2019 Frugal Living Challenge

Hettyhound

I would just like to add my thanks for welcoming me as a newbie to this forum. As a single mum with only a 5 year old for conversation (Bob the Builder anyone?), support surrounding finances has been thin on the ground. Its so heart warming to see people who have made it through the difficult times supporting those who are just starting out; there are some very special people out there. I never thought my finances were in a bad state but reading the posts has lifted me, improved my thoughts around money and given me the hope that my dreams may one day become a reality.

Thank you:happyhear

Crafty_Lisa_Hampshire

Hello everyone,


I had a bit of a success today. My telephone/broadband contract is up for renewal so I did a comparison and found a company that provided the same as my current provider for nearly half the price. I got on to BT to challenge them on their renewal and because I told them I would go elsewhere they knocked £20 off my monthly renewal payment. That makes up for my tiny failure on Friday when I went and did my usual weekly top up and ended up buying a recipe book that I probably didn't need for £16.00 (it was £10 off which was why I succumbed).


I did have a couple of other successes since I last made an entry. Because I had some vegetables left I cancelled my weekly veg delivery (just for this week), I set up a purse (as another member suggested) with cash in for my grocery money and used that instead of whizzing the credit card out and the money I saved on using a voucher the other day I put straight into my savings. I am trying to challenge myself to do one frugal thing a day.


Another thought I have had about saving money is with regards the new "Planetary Diet" that was on the news the other day. Apparently scientists have come up with this diet that apparently means you eat healthy meals without over eating and which is sustainable for the planet. I thought I would give that a go to see if that would save a bit of money as well as stopping me from over-eating/over-indulging in food. It will also be good towards my attempt to be more sustainable. Has anyone else looked into this?


Anyway I better go. Good luck with your frugalling ways.

little_green

bit of a blow today getting the g&e bill through
prepare for a rant below!

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Got my g&e bill through today & seriously peeved.

My current provider is first utility and I have been with them for over 3 years. I pay via variable direct debit therefore pay for my actual usage over the month as opposed to paying a set amount each month then being in credit or debt.

I have a spreadsheet with bar chart of my g&e monthly costs since 2017. I have a note of my meter readings from previous years but have not documented them in a spreadsheet. As Jan 2019 I started a new tariff Feb fixed 2020 v3. My January bill was fine no concerns though if my understanding is correct as this was Decembers usage I was being charged the prices from my old contract. My new contract came into effect Jan 2019 so I’m guessing my Feb bill (of energy usage for Jan) will be the first bill using the new rates for this tariff.

This month is the highest my bill has ever been since I started the spreadsheet in Jan 2017 (and i'm pretty sure my highest bill ever). Not only that but it's a good £15 higher than what would have previously been my highest bill. I do not feel the usage has increased vastly enough to justify this unexpected raise.

I have compared the bills from January & Feb.
Electricity usage Dec-Jan difference in readings (taken at start of month) = 122 units
difference in readings Jan-Feb (again taken at start of each month) = 123
so pretty much the same usage. Costing worked out to be pretty much the same.

Gas on the other hand,
Dec-Jan difference in readings (taken at start of month) = 75
difference in readings Jan-Feb (again taken at start of each month) = 99
so I used 24 units more of gas in Jan than I did in Dec.

Looking at a breakdown of the bills, standing charges remain in the same ball park, but wise my gas usage charge is £15 more this month than last month. So £15 more for using 24 units.... that doesn't seem accurate?

At the time of choosing my new tariff it gave personal projections for the various tariff options, now I know these are estimates BUT first utility do have 3 years of my usage stats to estimate from. For the tariff I selected it estimated an average payment of £20/month lower than what my bill is. Now I know I opt to pay variable amounts based on actual usage but £20 off seems very unlikely unless my circumstances had drastically changed for example.

Now, I’m not denying I’ve used more, that’s in the figures, however I’ve only used 24 more units of gas, that should not justify a £15 raise surely?

Frustratingly I’m now tied into this contract until Feb 2020 unless I pay £60 exit fee (30 per fuel). I’ve never had an issue with First Utility in the past but this latest bill just seems ridiculously over price.

