2020 Frugal Living Challenge

mumtoomany

Hi bluegreen, Christmas is not normally that spendy, I only buy for the grandchildren, have most of this already from the book people closing down sale earlier this year, I also knit jumpers/cardigans for them all. I buy a token chocolate bar or similar for any adults here on the day, so the children see something being opened. However with big house insurance bill, gas tank needing filling for winter, logs needed and often animals to the abattoir, (two pigs this month and a couple of ewes will probably go in new year), September onwards is costly. Mumtoomany.

mumtoomany

Should have added, feel free to start in November too. We can cheer each other on, mumtoomany.

Bluegreen143

Has occurred to me that starting the annual budget in November doesn’t really allow for saving up for Christmas (or assumes you’ve got savings going into the budget). So I’m going to stick to starting the annual budget in January. Before deciding this I’d finalised tweaking it I think. I’ve done lots of different workings on this over the last month but I’m keen to do a percentage breakdown approach - makes more sense to my brain.

So something like:

£22,840 Minimum post tax annual income (the majority of his salary that Red transfers to me, any UC top up and CB- often it would be a bit more but I think this is a reasonable amount to assume we are getting in, unless he gets laid off or a paycut of course! Doesn’t account for the bit of his salary he keeps, usually £2-300 a month).

£10,734 - 47% - bills (including mortgage, council tax, insurances, utilities & internet, car tax & insurance, breakdown cover, mobile phone etc)

£5,253 - 23% - housekeeping (food, other household bits like toiletries & pet food, petrol, misc, basic clothes. Thinking of £573 put aside for clothes and a weekly housekeeping budget of £90 for food, petrol etc)

£3,426 - 15% - savings (broken down into half emergency fund & short term savings, half longer term eg mortgage overpayment)

£3,426 - 15% - wants (split off £1,426 for Christmas/birthdays/other gifts/seasonal outings, and then £960 for a holiday fund and £960 for the monthly fun/treats budget. Anything saved from this each month can go back into savings.

For the Nov & Dec budgets I’m going to keep to my current approach of putting aside the child benefit into the Christmas/birthdays fund and then try to split the monthly income by the %s shown above to test how workable the 2021 budget will be. Think it will be tight - no idea how others manage on less and I take my hat off to all you seasoned frugallers out there who do!

ditty1234

Bluegreen143 said:

Has occurred to me that starting the annual budget in November doesn’t really allow for saving up for Christmas (or assumes you’ve got savings going into the budget). So I’m going to stick to starting the annual budget in January. Before deciding this I’d finalised tweaking it I think. I’ve done lots of different workings on this over the last month but I’m keen to do a percentage breakdown approach - makes more sense to my brain.

So something like:

£22,840 Minimum post tax annual income (the majority of his salary that Red transfers to me, any UC top up and CB- often it would be a bit more but I think this is a reasonable amount to assume we are getting in, unless he gets laid off or a paycut of course! Doesn’t account for the bit of his salary he keeps, usually £2-300 a month).

£10,734 - 47% - bills (including mortgage, council tax, insurances, utilities & internet, car tax & insurance, breakdown cover, mobile phone etc)

£5,253 - 23% - housekeeping (food, other household bits like toiletries & pet food, petrol, misc, basic clothes. Thinking of £573 put aside for clothes and a weekly housekeeping budget of £90 for food, petrol etc)

£3,426 - 15% - savings (broken down into half emergency fund & short term savings, half longer term eg mortgage overpayment)

£3,426 - 15% - wants (split off £1,426 for Christmas/birthdays/other gifts/seasonal outings, and then £960 for a holiday fund and £960 for the monthly fun/treats budget. Anything saved from this each month can go back into savings.

For the Nov & Dec budgets I’m going to keep to my current approach of putting aside the child benefit into the Christmas/birthdays fund and then try to split the monthly income by the %s shown above to test how workable the 2021 budget will be. Think it will be tight - no idea how others manage on less and I take my hat off to all you seasoned frugallers out there who do!

It is good thinking about it across the year, I am rejoining this group as one weird project is now sorted, and I'm back to the long haul :-)

Frugaldom

Welcome back @ditty1234, I hope your 'weird project' was somthing not too complicated or costly

ditty1234

Frugaldom said:

Welcome back @ditty1234, I hope your 'weird project' was something not too complicated or costly

Haha it was my citizenship fee, adding it up over the summer I have spent about 1850 on different things related costs. So a big one, so I hope I can now save up for EF, restart my debt payments and move on to other things.  
So mow off to cook some dinner from freezer.

Frugaldom

   Well done getting it paid off in full, @ditty1234   My weird spends come in the shape of pony-associated out-goings, as I now spend more on them than I do the running of the entire household. If I could sell pony-poop, I'd be wealthy.  

sashacat

Hi folks, just back from a few days with the grandchildren at half term. Very spendy, but I only do it about once a year. 
So now back on track. 
I am using up home grown potatoes and leeks for soup (with home grown onions) and finishing off the lettuce from the greenhouse and tomatoes for salad. Then I will have to start eating from my stash in the freezer. 
I am hoping to get 2 weeks holiday in Scotland in November, staying with a friend, if it is allowed. I don’t care about the weather as I have waterproof stuff and all we do is go for walks, so I hope I am not locked down.

LivingInTheBlack

Hi all. I'm still working through my annual budget for next year. The more i think about it the more costs i think of. Perhaps i am over budgeting and need to generalise some of my categories. 
Dinner was good tonight. Roast chicken with that lovely yellow label flavour. 5 quid down to 1.90. Thats my lunch sorted tomorrow and 2 dinners next week as well.

willow_loulou

Hello to all the new and returned members

@Frugaldom I took your advice and ordered some kale seeds. I’ve never knowingly eaten it but I’m sure it will go in bubble and squeak or corned beef hash if I’m not too keen. 

I’m seriously considering a growing rack in my back porch area. It’s just storage for cleaning products and dog stuff right now. Then I could grow what ever the weather. Having moved things round I’m also considering a rack under the stairs. It’s open so easily accessed and great to start things off.