2020 Frugal Living Challenge

MazzieD

willow_loulou said:

Ohhh Mazzie I’m so glad the cat is improving. Give him a scratch from me ❤️

I’ve decided to invest my excess food budget into footwear for DD for uni, I saw her shoes this morning and knew it had to be done! But at least I won’t notice the dent as much 😊 

Thank you for your good wishes. . I'm really surprised that my furry friend is making such a good recovery. He must have a cast iron stomach, mind you he had been sick 5 times by the time he saw the Vet so was probably over the worst.

Not the best week I have ever had.  Most of my current work colleagues have been advised they are being made redundant.  

I'm starting new role on Monday, I know everyone already as have been working with them for years just in a different location  so should make it a lot easier.

Despite all the problems with the smart meter they are quite helpful in that you can see the accurate cost of usage in pounds and pence on the display.  I'm glad it wasn't the gas meter, the bill would have been much higher due to central heating over the winter months.  I'm still not totally convinced that it's made any difference to how much gas and electricity I use having both smart meters.  Think it's more about having energy efficient appliances if you can and unplugging where possible if you're not using something.
 

cw18

MazzieD said:

Despite all the problems with the smart meter they are quite helpful in that you can see the accurate cost of usage in pounds and pence on the display.  I'm glad it wasn't the gas meter, the bill would have been much higher due to central heating over the winter months.  I'm still not totally convinced that it's made any difference to how much gas and electricity I use having both smart meters.  Think it's more about having energy efficient appliances if you can and unplugging where possible if you're not using something.
 

Smart meters don't save any money just by being installed - if they did I'd have been chasing for them.

They only save money if you then watch the consumption to identify the more energy hungry appliances in your home, and reduce your usage of those.   As my bills are already low for my size of property (4 bed detached) I'd be very unlikely to make much (if any) saving.   I'm currently coming in at around £12 standing charges and £34.50 for fuel (that's both gas and electric combined) before they deduct a £3.50/monthly dual fuel discount - and a small amount of interest that they pay on my credit balance.   That's based on actual reads, rather than monthly regular payments which are intended to stay the same throughout the year.  I'm currently building up my credit balance for the winter when my heating kicks in.

Viking_mfw

Hello! Long time follower of Frugaldom and have found the Frugal Living Challenge threads a godsend over the years. We've had a very unfrugal 2020 so far but have just got to the point where we need to rebudget and sort everything out. I am the sole earner, my DH stays home with the DS1 (Toddler) and we are expecting DS2 shortly. I earn quite well but we live in an expensive area for housing, and we are losing our lodger and my responsibility payment at the end of the summer, which leaves us about £500 less well off a month. 
We have good emergency funds, thanks to relatives dying last year. But we need to be really careful to be able to cover our outgoings on the one salary. 
Our house insurance is due to renew this month and for the first time in three years I went and price compared (mostly because it's gone up almost £7 a month since I we moved into this house), and have found a much cheaper deal, so that will be a few pounds less a month because it's actually cheaper than what we are paying, plus I will pay upfront thanks to said emergency fund, then save slightly more than the equivalent over the next year. We also cancelled Amazon Prime, because we can no longer afford to buy anything from it! I cashed out my last swagbucks and bought a Christmas present I'd had my eye on for DH before the free postage ran out. 
This morning I've sold on facebook an old mirror that I think we acquired with the house (£2.50!). 
Also underway: have dried a lot of lavender from our garden to make lavender bags for Christmas - slowly stripping the flowers from the stalks - and am going to pot up a bunch of cuttings from it over the next week to pass a load onto my mum and hopefully sell some at the village plant sale next year. If I get my act in gear will do similar with rosemary. 
I have also found a recipe for 'courgette marmalade' which I am going to try when the shopping delivery (with sugar) arrives tomorrow - we have a bunch of courgettes that got a bit out of hand! 
I also sat down with my husband and had a chat about the finances. He's taken a cut in 'pocket money' back to where it was before we had the lodger, and is also on board for covering all household consumables (food, toilet roll, nappies, cat food) at £500 a month, which he can hopefully come in under. The nappies, toilet roll and cat food all cost more than the minimum because of trying to make the most environmentally friendly choices. 
Most important frugal enterprise this summer is potty training DS1 therefore! To be replaced by DS2... We are also looking forward to getting all the baby carp out of the house as he outgrows it, and getting a few pennies for it. I have found it very odd that it is a lot easier to get rid of stuff by charging a very small price for it than offering it for free, although we do a fair bit of that too. 
So: goals: live within very strict budget; save for short fall when 0% credit card which we bought our car with (when our previous HP was written off by someone crashing into me) comes to an end in Dec 2021; generally keep very aware of what is happening with finances. 

