2020 Frugal Living Challenge

[Deleted User]

@YORKSHIRELASS Is it your local food share this evening? X

Frugaldom

@willow_loulou can you message me via my Facebook page as I'm liable to be reported if I discuss anything like that on here. 😊 But the answer is yes. 

willow_loulou

Ohhhh sorry I didn’t think! I’ll delete it and message you there! Xx 

Bluegreen143

Hello all.

Not been on MSE much for a week or so for various reasons. Firstly had to redo my budget again because had a long and frank chat with my husband, basically he is unhappy at how tight things are and how little he has to spend. And he has dug his heels in and is refusing to cut back on Christmas for his side etc. I was all fired up to try a super frugal challenge next year but equally Red needs to have a say too, I mean he does actually go out and earn the money so I suppose I can’t blame him for wanting to spend it! Although I personally feel he gets more than enough “fritter money” - as that’s what it’s for - not for an expensive hobby or anything, he just likes to be able to buy beer, junk food, stuff for vaping and general tat 😐 and as I can’t make him reduce Christmas spends it seems pointless to challenge myself to something I can’t control by including those.

So I’m going to amend my challenge for next year a bit and it’ll be to squirrel away  as much as possible without Red noticing 😆 

The new monthly budget is worked out as follows (this is based on a £2k monthly income + child benefit of £140 every four weeks, this is a minimum assumption, we usually get a bit more depending on overtime etc):

BILLS £965
Home £715 mortgage, insurances, council tax, utilities
Car £50 insurance, tax, breakdown cover 
Home & car maintenance £50
Education & childcare £25 nursery school fund 
Entertainment/luxury £125 phone bills, internet, TV etc

SAVINGS £200
** building up E fund first then probably mortgage OP **

HOUSEKEEPING £400
Food, petrol, household consumables, kids clothes, misc

GIFTS/FESTIVITIES/HOLIDAY £180
Unless I can get Red to cut down on gifts we won’t actually be able to afford a holiday but if I earn any extra I might put it in here for that 

So the plan is that after all those things are paid for, Red is going to keep what’s left of the £2k for spending and his wants, which I think is pretty generous (he will half in if we do family stuff like outings too)... I’m going to keep the child benefit for myself for doing any fun bits with the kids in the week or anything I want/need for myself, and save the rest as I’ll never spend that much.

Although I feel we could be much more frugal (for instance I’d give us both £100 a month spending money and save the rest if I could) I have snuck in a few sneaky ways to save. Eg the line item for home/car maintenance I’ve separated from our savings and included as a bill, which Red has approved, but it means I don’t need to touch that £200 savings for those things 😆 and I’ve got a real incentive to come under for groceries or my money as I can save anything I don’t spend in these categories each month. We have also agreed any extra income each month whether overtime, cash back etc will be split between us. I have encouraged Red to open a savings account to start his own savings but I don’t think he actually will... but that’s his call.

I cannot wait til my stupid expensive iPhone is out of contract and I am never buying an expensive monthly deal again! And hopefully getting a smart meter in the near future which I will use to monitor our usage and see if I can’t bring our ridiculous bill down. Our new supplier is charging us £115 a month in the winter and £90 in the summer apparently and I’m sure we could waste less electricity and bring that down.

Re Olio, I did download it but I have never seen anything available for pickup near me, very disappointing! Will keep checking.

mumtoomany

Hi Bluegreen, glad it's not just me who has nothing on Olio. There is one person near me giving away half a jar of sweetener! That's it. Our own fault, we live in the middle of nowhere. Glad others are able to do better and cut down on their bills and wastage.
Updated my signature for the end of November. Pleased with food, under £200 for the first time in a long while. Spent a lot on the car (including transporting home) mostly on that and bits to mend it. Hope that will be less in future months. A lot spent on DD3, driving lessons and fuel for her car, we have been using it to take her to and from work and as a run around while ours was of the road, this should drop drastically once she passes her test. Theory booked for this month,and local test centre reopened. Clothes/presents/entertainment/personal spends looks good, Christmas presents in that and eating out, well pies from Greggs. Bills high but includes house insurance for the year. Quite pleased overall. Also put a lot into savings this month. Got the extra from our help to save accounts, Half gone into savings, half on expensive month.
Hope all are well, welcome to newcomers, stay safe, mumtoomany.

Bluegreen143

I can understand it being quiet in rural areas @mumtoomany. But I live right in the middle of Glasgow, walking distance to the west end, surrounded by supermarkets, so I don’t get how there is not much being given away here?! Very strange.

mumtoomany

Very strange then, Bluegreen, let's hope that it's because all the extra gets given to good causes and not thrown away.

Frugaldom

Bluegreen143 said:

I can understand it being quiet in rural areas @mumtoomany. But I live right in the middle of Glasgow, walking distance to the west end, surrounded by supermarkets, so I don’t get how there is not much being given away here?! Very strange.

Olio is still fairly new to many people. I joined almost 2 years ago but only recently began seeing stuff listed nearby and we are out in the sticks. You could apply to BE the local Olio food hero who volunteers to go and collect the food for sharing, you just need to check and see how many registered users there are around you to ensure the food would be used, then find an organisation who could use any unclaimed out of date stuff. Our local food hero approached me before signing up to the Tesco slot to ask if we'd be able to use up any leftovers for our rescued & rehomed animals & birds. Try listing something to give away and see what response you get. I gave away windfall apples and some eggs then redistributed some spaghetti that came to me via another organisation & Olio user. Good luck. 👍 Sorry you're not having much luck with Red in the moneysaving & frugal living departments. My (ex) husband was a nightmare for throwing a silent treatment tantrum whenever I even tried to broach the subject. Definitely have fun budgeting what you can and celebrate your achievements with your fellow frugalers. Sometimes it's a real test of your sanity and strength but it is worth the hardship of sacrifice to get to where you want to be. 

[Deleted User]

Today's local food share means I won't have to go to the supermarket after all this weekend 🥳🥳
Seriously though, the volume of food that would have otherwise gone in the bin is mind boggling. I had to queue in the rain but it was absolutely worth it. It cost me just over an hour of my time, and at full price the goods I took would be well over £40 worth. They were asking people if they wanted extra bags, please take as much as you can carry etc, they were inundated. 

NSD again and tomorrow will be too. Happy frugalling days xx

Bluegreen143

@Frugaldom I’ve been back on it and they are looking for food heroes which I was tempted to do. All the collection slots available are 7am (this might be standard as when supermarkets are getting rid) but a bit tricky to manage - the supermarkets listed were all a 20 min drive or so away and Red has to leave for work at 7.30 and obviously I’d need to be back before then for the kids. Mine aren’t really early risers (7-7.30am generally) so I couldn’t take them with me. So tempting though! I might mention it around to people I know and see if someone else will do it. It’s such a good idea that it deserves more people using it.