year! Strawberries starting to flower and most of the plants now are the freebie runners and I’ve located a free rhubarb supply. A friend has an allotment with an inherited rhubarb and they don’t eat it.

Got my tax credits altered to take into account new job but waiting for payday to see how much I’ll actually take home as salary increase, pension increase and staff parking increase. I can then redo budget and work out overpayment and savings amount, food budget won’t be going up though:p

Crafty_Lisa_Hampshire

stirchleygirl wrote: »

Crafty Lisa
Praying your charity show goes well.
Go on you can do it :-) and make that £20.00 last 10 days especially as you are batch cooking/freezing meals and not wasting food - have a good rummage through your food stocks even if it makes for some 'interesting/unusual' combos.
Enjoy your allotment and consider the money you are spending on it now as an investment in future money saving (which is exactly what you are doing so why not create as M/S investment column in your budget spreadsheet and then over the year keep a running total record of the weight of each type of produce that you have grown and compare your investment to the cost of buying that amount of produce at a S/M) and with a by-product of improving your physical & mental health thrown in - which you can't put a price on.
Well done on the stamp savings as every little helps - do you get free prescriptions? If not have you got a prescription pre-pay card as depending upon how many prescriptions that you have in a year it could save you loads of money
see https://apps.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/ppc-online/patient.do
They do 3 months or 12 months and you can pay all at once or by monthly direct debit

That's not a bad idea about keeping a tally of what we manage to grow and logging it but it may not be a great success as when my nephews are up there the cherry tomatoes seem to go before I get to pick them as do any berries. Its definitely worth a try though.


As to the prescriptions I did think about the pre-payment plan but it wouldn't be worth my while. I only need one prescription every other month or so so even though prescriptions have gone up it wouldn't save me anything.

Dave_Saver

I just downloaded the receipt hog app to track my spending better. Anyone else use this app?

little_green

stirchleygirl wrote: »

little_green
Having realistic budgets would mean that although higher than what you would like it to it would still be less than what you were previously spending and give you the sense of achieving it rather than you perceived current failure - have you spent less on each of the 4 months than you previously did? If so congrats you achieved your goal!!!!
Unwilling family are a bu**er but why not try not partaking with their eating out and you do what you would like to do so that they are eating on their own (instead of you joining in) as then they may not want to do it - also honest conversations about finances (if they aren't indenial/head in the sand) and your family goals (pointing out that they are spending on un-necessary meals out instead of getting out of debt or saving towards xyz) might perhaps show them the reality/impact of what they are doing - warning this doesn't always work and can back-fire as they spend even more in reaction/spite

Yes that’s true. I had thought my spending was less than last year but having gone back & looked at last years spreadsheets, all 4 months this year I’ve spent more than each month the same months last year… I wasn’t expecting that!! Going to look more closely at the breakdown of my spendings over the past 4 months & see what could have been cut out. I keep a luxury spreadsheet too, so for example if I buy youghurts that will go in the expenditure spreadsheet but it wouldn’t go in the luxury one however if I were to buy myself a new t-shirt or say ice cream then that would go in both spreadsheets. That way I have an idea of what I’m spending on luxuruies (ie unnesc items) vs total spend. I set myself a budget for both.
My partner is a bit frivolous which causes me frustration as they have quite a bit of debt. I’ve tried to have conversations around better money management explaining its for the best for our future but they just seem to have a completely different attitude towards money that I do. It’s a sense of immaturity/lack of responsibility. They seem unable to see that sacrfacing little things now can build a nice healthy pot slowly but surely. Their attitude is “I work hence I sould get to enjoy life” & yes but within reason. I’m unsure how to change their mindset. I encouraged that they keep a spreadsheet like I do but they didn’t bother with it properly. One of my biggest frustartions is that they’ll buy a bag for life almost everytime they go shopping (if I’m not there) due to forgetting to take a bag despite me putting many in the car!!! I know it’s only 10p but every little adds up.