NST February frugality and frolics

f0xh0les

I wrote a post and sent it a few days ago but it has disappeared. So I will do it again. Hello! Can I join in for gorgeous short February please!!


Food expenditure - I am already ridiculously low on this one, so I will keep on being frugal and aim for £60 a week foodwise for 6. Love my local fruit and veg market - 3 butternut squash for £1, 6 avocado £1, and brown paper bags too!

Excursions and entertainment- I have one child's birthday in Feb and all presents were bought before Xmas, I have sacked off one birthday party for a child(not one of mine!) I do not like and don't want to buy him a present or sit in a sports bar on a Saturday night, so £20 saved already. Half term is up in the air at the moment as in-laws are threatening to visit (yeah, them again, nuff said, moving swiftly on), but will be low cost cinema, squirrel catching, free museum and baking.Fox kids will be allowed to stay in their pokemon onesies all day with a games controller in their hand (at least for a day or two).
Budgets should be set before the start of the month. Budget is £100 a week. £60 food, £40 all the other so that is my amount for unexpected bills.
Reduce your planned food expenditure - well without lunchboxes I might be able to save a bit, but it might get eaten by cinema trips.
Useful leftovers, using up those pesky redbush teabags and other odds and sods in the pantry. I mean cocoa nibs??? really?? (they were a gift 3 years ago and are being hurled into flapjacks at every opportunity)
Aim to take your lunch to work - I am at home and usually cobble something together from leftovers, end of things, crusts of loaves - at what age do kids start eating the ends of bread?? I am the only one in my house who is not too good to eat the crusty ends.
Remind yourself of what you have and be grateful. We have so much, perfection is an illusion. I will take happy over perfect.

You pay debts first. On the first! All bills go out and money shunted about the place. Mortgage overpayment will go out - I pay the interest so DH's payment pays off the capital. Saving for the building work
Spend free days- aiming for 18
Use it up- this month I will be rid of cocoa nibs, rose petals, redbush tea, a couple of filter coffee packets that have been forgotten, pudding rice, black eye beans, that is the main thrust of my February frugal ferkelings. Plus lots and lots of unread books will be read and released.
Regular check ins!
Valentine's Day is usually ignored in F0xTowers but I have found DH a present, as Feb is an awful month for him workwise, so it seemed a good excuse. I will look for another festive day in February.
Indoors/outdoors exercise - walking is good, and to tie in with V duvet sports are actively encouraged. The cold and dark focus the mind and it saves on heating and improves my mood. Sorry to lower the tone. Reading in bed counts too, - also uses up that enormous pile of books I received for free and then I can release them back into the wilds of the charity shop.
Vending machines are not something I have to worry about, all food is made in-house because of....
Advance planning and meal planning and strict pantry management. Will have a look and see if I can get some seeds for the pots in the yard - did well with tomatoes and courgettes last year, plus all the herbs.
Let the challenge commence!

thriftylass

f0xh0les wrote: »

I am at home and usually cobble something together from leftovers, end of things, crusts of loaves - at what age do kids start eating the ends of bread?? I am the only one in my house who is not too good to eat the crusty ends.

Luckily bread comes with two crusty ends as my kids (4 and 7) fight over them especially from a baguette. When I grew up the Renftl (local German dialect for end bit) was the best part of the loaf especially when it was fresh.

Just back from the pool. Didn't feel like it but just did it (my new mantra ) and it was great.

mothernerd

Welcome f0xh0les. I was getting worried that I had seriously offended you with what I intended to be a light hearted remark. I was about to post an abject apology.

XSpender

Food Expenditure - £300

Excursions – all costs from Family Fun Budget, SH and DS event (tickets were Christmas gift), DH birthday takeaway, DS friend’s birthday party – gift already purchased, half term – only off 2 days have free cinema tickets and sweets to eat and discounted swimming passes, big lego set to build, art materials to play with, books to read, cookie kit to make.

Budgets – I am a committed YNABer and update it daily. I have set myself a challenge to cut my overall spending by 10% this month. I need to get DH on board with a Frugal February so we can repay £1000 to DPIL which will be very challenging

Reduced food budget by £150 compared to Jan (which was lower than usual).

