2019 Frugal Living Challenge

Hettyhound

Just want to say thank you for all the congratulations on the new job messages! Good wishes from my current management team have been nil, basically they have never mentioned it. I wouldn’t care but I’m not actually leaving, just going to a different department where I will get paid more for doing a very similar role. I have ordered my son’s birthday present which has cost me £0 as I got a voucher with my car insurance, a medium sized box of those coloured bricks that get everywhere and really hurt if you stand on them with only your socks on!

Shopping day tomorrow so I’m busy doing a meal plan and checking my freezer list. I only have a small freezer but tend to batch cook early in the month and empty it out in the last week before payday. Half term starts on Friday for us so need to get for pack ups for holiday club. Biggest issue will be trying to stop him from eating it all before the week is out; his legs are definately hollow.:D

little_green

unplanned spend day today £4 on "luxury" (un-needed items)

2Scratters

Morning Peeps,
just popping in before I get busy, GD coming for a few days so will be kept other busy. I.E baking and making things. Might show her how to strip wallpaper properly lol.:rotfl:
Pipneyjane - love the cashmere thing too.
Littlegreen - how did the prawn flavour tails go?

I'm getting things together ready for retiring early.:j I will need to continue being frugal (well actually more frugal) I ain't got no pot of gold. As long as enough to pay bills and get house finished I will be more than happy. I say retiring will need to top up my income via part time job.:eek:
Have a good week
2Scratters

Hettyhound

Morning all. I’ve just been to c*rd f*ctory to stock up my card supply on their 5 for £1 offer to find that at the moment it’s 10 for a pound! Done really well on shopping this week, 8 hot x buns for £1 on reduced section so they are in the freezer for when there’s a cry of what can I have to eat. Also bought extra for pack ups and still came in £4 under budget. Pay day on the 28th but I’m hoping not to have to shop again until then and I’ve still got £19 left in the food budget; I can’t remeber ever having food money left by the end of the month. I’ve also got some “my” money left which is for my little luxuries. I nearly circumed this morning in wilk* when a red hydrangea for £5 caught my eye but I have resisted until after payday. I have a large wooden planter that is empty and needs a permanent plant but then I thought it still needs cleaning out and then I’d have to get a lot of ericaceous compost to fill it and they had loads of them so it can all wait until March. Dead proud of myself and I can buy it guilt free in March as it is now a planned purchase:)

little_green

2Scratters wrote: »

Littlegreen - how did the prawn flavour tails go?

Hi they were actually ok thanks for asking not as bad as i thought they might be. texture is nothing like prawns but more like crab though softer. Would use them again. Considering they were £1 and prawns were £2.50 it's a big price difference. What i think i'll do is get both & then split them into little bags mixed, that way i get my prawns but they will go further as bulked out with the acceptable but less tasty tails.

Crafty_Lisa_Hampshire

My word cw18 you are bossing it with the freezer usage. I am so impressed. I think you will be my future inspiration.

Its a very long time since I menu planned (I got bored of doing it as I just seemed to end up doing the same thing and I was getting to the point where I wasn't really fancying what I planned) but I have resolved to go back to planning. I will try and use my slo-cooker on a Monday (I go to the gym and by the time I have had a shower and cooked a dinner its quite late) so that will make my Monday evening a bit easier to deal with. I will plan a "freezer meal" on Wednesdays and Thursdays (again gym and dancing so two more late days) and then that leaves Tuesdays, Fridays and the weekend. That's a start anyway.

Hettyhound, congratulations on the job. I'm sorry your current work colleagues don't seem to want to acknowledge it to you. They are probably just jealous.:)


Another question for the wise on this forum. I am thinking about buying less products and one way to do that I feel is to buy products that do more than one job, for example, I buy white vinegar which I use as fabric conditioner in my wash, descaler for the kettle and shower heads, cleaning drain holes (with bicarbonate of soda as well) and to make a cleaner for the shower and kitchen sink (to get the limescale off). Are there any other pearls of wisdom out there that I could consider. Products have to be as environmentally friendly/natural as possible for me as well as I do tend to suffer from allergies and sensitive skin and I am trying to be more environmentally conscious.


