2019 Frugal Living Challenge

sistercas

[QUOTE=Frugaldom;75368774
Contrary to what many may believe, I pay as much as possibly on my cashback credit card and then pay off the balance in full every month. I use my Nectar card wherever possible (mad at buying from Argos and forgetting I can collect points there) and I always check for links on the top cashback site. Over the space of a year, this extra 'free' money can mount up into quite a tidy little sum.

)[/QUOTE]

I do this too, I received £29 this year from my cash back cc - free money
I do the cash back site and get a few pence back here and there, I was supposed to get £50 back on my car insurance but it was declined, I put a claim in but still it was declined . But on the whole it’s worth it for free money

Kaylataste wrote: »

Little green I would cut my losses,you weren’t to know they were going into the sale.what if they are out of stock when you re order? Would you be disappointed? If yes, then keep them.

Yep I agree

I saw on MSE someone was putting £2 a day into savings so I have adopted that, should equate to over £700 in a year And I also have a loose change pot ( mainly dh’s loose change that he leaves everywhere :rotfl:)

Marinebee

Morning All

Frugaldom: Thank you! Unfortunately, I cannot afford to pay off my card (s) in full each month so I am slowly working my way through them....it grieves me how much interest these have on them. A while back I had an unexpected vet bill which had to go on the CC and things just snowballed from there. I did not take control of it when I should have done. Life got in the way. So, now I have to deal with this and I will do my very best to get there! I do have one on 0% but I have been trying to get the other one down more tbh. My food bill each week was truly outrageous and there is no excuse for it...just sheer laziness....so that is going to change too.


Sinkorswim: Thank you! Yes I have one on 0% so onwards and upwards!


Last week I downloaded the spreadsheet from MSE and I am currently getting that adjusted to my finances and already I can see what is happening in certain places with regards to overspend. So, here we go, wish me luck!


I shall keep following this forum and updating when I have something positive to report
I am so glad I came across this forum as, for me, it is a great incentive to improve the way I think about money...cos it has been very lax I must admit. I am now going to look in to eating for a pound a day, if I can achieve that, I will have landed yay!


Keep frugaling

MadamMim2013

I have adopted a ‘spends’ diary where I list everything that goes out each day including bills that come out or groceries,etc. It has really helped to stop the nonsense spending as I don’t want to see it in black and white!! :rotfl:
I also got a shock this week, I know I have the habit of buying the odd thing when I am emotional or bored.. Well, I looked at a great “offer” on a particular product advertised on fb.. Well, what a mistake that was, instead of the offer price they took £151 from my bank account:eek::eek::eek: I was horrified, rang them and cancelled immediately, stating their advertising price was “blah” and that they had taken way over what was stated.. “oh mam that was per bottle” hmph.. NOT was was stated on the site, couldn’t even see that in the small print where I went back to check..
They did cancel my order and said a full refund would be issued. I had e-mails to confirm this, it took 48hrs for my money to re-appear.. _pale_. Oooh what a way to learn.. Never again!

teedy23

Morning folks, almost no spends yesterday, two coffees at £1:10 each and thats it

I've tried not to mention..I really have but Whippit1, why are you spending £6 on snack lunch ?
Marinbee : I was in a similar situation to yourself, paying ridiculous interest on cc balances, needless to say that was before I joined/discovered this site. I couldn't transfer all balances to zero percent so had to get rid of as much as I could from high cards. I worked in the town centre at the time so it was easy to access banks etc during my breaks. I had one of my many attempts to stop smoking, and every day walked along to the bank and paid my cigarette money to my card, after all interest is added every day, and if I saved in any other way, even small amounts, this was added in to my daily pay in. The girls in the bank got used to seeing me and I told them what I was doing, so had a bit of support from them, it all adds to the feel good factor, and its amazing what a difference it makes both to your purse and your fitness levels.

chocolatelover93

Good morning everyone

Littlegreen - I would cut the losses it seems like a lot of hassle for £7.50

MadamMim - I emotionally spend too! Or when I'm bored I'll sit on FB or Amazon or Wish and buy carp I don't need!! I spent £33 on a bedding set that when it arrived was way too big and not good quality. Luckily Wish has refunded me the full amount! But to celebrate that I spent £20 on a Chinese!!

Have tried to be frugal the last few days but have failed a bit am on steriod tablets for asthma so all I want to do is eat so went out yesterday and bought loads of carp and sat on the sofa and ate most of it only on them until Tuesday though so hoping I can not eat everything in the house until then!

Tried to be frugal and wash somes shoes in the WM but they ended up getting ripped (tbh they were already on their way out) but did find another pair lurking in the shoe cupboard that are just as comfy and look a lot nicer with a little heel

Those of you that eat for £1 how do you do it? Do you spend £7 a week on shopping and divide it up? There is me and DS so would be £2 a day for both of us. Any ideas would be appreciated

C xx

Igamogam

Bang on the money with the weekly shopping budget - just over £2 under and this was with some stuff I wasnt expecting this week - laundry items.

Had a look at regular saving accounts recommend by:money: and may open one to slide the extra little bits in and watch them mount up and as :money: says after 12 months 'ditch and switch' as intro offers reduce. I know its counter intuitive to save as well as having debt but the debt is by an large 0% so building up a little lump some may just well help at some point.

Rock and roll weekend.....freezer and kitchen cupboard proper inventory...bought 4 tins of toms today only to find 2 lurking at the back under a bag of rice:rotfl:

For those who collect N*ectar points and are decluttering Oxf*m give you points if your donated items sell. You have to link/register your card but think it is through the Gift Aid scheme so you must be a tax payer - but check it out as I am not 100% sure. I have collectd over £20 of points in the last year.....really need to use them but dont often go into places that use them.....will have to make an effort and make a bit a small detour one night on my way home form work and use them in Sainsbugs.

Marinebee

Teedy 23 : I can totally relate to what you have said. My weaknesses were, were being the operative word cos honestly it has terrified how much I have spent over the years, beauty and wellbeing websites. It has not turned out to be that good for my wellbeing in the end has it?


So, I have decided that as well as coming on here and getting advice and support I am going to start a journal to write down how I am dealing with this debt on a regular basis.


Hopefully, this will all glaringly bring it home to me how easily it can get out of hand :mad:

Crafty_Lisa_Hampshire

I had a no spend day today which was unexpected plus when I checked my emails I had been sent a £5 voucher. Good day today ��

little_green

Ughhh feeling mad at myself. Was out for dinner last night had a main £10 and shared 2 starters priced £7 + £6 each with a friend hence my share should have been £16.50... there was a group of us and I didn't want to look like a !!!! so I just put down a £20. Annoyed bc I only had water but everyone else in the group had alcohol.

Today went to the cinema with a friend and ended up paying their ticket (£5). They did buy me a drink at the pub later on but that was only £3.70 .... I'm just wasting money left right and centre!!!

Whippet1

Hi Sink or Swim, thanks for your reply, no I don't keep a separate tab on my scratchcard spending. It's a very impulsive thing for me, often connected to the purchase of snack lunches which I am also trying to wean myself off.