NST February frugality and frolics

apple_muncher

Thank you for the sewing story mothernerd. I asked for a singer sewing machine for my 18th - it was a hand one and made such a lovely noise as you turned the handle. I'm not 100% sure of why I got rid of it - only a few years ago - but dh bought me an electric one with more knobs and bellls and I've gotten over my fear of sewing my hand to the fabric and quite love it now. But did get dd a hand singer one from a ch shop a couple of year s ago. Oooh the noise is divine!


Today I am grateful for time out and about as a family, for dh and I having the same goals, for dd enjoying her dance exam, for squeezing in a run between the rugby matches, for the rugby (ooh, those legs!), for the croci poking through, for warmth and love, for sausage and hm chips for tea - yum!

Lovelifeloveliving

Hi everyone

Food Expenditure. Decide on your food expenditure for the month - do not exceed it.
£200 per month. There is DS1 who is 17, DD1 who is 11 and of course me.

E Excursions and entertainment should be planned before the month starts.
BF 50th birthday party 23/02/19
Concert - 2 night City break 24/02/19. Paid previously. Frugal efforts in February will provide spending money for the trip.

B Budgets should be set before the start of the month.
Budget completed on a spreadsheet and I will update with my expenditure.


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.
Reduced my food budget by £50 this month and will evulate at the end of February.

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 compile a list of frogs.
Use up my supply of toiletries.


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.
I work part time and I will bring my lunch to work 12 days (working days).

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.
Grateful for my thoughtful DP, my beautiful children, a warm and comfortable home and been able to get out despite the snow.

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.
Credit card payment made.

S Spend Free Days (SFDs).
Aiming for 18 SFDs.
1/18.

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

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.
DP present bought in the sale.
DP planning on cooking.

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.
10,000 steps a day.
3 gym sessions per week.
Will work on my list of 10 things.


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).
Avoid at all costs.


A Advance planning.
Meal planning and making meals from scratch (no food waste) are your friends.
Menu planning, making meals from scratch and batch cooking. Plan my week ahead on Sunday.

Hope you all have a relaxing and restful evening. Xx

XSpender

Spendy day number 2 today!

£18 to add to the food spends at sains on some GF bits and smellies for DH I couldn't get at Alddeee. DH found a top he liked within his birthday budget so we ordered that and we had a cheap pub lunch for his birthday treat.

Lots of frogs have been eaten today although some have cost money like buying our holiday flights and ordering some non standard bulbs for a light fitting and DS lava lamp.

DS training is off tomorrow morning due to frozen ground so I foresee a cosy day in for us all.:)

Kerry_Woman

NSD today - 1/20.
Did walk the park run in 54 minutes and 52 seconds. Just about made it in time and joined as they just had started. Did the best I could today and had a nice little chat on the walk to a lady with a dog.
Went round my friend's house. She cares for her Mum and brother also she goes to work. Spent about 4 and a half hour round there and had a nice time. Will be going round again hopefully soon. She has suggested a takeaway which I do not mind as it will give her a break from cooking.
Dealt with a couple of frogs and did self care.

mothernerd

More of the same from me. Plodding along, improving things bit by bit. Tried to be a little more focused and concentrate on my room - I need to find some pills. The doctor recently doubled my dose. So far I've just been taking two of the old tablets, to use them up. Had the last one today so need to find the small package with the new pills in. Left them separate so as not to get confused.

I have been out to the bins (snow has mostly gone, just need to be wary of stepping on the remaining patches). Two sackfuls of cans and plastic bottles from their room plus a few pots. There are more pots but it's not safe to venture any further into the room. The floor is covered with quilts and bedding - so that Beloved can sit on the floor with the VR headset on.

Beloved has offered to redo the bathroom seal If I buy a tube of stuff to do it. She has also put cream cleanser round the bathtub - I did a little scrub and she's done the rest. I've found two more grotty patches of floor to do and put a shoe organiser on the door and moved some of the shampoo and other bottles into it. DS3 did the bathroom window sill. They have seen the little turtle or whatever it is that is drawn on the bathroom window but they like it (they know what it is) so it might not get cleaned off.

I have suggested one piece of furniture that can go. I love it, all the boys loathe it. It hasn't been right since we moved, it's not square and bits drop off if it has to move. I would like to keep the top and make the drawers into under bed storage (probably for bedding). The rest will probably fall apart if we move it as far as the yard. Will keep the mirror (couldn't be re-attached after the move) still not sure what I will do with it but it's my favourite bit.

