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2021 Frugal Living Challenge
Comments
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Another ditto here, asparklyblonde. Well done you.7
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Hello all,
I've been thinking and thinking about a way to do this. My budget can be different depending on how many weeks are in the month and also, some bills like gas & electric (direct debit), insurance etc are set in stone. I've used comparison and moneyback sites for insurance so not much room for change there at the moment. That leaves my food and petrol budget that I can be frugal with.
I need to drive to do my job and to take my son to and from school. The school run is done as part of my trip to and from work for a couple of days anyway. The rest of the money used to be split between food budget and "money for my purse" which covered the occasional trip to Maccies for my son with his friends, a coffee when we were out - that kind of thing. Then lockdown happened and so did a course of medication for my son which makes his joints even more sore than they are normally. We don't go out much at the moment so I've combined the food and the "fun" funds and it's this part of my budget that hopefully has the most potential for money left over at the end of the month.
I've always kept track of my total budget. Money in, then a list of payments out and this usually gives me a small surplus at the end of the month. I'd like the surplus to be bigger in 2021 so for January, my food and petrol budget is £535.96. Anything left over at the end of the month will be split between my debt and my emergency savings fund. Good luck with your frugal intentions everyone.12 -
Just set my budget for 2021. I'm debt free, mortgage paid off several years ago so I'm going to try for £4000.00.
Most of us are still posting on 2020 but just briefly I'm hoping to drastically cut my grocery bills. I'm now buying yellow sticker (reduced) meat, veg and fruit, using Olio and have been cutting my insurance/household bills via MSE and suggestions on this thread. I'll also add that it's just me and a much loved fluffy monster9 -
hi I’m joining in too. Need and want to cut back. Life has become extremely small geographically with me being severe asthmatic and shielded again now in Tier 4. Hubs was self employed and Covid has seen that off; fortunately he started a year long contract two weeks ago and with regular money now coming in I want to pay off debts and also finish planting up my garden and the house desperately needs decorating. Let alone the broken gas boiler.I’ve been working from home for a year now and can’t see me going back into London anytime soon as my District job isn’t Covid secure by nature. So I’m thinking through organising and utilising what I have. Lots of books to read, yarn to knit and other craft supplies to make use of. For hobbies I can have virtually nil expense.
my garden I’m planting a fruit garden; make my own desserts and jams. Meat I order from Campbell’s Scotland and eake it out with vegetables. Ordinarily I work around yellow stickers for food but right now I’m shielded so avoiding the shops. I use the milkman to keep stocked up in between deliveries, more expensive but pretty essential right now.January I’ve signed up for a fundraising walking challenge with asthma UK which will mean getting out walking each and every day. I’m hoping it will kickstart me into very regular exercise.So all of my hobbies within 2021 are very cheap, already paid for and most of my gifts are handmade. I have a freezer full of food to work through first and have started batch cooking for another couple of meals every time the slow cooker goes on. I’m planning on pretty much zero spend weekly on non essentials certainly for January. I’m going to keep track of what I spend and try to waste no food at all.13 -
Hello everyone, I've been doing this challenge since 2009 - although the last few years I haven't really had the time to post on here as I've been running my own business. Unfortunately Covid has wiped out that income and I've taken a part time admin job. OH is a key worker and was lucky enough to get a better paying job a few months ago. We're very frugal anyway, but with getting food deliveries while I was shielding - and spending £40 a week to avoid extra charges -we have stockpiled lots of food, and it turns out I'm a toiletry hoarder. My family live in other countries, so 2020 was a lot cheaper than expected because I didn't get to see them for 9 months, and it's looking unlikely I'll be seeing them in person before the summer now. We sold a car after barely using one during lockdown, and OH cycles to work, I have also have a bike and want to use it more in 2021 for trips to meet friends when we can again, library visits, and exercise. We grow veggies already, have tons of craft supplies for making gifts, and enough clothes to get through the year. Planned purchases are some plants for the garden, replacement garden table and chair set, and a new stair carpet.
