2019 Frugal Living Challenge

Frugaldom

Dave_Saver wrote: »

I've not slept well tonight, maybe it's because of money worries. I opened a savings account just for Christmas and renamed all my bank & savings accounts to identify there use right before bed. Lesson learned don't deal with finance before bed

Have you done a basic spreadsheet so you can track your spending against income and savings? There is a link in post 1 or 2 to a very basic one that I use for almost everything. After sorting out personal spending for bills, debt payments and general household running costs, plus work-associated costs, you can have a column specifically for entertainment/socialising/dating. Just don't set about doing it at bed time, as it's probably best to update it as soon as spending occurs, so it's done and dusted. Spreadsheets let us see instantly where we are at and where any changes need to be made.

Working_Mum

Hey dave Saver the spreadsheet idea is a good one - it is simply about taking control and making considered decision about how you spend your pennies.

When i was going through a really tough time I would always get up half an hour early and sort my finances - I then knew how much i had for the day and could prep my shopping lists etc . If I had any nagging thoughts about my money sitch I would simply ask myself "right now, have I done everything I can do to sort this situation??" and if the answer was "yes" I forced myself to stop fretting and do something constructive instead.

As far as your girlfriend is concerned, bear with me whilst i share a philosphy with you. A chap called Gary Chapman has written a book about 5 Love Languages (gifts, quality time, words, physical touch and acts of servie) and it is fascinating. He says (very roughly) that everyone has a primary LL - and this is how we love to receive love.

My son is a "physical touch" child so when he asks for a hug he gets one because he is expressing a need for love. My daughter is a "quality time" child so when she and I sit together shooting the breeze I am demonstrating love to her in a way which is meaningful.

If you can understand what your GF LL is you will be able to demonstrate to her in a sniper shot way - she may not be that fussed by gifts (which costs money) but she may be an "acts of service" girl so making her a meal would be really meaningful for her.

Knowing my friends and family's LL has helped me no end improve my relationships with them.

Good luck!!

rarar85

Hey. Late to the party this year but I am well into a year of living frugally. I started the year in the most debt I’ve ever been in. Having increased my overdraft three times, and got another credit in 2018. 2018 was a hard year with a relationship break up leaving me to foot the mortgage alone and loan payments which were planned to be shared amounts. So I started in January with a goal to claw back £300 per month so I can be in a much stronger position by the end of 2019. It hasn’t been easy at all. Turning down invitations to things, friends covering the cost of things which I would normally never let, not allowing any treats. However, I have clawed back over £1000 since January and plan to be out of my overdraft in the next couple of months. I have tried every single money boosting technique I can think of- tasking apps, survey websites, extras work, boot sales, matched betting, mystery shopping, taking in a lodger, theatre digs, ebay, and more! I’m determined to get there. Fingers crossed nothing else unexpected happens (please stay working car, boiler etc!!) it’s nice to have somewhere to share thoughts and read other’s ideas for motivation!

tighteningthebelt

rarar85 wrote: »

Hey. Late to the party this year but I am well into a year of living frugally. I started the year in the most debt I’ve ever been in. Having increased my overdraft three times, and got another credit in 2018. 2018 was a hard year with a relationship break up leaving me to foot the mortgage alone and loan payments which were planned to be shared amounts. So I started in January with a goal to claw back £300 per month so I can be in a much stronger position by the end of 2019. It hasn’t been easy at all. Turning down invitations to things, friends covering the cost of things which I would normally never let, not allowing any treats. However, I have clawed back over £1000 since January and plan to be out of my overdraft in the next couple of months. I have tried every single money boosting technique I can think of- tasking apps, survey websites, extras work, boot sales, matched betting, mystery shopping, taking in a lodger, theatre digs, ebay, and more! I’m determined to get there. Fingers crossed nothing else unexpected happens (please stay working car, boiler etc!!) it’s nice to have somewhere to share thoughts and read other’s ideas for motivation!

Hiya! And a big welcome! Sounds like you're doing great, and very determined.

stirchleygirl

parsniphead
Don't be harsh on yourself whilst you recover from your illness (you couldn't help being ill) - just concentrate on recovering your health first and once better you will then have the energy to concentrate on recovering your finances.

chocolatelover93
Welcome back glad your recovering - I know from personal experience that MH issues & breakdowns are tough bu**ers to deal with but they can be recovered from (even multiple times) so keep on going with any and all strategies that you have for dealing with your symptoms and get help when needed. Hope DS op goes well and that your move goes smoothly and that you thoroughly enjoy your new home.

spudsmum
Wow!!! What a catalogue of disasters you've had.
Silver lining is that all your hard frugalling work paid off as you had the budgets/savings to cover these unexpected spends so actually you should be congratulating yourself on a putting your long term budgeting plan into action and it actually worked - and no CC spends woohoo! If you hadn't been doing your plan it would have made the terrible string of calamities worse

Welcome to the newbies :-)

Nice to hear about all the successful haggling and switching that various people have been doing - sorry to hear that some companies make the process as obstructive as possible.

