2021 Frugal Living Challenge

balabooberlies

Not sure if this counts as frugal but it was the most frugal way I could do it.

Desperately needed new sofa as the one we were using was down to it's bare bones.  I know this as I could feel them !

'Won' a spiffing caramel coloured leather 3 seater.  For nothing on a free site.  Cost of delivery (and dismantling/remantling) £110.00

Removal of thoroughly disliked green leather 3 piece suite, 90 minutes of backbreaking work and £90.00 real money.  

Total cost of removing memories of 8 awful years (as held by dominating heavy suite) and replacing with something that sparks joy and comfort for the first time in years......£200.00

Well worth it in my books even though I have long way to go to get rid of debts.

Also, I donate every month to quite a few charities.  I have struggled to give them up (don't know why) so I sat down with my Mum who also donates.  Sensibly she advised that I stop with all of them until I am financially sound.  Couldn't quite get there so we worked out which ones we duplicate and I cancelled those.  Kept my animal charities and a few others.  Just not having and worrying about having so many direct debits is liberating.

Keep well

bala

x

[Deleted User]

balabooberlies said:

Not sure if this counts as frugal but it was the most frugal way I could do it.

Desperately needed new sofa as the one we were using was down to it's bare bones.  I know this as I could feel them !

'Won' a spiffing caramel coloured leather 3 seater.  For nothing on a free site.  Cost of delivery (and dismantling/remantling) £110.00

Removal of thoroughly disliked green leather 3 piece suite, 90 minutes of backbreaking work and £90.00 real money.  

Total cost of removing memories of 8 awful years (as held by dominating heavy suite) and replacing with something that sparks joy and comfort for the first time in years......£200.00

Well worth it in my books even though I have long way to go to get rid of debts.

Also, I donate every month to quite a few charities.  I have struggled to give them up (don't know why) so I sat down with my Mum who also donates.  Sensibly she advised that I stop with all of them until I am financially sound.  Couldn't quite get there so we worked out which ones we duplicate and I cancelled those.  Kept my animal charities and a few others.  Just not having and worrying about having so many direct debits is liberating.

Keep well

bala

x

That sounds fantastically frugal to me. Disposal of old sofa and a new one for £200. 

I agree on your comment about charity. We continue to give to charity too. We have 4 main reasons to becoming mortgage free. 

1. Financial freedom and security. 
2. Being a good example to our children. (My dad always said “If you can’t afford it then you can’t have it”).
3. To save for the future.
4. To give more freely.

Enjoy your new sofa!

t14cy_t

zeus and i did the usual walkies in semi darkness this morning as it was 4.15!! however, we managed to bring back prawn crackers, chips a deodrant, 2 kiddies scooters and 1p for the penny pot!!  in our defence the scooters did say take for free!!!!  would of got some odd looks if it was later in the day!!! lol. xx

[Deleted User]

t14cy_t said:

zeus and i did the usual walkies in semi darkness this morning as it was 4.15!! however, we managed to bring back prawn crackers, chips a deodrant, 2 kiddies scooters and 1p for the penny pot!!  in our defence the scooters did say take for free!!!!  would of got some odd looks if it was later in the day!!! lol. xx

Sounds like quite a haul. Looks like the old saying of “Early to bed, early to rise makes you healthy, wealthy and wise” is true. 🙂

[Deleted User]

Today’s frugality included:

1. Line dried the school clothes I dyed last night. Dyeing of sweaters and whitening of shirts went well. They are now ironed and hung for next term.
2. Reused my tea leaves a few times for tea.
3. Used 1/2 my normal amount of hair conditioner.
4. Baked my own gluten free bread using cheap chickpea flour.
5. DH started baking sourdough using L*dl flour.
6. Rather than going to 5 G*ys for burgers, chips and juice as requested by DS1 and DS2, they agreed to homemade burgers (saving approximately £40). This type of food is rare for us so they loved it!
7. Poured the fat off the oven-baked burgers. Will use the fat to fry remaining eggs and the dripping will be spread on toast for DH1 and DH2. 
8. Went to a local town today and did a few errands: returned jeans for a refund as dyeing the old ones had went so well; took DS1 to G*ME where he sold some old games and bought some new games/electronics with the cash; and picked up free compost from the dump.
9. Used free compost to plant free rhubarb crown 😀.
10. Repaired boys’ school jackets by sewing and using a black marker pen to fill in faded sections. Washed and waterproofed.
11. Swept and mopped floors rather than vacuuming.
12. Froze leftover soup from last night for next week.
13. Washed dog in the bath rather than use a groomer.
14. We are thinking about renovating upstairs next year but have so many ideas we didn’t know where to start. I was thinking yesterday, I wish we knew an architectural technician to help us sift through ideas. Anyway, was chatting to a friend today and it’s turns out he used to be an architectural engineer and then went on to be an architectural assistant. He told us to make a floor plan with measurements and he’ll get back to us with ideas. How cool is that!

willow_loulou

Bala that sofa is a bargain!! Congratulations 🥰

I wrestled with giving up charities too, instead I do a lottery one so I could win £1000 and I do the occasional donation to Dogs on the streets as I can PayPal them £1 and I post them doggie clothes I find for pennies and bandanas I make to keep the puppers warm. 

