2020 Frugal Living Challenge

miss_empty_piggy

Crafty_Lisa_Hampshire wrote: »

I do have some good news though. I sent a photo of my pinafore dress to the company who provide the sewing subscription box that I receive and as a result they have put me down as make of the month and I will get my box free in March. I was not expecting that.

oh wow congratulations - that's so cool :T:T:T:T

jammy_dodger

amber03 wrote: »

Well finally decided when I am going to retire from work. Mid June just before I go on holiday. So until then I would like to change my ways and become more frugal also save as much as I can. Will definitely be using more of my local shops . My biggest problem is that I stockpile food "just in case". Stopped using the car for short trips and have been walking instead. Will be looking and reading this thread for more frugal tips.

great news Amber I too am retiring early in June I won't have the same income obviously but I'll have a lot less outgoings so should be fine plan to grow more food and keep chickens again
I have the option of adhoc hours if the Wolf knocks at the door.
joining these posts keeps me away from unnecessary spends too
tracking my spending has been enlightening
wish you well JD

Frugaldom

lessonlearned wrote: »

Hello everyone.....

Well that's January almost done and I have to say I am delighted with my new extra frugal lifestyle. I have substantially reduced my food budget - about £80 less this month and I've still got lots of food in the cupboards and freezer. I think I can take it even lower. Going to have a go, try for another £30 off.

The car sailed through its MOT, so no big bills there. The mild weather has meant that I haven't used as much energy as I expected so I am well in credit with EDF. Might even have enough for a refund at some point - it all depends on Feb and March.

I have used the library rather than buying books. I did splurge on a much needed haircut and I did treat myself to two new to me dresses - £1 each from the Chazzer, so didn't break the bank.

So all in all a good month.

The money I've saved will go towards the kitchen revamp. I would love a new kitchen but can't really stretch that far. I've currently got the joiner here repairing some of the cabinets and moving them around to improve the layout. They are solid dark pine and make the kitchen look rather dark so I'm going to paint them.

It will save a small fortune.....

:T:T:T Well done with all of the above! t's great to hear about plans going to plan and encouraging further ventures into frugaldom.

Frugaldom

Siebrie wrote: »

I have to report a fail Last night, I made hasselback potatoes and chicken-in-a-parcel. For the hasselback potatoes I followed a recipe from a reputable website, but they were neither tasty nor done, even after extending the oven time. As for the chicken? The leeks and carrots were done and tasty, but the chicken was grey and rubbery. I have made this recipe before, and have put 'tasty' next to the recipe, but this was not nice at all.

Husband and I have decided to not buy regular chicken anymore, only occasionally a whole chicken which has been ethically reared, when we fancy chicken. We are lowering our meat consumption on the whole, and moving to ethical meat more and more.

It's not a fail if you learned a valuable lesson through experience and can compromise without adversely affecting your budget. Perhaps you could have done something else with the leftovers to create your own version of a use-it-up meal by way of stir fry or something similar. If you look at all meals with a zero tolerance for food waste, it is amazing what you can come up with - I now prefer use-it-ups to 'proper' meals. :rotfl:

Frugaldom

amber03 wrote: »

Well finally decided when I am going to retire from work. Mid June just before I go on holiday. So until then I would like to change my ways and become more frugal also save as much as I can. Will definitely be using more of my local shops . My biggest problem is that I stockpile food "just in case". Stopped using the car for short trips and have been walking instead. Will be looking and reading this thread for more frugal tips.

Retirement is a huge step but don't forget how much you will be saving from not needing to travel to your workplace or buy extra lunches or workwear etc. As for the food stockpile, we never know what could happen with food prices so most of us do keep a good stock of long shelflife goods and a good selec tion of herbs, spices and basic cooking & baking ingredients. You're well on the way to becoming a hardened frugalite.

Frugaldom

FEBRUARY FINANCIAL & FITNESS CHALLENGE

Most people will have received their post-Chrismas credit card bills etc and will now have had their first monthy wage since the year began so it always makes February a fairly lean month of repairing any financial injuries and also replenishing stocks of anything that's run low. For some of us, it bodes well that February is the shortest month of the year, albeit with an extra day this year. For this reasn, also, we use it to fight the flab and cast off any extra pounds piled on over the festive period. February Fitness mini challenge is about trimming waistlines and budgets so for me, that means no extra purchases, zero waste on food (as always) and using whatever I have free access to use. The ducks and hens usually begin laying again around Valentine's day but this year the hens have already started laying and the ducks seem to be going broody!

Nice to see news of seed sowing and growing plans for the year ahead - I have a couple of small raised beds ready t us and will try to get the potting shed cleared out over the next 4 weeks. I have my grape vines in there, along with my scented geranium cuttings, but need to get organised for seed-sowing.

lessonlearned

Great post re February challenge, Frugaldom.

I shall join in.......

Fitness.......daily walk and yoga. Started that this week. Doing well so far.

Household budget.......I have £83.70 in cash. I want that to be my food budget for February. I still have plenty of tins, dry goods such as pasta, flour etc and some meat and fish in the freezer so I should be able to manage it. (One person household). I shall probably entertain a couple of times but I have wine and beer in, and some nice posh ice cream in the freezer so I should be able to rustle up something tasty for guests. I'm ok for cleaning materials and toiletries.

I have decided I want to use the money I'm saving to overpay the mortgage by £100 a month. It's a tough ask but it will be worth it if I can stick to it.

On the DIY front I realised that I have a pair of old curtains I can use to recover the dining chairs and, instead of needing to buy new foam for the seat pads, my friend gave me one of those triangular back pillows. I can cannibalise that and reuse the filling.

16 no spend days for January......dead chuffed.

Right just going to do a freezer inventory and see just exactly what I've got in there.

Siebrie

Husband and I have decided to cut down on sugar, which means I half my coffee-intake in the morning to just one cup. I take one spoonful of sugar per cup.

No more biscuits brought to work; I have packed Brazil nuts and will snack on those, but no more than 5 per day, due to the calorie count.

My dds enjoy savoury just as much as sweet, so we will cut down on the sweet. If they fancy something sweet, they can have fruit or fruit juice.

It used to be so easy to keep my body in shape But then, I never ate so many snacks as I do now.

Kerry_Woman

Added up what I have spent in January. Food shop was less than what I had budgeted for the month. January is always an expensive month. Paid the service charge for the flat for the whole year, home contents and the prescription certificate. Achieved 21 nsd's. Using the library more to take out books. Am provisionally planning to do some odd voluntary work at the weekends throughout the year, but not over doing it. Starting the 12 week mental health programme next week. Hopefully then I will get back into doing temp office work. This month I made sure that I took walks in the local park on most days - will be carrying this on throughout the year and be walking to various local places instead of taking the bus. Going to try another shop to do most of the food shop tomorrow. Also going to get some fruit from a fruit and veg stall. Did manage to pick up a free 10ml hand cream today.

Crafty_Lisa_Hampshire

I like the sound of the February Financial Fitness Challenge. I will see if I can give that a go as well.


I have a shop at the supermarket tonight but I have done a meal plan and the list isn't too extensive. I have also ordered some fresh veg for Monday and a milk delivery tomorrow. I have a trip out planned with my sister and her two boys tomorrow morning but then it should be a relatively cheap weekend as I want to finish my decluttering. I will have a look at my spreadsheet tonight to see how I have done.


Have a fun and frugal weekend all.