Useful leftovers. COMPLETE 15 FROGS. I’ve re written my frog list and have 59 items on there so far!

Aim to take your lunch to work every day – I never buy lunch as either WFH or paid a lunch allowance but DH does a few times a month so will aim to reduce the number of times DH buys food at work by ensuring he has a lunch to take from home.

Remind yourself of what you have and be grateful. I enjoyed doing this last month, I have a lot to be grateful for.

You should pay to your debt or savings first and live on what is left. Aiming to repay £1000 to DPIL, not sure I am brave enough to pay it all then live on the rest!

Spend Free Days (SFDs). You will aim for 18. Struggle with this one but having a super frugal Feb so will try harder and plan better this month

Use it up. There is still a fair bit in our freezer so will use this up and ensure fresh food is not wasted. Got in to the swing of this last month so hoping to keep it going in Feb to help with tiny food budget

Regular check ins are recommended, daily if possible. – Will try my best

Valentine’s day, don’t celebrate it, never have and too close to DH birthday

Outdoors. Regular exercise is important – complete C25K mid Feb, run twice a week and try and squeeze in a swim weekly

Indoors - Nurture and protect yourself. Write down 10 things that help improve your mood and practice them regularly. DONE – will try to do them often in Feb

Vending machines, coffee shops – only as planned and when travelling with work which I don’t pay for

Advance planning. Meal plan done for the month, calendar updated with all planned events, check have materials for painting kitchen soffits, use green bin (we also pay for ours and don’t use it enough and have a garden full of waste to dispose of after 2 trees blown down), plan garden layout, check what lightbulbs we have before buying more.

Looking forward to another great challenge

Kerry_Woman

Food Expenditure. Decide on your food expenditure for the month - do not exceed it. Have done.
E Excursions and entertainment should be planned before the month starts. Still need to organise just to go round friend’s places one in London and one in Southend if possible. Seeing a friend around her place this Saturday.
B Budgets should be set before the start of the month. Have done.
R Reduce your planned food expenditure in accordance with the table below. Will be tough, but will attempt it to keep as close to it as possible. Planning to reduce it by £10 for now.
U Useful leftovers. If there is anything from last month or a previous challenge which you found useful, keep on doing it (tackling those frogs, ditching bad habits and replacing them with good ones). Small changes that last are preferable to dramatic ones that peter out. Will do. Still have frogs to deal with.
A Aim to take your lunch to work every day (unless you have a free
or heavily subsidised canteen. Similarly prepare for hospital appointments or days out by taking your own food and drink when possible. Always make my own lunch for work and if and when I have a planned day when possible.
R Remind yourself of what you have and be grateful. This is a tough challenge but I am not asking anyone to live on a bowl of rice a day. You can choose to add your gratitudes on here or to record them privately. Will do.
Y You should pay to your debt or savings first and live on what is left. Ideally pay it on the first of the month/ payday. I appreciate that some of you have money coming in at different times and may need to accommodate existing standing orders/ direct debits. No debt, but have direct debit already set up for savings. Also try to put in full coin bags when possible.
S Spend Free Days (SFDs). Aiming for 20 NSD’s.
U Use it up. Will try and use up the herbal tea I have in and other items.
R Regular check ins are recommended, daily if possible. Will do.

V Turtles generally avoid the consumer fest of bad taste on the 14th of the month. If you and your significant other choose to celebrate, make it yourself. If there is no significant other, then celebrate your singledom in whatever way you choose - pampering, slothing, singing a la Bridget Jones or hiding under the bedclothes. Think I will be doing pampering. See when the day comes around.
I Indoors/outdoors. Regular exercise is important. Will try and go out for a walk each day.
Indoors - I mentioned being a hermit. I would like you to see this as a positive step. Spring may be around the corner but winter often has a sting in its tail. Nurture and protect yourself. Huddle by the fire, go to bed early, read, have hot drinks and comforting home made soup. Recharge your batteries. Rest and conserve your energy. Guard your mental health. Write down 10 things that help improve your mood and practice them regularly. Love this one.
V Vending machines, coffee shops, takeaways (everything from an Indian banquet to a pastie or a bag of chips) are forbidden (except for those who have them as part of a budgeted family evening). Usually avoid, but will keep a close eye that I do not do.
A Advance planning. Meal planning and making meals from scratch (no food waste) are your friends. Not great at making meals from scratch. The things I get make my life easier at the moment, but will make an effort with cooking from scratch for some meals. Will be trying to do some baking, eg cakes so I will not be tempted to buy.

