2019 Frugal Living Challenge

gien

First post in ages for me and I've enjoyed reading the thread and catching up with what everyone has been up to. We are all back to normal now after christmas and well into out frugal year. i've been updating the super spreadsheet on a daily basis and haven't spent anything beyond a bit of food and the usual direct debits and standing orders.
I've picked up a few bargain bits in the supermarket (best was a less than half price gammon whihc when cooked will be carved and frozen).
When it comes to the eco question I'm lucky enough to live a rural area with lots of agriculture so its very easy to find locally grown good priced food. I also buy from our local WI market where small producers bake and cook in their own kitchens and I have a milk man. That said I dont hesitate to buy from Lidl or Morrisons when I want to,as was said, they are also employing 'local people'. I do think that the biggest thing we can do for the environment is just to consume less, whether that be consuming less meat or fish, less electicity/fuel, fewer clothes or 'stuff for the house', using our resources wisely. At the moment I feel very 'anti' buying anything and am enjoying ignoring the pressure to spend on stuff I don't need. I have really enjoyed looking at my seeds, seing what I still need to get, what I already have and seeing whether I can share or swap with friends.

Frugaldom

Brown Hare, I do tend to waffle on when I get onto the subject of frugal living - I usually drive everyone to tears with my incessant reminders of 'don't waste that' or 'do you actually need that, cant you just do x, y or z' type questions.

Excited here as I'm waiting for a call about having a little, fixy-up caravan delivered. It's sat empty for some time, nobody wants it and it needs moved from where it is currently parked or else it's going to be scrapped. I guess you could say we are rescuing it - I just need to pay the cost of moving it. Haven't seen it, don't know what it's like inside, been told it's wind & water tight, so it will serve as my little welfare unit at Frugaldom. Did I mention that it's pink? :rotfl: Apparently, this is the only reason that nobody wants it!

bustiblondilocks

Count me in please! I'm back online and already being frugal! I've a full panrty and I'm going to clear it before going shopping! We been sent a Christmas gift of a soup maker and using it loads! So many experiments with stuff lurking in cupboards and veg in freezer. My children are super excited and it's keeping me going!
This year I'm concentrating on spending less.. preferably nothing!...and getting rid of the clutter I've been hoarding! Selling what I can of course

natnat13

Frugaldom - Your caravan sounds very exciting, you'll have to post a picture of it.


Re the eco debate, I do agree that it is about buying less. It's odd, I actually feel less stressed when I don't buy so much. I have deleted a lot of companies from my emails and facebook, I'm sick of the advertisements. I'd delete fb all together but I use it a lot with my second job.


No spending today so far and there shouldn't be until Saturday now. I walked to work, it's lovely and cold and sunny here today. I bought my homemade soup and a banana with me. Tea is toad in the hole which my 11 year old son is going to make (I'm teaching the boys to cook, my job is changing in September and they will have to fend for themselves more).


I've written a list of jobs for the weekend and have already meal planned and started a shopping list. We got a £50 meat voucher for the local butcher for Christmas so I'm going to buy a few bits with that which will definitely help the budget. We're going to have a steak (using the voucher) dinner Saturday night. It would usually be a meal out or at the very least a takeaway.

chocolatelover93

Hello everyone!

Frugaldom - thank you! That makes me feel better I've tried to lower my waste but sometimes it is cheaper to be economical. Once I have my finances sorted I will try to reduce my plastic waste more. I am going to start growing fruit and veg this year with DS so I think that'll help with our waste I have had people say to me that I should start using re-usable nappies. DS is 2 and to me it seems a bit unfair to change his nappies now and then potty train him soon it would be too many changes for him plus I don't think I would financially benefit from it as I am already starting to potty train him.

Sorry I've not checked in for a while been on the forum but not had much time!

Not gonna lie I haven't been doing the best I could so far this year. I have set budgets but I am bad with thinking "oh another £10 on this card won't hurt" and then I'm in my OD or spending on my CC. So I have decided I will go and fill my car with fuel, freezer with food and get a nice lot of meat from the butchers on my CC. Give my dad my CC and go into the bank once a month when I get paid and draw out the money I need for my budgets (already have little envelopes at the ready) and use cash only and leave my cards at home!! That way then I can only spend the cash I have on me (might take my google pay off my phone and pay+ for Tes&co as well). I think this is the only logical way I can do it. I don't trust myself with my cards and that sounds really silly I know but I will get there!

Yesterday I used up some YS turkey mince I had bought a while ago and popped in the freezer. I made a HUUUGE spag bol sauce and bulked it out with tonnes of veg. DS and I had it for dinner last night (he polished off 2 bowls full) and I am having some more for dinner tonight. I might made some into a cottage pie for dinner tomorrow and portion and freeze the rest of it That way then if I cba to make a meal I will have it ready made in the freezer and because I bulked it out with veg it's 1. really healthy (am on SW) and 2. will last so much longer

I am another one decluttering stuff from my house. I just seem to have accumulated so much carp and it's just me and DS. My aim is to try and sort out at least one drawer/cupboard/shelf a day. So fdat this year I have done 2 kitchen cupboards, almost all my bedroom drawers, my DS's wardrobe and airing cupboard so I am getting there. I go around with a bin liner for charity and set aside bits I am going to try and sell. Have decided if they don't sell after a month they will also be going to the charity shop!

Thought I would share a funny story with you r.e. the soap. So I gave away on FB one of DS old toys. The lady that come and collected it was lovely and gave me a little gift to say thank you. Now me being the greedy pig I am thought it was a sweet (it does look like a big sweet) so bit into it!!!! Well that was the worst thing I have ever done, I stood over the toilet gagging for 10 mins and even considered drinking a bottle of chilli sauce. The soap is now in my kitchen and I am using it and every time I do I chuckle to myself a little :rotfl::rotfl: I did get some georgous smelling soap for xmas though that I can't wait to use! I am using up my last liquid soap and converting to bars of soap. I am not sure if I am ready to give the shampoo and conditioner bars a go yet, where do you get them from? My hair is very long and gets knotty very quick.

Sorry about the really long post haha
C xx

ma-ri-ella

frugal planing has gone okay - bit higher on grocery spends then i have meant but have really worked on my spending budget for the year .

grocery - really stocked up as work has a staff double discount twice a year (november and around april) at this point i look at things that are the same price/cheaper than other supermarkets and really stock up to last me to the next one.
essential bills are rent ,council tax , usdaw ,electricity ,phonr contract

im stuck in my phone contract until october but its only 12 quid a month - in the past ive had these free by redemption contracts. do they still exist?

i live in the town centre so can get free wifi in my flat and i get data on my phone.
in the past year ive gottten rid of subscription boxes,prime and netflix

Im a big charity shop buyer anyway but plan to use the librarys online service for audio/books. Trying to go for a more steampunk look so as i see things that fit i might buy .

Ive been trying to use stuff up for a few years now - the only needs this year will be deoderant , possibly mascara .

spudsmum

chocolatelover I only use cash too I was alway spending a few pounds here and there on my card and just forgetting about it - almost like it's not real money - then getting a nasty shock when I'd checked my balance. Now I get my money out on payday and it has to last me - it helps my budgeting so much. Interesting about the reusable nappies too - a couple of mums on one of my baby groups "suggested" (read: tried bullying me into) using them but with twins it just seemed like way too much work (we're already drowning in washing!!) when they were small and now they are bigger I don't want to change their brand of nappies either!

Just weighing into the eco debate - I'm nowhere near as eco as I should be and I do sometimes tell guilty (so thankyou frugaldom for your sensible words) we do buy a lot second hand and try not to waste and I grow my own veg but all that comes more from a frugal point of view than an ethical one. I also recycle what I can but that's about it.

I think this whole plastic free thing is a great thing in principle but sometimes these principles are an expensive luxury we can't afford. For example I tried to shop local and went to our town butchers and greengrocer - over the month I worked out I'd spent twice as much and the quality was no better so I soon knocked that on the head and now I go wherever is cheapest!

In other news - a couple of non spend days today. Did have £50 quid left in my purse but forgot I had dentist today so that was £22 (but at least no more work needed) Budgets reset tomorrow so I've got £20 to send to my debt and some shrapnel for my sealed tin. Also received news of yearly pay rise this morning - will only be an extra £20 ish per month but it's money I've not had and won't miss so I'll set up a standing order to send it straight to my debt account - every little helps I guess.

Tea tonight is leftovers - found some manky peppers and potatoes in the garage and have some sliced roast beef left so I'm doing a BBQ beef traybake thing. Smells lush and I can't wait to eat it - always tastes better when it's made from stuff that would otherwise go in the bin!

Stuart2507

Had to spend some coin on dinner today at work due to bad planning and not feeling great so not the greatest day other than that currently working inside a budget and enjoying the challenge of no spend days it really does make you think about spending! Back to baits tomorrow. Trying to plan next weeks budget based on my allowance although petrol is needed so need to be careful. If i can be disciplined this month next month should be easier. On the plus ive earned a £10 voucher for amazon from swagbucks and have £10 in topcashback which will be used to pay and extra credit card or over payment on the mortgage at the end of the month.
So far so good, it helps reading all your posts to help keep motivated.

SarahC74

The last two days have been spend days, all because of train travel. I much prefer the train but think I'm going to have to start driving to my more local job as the train fair is now almost £10 return and it would only be around 20 mins in the car on a good day, much cheaper although annoying. Food budget is still going well with sticking to plan and eating what is in the house. Have also been looking at changing to sim only mobile deal when I come out of contract at the end of the month. With DH company discount it's £2.50 rather than £9 pm and it all helps Next to try and reduce broadband, phone and car insurance... :money:

miss_empty_piggy

DOH booked for 3 of us to go away for Easter bank holiday. 3 nights in a hotel "it's only £650.00!"could not believe it. He said they were all around the same price. I made him show me there and then and I quickly found one for £344.00. He has very expensive taste, especially when it comes to hotels. The cheaper one is even better too as it is an apartment with a sea view overlooking a beautiful harbour. We can self cater too. He really doesn't think about money in a frugal way. I know it's still a lot of money but we are heading somewhere expensive so consider this damage limitation.