I've suggested it could be replaced by the cube unit which is already in the room (but just being used to dump mail and stuff on really). That would be space for their games console but would not dominate the room and there would be more floor space. Beloved said that the swedish shop sold cube baskets which fit in the cubes - I took her upstairs and showed her my cardboard ones that have been covered in wallpaper. I am hoping we could fit all the chinchilla paraphernalia in cubes (litter/ food/ hay etc).

I have started a skip list. Some things are obvious, others less so (been there so long you don't notice them any more. Some things need to be cleared out and made ready for disposal. Their old mattress is obvious, the metal half of the old pet cage (used when we had to keep them separate but they kept chewing their way out) is becoming a garden fixture (I had plans for reusing it but think I should keep my new garden structure simple. I also need to look around and see if there are things like broken buckets hidden in the corners.

Paper sack is filling nicely and I think there are several more cardboard boxes to dispose of in as yet inaccessible corners of their room (get them out as soon as possible before things are put in them). Meals have been from the freezer (a little bit left which I will take to mum's tomorrow and reheat in her microwave with added veg to bulk it out).

Today I am grateful for a lovely sunny day, that the back is less hazardous and for having plans - lots of them. Atm it is a bit like life tetris - move this piece here, pile those bits there, wait for that to align until it all drops into place (fingers crossed).

misstara

Targets for February

Food expenditure - set at £170

Excursions and entertainment - only thing planned this month is tea out with the girls on the 20th, other than that I shall happily be a hermit

Budgets - YNAB updated with budget for the month. Get paid weekly from 2nd job so will review and update each time I get paid

Reduce your planned food expenditure - usually budget £200 so reduced by £30

Useful leftovers - still quite a few frogs left on the list from last month so will continue working on these

Aim to take your lunch to work every day - already do, can get free lunch at work but unfortunately gf df options tend to be non-existent

Remind yourself of what you have and be grateful - will do

You should pay to your debt or savings first and live on what is left - made a small payment to the debt and will pay more as money comes in from 2nd job

Spend Free Days - will aim for 18

Use it up - used up a lot last month but will make sure there's no food waste this month

Regular check ins are recommended - will aim to post daily

V - me and OH have been together over 14 years and have never bothered celebrating this

Indoors/outdoors. Regular exercise is important - started going back to the gym in January and want to keep this up. Will also run outside.
Write down 10 things that help improve your mood and practice them regularly - will write out my list tonight

Vending machines, coffee shops, takeaways are forbidden (except for those who have them as part of a budgeted family evening) - none planned

Advance planning - meal plan done for this week

Let the challenge commence

ilovetea

NSD again so 2/20 now.
Still haven't worked out my "plan" for February.

MOTHERNERD.Loved you post.Sold my sewing machine last month.Not sure why I was keeping it.

Grateful today for blue skies and sunshine,great rugby match,finding more stuff to e-b*y.

ilovetea xx

misstara

Food expenditure - spent £39.16 on food today. Probably could have spent less but OH insisted on coming with me :rotfl: so £39.16/£170

Budgets - updated YNAB with food spends plus 75p on a newspaper

Useful leftovers - no frogs ticked off today

Aim to take your lunch to work every day - day off work today

Remind yourself of what you have and be grateful - snow, a lie in, spending the day with OH, coffee, hot water bottles, rugby

You should pay to your debt or savings first and live on what is left - nothing additional paid today

Spend Free Days - 1/18

Exercise is important - none today

greent

F Food Expenditure.
Downshifting etc

E Excursions and entertainment should be planned Half term - possible trip to see student children

B Budgets set. Food reduced to £350 - plus a special extra Brexi-pocalypse budget of £50
Food £16.76/ 350
Brexi-pocalypse £14.00/ 50

U Useful leftoversWill carry on with frogs. Completed year end accounts/ bank rec/ VAT return today - year end was only 31st Jan, so am very pleased with that

A Aim to take your lunch

R Remind yourself of what you have and be grateful. Today - mugs of tea, snuggles with DS3, getting paperwork sorted quickly, getting 2 loads of ironing done before breakfast

Y You should pay your debt or savings first Set up new ISA today, paid 45p off the mtge and £5 to hol fund

S Spend Free Days (SFDs). 1

U Use it up. all food from stores. Used up 2 small bottles of hotel toiletries

R Regular check ins Here

V Not usually done here nowadays

I Indoors/outdoors. Regular exercise Walking. Not today - bloomin cold and icy!
Indoors - being a hermit. - snuggly blankets on sofa, candles, hot mugs of tea - all of this today!

V Vending machines etc, None today

A Advance planning. Will eat leftovers from dinner tonight for lunch tomorrow or Mon. Have frozen leftover baguette. Small shopping list for tomorrow

Robi90

1/18 SFDs so far.

Just been a hermit all day but have a planned spend day tomorrow.