2021 Frugal Living Challenge

Tightpants24

@Blackcats thanks for the encouragement!  I have decided to keep a list of how much I am saving by being more money savvy.  It will help with the motivation 

[Deleted User]

Morning frugal friends

I have decided to set myself a mini challenge, I am going to report progress here and hope no one minds! I have broken up for the Easter holiday, and am aiming to have 17 consecutive no spend days in a row. The next time I am allowed to spend, if I need to, will be Monday 19th April. 

I have done a stocktake and have plenty of food in, and the chickens lay daily so we are sorted on that front. I bought some fresh fruit this morning from the market, so am not counting today in the challenge. However my debit card has been put away and will not come out for at least 17 days! Easter fun will be free, involving lots of nature walks and foraging for kindling. We also have lots of wild garlic near us which we are going to make pesto from. 

Today’s plans include chopping up a pallet we found on someone’s drive this morning (we asked permission and the owner was more than happy for us to take it), planting our strawberry plants out and sowing some lettuce seeds 😊

I’ll report in daily xx

jak

Hello everyone. Well great excitement today. I had a free eye test. My eye sight is awful atm. Too many screens during covid. I managed to pay a total of £84.90 instead of £204.31 due to various vouchers etc. I’m very happy. For that I will have 2 pairs of glasses that are lovely. One are sun glasses and the other normal with thinned lenses. It could’ve cost me £29.90 if I didn’t get them thinned but I don’t want to be wearing milk bottles lol. I pick them up next Saturday and I’m so chuffed! I have also made the decision to learn to drive (finally.) Luckily I am able to access a grant for 40 hours of driving lessons for free due to my disabilities. Now, obviously I’d rather be able to walk properly But it’s still great to get such a vast amount of help! 

I also had a surprise food parcel delivered from school yesterday! How completely lovely, a £30 Asda voucher and an Easter egg for my son from young carers! I feel utterly spoilt! Oh, and my volunteer work gave me £50 yesterday as a gift for taking on a much larger role. 

What a happy Easter! Yay! Obviously I spent the £50 on thinning my glasses but how lovely to have it there to use! 

Have a lovely Easter everyone and stay frugal. X

MazzieD

Managed to get this afternoon off, it's been a nice short working week after my break last week.

Goodness, some really good frugal activity on here in the last couple of days, @Tightpants24 and @jak, you are getting the hang of being frugal really quickly, it's lovely to see you getting such good results. @Blackcats I also have a separate email account for newsletters etc.  I get e mail notifications of posts on here in my main e mail and that's more than enough with all the other e mails so separating newsletters and other bits out was a must!.

I've been having a sort out of the cupboard under the stairs, bit surprised when I found a couple of small pallets lurking in a corner.  Must have been left by the previous owners as I've never had any, I just bunged a load of bits in there without checking when I moved in.  

elbree

Deleted_User said:

Morning frugal friends

I have decided to set myself a mini challenge, I am going to report progress here and hope no one minds! I have broken up for the Easter holiday, and am aiming to have 17 consecutive no spend days in a row. The next time I am allowed to spend, if I need to, will be Monday 19th April. 

I have done a stocktake and have plenty of food in, and the chickens lay daily so we are sorted on that front. I bought some fresh fruit this morning from the market, so am not counting today in the challenge. However my debit card has been put away and will not come out for at least 17 days! Easter fun will be free, involving lots of nature walks and foraging for kindling. We also have lots of wild garlic near us which we are going to make pesto from. 

Today’s plans include chopping up a pallet we found on someone’s drive this morning (we asked permission and the owner was more than happy for us to take it), planting our strawberry plants out and sowing some lettuce seeds 😊

I’ll report in daily xx

Ooh this sounds great @Deleted_User! I'll follow with interest! 

Onebrokelady

Deleted_User said:

I mentioned to a friend last night that I was considering cancelling the TV licence as we simply don’t really need it. She ranted at me that the BBC ‘deserves’ my money, I should pay it without question and I was wrong not to. I calmly explained that a review of our viewing habits show we don’t legally need one. She was very upset with me and also called me tight. I’ll go back to keeping my frugal thoughts and intentions to myself i think 😢

How strange and rude, why not cancel it if you don't need it 🤷‍♀️

balabooberlies

jak said:

Hello everyone. Well great excitement today. I had a free eye test. My eye sight is awful atm. Too many screens during covid. I managed to pay a total of £84.90 instead of £204.31 due to various vouchers etc. I’m very happy. For that I will have 2 pairs of glasses that are lovely. One are sun glasses and the other normal with thinned lenses. It could’ve cost me £29.90 if I didn’t get them thinned but I don’t want to be wearing milk bottles lol. I pick them up next Saturday and I’m so chuffed! I have also made the decision to learn to drive (finally.) Luckily I am able to access a grant for 40 hours of driving lessons for free due to my disabilities. Now, obviously I’d rather be able to walk properly But it’s still great to get such a vast amount of help! 

I also had a surprise food parcel delivered from school yesterday! How completely lovely, a £30 Asda voucher and an Easter egg for my son from young carers! I feel utterly spoilt! Oh, and my volunteer work gave me £50 yesterday as a gift for taking on a much larger role. 

What a happy Easter! Yay! Obviously I spent the £50 on thinning my glasses but how lovely to have it there to use! 

Have a lovely Easter everyone and stay frugal. X

Hello Jak

I can actually feel your excitement and how pleased you feel.  I echo that sentiment for you.  It's so lovely and encouring to hear of others success.

Good luck with driving lessons.

bala

jak

Thanks Mazzie and Bala. I’m overjoyed. I told my son all about it in great detail, poor sod. Off to look at cars online and curse covid/Easter weekend for making stuff shut 😁 x

ancientmum

I've been reading along but have not posted much.  My March motivation was to be more active an less velcro' d to the sofa and I feel I've achieved this.  Lots of plants on the windowsills and the plot has been prepared ready for sowing outside if the weather is kind over Easter.  I've underspent on groceries, so that goes into a fund for use when needed to top up the usual monthly budget.  However I've overspent on supplies for the garden  but will use the money I've allowed for hair cuts (decided to grow my hair longer) to cover this.
I 'm not happy about council tax and electricity rises but thankfully will be able to cope by continuing the frugal journey. Hope everyone has a lovely Easter weekend x

t14cy_t

managed to get 3 packs of bahlen choccie biscuits for free yesterday from checkout smart. very nice treat!