2019 Frugal Living Challenge

spudsmum

Hi all,

Not much to report today - husband has gone back to work and my plans were to be vegetating, eating leftovers and trying to research frugal breaks for Easter.

However eldest son informed me this morning he needs new school shoes, new trainers and a new school coat! Can't really complain about the coat he's had a massive growth spurt so it's much too small and he's made it last two years. Ditto the trainers - he's a men's size 6 now and he's only just turned 11!!! Not so happy about the school shoes though - There's a massive hole in the bottom of them - goodness knows how he's managed that!

Managed to take advantage of the sales though and got him shoes and coat - should have been £43 but ended up paying £10 total. Also picked up some t shirts and Christmas jumpers for the twins in the next size up for £1 and 50p so a fair sized bag full for less than £20 (out of my normal weekly budget) - I'm quite happy with that. Twins are crazily expensive to clothe so I've learnt to buy things when I see them cheap.

Ran out of time so I will need to go out again to get the other pair of shoes before he goes back to school - trying to talk myself into going back out tomorrow - firstly hoping I can get some more for a reasonable price and secondly if I can manage to go before weekend it will probably be much cheaper without the husband and kids in toe. Will see if I can muster up the enthusiasm!

In other news I've opened one of those "save the change" accounts. It might not make much difference but every little helps

datlex

Realised posted early this morning in the 2018 thread. Meant to post in this. Am going to try using cash more this year. As I will have a spends balance each week after bills (including savings) which does not equate to a sum I can get out of the cash point, it should mean I have a few pound to put aside each week. Was rather tempted to use my card earlier when I popped to Boots after work to get cold medicine- I have a 10% discount for having contact lenses when I buying any of their own brand products. Instead used cash. (Didn't have a lot of cash on me so had to think about choices- Own brand lemsip plus dispersible aspirin to put in cold busting cocktail- lemsip, aspirin, honey, lemon juice and brandy, has helped massively shame can't take brandy into work, other ingredients will have to do) Resisted card temptation in a couple of other shops too and used calculator to dissuade myself from buying what I just don't need. Tomorrow is a fresh week, pay is going in (day late due to bank holiday- next week will be a 6 day week) and no pending payments to hit any of my cards, debit or credit. It can be too easier to spend the day before payday after work and think it will be covered by the pay that is going in tomorrow. That would be a recipe for heading back into debt, I have too many self financial commitments (mortgage, saving for holidays, work to be done on my home, furniture etc) to have the spare capacity to afford debt. Hence I am going to avoid anything that could lead me back into it. It will be a challenge to use cash, but hopefully it should encourage me to waste less to consider better what I buy.

grassgirl

Joining if I may, excited about making my own and spending less yaay

Ladykernow

I'm on a no spend month, so in the spirit of being frugal, I spent the last hour sewing the holes in my socks. I have quite a few!

cybertortoise

Unfortunately today wasn't spend free as my son was back at work but had nothing in for lunch so I had to spot him £3. If I get it back I'll still count today as a NSD.



Miss Empty Piggy - great tips!! One of my New Year's resolutions is to work toward having a zero waste home. I'm another one who buys the Who Gives a Crap! loo rolls, when I can afford the additional expense anyway.



My car is due its MOT on Tuesday so I have to decide between getting that done or getting my daughter's car on the road (she can't drive it yet). There's a big difference in engine size and fuel consumption but the smaller one will cost me more initially to get back on the road. It's a decision made all the more difficult because the big car has enough seats for us all and is almost the love of my life and the small one is a 3 door hatchback that we can't all fit in and I hate to drive! But long term financial motives need to win out.


I tried a new vegan recipe today for African Peanut Stew that was pretty tasty and, as I had most of the ingredients in the kitchen already, it worked out relatively cheap.

miss_empty_piggy

Frugally, today was good on the one hand - spent yet another day sorting, clearing and tidying up - got rid of the xmas tree and packed up the decorations etc. Final push tomorrow to get totally cleared up. I have promised DD2 a games day once we've finished.

On the other hand - DOH spent £58 in the big orange shop buying an angle grinder to do some DIY. He is trying to build up his tools as part of a bigger set of future plans. He got a £10 voucher but forgot to take it. I'm sure we'll need it at some point soon as we plan on decorating the front room and the kitchen this year - as well as some garden projects.

We spent 2.5K last year decorating 2 bedrooms but this included taking ceilings down and removing the plaster from every wall. Each room is 9m long - it was a big job and not one that I want to repeat in a hurry. Plus we need to do these new rooms much more frugally especially as they are in much better condition.

Cybertortoise - I would really love to introduce some vegan recipes into our diet - really must work on this.

Ladykernow - darning socks is SUPER impressive.

zafiro1984

Can I join in please

I'm at that stage in life where I'm supposed to be retired and live off my pensions and enjoy myself. Yes - I'm enjoying myself but my hobby is costing nearly all my pension so I need to be careful and find different ways of doing things and being frugal. I read somewhere a signature of 'Every penny's a prisoner' I shall embrace that thought.

Miss_D_Meanour

Good morning everyone

It's the 3rd of Januuary and I've had two NSDs - planning another today - I'd forgotten how good it feels to know you haven't wasted anything.
I've done my budget for the year and worked out how to get ahead of all the big bills. But I'm about to chuck that out the window as the boiler is dying and needs to be replaced. I don't have enough savings to pay in cash but have managed to get repayment plan at 0% for two years. It's better to have heat and hot water, right?
Finishing on a high note - thank you leftovers - I'm still using the Xmas food and think the only thing I'll need to buy food wise for a little while is milk and veg. So the reduced groceries spending goal is still on track.
Take care
MissDM

Nicki_Sue

cw18 wrote: »

Was Amazon the seller or was it a marketplace seller?
When I've had to return something bought directly from Amazon they've sent me info/label to return it without it costing me.

Morning CW18! A seller on Amazon so I have to sort it myself. A few people have suggested Parcel2Go. Now I just need to find a blumming box big enough!

Nicki_Sue

Back to work for me today (albeit from home as I'm a freelancer) so will be juggling getting my head back into the game alongside having the boys at home.

To update... I'm still on track with my cash budget for this week, despite buying a new pan yesterday after the handle on mine fell off (£12! I could have cried). A reminder that from next month I need to have a "house" envelope as well as groceries as strictly speaking that £12 shouldn't have come out of groceries. I might have a bit of a shuffle. It's a new way of budgeting and spending so it'll take a month for me to get everything right.

I still need to find a box and packaging to send back my faulty halogen.

We've had a bit of a move around so I've offered up an old Lego table for free to friends and will freecycle it if no takers.

Someone used my referral to sign up to Bulb so I've got another £50 hitting my energy account in a few weeks, just as well seeing as I constantly seem to have the heating on at the mo. -3 degrees here this morning.

Tasks for the next few days:

Rejig budget moving forward to include a house spends cash budget.
Find a blasted box and return the faulty halogen.
Check all the school stuff and see make sure we have everything and nothing needs replacing.

Have a fab day all x