Budget is:
Gas and electricity £560
Car tax, insurance, petrol, maintenance £900
Council tax £625
Home and life and critical illness insurance £675
Gifts £250 (5 nephews and nieces, parents, sibling, 2 best friends)
Mobiles, internet, TV licence £1,000
Groceries and toiletries £1,300
Haircuts £120
Clothes and shoes £70 - I only really need new trainers later this year
Total £5,500 plus mortgage
Priorities for 2021 are overpaying mortgage by about £10k, building savings up to £10k again (I'm at £5,755), regular exercise, finishing off DIY projects around the house (bought all the supplies last year), getting through toiletry and food hoards, and simplifying my life.
"I cannot make my days longer so I strive to make them better." Paul Theroux13 -
Hi all!
I hope you've all had a peaceful Christmas?
I'm still working on my 2021 budget (I'm self-employed and the husband is employed so I'm working on a monthly one). I've been busy today working on decluttering a little ( a lot - we all felt it was much needed). How are people getting rid of unwanted items? Our local charity shops aren't taking donations, there's isn't anything of great value to sell and our Freecycle is very quiet at the moment. I use to get so many charity bags through the door but haven't in ages. I have mostly books, some bric a brac including mugs and puzzles and likely some clothes.
Thanks
MSE-ing since 20077 -
@sparklyblonde you are an inspiration!
I joined midway last year and after a rocky start managed to rein in my rather out of control covid spending. I've been thinking about 2021 and now I feel more in control I'm going to set a budget for £100 per week for food, entertainment, school extras, kids... everything really apart from main bills and petrol. I'm going to work weekly not monthly. And extra money from the £100 will go into another account for bigger spend that come up - repairs/school trips etc. I'll continue reducing grocery spend by using olio and YS items plus meal planning and using up what I have. I think for me this is doable while stretching me but not stressing me. I have 2 adults, a teen-ager and a child.
Any extra money that comes in, however small, will go straight into the CCs which I am aiming to pay off by the end of the year. Currently paying £105 a month off 0 interest cards after snowballing. Hoping to increase that figure.
I'm not working due to covid but have been hoping to pick up some part time or temporary work, so things are a bit tight right now. I'm doing some matched betting and some surveys which brings in a little extra. I need to focus on matched betting a bit more to bring in more for the CCs.
Good luck everyone!! XGrocery challenge:
Oct 24.£/£400
Sept 24 £500/£500
Dec 2023
Debt pay down: from move
loan: £11500
CC £4222, Jan 24 £3831,
Oct 2024 new debt pay down
Personal loan £10000
Cc: £3758
Barclaycard (£187) £0
Debt to family - (£200) £0
Tesco (£2200) (£5343) 0
Halifax (£488) £298 =£0
Virgin £3611 = £3572
Santander = £1500
Total: Mar 2020 (£6486 ) Apr £6109 May £5665 (+£106 tranfer fee); June £5331 Sept (£950 added) £5343, Dec £5070 April 2021 PAID OFF!!10 -
Nicki_Sue said:I've been busy today working on decluttering a little ( a lot - we all felt it was much needed). How are people getting rid of unwanted items? Our local charity shops aren't taking donations, there's isn't anything of great value to sell and our Freecycle is very quiet at the moment. I use to get so many charity bags through the door but haven't in ages. I have mostly books, some bric a brac including mugs and puzzles and likely some clothes.For books, have you tried the We Buy Books app to see if any are worth selling? There are other companies that do this too, but this is the main one I have used. It is easy, and they provide postage labels so no cost to send them. They don't pay much for most books, and won't accept all, but every little helps, right?For the other bits, maybe try listing free to collect on local FB sites? I have got rid of lots this way. HTH.
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Thanks Dawn.
I checked WBB and no luck.
I'll keep an eye on the FB sites but 2 of our local ones have been closed (for now) for Covid reasons and the other is swamped with people decluttering and nothing is shifting- I'll maybe try again in another week. Thanks xx
MSE-ing since 20077 -
@Nicki_Sue maybe try Ziffit or Music Magpie - I’ve managed to make a decent amount selling books, CDs and DVDs to them this year so it’s worth a try. I found Ziffit gave the best return for most books but Music Magpie offered more than them for a couple of books.9
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