Rant over (lol).

Would appreciate thoughts.

mumtoomany

Hi all, still here and reading, just not had a lot of time to reply lately. Not fallen off the frugal wagon, (though I did fall over a sheep this morning!)

Little green, I don't know how much gas is, ours comes in bottles, but it seems to me that if last months usage was 75 units and this months is 99, you have used around a third more than last month. If last month was around £45 and this month, at £15 extra, was around £60, then your bill seems about right. If last month was a lot less then maybe question this. Hope that makes sense.

Hoping to get back on later with an update of figures so far, M2m.

little_green

mumtoomany wrote: »

Hi all, still here and reading, just not had a lot of time to reply lately. Not fallen off the frugal wagon, (though I did fall over a sheep this morning!)

Little green, I don't know how much gas is, ours comes in bottles, but it seems to me that if last months usage was 75 units and this months is 99, you have used around a third more than last month. If last month was around £45 and this month, at £15 extra, was around £60, then your bill seems about right. If last month was a lot less then maybe question this. Hope that makes sense.

Hoping to get back on later with an update of figures so far, M2m.

havent I only used 25% more ie. 75 vs 100. I have done a calculation & the gas charge this month is a 44% price increase over last month. That's crazy!!!

[Deleted User]

PipneyJane wrote: »

Good afternoon my frugal friends

I'm curious - why are you on this frugal journey?

- Pip

Hi Pip, been meaning to answer this for a while. I started my frugal journey back in 2006 when I finally realised I was up to my eyeballs in debt and was paying way over the odds for various things like car and house insurance and food spending was out of control (this was when I first discovered Martin and MSE). Since then I have paid off all debts including my mortgage and now haggle over renewal prices, got into the habit of doing a monthly budget and used other frugal habits to spend less and to pay off debts.

I struggled a bit when I reached the goal of paying off the mortgage as I had no other goal and I floundered a bit not sure what to do next meaning that I started spending more again. It was at this point that I became frugal by choice rather than total necessity. I wasn't comfortable with the excess spending so I set some new goals and I am now saving to retire early(ish) from my day job.

greenbee

little_green wrote: »

havent I only used 25% more ie. 75 vs 100. I have done a calculation & the gas charge this month is a 44% price increase over last month. That's crazy!!!

I think... you've used 1/3 more than last month (i.e. 25 units is equivalent to 1/3 of 75) but last month was 25% less than this month ... (100-25).

I hate maths...

cw18

greenbee wrote: »

I think... you've used 1/3 more than last month (i.e. 25 units is equivalent to 1/3 of 75) but last month was 25% less than this month ... (100-25).

I hate maths...

You're correct - it's a rise of a third. (I love maths )


I was told by my supplier at the start of last month that fuel prices have risen considerably since I fixed last Feb, so even with a new fixed tariff I can expect to be paying considerably more.


little_green how does the price per kWh compare between your old and new tariffs? That will almost certainly play a part in your increase. I can't understand how they reckon you'll pay less this year given what I was told though :think:

greenbee

cw18 wrote: »

You're correct - it's a rise of a third. (I love maths )

Thank you! You have no idea how excited I am to know I actually understood the difference :beer: I really struggle with numbers, but ironically they're critical to what I do at work and I'm never confident that I'm right.

ma-ri-ella

Igamogam wrote: »

About £3 under budget this week for food shop - would have been more but bought some stewing beef on offer at butchers counter....flummoxed them again by taking my own container * roll eyes*. Have a beef in beer whatnot bubbling in slow

haha i had this with suprmarket bakery. me:what bread u got not in plastic. Them :um these but we can stick in a bag for you .little bit of me repeating i ddint want one and them saying it wasnt a problem i could have 1 :P i think they getting used to me .i have a collection of labels aswell so no need to print those out either . Off work this week so have been able to do the rounds of x is cheapest at lidi. y at aldi .z at morries etc all helps, akthough i bought a salad that didnt go through half price at aldi - 26p i turned and looked at the queues and thought not worth it. The 52p was a good price anyway