2021 Frugal Living Challenge

2childmum2

Regarding parties, we never did the whole class party thing - mine didn't like lots of noise anyway.  We often did a crafty party for my DD (DS not so keen) - so the activity and the party bag present were one and the same.  One year she had a butterfly party - we found butterfly craft bits to do during the party,and put in the party bags, and pound land had a silicon butterfly cake mould so that was the cake sorted!  

QueenJess

I'm liking all these children's party ideas 😊. Will definitely have to come up with a plan for next year.

A pair of my pyjama bottoms have a hole in the knee, so I cut off the legs and sewed them up. Now I have a pair of pyjama shorts. I actually needed some and had too many long bottoms, so that all worked out nicely! Hopefully saves me having to buy any for at least another year.

Used a tiny bit of the offcuts to patch up a pair of DS's jeans. Still got more material I will save for further patching and greeting card making.

Quite impressed with myself as I have no experience, although I am pretty good at hand sewing after doing a lot of cross stitches in my youth.

zafiro1984

QueenTess:- i agree with everything you say.
Children's birthday parties were a nightmare. My two are now 49 and 51 yrs old and I hated parties. It is probably because I used to teach in those days and I was always glad when the school day was over (4pm in those days) - so glad to get away from small children . it's not that I don't like children, I do, but it's good to have a balanced life. The other thing was, I sometimes felt the mothers or adults who accompanied the children wanted to see where and how 'teacher' lived. - none of their business really, but you know what human nature is like. 

Fortunately, going home with a goody bag had not taken off, piece of birthday cake and a party hat was about all they got - maybe a small bar of chocolate - i can't really remember, I just know I was pleased when they became older and we used to do things they had never done. One requested a train journey - never having been on a train, another time it was a bus ride for the same reason. how life does change. 

willow_loulou

I’ve just ordered an Etsy mystery bag for dd when she finishes uni in a few days. I bought myself one from the same seller as a reward for working so hard. It was a lovely little box to open this morning, very me! I needed a little self care and it was a great start to a very restful day. I’ve spent £10 on the box, a face pack, some fizzy water, a cup cake and a kindle book. Perfect! 

I’ll do the same for dd and put a little pack together. She’s really stressed over this last essay and needed an extension. Going to do similar for the next birthday coming up. 

elbree

MazzieD said:

@elbree I wouldn't worry about having a spendy month, camping stuff sounds like a good idea - you aren't frittering the money away.  Having just spent on the car, June is going to be the same, this time it's Road Tax, prefer to pay the whole lot rather than instalments to get it out of the way.  Hopefully that's the major bills out of the way until the Autumn so if I'm really good in the meantime I might still end up somewhere near my yearly budget by the end of the year!.  

Thanks @MazzieD! Going to book plenty of trips to get my money's worth and figured I could always resell any kit in a few years if we've looked after it well. It's a good idea to look at a yearly budget rather than a monthly one which can vary so much. 

zafiro1984

Saw a fox yesterday near a hen run so I spent all afternoon moving them to another area. I've moved them into a pen that already has 36 hens in it. Catching 63 gens in the daylight is quite energetic and time consuming so today I've got to move the automatic waterers, feed stations and check the bedding and do a big tidy up.

It's our wedding anniversary today so I had good intentions of doing a proper meal tonight but it looks as if that will have to take  back seat. 

Before people who have hens ask:- all the hens had been brought up together and had only been separated for about 6 months so they knew each other and there was very little arguing when they went back together. I've still got to decide what to do with my solitary gosling and its foster mother. I put them in one of the stables overnight but they can't stay there - as there is no grass!!!

MazzieD

Just been out for a very enjoyable coffee with a friend I grew up with.  He has a serious addiction to C*sta Coffee and their loyalty card, not sure how many thousand points he's accumulated but he has been having a cup every day for years and I now get treated to free coffee on a regular basis!!.  It was quite a job to persuade him to use the points rather than pay though.  Same with N*ctar points, he has decided to save them in case he gets made redundant but he owns a very successful local business which hasn't been affected by lockdowns, restrictions etc.  

Usual Sunday look at the budget as it's almost end of the month as well.  Quite pleased with the grocery budget for May, the F&V boxes, frozen veg and YS meat have made a significant saving so it really should be minimal spend in June as I already have all the protein for meals in June stashed in the freezer, just have to do the batch cooking.  Think that rather than set a reduced grocery budget I'm just going to record spends this month on my spreadsheet and see what happens.  Only problem will be the fluffy monster, getting increasingly fussy and does not want to be frugal or reduce his food waste so cat food is one area I can't cut back, more likely to be an increased spend to get him to eat!.  Nothing worse than a grumpy cat.

marionmgcars

Thanks for all the interesting posts.  I’ve enjoyed reading them, very motivating.  I’ve just run out of washing line for laundry so hung the socks & undies on the octopus hangers in the greenhouse 😀.  

bargainhunterss

Afternoon all!

Serial lurker coming out of hiding here. We’ve done a few bits of spending in the garden this year which has eaten up most of our savings. It’s something we’ve been meaning to do for a long time, and the subsequent time spent in the garden has meant it’s been well worth it. However, reassessing our spending and budgets is now sorely needed! 

Been making a list today of all the food in the freezer today, and will also stock-check the kitchen cupboards. Food spending has been a bit all over the place for the past few months, so I’m going to try and set us goals for reducing spending. I’m a confessed supermarket YS snaffler, so I’m going to have to be more mindful on that score! Also planning on posting on these boards a bit more frequently to stay accountable (if that doesn’t sound too ‘merican!) Thanks to everyone that posts on this thread. It’s been interesting reading and seeing what savings/declutters you’ve all been doing. And of course, thanks to @Frugaldom for setting up the thread in the first place!

Hope you’re all keeping well and having a good BH weekend! 

QueenJess

Got out in the garden today for the first time this year 😬. Things have gone mental out there and I don't fancy my chances of getting much gardening done this year with a new baby and a 4 yo.

I did manage to find some seeds from last year and planted some easy things I can leave to their own devices on the patio: beetroot, kale, chard, spring onion, radish, courgette and a huge amount of salad. Hopefully that'll save me some money over the summer.

I was looking forward to some rhubarb, but I don't fancy its chances. It's currently being beaten into submission by a rampant redcurrant bush that is now 5 foot tall and wide!!

Happily the raspberries I speculatively planted last year and I thought failed have gone rampant this year. You can never have too many of those.