2019 Frugal Living Challenge

spudsmum

My husband was terrible with money - before we lived together he lived in his overdraft and relied on his parents to lend him money.

He also has a weakness for stuff - in his case mainly dvds and cds. He'd buy a £20 cd just because he quite liked one song on there. He had a complete "I work so I deserve this" mentality

I'm afraid I took charge - I showed him the budgets and how we were heading to ruin in a couple of years if he didn't stop - he now gets his pocket money which he spends on his stuff and the rest goes to bills and savings. He's quite happy because he now has something to show for it and we can afford things like the odd (frugal) trip away

He does still buy DVDs and cds but we have agreed a strict - one in, one out policy (as much for storage space as anything) any new cds- DVDs get bought and one must be given away or sent to charity - he gets a day to choose which and if he hasn't done so then I pick one at random! No arguments. It works really well because he thinks hard about whether he likes his new purchase more than what he already has - it's not just mindless spending. I've also given up buying many things so it's not one sided. It works for us.

In other news - I've applied for another 0% balance transfer card - if I get it then I'll have very little on interest bearing cards so should be able to clear them a bit quicker. Fingers crossed.

Igamogam

Lifeisforliving19 wrote: »

And as for old cassette tapes...that we have nothing to play them on,

I will raise you your cassette tapes for 3 large blue Swedish furniture store bags full of VHS video tapes - not commercial ones but ones that have programmes taped from TV............we do still have a video player as it also plays our DVDs....this is my next subversive challenge;) Unfortunately it doesn't help our frugledom/debt reduction as no value in them whatsoever:mad:

Crafty_Lisa_Hampshire

I have just joined the forum so am new to these threads. I would really like to join this challenge. Last May I started my own personal challenge of reducing plastic purchases and my awareness of waste and excess purchases has grown from there. I have made some progress and have noticed some savings being made but I would like to do more. This challenge I feel will inspire me.

piglet27

Hi everyone,

I would really like to join this challenge if i'm not too late?

Our family of 2 adults, dd 12, ds 10 and a dog have been plodding along quite happily. That is until last week when everything seems to have gotten a lot tighter all of a sudden.

I have sorted out our budget and hopefully with all your help we will be able to stick to it. Our aim is to pay as much as possible towards the capital of our mortgage as at present we only pay interest.

I will now spend the next few days reading through the 2018 thread.

Frugaldom

It's never too late to join us in our frugal lifestyles that lead us into freedom from debt. Welcome to everyone who has just found us and please do take some time going through the links in post 1. The c hallenge has been running for a very long time so there is a huge amount of material available - frugal reading and could save you a fortune on buying books or eve making trips to the library.

Anyone else still making turkey based meals? My fast food favourite for January is butter-fried turkey and cous cous with a lettuce leaf as added greenery. :rotfl:

Nicki_Sue

Morning all!
Frugal-wise, it's been an interesting month.
I've bought a shampoo bar and love it. No more plastic shampoo bottles.
Cash grocery shopping and sticking to Aldi/Lidl is my budget saviour.
I may have bought a new car (more on this later).
We're viewing a house on Saturday with a mind to move in the next month or so....

So the car...
She was a money pit. We've replaced so much of her she resembled more Barbie doll than original car. MOT was due in a few weeks (It was going to be a big one, £500 or so), she wasn't very reliable and so we traded her in and bought a new one. New meaning very secondhand but newer, with full MOT, something reliable and most importantly safe. Not a planned expenditure for Jan but it was the right thing to do.

The house.
We've been looking to move for a while. We're in a Victoria terrace with awful parking (worse by the day), very noisy neighbours and paper thin walls, we're overlooked and honestly, I feel like we're living in a noisy bubble. Out of the blue, we're the first to view a bungalow at the other side of our town (rural town) on Saturday and are very keen. The rent will be £25 more, the council tax £15 more (inc. expected hike in April). We'll have a driveway, taking parking off-road which should reduce car insurance a little. We'll be heating one floor, not three. We'll be off the main road (no more people walking past and peering in) and will have a garden with raised beds ready for planting. We'd give our boys one each and give veggie and herb growing a go.
Again, staying put would be cheaper in the short term but moving better value in the long.
Gosh I hope we love the house as much in person as we do on paper. We know the area well and it is perfect.

So that's where we are. Still being as frugal as possible, decluttering is ongoing, I'll be selling anything I can in order to get us moved with cash and hoping that from Feb/March to be more settled and happier, albeit on baked beans for 4/7 main meals

Send good vibes for Saturday's viewing.

Lifeisforliving19

Igamogam wrote: »

I will raise you your cassette tapes for 3 large blue Swedish furniture store bags full of VHS video tapes - not commercial ones but ones that have programmes taped from TV............we do still have a video player as it also plays our DVDs....this is my next subversive challenge;) Unfortunately it doesn't help our frugledom/debt reduction as no value in them whatsoever:mad:

Well not sure I can beat that....:rotfl:. He did have loads until about 2 years ago, when I insisted they go. We actually have 1 VHS tape still in the house. It is our wedding and he keeps saying he will get it transferred to DVD for me.
I have seen people at car boot sales trying to give videos away for free these days, and they still can't get rid of them.

ecoelle

Morning all. We have all got lunch made in the ecoelle household and are ready for the walk to work and school. So that's our frugal thing for today. I am planning on making leek and potato soup this afternoon so that will do for tea tonight and lunches tomorrow.

I have started to read a book by Marie Kondo on tidying and how decluttering can clear not only our homes but also our minds. I have had it on my reading list for over a year. We began decluttering over 2 years ago and it does feel never ending sometimes. I definitely think by getting the house in order i an in a better position to then tackle getting the finances in order. Have a lively day everyone

Lifeisforliving19

ecoelle wrote: »

Morning all. We have all got lunch made in the ecoelle household and are ready for the walk to work and school. So that's our frugal thing for today. I am planning on making leek and potato soup this afternoon so that will do for tea tonight and lunches tomorrow.

I have started to read a book by Marie Kondo on tidying and how decluttering can clear not only our homes but also our minds. I have had it on my reading list for over a year. We began decluttering over 2 years ago and it does feel never ending sometimes. I definitely think by getting the house in order i an in a better position to then tackle getting the finances in order. Have a lively day everyone

The Marie Kondo book is brilliant. I found it very inspirational. Have you been watching her series on Netflix? Not as good as the book but worth a watch. We did the whole house...apart from garage and attic, a couple of years ago, but we have slipped back in some areas :mad:and now need to do it again. I might even re-read the book. I totally agree that if the house is in order, everything else just falls into place. It is certainly easier to keep clean if it is tidy. Good luck:)

earthmother

Think I'm going to be a bit of a lurker, but I'd like to join.

I used to follow the OS board a lot, but for varying reasons slipped out of the habit. This past few months, I've been working my way back - batch baking, making our own cakes etc. I've also been converting some of the non-eco stuff to eco - dishcloths for scourer sponges for example. All of it so far is saving money one way or the other.

I already know this coming year is going to be a tight one - a couple of large school/college expenses for the kids are coming up before the summer, eldest son just lost his PIP (for chemo side effects - happy to lose it as it means he's well, but it's still a hit), and the spectre of UC is ever looming, so I'm trying to make the changes now and build up a reserve while I still have time.