Another positive move towards frugal living is I actually downloaded the spreadsheet to monitor my spending. I have added a few extra columns just to itemise things more and give me a better picture of what I spend where. I will start filling that out when I get paid on 26 Feb. It will probably open my eyes more to where my money goes and will make me think harder before I purchase items.


I'm pretty much down to my last £40.00 (dregs from food and petrol budgets together) to last me until pay day but I have a dance class to attend, a meet up with friends in Pizza Hut on Sunday and I will probably need to buy a bit of veg to keep me going. It might be a bit tight but I am determined to manage. If I do manage it that will be two months on the trot where I haven't actually overspent my income. I will save the celebrations until 26th though.

Thanks one and all for any tips you can give me.

little_green

downgraded my gym membership to single acess today. was paying £2 extra per month for multi access but i only ever really use the one gym.
I'm considering whether I will need the membership over summer as prefer being outside when the weather is good would rather not be cooped up in a gym.

sinkorswim2018

Crafty Lisa Hampshire-
Moisturiser is good for shaving gel, and after sun is good for shaving gel and moisturizing if you have some hanging about. Hand soap and washing liquid are both good for clothing stains. Kitchen cleaner is generally good.in the bathroom and vice versa. White vinegar also works in a dishwasher as a rinse aid. Perfumes and body sprays can be used in the bathroom to cover unwanted smells. Fragranced oils can refresh car air freshners. I have accidently.used ecover multipurpose cleaner in my washing machine, it seemed tp work. Milton solution watered down ina spray bottle.peevents mould in your tiles in the bathroom and added to a wash gets rid of damp smell when clothes have been left in too long and forgotten. Bread bags are useful for sandwiches and wrapping things in the fridge and liners for cereal are too. Sugar makes a good exfoliant. Olive oil and coconut oil mosturise dry skin.

Sea_Shell

little_green wrote: »

downgraded my gym membership to single acess today. was paying £2 extra per month for multi access but i only ever really use the one gym.
I'm considering whether I will need the membership over summer as prefer being outside when the weather is good would rather not be cooped up in a gym.

Have you looked into PayAsUGym? You can buy various vouchers without any contract or tie in. Maybe your gym is signed up?

Hettyhound

Crafty Lisa I think you are doing marvelously well already! With the meal planning I try to have a couple of weeks worth of "favourites" that I rotate; some are really cheap and easy and others take a bit longer but can be frozen. I've just got some glass storage boxes which have clip on plastic lids so I can go from freezer to oven with things like corned beef hash or shepherds pie. I tend to set my oven on timer, especially in the winter when nothing stood in the oven all day will spoil, so food is nearly ready when we get home. Just have to do some veg or something to go with it and tend to use frozen veg in the week for speed.
Sink or Swim thanks for the tip about white vinegar as dishwasher rinse aid. I use the vinegar a lot for cleaning and fabric conditioner but not in the D/W; i'm nearly out of rinse aid so will try that instead of buying more.
I'm trying to do without some household products and making other multi task. I'm not going to buy anymore cling film when this one runs out as I have foil and grease proof paper and I re use bread packets for wrapping sandwiches and things in the freezer. I am also not going to buy kitchen roll (but we'll see how that goes). I have some of the "blue" cleaning cloths at 10 for a £1 and you can bleach them to clean them out so I reckon 10 could last me nearly a year (!). I've also cut up some old t-shirts/sweatshirts to use as floor cloths and again these will bleach or wash through to prolong their life. My bar shampoo has just arrived so I'm interested to see how that goes; I've got some apple cider vinegar in the cupboard so I'm planned on making up a rinse solution in an old spray bottle which seems to be recommended. I'll either have flowing locks or be wearing a hat and stinking of vinegar:rotfl: