2020 Frugal Living Challenge

[Deleted User]

YL- definitely not a fail; you know exactly where you need to go next week and will be prepared with your bags, and thermals on in case you have to queue in the cold!

Another NSD 😊😊Sashcat thanks for the Olio reminder, I checked the app last night and have just collected several packs of pastry (the fancy brand!) to stash in the freezer. Also took a pallet from work that was next to the bins (with permission of course 😉) that I shall chop up tomorrow for the kindling supplies. I am typing this from a bench at the park, the children were desperate to come despite the fading light and chilly temperatures, and what a marvellous (& free!) way to tire them out!

Frugaldom

willow_loulou said:

So I think I have settled my budget, I’m quite happy with it but still worried about food costs rising. I decided to keep my RAC and the vet plans as the benefits outway possible nightmare scenario and I cannot find larger amounts of money quickly. 

So going forward my monthly food budget is £105 - This will be split between 1 monthly delivery and small shops for fresh produce. 

There is a buffer I have allowed to cope with price hikes of £20 a month on top, if I don’t need it I’ll save it for my emergency fund. 

I hope to be paying £100 off my cc and put £50 in my emergency fund and car fund every month, this allows some breathing room for other rising costs. I’m also aiming to massively reduce my electric costs. My provider is still cheapest but it is something to work on. I’m still reliant on tumbling clothes etc so that the mindset change this year. 

So £1260 plus £240 food Is my main budget for focus and I’ll assess my electric as the year goes on but want to reduce it by at least £100 over the year. 

Everything else is fixed and allocated, I can’t remember if the £4000 includes all bills but I’m extremely happy with £6650 - £7000. If I make that I’ll save a substantial amount and be debt free by Christmas 2021. If I don’t I don’t but my mind is focused on the end prize - debt free and half the wedding paid for. 

You can do it, @willow_loulou, you know you can. We each have our own budgets, challenges and goals but no matter what they are, it feels good to achieve them, even the tiniest ones. Good luck with it all - we;re right behind you on this.

Frugaldom

I've forgotten who said what about cleaning products but there should be a lnk to stuff like homemade laundry liquid on page one within the frst couple of posts, otherwise pop it into the search box. The lanundry liquid is super easy to make and for anything else, lemon juice, vinegar, baking soda and washing soda are the basic ingredients, along with a few drops of your favourite essential oils where appropriate.
@sashacat the croutons last well in dry, airtight jars. I'm trying all sorts of combinations of savoury and sweet flavourings as the croutons are so quick and easy to make. 

I'm completely lost as to what has been announced about Covid restrictions. All I know is that DD's houselhold and ours are in a level 2 area and the rest of the near(ish) family members are over 100 miles away in level 4 areas. I haven't had the chance to catch up on our news or updates for Scotland but we don't really 'do' special occasions at all now there's so much to do at Frugaldom and at home with all the livestock. DD came over to the yard yesterday and dropped off some gifts and I have sent everything direct for the grandchildren. Number 5 grandchild still to get something but he's only 1, so he'd probably still be happy with a cardboard box with something noisy and bright inside it, plus something nice for eating.

Olio continues to astound me. I've just stewed down a pack of baby plumb tomatoes to make a base for pitta bread pizzas for tomorrow's lunch and I have some vegetarian sausages for dinner that will be served with mixed mash (potato, sweet potato and carrot), all of which could have found its way to the landfill. ON top of that, I have a huge bag of leftover salad leaves that couldn't even be given away so will all need to be composted. It is such a shame that in saving so much food from being binned, we end up with so much more plastic waste! Someone really needs to develop a domestic incinerator with some sort of environmentally-friendly filter system and a built in hot water and heating system. They have invented incineration loos that leave nothing more than ash suitable for the garden so why not step it up a bit to convert waste into frugal energy, save folks having to choose between eating and heating. I'll put away my soap box before I get properly started on this topic.

frostie101

Preparing for frugal year I have bought my husband an electric razor (half-price and with cashback) so no more disposable razors, in return, he's bought me a skin care set, so that's me covered for 2021. Used the money from the sealed pot challenge as it was going to be for Christmas Eve lunch but now we won't be going out. 

willow_loulou

@Frugaldom Thank you! I appreciate it. I’ve taken on board what you said about food waste and have joined Olio. I’ve Just requested some commercial sized ground coffee bags. If I get it and it’s good I’ve just saved myself a few months of coffee buying! Fingers crossed. 

There was bread etc but we have enough of that for a while and no freezer space. I need a few jars with decent lids then I’ll make croutons too. I also bought some kale to try out some recipes on as I’m hoping that will be a good all rounder like you suggested. 

I’ve also just won on eBay some very thick curtains for covering a couple of windows, I realised how much heat must be lost through them when I had to cover one for privacy recently. (Fence issues)  they should do all 3 I need covering with enough left to put a flap over the letter box. Better dig out the sewing machine! 

mumof3.12kindebt

Hello everyone hope you are all well

I will check out the link ie cleaning products 

Another question .. 

Any artists on here. 

Ds1 who is 11 has asked for adult art stuff for his birthday in January.  He loves sketching and drawing hes asked for drawing paper pads and fine liners , pencils that can be used wet and dry,  sketching and shading pencils etc.. I just wondered if anyone has any recommendations and which brands are good and which to avoid. 

Many thanks 

willow_loulou

No suggestions of what’s best but I did get some art stuff cheap on Facebook a while ago, might be worth a look. I do know hobbycraft watercolours are not worth bothering with though. 

IzzyBee

My hubby draws and paints as a hobby quite good but just does it because he enjoys it has had some really good quality things from the range and the works not expensive and if he is just starting might be an idea to see what he likes 

Jazee

The Works , if they're open, are very good for art supplies.

Treasurequeen

The works art supplies are fantastic and cheap too, sometimes they sell art bundles on their website. Worth a look, i think they are also on topcashback. 
My phone is dying and keeps needing to be charged and is overheating all the time. i must admit it is 5 years old and the model is out of date in terms of security updates. Electronics are so expensive i managed to find a phone that meets my requirements but it was nearly £500.00. The storage was good but i reasoned i didn't need that much so i got the same model but less storage but i can add my own storage card. This one i ordered was £180.00 and if i chose a different colour from black it was even cheaper, i have an emergency fund so took it out of that. I went for the bright orange which was £149.00 as it will be in a protective case so won't see the colour. By going for this colour i saved around £30.00.