sashacat

I have had a frugal day today.
I had a big bowl of rhubarb and honey for breakfast with free rhubarb and my own honey. Harvested the rest of the carrots and potatoes. Made veg soup with veggies from the garden which will be lunches for about 4 days. 
Went blackberrying and made an apple and blackberry crumble with apples from my friend (swopped for carrots). 
Made courgette cake with excess courgettes from garden and gifted eggs.
I would like to make carrot soup tomorrow to put in the freezer for the winter but all the recipes say carrot and coriander, and I don’t grow coriander. Does it grow in the UK? I will have a look. I refuse to buy veggies or herbs because I can grow them but I have never grown coriander. 

[Deleted User]

@sashacat, yep, you certainly can grow coriander 😊 I've grown loads this year very successfully in my veg beds - first lot was put in at the end of May and then another lot about 10 days ago. 

[Deleted User]

Hi frugal friends,

Life has been hectic here as we have had a few days away. I've been very very very careful with money though, which has resulted in..... me paying off the remaining CC balance entirely!!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳 I am delighted and also slightly amazed, it really makes you think where does money go when we are not keeping a careful eye on it? This means I am entirely debt free for the first time in my adult life (save for the mortgage at the moment), and the feeling of relief is wonderful. 

If I hadn't joined this thread and really focussed on frugality in recent weeks this wouldn't have happened, so thank you for the bottom of my heart xx

willow_loulou

Viking good luck with the potty training! It’s a very long time since I did it but I found sticker reward charts helped loads. Also with DS a bit of tissue paper to stand and aim at in the potty as he hated sitting on it at first. 🤷‍♀️😂 oh that took me back, thank you! X

This week will be expensive but it is budgeted for, new shoes and smart clothes for Dd and her uni course (law so needs a decent outfit) it’s her birthday the week she starts so we’re going to have a little early celebration and get her gift this week too. Hoping there will be some sale type things or offers. Fingers crossed! 

sashacat

Congratulations ASB. That is amazing. 
Squirrel, thanks for the info about coriander. That means I can plant some now doesn’t it. Can it go directly in a pot outside or does it need to be started off in the greenhouse?
Thanks. 

Viking_mfw

willow_loulou said:

Viking good luck with the potty training! It’s a very long time since I did it but I found sticker reward charts helped loads. Also with DS a bit of tissue paper to stand and aim at in the potty as he hated sitting on it at first. 🤷‍♀️😂 oh that took me back, thank you! X

he's doing well with wees although today has started to sort of hover, in order to be able to see himself go! Slight mishap last night as he fell asleep on me on the sofa before bathtime, starkers, and shortly after we were all soaked in wee!

Frugaldom

@MazzieD, glad to read about your little cat - it did sound like poisoning of some sort so I'm glad vet was able to say what had caused it.
Welcome to the challenge @Viking_mfw
Not much news here as lockdown life is pretty much how I live anyway. The main difference I am noticing is the lack of need for cash and that I'm unable to get cheap flour so I haven't baked any bread this year at all. Neighbours pass a supermarket on the way here so my yellow sticker surprises have begun arriving - mostly fruit & veg - and that saves a small fortune, as I trade for eggs. Every penny saved is another penny in the pot for my next big project. I know it's not going to happen this year (Covid-19 put paid to progress) but I fully intend being ready for next year! It's like it says below, 'The less I spend, the more I can afford."