I too love hearing how you all are doing in your personal DFW journeys it is always inspiring. Hearing stories of non frugal/heavily in debt family members who have their heads in the sand is always a reminder for me of how far I've journeyed in the last 25-30 years - it was my ex-husband who got us into debt and whilst I tried to be frugal and make limited money stretch he just didn't get the need to do anything about it - leaving him - even though that meant taking a lot of the debt with me (as some solely in my name) was the best decision of my life even though it took me years to pay off - as being single (no kids) I was back in total charge of my money and not having to worry about what he was or was not doing financially and even though things were still breadline and cut to the bone for me (I only had myself to worry about) at least no extra debt was being added to me by him and just like frugalfreedom I 'pennied' my way out of debt and once the CC had been paid off I have never had a CC again and once I had paid off the rest of the debts (that I took with me) I've refused to get into debt again even though things were tight for over 20 years (it is only in the last 2 years since my disability got bad enough to gain benefits that I'm now 'comfortable' financially) I got through it by using Martins main pages and the ingenious and inspiring tips and advice of fellow MSE'ers on threads like this. Those of you 'pennying' your way out of debt with children to look after especially single parents must be extremely tenacious - KUDOS to you all.

Those of you dealing with this country's shambolic benefits system you have my upmost sympathy. I recently had to do the 'renewal' of my PIP and they downgraded me (I had to phone them and restate my situation and I'm now waiting to hear from them again (I had to take them to tribunal last time and I hope I don't have to do that again as it is so stressful).

Frugaldom
I have a lovely picture in my mind of you going out and 'rescuing' all those lovely daffs - it has cheered me up no end :-)

Dave Saver
Don't stress and have sleepless nights just know that you are one the right path and keep on coming to this thread for moral support - you CAN do this

rarar85
Welcome I'm sorry to hear that you've been left to 'foot the bill' but take courage as now you are in sole/complete control of your finances and you WILL get there

earthgirl

Dave Saver I don't look at finances before bed either, as I just mull things over even if I don't actually worry about them. Getting control is a good idea. I use an app called moneydashboard, it's free and tracks all my accounts. Takes a while to set up but then I can check the balances in a few seconds whenever I want to - but not before bed! Good luck!

stirchleygirl

Evening all sorry that I've been 'missing' the last couple of weeks and only just catching up this evening but I've been off work (luckily I do get sick pay) ill as I had a relapse (my body got overloaded after trying to deal with bad side effects of new medication and the following week bad side effects of the replacement medication - GP is not going to bother with a 3rd go due to my relapse). I am just starting to recover but will have to phone my GP tomorrow to get a drs note for a 3rd week off as I will not be recovered enough to work next week.
My PA has been absolutely wonderful and was able to do extra calls (that I will pay for) on top of the council paid for ones - to look after me as last week I was virtually bed-ridden and only up to tackling the stairs on a few days this week.
I got her to take the crunchy salad that she had made me (mentioned in my last post) home to use so it wouldn't be wasted as due to my relapse I needed only soft food that wouldn't require much energy to eat. So I was very happy that I was able to carry on with one of my goals for this thread of not wasting food and she made it into a stir-fry for her tea that night.
Hope everyone is doing OK and continuing to 'penny' your way out of debt or happily 'pennying' your way into continued frugal living for those who are already DF.

little_green

doing well this month. Currently under budget but still have 9 days left of the month. socializing over the weekend & will have to do a grocery shop so possible to stay within my goal. fingers crossed as it will be the first month i'll have managed this year (3rd time lucky). Hoping if i do end up going over it's not by much. Just need to budget for the weekend & make no unplanned purchases next week.




Almost spend just over 100 today in some online sales but a few of the items I wanted have gone out of stock which means the total is less than the 75 that is needed for free delivery so thinking it's a blessing in disguise as paying for delivery puts me off buying at all.

Igamogam

Under budget this week on weekly shop by £11 - went without a list this time too but had a pretty good idea what we had 'in stock' and need to run those stocks down a bit...it will be a week of unusual combo food:rotfl:

When we looked at things to cut back on one thing we decided was that we would not cut back on good quality coffee - we only drink real coffee and then only at weekends unless not in work. We get our coffee on subscription and it is sent every 6 weeks and can decline the order if we want - so this month I declined and bought the best quality off the shelf as it was £2 cheaper......worst £2 I have ever saved!! Not going back to that after it has finished. If it came to it I would rather go without. Going to try a 'local' roaster of coffee next as it is about 50p cheaper and we like to support local business. Think what I am saying is that sometimes quality can be important:)

The other thing I always said I would not change is fair trade bananas but have inadvertently done that as I very rarely buy any bananas in any shape or form as have cut back on high sugar /carb fruit now:o...do miss a squidgy banana cake though:rotfl:

frugalfreedom

Afternoon everybody


Sorry for being AWOL, have been taking full advantage of the good weather to get going on the allotment, we were given a free shed last year, along with some free decking, so this is being sorted as we speak, and will be the 'leisure' shed, the pretty she that has the chairs and camping stove in, keep all the dirty tools out.


on the frugal front, we have just paid off another credit card bill, 1 more to go, never to return, Have also started a frugal blog to keep up the momentum


Dave Saver - I love how thoughtful and aware you are, not much of it about these days, I reiterate with the others, I think as a single mum on limited income she probably doesn't spend an awful lot of time and money on herself, so maybe when you can afford it, bunch of flowers, nice bubble bath, send her to chill upstairs while you make 'adult' food, Im sure she would appreciate the chill time