I’ve over spent this week - I bought a food and exercise app for the year, it’s still a fraction of the cost of others at £23 for the year. I’ve had a free trial and am losing weight so it’s worth it. I’ve also had to do an unexpected food order as we’re isolating until Friday and needed bread/milk etc that I usually pick up Saturday morning. Not ideal as I needed to spend £40 rather than the planned £12 ish but needs must. I did get dog food for a few weeks which is very handy if nothing else. 

I have used the cc so I don’t use the bill money so have 6 weeks to pay that now. 

[Deleted User]

Morning everyone!

I work our finances on a zero-based budget. However, I had an unexpected gift and 2 new car tyres required this week. I am therefore planning to do NSD’s from today until Friday (with the exception of new tyres being fitted on Monday). I would of liked to do a week but we are visiting friends next weekend although there is a ‘holiday’ budget for that and I’ve used some grocery budget to buy food gifts to take with us.

Frugal plans for the day:

1. Go for a run.
2. Clean my carpets using a carpet cleaner gifted to us.
3. Clean windows.
4. Let DS1 and DS2 have a screen day (they are allowed 2 of these over the school holidays).
5. DH is making sourdough bread for himself and the boys.
6. We have a glut of garden potatoes so DH is making potato curry with broad beans from the garden and cauliflower from the L*dl box.

Have a super Sunday!

[Deleted User]

willow_loulou said:

Bala that sofa is a bargain!! Congratulations 🥰

I wrestled with giving up charities too, instead I do a lottery one so I could win £1000 and I do the occasional donation to Dogs on the streets as I can PayPal them £1 and I post them doggie clothes I find for pennies and bandanas I make to keep the puppers warm. 

I’ve over spent this week - I bought a food and exercise app for the year, it’s still a fraction of the cost of others at £23 for the year. I’ve had a free trial and am losing weight so it’s worth it. I’ve also had to do an unexpected food order as we’re isolating until Friday and needed bread/milk etc that I usually pick up Saturday morning. Not ideal as I needed to spend £40 rather than the planned £12 ish but needs must. I did get dog food for a few weeks which is very handy if nothing else. 

I have used the cc so I don’t use the bill money so have 6 weeks to pay that now. 

Hi willlow lou lou,

Unexpected bills are a pain but it sounds like you made the most of it by buying bulk dog food.

Congratulations on your weight loss. I’m also trying to lose a few pounds. I’ve always maintained my weight but as I’m getting older it’s getting more challenging. Anyway, better stop talking about it and get my running gear on.

balabooberlies

Willow LouLou

have often wondered who was taking care of these dogs.  Most of them are Staffies, the only breed I have been guardian/carer to.  My Tiggy is a rescue Staffie.  Shared my life with her for almost 11 years.

Perhaps this is a charity I can be more hands on with, so thank you.

bala

x

[Deleted User]

Hi fellow frugallers, just thought I'd post a wee update on my mission to be more frugal and minimise the bad habits that have led to some truly ridiculous overspending.  This week has been significantly better, we have had some planned spends as both myself and OH were in dire need of new walking shoes - his had the slow hainging off - but other than that we have managed to reign things in really well.  Some frugal activities this week were:

1. Getting our new walking shoes on sale.  I have been out walking and mine are really comfy. 

2. Increasing my activities like walking (free) and swimming (which makes use of my membership).  I had a lovely walk today and just enjoyed pottering through the wild flowers and roses along the river.  This really helps me to destress as well.

3. All washing done and hug to dry outside.  It's been overcast here and actually quite dark at times but still warm enough to dry the washing.

4. Making use of my local library.  I started this a few years ago to curb my very bad amazon habit and have never looked back.  Although I will buy the occasional book (say 4 a year) the bulk of my reading material comes from the library.  I am really lucky that my local one is open again, albeit only via appointment.

5. OH and I are decorating our box room that we use as an office.  The aim has been to do it for £50 or less.  We already had the paint and OH has done that so it's looking nice and fresh.  I wanted a side table or small chest of drawers in there to act as a side table to a wing back chair we have in there.  I went to the local Home Aid warehouse that sells secondhand furniture and got a lovely one in great condition for £10.  I got a new lamp for £8.  Just need curtains now but I am waiting until I see ones I like on gumtree or in the local charity shops.  I'll take a wander up to the local charity shops during the coming week and see what I can find.  I'd like a new desk but the one I have is perfecly functional so it stays. 

6. OH and I have had a chat about how to rethink the way we budget as a specific part of it hasn't been working well for us for a while now.  From next month we will try something different to see how that works as an alternative.

7. No takeaways as planned (apart from the one on my cousin's 70th).

8. Doing better with eating from stores and we are currently running down the meat in the freezer.  Today I have taken a mince out of the freezer and will be making beef burgers with them for tonight's dinner and there should be plently left for tomorrow too.