2020 Frugal Living Challenge

[Deleted User]

@CraftyLittleLisa, can you share how you're making your oatmilk please? I drink soya milk at the moment but would love to be able to make a decent oatmilk - it would save me a fortune! 

@LivingInTheBlack - congratulations on quitting smoking!! 🙌 An excellent achievement and one I hope to emulate soon 😉

I'm another one who is sitting down to work out next year's financials at the moment. My circumstances are changing next year which means that both my bills and income are reducing. I'm fortunate to be in a reasonable  financial position but I know that I have wasted a lot of money this year due to poor habits and some impulse buying - 2021 is my year for really taking control of my money and ensuring that I'm in the best financial position I can be in. 
I'm looking forward to next year's challenge! 😊 

willow_loulou

I’m banging my head with my 21 numbers. It’s the unknown of price rises and family job uncertainty. Mine is as safe as it gets but my income is low. 

Bonus though my Christmas present from my parents is my hair cut and colour 😊 yay. 

CraftyLittleLisa

smushesma said:

@CraftyLittleLisa, can you share how you're making your oatmilk please? I drink soya milk at the moment but would love to be able to make a decent oatmilk - it would save me a fortune! 

I was trying to find the YouTube link but I can't now.  It is basically 4 cups of water, 1 cup of rolled oats, 1/4 cup of cashew nuts.  Put in a blender and blend for 30 seconds, strain through a muslin cloth/nutmilk bag and chill in the fridge.  It does say you can add a date for sweetness but I couldn't really notice the difference with or without the date so I don't bother now.  I don't drink it as a drink but I use it for my cereal and for cooking and it seems to work okay.  You can make cookies out of the pulp but I can only eat so many cookies.  I have made a type of teabread from the pulp which is nice.  I hope that helps.

Frugaldom

Welcome, @IzzyBee I hope things work out for you with the shorter hours but I'm sure that with no mortgage or rent and stretching any other income, you'll be able to survive without the need for any more work - make the most of life, even if it is on a shoestring. Money cannot buy us extra time
@LivingInTheBlack I did the whole 'quitting' thing back when cigarettes were appraoching £5 per pack (UK prices) and have tried, religiously, to continue squirrelling away the money I would have spent. I think I am right in thinking it was about 10 years ago, possibly more, and the amount I saved probably bought my car.
@willow_loulou, I am the exact same, wondering what is going to happen with prices. I have been so comfortable in my £1 per person per day grocery challenge for so long that I am taking it ill out with all the price increases over the past year, especially since this coronavirus pandemic, which seems to be the go-to excuse for everything now. It's like Brexit has faded into obscurity and the country is sinking further and further into debt. Alternative currencies are my leaning - investing in essentials for the future, DIY tools, food growing knowledge, growing space for food and fuel, learning to like alternative foodstuffs and adapting the diet to suit the current price trends to stay on budget. The days of stockpiling bargains have almost gone, what with quantity restrictions and difficulties sourcing various items at affordable prices. Preserving, making do, mending, reusing, repurposing, swaps & shares, homemade and homegrown... all of these common frugal living things are now becoming trendy again and with trending comes more and more sly ways of getting frugalers to part with their cash. 2020 will be my year of preparations for starting over again. What is it the Government is calling it? A reset? I'm resetting my frugal 'buttons' and going to hit 2021 full throttle and see just how low I can go on personal spending. I'm not vegetarian, vegan or any other foodie-an so I can adapt my diet to suit current prices. We don't tend to buy much in the way of processed, pre-made meals and some things may seem like luxury items to others but life in the country is very different to life in a town where there are shops, supermarkets and fast food outlets. I'm wondering if I could manage on a grocery budget of £1.25 per person per day for all meals. That is a 25% increase on previous years. I need to include extra for toiletries & cleaning products so I'll set my grocery budget at £1,000 for the year (2021) and work on things from there.

willow_loulou

@Frugaldom I’ve been stocking up on shower gels and hand soaps. My Avon rep had a good deal as well as a good reduced buy in Tesco. I think I’m set for several months if not a year. I would really prefer neals yard soap but it’s not in my budget anymore. 

I’m really hoping my veggies will do better next year. I’ve had yet another rethink on position and reckon I’ve cracked it for weather problems now. 

Frugaldom

@willow_loulou, I have been watching Amaz0n for bargains, and use a wish list for dropping things into so I have a comparison. Managed to get a 5 litre container of concentrated washing up liquid for £6 on free delivery so that should last the year. I always go through T0pcasback and my CC still pays cashback do those pennies mount up over the year. I do similar for toilet rolls via Gr0upion, also via TCB. I know some shops are cheaper but living where I do, it costs me over a gallon of fuel and a couple of hours just to go into town and buy whatever. I haven't been in a supermarket this year but have had 4 or 5 home deliveries plus a couple of Musclef00d orders when there were special deals available. It's been things like cheap flour that I've been unable to get. Food growing wise, I can highly recommend growing kale and if you don't already, learn to love it. Very nutritious, seems to grow anywhere and so far nothing has touched it here while growing it in a raised bed at the Frugaldom field. 2021 will also be very herbal for me. 
We use apple cider vinegar and can get through loads of the stuff so I now make my own. First 15 litres made and next bucket on the go from free windfall apples. I also have a bucket of mixed fruit 'champagne' on the go.

IzzyBee

Morning everyone I have sat this morning with a notebook and worked out my money when I start my new hours as from 2nd November I have then worked all my money out starting the beginning of 2021 I have wrote down everything food petrol direct debits presents everything I can think of I have gone over and over and can’t think of a thing I have missed out and it’s doable I can even save a little bit for a holiday and can add a little bit each month to my emergency fund sat down with hubby and told him how it is because he is just not on board never has been he’s had a strop and a few moody words tough this is how it is like it or lump it he will get out of it the same way he got in to it doesn’t bother me I’m used to it but life would be so much easier if we were both on the same page can’t complain really he is just never very happy if you say no like a child really example I have saved all year for new carpets old ones were really well passed there best got a lovely new big rug for the living room everything looks lovely and cosy we were food shopping on Saturday and walked passed a carpet shop and he said let’s go in and have a look at the rugs I said we’ve just bought one and he said yes but it will not last forever and it will be nice to have a change I just looked at him and said give your head a shake he just doesn’t get it he thinks if we have money saved it is just to spend NO sorry for the long post just thought I would let you all know how it stands just so relieved I don’t have to work any more hours I’m done with meeting myself coming back

Frugaldom

Well done, @IzzyBee! You are not alone with the OH showing a bit of stubbornness to oblige in the frugal stakes so don't worry about that. All those who have had simlar problems in the past, raise your hands and say 'aye'!

willow_loulou

‘Raises hand’ Aye! 

Is it me or are shelved emptying again ? 

Pixiehouse55

We are doing the best that we can. We have Adults with Learning difficulties living with us, that's our job and we are down as self employed. Our 71 Yr old man is very fussy. Our lady not too bad apart from "don't eat chewy meat" lol I say to her   "we chew all our food" she is lost for words then bless her. So food bill can be pricey at times. But they are both very small eaters.  Just another 2 years and fingers crossed we will retire, buy a narrow boat and live on the canals, if all goes well we will rent out our house until we are ready to come home to comfort. Next year we will both go "sim only" on our mobiles, possibly only need 1 mobile between us... I must sit and work out our budgets for next year......