2019 Frugal Living Challenge

gien

Sorry I havent posted for a while - have been very busy in real life. Lots to update - we got 7 chickens last weekend - not exactly a frugal move given that they cost quite a bit but they are really lovely and we have already had a few eggs. On the frugal front I have been selling a lot on ebay so quite a nice bit of money from that and also still busy at the market. I was veyr please because i made some flower bunches last week - just daffodils and !!!!! willo, charges 75p and they all went. So i've picked some more this week - it's not a lot individually but it's pure profit because these are things in the garden anyway. We have also not been spending a lot which helps and i am doing a meat free lent so a slight reduction in food bills i` am hoping!
Eight, better sleep, market tomorrw

chocolatelover93

Hello everyone!

I'm back took some time off as my mental health has not been great recently I had a bit of a breakdown but things are looking up now.

DS has got his op date and we are moving house! (only next door but a lot nicer and more suited for us).

C xx

jintyb

Hello! I’m rather late to the party, but I’m in! Hope that’s ok.
My aim this year is to stop wasting and frittering money away.
This week I’ve dealt with some big stuff Id been putting off, so I :

Wrote out an honest (warts and all) budget. (Illuminating !)
Allocated myself an amount per month to stick to in terms of "pocket money"
Set up a small saver account and a monthly standing order to transfer into it
Shopped around for better deals on monthly utilities, insurance etc
Cancelled subs I was paying for but not using.
Daily savings yesterday
Walked everywhere, didnt use car at all
Stuck to daily budget
Made lunch for two days from leftovers ( it was lovely)
Dug out recipes for using up fruit & veg `( love food hate waste)
Set up a spending diary
Made breakfast muffins from “ tired” bananas and blueberries, wrapped and frozen for breakfasts this week
Downloaded a wee app for recording spends and keeping receipts.

I’m the big 60 this year, it’s time I grew up about money lol!

Dave_Saver

My biggest spend day is now behind me, took my new girlfriend out last night for her birthday. She has been really good for me and deserved a great night. The shackles are back on for the remaining 3 weeks until payday. Today has been a no spend day and I will try to do at least 4 in a row now.

Igamogam

Over spent the weekly food budget by £19 this week :eek: First time since January. Not going to beat myself up about it but will look closely at receipt later as what I bought was usual standard stuff and not expensive items or anything out of the ordinary ....hmmm....maybe prices slowly rising:( As far as everything else goes all normal/usual. Had email from energy supplier to say they were changing my DD and it was going back down to £42pm in April...they just put it up to £73 in February despite my protests........I knew I was right. We are not big electricity users - solar panels and pellet boiler and I am a demon switcher off of even our very low energy LED lights and all stand by stuff....charge my phone tablet fitbit at work as much as I can:D OH is a pain with kettle boiling:mad: but is getting better. Anyway bit of a gain. It all helps

Shopaholic_no_more

chocolatelover93 wrote: »

Hello everyone!

I'm back took some time off as my mental health has not been great recently I had a bit of a breakdown but things are looking up now.


Sorry to hear you have not been well Chocoalelover93.
Wishing you a speedy recovery.




Today, I put some items on eBay so should get a bit from that hopefully to replace the money I never got from work from when I was sick

spudsmum

Hi all.

Sorry I've not been about but well it's been a rubbish month here - so much has gone wrong I just don't see an end to it

Our twins smashed our TV then within a couple of days both mine and my husband's car have both needed expensive repairs - then mine had to go back to the garage twice as it still wasn't right

Then husband was rushed to hospital with chest pain - luckily he was ok

Just after husband got his car back he parked it up at work and came out to a huge nail in his tyre - unfortunately the tyre place then fixed the wrong one and he didn't notice til it was too late so he had to go back get the second one done.

Went on holiday which was just disastrous - train tickets didnt arrive in post which caused major issues then four separate trains delayed or cancelled by signalling problems, an unexploded WW2 bomb, then power cuts, then animals on the line - so much stress as we had connections to make and pretty traumatic for all concerned - especially when travelling with young kids. Then while we were in France the sole came off the bottom of my trusty walking boots so had to pay out for a new pair.

Got home, picked car up from car park, halfway home get pulled over by the police - both brake lights on my car have gone out - more expense!

Go to the bank to get some money and there's none there - turns out some fool in payroll put husband's holiday down as sickness instead of holiday and, as he doesn't get sick pay he was paid £45.60 instead of £350 so ended up massively overdrawn.

Now our downstairs toilet is broken and our boiler is leaking oh and husband just told me his car is making another odd noise this time from the engine.

Just to top it off I nipped to the shop today and stood on a patch of mud which caused me to slip and land heavily on my bum in a patch of sloppy mud - my new shoes that I bought in France and my recently bought (dry clean only) coat are now coated in a thick layer of sticky black mud! Plus from the heavy aching in my bum I'm thinking I've possibly rebroken the coccyx I broke some years ago (which took ages to heal) ��

I seriously give up - Sorry to moan I know there's people going through much worse stuff but i just don't know how much more we can take - surely things *have* to get better soon.

The only positive I can draw is thanks to our emergency fund I still haven't turned to the credit card, either for paying for the repairs or (more importantly) to try to buy things to make myself feel better - that's always been a major downfall for me so happy I've resisted so far (can't promise that will continue but we'll see)

Wish me luck?

Ps O'Laney - so sorry to hear about your lovely cat x
Chocolatelover - sorry you've not been well, hoping things get better for you soon x

tighteningthebelt

jintyb
Hi there! Sounds like you've made a fabulous start, and these forums really help you stick to it. Love your signature. Welcome!!!

tighteningthebelt

spudsmum
The way you write is brilliant! I can feel your exasperation, and yet you make it sound like an adventure. I was very relieved to hear you didn't have to use your cards... That's the aim of the game, so you can definitely file it under 'success', or 'system test - passed'!!
My son broke the telly once, as a punishment I didn't replace it, then we got used to not having one, we still don't!

earthgirl

Sorry to hear about your run of bad luck and awful events, that must have been really tough on you spudsmum. I hope your cocxycs (sp) is ok? Keep fighting on, and amazing with the no credit cards/treats to cheer you up!