2019 Frugal Living Challenge

Jabeezah

Over Xmas I had an idea. Rather than pay £50 for my favourite moisturiser , I asked my daughter to buy me a book on how to make my own personal care products as my gift . I have quite a few essential oils already and therefore only need a few more ingreadients so have asked my family for vouchers for my birthday so I can get the other ingreadients without having to pay anything plus I will know what goes in to them . Now I’m saving all the old pots and bottles I would normally throw away . As much as I love stores like Lush and their ethics etc , their prices are extortionate! I will keep you all updated ❤️����

mumof3.12kindebt

I've done some money shuffling

£932 in house fund so far

Which leaves £16,068 left for the year

We have a definite £900 to add to it this month
So that brings it down to £15,168

Plus I hope to find another £258 at least

Which will bring it down to £14,910 left for the year

So I think we are on track

Nicki_Sue

Stuart2507 wrote: »

2 days in the NS Jan and going well avoid the Friday breakfast club at work and took my own for a change! Working through the cupboards and freezer now before the weekly shop on Monday where im hoping to spend approx 45 for a family of 4 this should be achievable with the kids being back at school. Need to get creative with pastas and rice for baits next weeks baits but got soups for tea done my mother which will do and may even freeze some. Its a good start.

Pesto goes a long way with lunch pots of pasta, my two boys love pesto pasta, red or green, and you can chuck anything in there with the pasta from leftover meat to ham, veggies, cheeses etc.

Nicki_Sue

Very intrigued by shampoo bars! I have to wash and condition my hair every morning (I have crazy curly hair) and spend a fair amount on shampoo and conditioner throughout the year, even when going for cheaper brands.
Which shampoo bars do people recommend? I use hair product to control the frizz and volume so it would need to really clean my hair well but also condition.

Aaleigha

I have picked up so many tips on this thread far to many of you to thank just in one post
So my grateful thanks to all of you

I could however kick myself
As we are moving we are obviously getting rid of things I consider junk, things I no longer want
Clothes etc I was waiting to alter but don't gave time for
However I did pop it all on my clothes rail and invite friends round to take there pick before bagging the rest much of it went to the local women's refuge as often they turn up with the clothes on there Vicks so all the work stuff went as I thought ideal for interviews and good quality casual bits
The rest to charity

Much of things I know realise I could have used for rags I disposed of

I have however managed to make lots of very frugal meals

But I gave a question, particularly of the Welsh members
How easy is it to find an allotment in rural wakes we are going to be north if Carmarthen, or should I perhaps contact the farmer whose land adjoins ours and ask if he has a difficult corner of land we could rent for veggies
Any other ways anyone can think of would be great, but we know no one where we will be.

mumtoomany

Hi Aaleigha, sorry know nothing about allotments here. Do you have a garden you could turn part of to veg? Have you thought about vertical planting if short on space? I think the Mortgage Free in Three blog has something on this. M2m.

mumtoomany

£20 pocket money for DD3. Still no spends on food etc. Looking at how much food we have in, we could probably survive for at least 3 months!. M2m.

Living_proof

Aaleigha wrote: »

I


But I gave a question, particularly of the Welsh members
How easy is it to find an allotment in rural wakes we are going to be north if Carmarthen, or should I perhaps contact the farmer whose land adjoins ours and ask if he has a difficult corner of land we could rent for veggies
Any other ways anyone can think of would be great, but we know no one where we will be.

I am in England but have an allotment which I rent from the local council, so try them first. Also there may be people who let out small plots of ground and you could try looking at the National Allotment Society https://www.nsalg.org.uk/ for a few ideas. Good luck!

Saving-for-a-house

Hi All, for anyone that has a mobile phone or broadband contract, it's well worth popping into the shop of the company you have these contracts with to check whether they can lower your costs. I casually did this today with the company I have my mobile & broadband contract with and left with a 5G increase on my mobile phone internet usage and a reduction of £8 per month off my broadband bill (£96 annually, not bad eh.) The majority of mobile/internet providers will have deals going so it's well worth popping in for an old-fashioned haggle.

the_cross_rabbit

Just spent a pleasant hour going through my seed haul and don't need to buy any this year. I always ended up buying too many especially when offers are on in Wilkooos, so this year I know exactly what I have. Hopefully this will save me money and will replace whatever I use at the end of the year when seeds are reduced. Managed to sort some for my sister who has just got an allotment as well.
CRx