brizzlegirl

Please can you count me in too..I will post more about my plans tomorrow. Thanks for setting up the challenge MN

Brizzle x

Saving_Glut

I took an NST hiatus in January, but would like to participate in February’s challenge please mothernerd.

Robi90

I'm in!


Food Expenditure. £100 for the month


Excursions and entertainment I do have a brunch planned with some old uni mates and a pub quiz with colleagues next week. Will try and politely decline other invites.

Budgets
I've just set this using my budget planner.

Reduce I'll try and do this!

Useful leftovers. Okay!

Aim to take your lunch to work every dayWill do!

Remind yourself of what you have and be grateful. I'm going to try and record these privately.

You should pay to your debt or savings first and live on what is left. .
I get paid on the 28th so have already done this.

Spend Free Days (SFDs). I'll aim for the 18.

Use it up. Will do

Regular check ins Yes this is something I need to improve on. When I slip up I just hide away!

V Day - Single pringle so this shouldn't be a problem!

I Indoors/outdoors. Going to carry on with lunchtime gym sessions on working days. I find this preferable to running out in the cold!

Indoors - Sounds good to me!

Vending machines Yes the cold weather is attracting me to the coffee shops again so i need to cut this habit out!

Advance planning. Going to look at some new recipes to try out for lunches this month.

mothernerd

Oh, I see how it is. Bears can hibernate and it's "natural"but when I do it, it's "creepy" and "antisocial".

Forgive yourself, over and over.
Transformation takes time.

As I may have mentioned (about a hundred times) not hibernating is one of our serious evolutionary wrong turns. Probably on a par with deciding to stand on our back paws rather than all fours - you have back pain, that's why.

I love the old idea of Christmas lasting from Michaelmas to Candlemas. Roughly October to February first. When people's lives were more in tune with (dictated by) nature once the harvest was in the priority was to conserve energy and heat through till spring planting could begin.

I love the second quote. If we are trying to change, we are going to slip up/ mess up for any number of reasons. The secret is not to give up, just forgive ourselves and start again.

PurpleFairy26

May I join?

F Food Expenditure - aim to be same as January which was our best month in the last 2 years. We track every spend on a spreadsheet


E Excursions and entertainment. We have friends coming one weekend but will likely stay in and I'll cook, smalls have some activities and a couple of parties. Just 2 activities to pay for (for holiday cover). Other excursions will be using our family memberships or free local places and taking drinks/snacks

B Budget: Done and most unusually for us our budget starts on 1st (don't normally get paid at the start of the month, just a coincidence this time)

R Reduce - did it massively in Jan, so if we can do similar I'll be happy

U Useful leftovers. Always. No waste here.

A Aim to take your lunch to work every day: Always do, so does DH.

R Remind yourself of what you have and be grateful. Will use bullet journal.

Y Savings paid after payday and debt paid throughout the month. What is left will be overpaid to debt/savings

S Spend Free Days (SFDs). Normally get here by default rather than plan, will see if I can track.

U Use it up. We are working through the freezer continues.

R Regular check ins are recommended, daily if possible. Will do my best

V Valentines - eat at home

I Indoors/outdoors. Am trying to run regularly and keep step count to average of 10,000 so will try and get out when I can. It good for my MH.

Indoors - Write down 10 things that help improve your mood and practice them regularly - use free ca1m app I got through work as 1 of these

V Yep. None of that here.

A Advance planning. Meal plan weekly when veg box arrives every two weeks. Also have monthly to do list

L Budget will end on the 28th.