2022 Frugal Living Challenge

Frugaldom

Welcome to the all new 2022 Frugal Living Challenge

Join us here for year 15 of the Frugaldom challenge on MSE - our CRYSTAL Anniversary

It's that time of year again, the time when we all need to start thinking ahead into the new year and how we are going to organise our frugal lifestyles, be it to tackle debts, generate extra income or squirrel away some savings. Please take the time to read this post in full and if you have any questions, feel free to message me or ask in the forum.

This is an adaptation of the original NYK/Frugaldom 'Living on £4,000 for a Year' challenge. It has been running here on MSE for many years, although these particular money challenges began back in the 1990's, elsewhere. We have seen many changes over the years, none so much as affected us all throughout 2020/21 and the Covid-19 pandemic so there could be many more people now finding themselves needing to learn more traditional methods of moneysaving, debt-busting and budgeting - a penny saved is a penny earned and each is as important as the other.

Your budget is personal to you, it should fit with your personal financial situation. If you would like to use a simple spreadsheet for calculating your annual expenditure, you are welcome to download a free copy of the original one HERE - simply overwrite the initial monthly amounts and the totals will auto-calculate. From then, it is a simple case of deducting (use the minus sign in front of the amounts) all your outgoings as the year progresses. It's worthwhile playing about with it to alter headings to suit your personal lifestyle. I've included a couple of extra columns for things like rent/mortgage & council tax and misc/debt payments. Some have already achieved debt freedom and now follow frugal lifestyles for the love of it. Others are still tackling debts and frugal living in an attempt to reach their debt-free and/or mortgage-free day. Whichever stage you are at, feel free to join us and share your progress.

The following links will take you to previous MSE versions of our challenges:

The 2021 Challenge
The 2020 Challenge
The 2019 Challenge
The 2018 Challenge
The 2017 Challenge
The 2016 Challenge
The 2015 Challenge
The 2014 Challenge
The 2013 Challenge
The 2012 Challenge
Part 1 - January to March 2011
Part 2 - April to June 2011
Part 3 - July to December 2011
Introduction to the 2010 Challenge
Part 1 - January to March 2010
Part 2 - April to June 2010
Part 3 - July to September 2010
Part 4 - October to December 2010
Part 1 - January to March 2009
Part 2 - April to June 2009
Part 3 - July to September 2009
Part 4 - October to December 2009
Part 1 - January to March 2008
Part 2 - April to June 2008
Part 3 - July to September 2008
Part 4 - October to December 2008
How it all began - Saving to buy a house without a mortgage 2007 Challenge
The original interest beater challenge
The original £1000 in 100 days challenge
The original free hobbies thread

IMPORTANT - Please respect others' lifestyles and beliefs. We are not here to judge, we are here to support. Thank you

This challenge is about living a frugal, sustainable lifestyle - establishing the true cost of living, sticking to a budget, clearing debts and making savings wherever and however possible to enable you to live the life you really want. Frugal living isn't for everyone, but everyone is welcome to join us.

Methods employed by our merry band of frugalers include: batch cooking, stockpiling, preserving, foraging, mending, shopping in charity shops, reducing, reusing, recycling, Local Exchange Trading Schemes (LETS), vegetable and fruit growing, allotments, keeping hens, using cash back sites and earning whatever it takes to become self sufficient in managing the cost of living without incurring debt.

For some it is initially about clearing debt, for others it's about increasing savings, buying property, becoming stay at home parents or paying off the mortgage early. Some choose the lifestyle on ethical grounds. Above all, this is a fun, fairly traditional and supportive way to manage your budget so you have control of your own cost of living.

It's about NEEDS and not WANTS.

Living on a budget = living within our means
Frugal = thrifty, living without waste

Ideas to help you achieve and/or maintain debt free living

Recognise the differences between needs and wants
 Spend within your means
 Set a proper budget
 Quit expensive bad habits
 Houseshare
 Get a lodger
 Shop via cash-back sites and always price compare
 Buy reduced items in stores only if you need them
 Stockpile & bulk buy only those bargains that you use
 Batch cooking
 Make the most of charity shops
 Join freebie or waste awareness and recycling associations
 LETS trading - become active members of trading & exchange groups
 Bartering
Grow your own herbs, fruit & veg
Preserving & winemaking
Breadmaking & home baking
Card & gift making
Order splitting/sharing for better discounts & reduced delivery costs
Landsharing, allotments & frugal garden systems
Food sharing
Online trading - auctions, stores, social media pages etc, etc, etc...

Monitoring and revising your budget is part of a good frugal living plan. Gifts & cards could all to be homemade, livestock should pay for its own keep, anything else needs to be cash neutral.

If you haven’t already done so, join the MSE forums and share your frugal lifestyle hints, tips and achievements here, where you are among like-minded friends and supporters

GOOD LUCK IN 2022

Frugaldom

WELCOME TO THE NEW CHALLENGE 

The following is my proposed frugal living challenge budget for 2022

Groceries - £800
Electricity - £520
Heating - £700 
Internet & Mobile - £336
Footwear & Clothing - £50
TV Licence - N/A
Car £1,000
Insurances - £240
Social - £120
Gifts - £200
Misc other -  £34
Total £4,000

The above is everything that I can try to drive down. Council Tax is non-negotiable so I don't count it in here, even although it still needs to be paid. We don't have rent, mortgage or debts to pay, thanks to frugal living. I have separate budgets for my work-related costs and Frugaldom project running costs. The above is my frugal living budget only. It will be juggled accordingly to allow all other income to be diverted to the project or into savings for future investment into Frugaldom.

Betharooni

Hi Frugaldom

Thanks for running the challenge again in 2022. I’m intending to take a more active role in the group in 2022, rather than just reading and lurking. I am setting up your spreadsheet so I can use it throughout the year and am planning my budgets at the moment. I can’t wait to read everyone’s ideas again this coming year and to get inspired.

B x

cw18

I didn't do at all well in 2021.    I lost my inspiration very early on, and it's been a naff year for me all round which meant I couldn't find the Ooomph! to climb back on.

In the early months I nearly lost my job due to my sick record.   My two main absences were late July to early September 2020 (2 weeks sick, a week back, and then another 3 weeks sick), and were both linked to a medication my GP prescribed to try and make it easier for me to work despite my sciatica.  His first suggestion - when it flared up in April 2020 - was to sign me off for an extended period, but I declined due to to the high workload and low staffing levels that Covid had produced.  It seemed ironic that I could have had a 6 month absence without a disciplinary, but 5 weeks because I preferred to continue working were a major contributory factor to almost being sacked.   The Union and I managed to fight it as being Covid related, due to the fcat I'd previously controlled my sciatica by going swimming but the lockdowns had stopped that.

But I'm still being closely monitored, which gives me a problem when it comes to getting a Covid booster.  Any time off due to a reaction to that counts as normal sick - yet testing positive or being told to isolate gets ignored.   Whilst many people don't react, my brother (closest genetic 'guinea pig', and who had the same one as me for the vaccinations) reacted badly enough to his booster I'd be looking at a minimum of a day off work.   So I have to take a gamble - on one hand I hold off having the booster reducing the risk to my job and income but could contract Covid, or on the other I have the booster reducing my risk of contracting Covid but take a risk on losing my job/income.   As I've continued to take care right though (still wearing a face covering in shops and on public transport even when they were optional) I've decided to risk waiting.   But I have had my 'flu shot, which I've had every year bar one since 1999 (some free, some paid for - back to free at the moment due to the lowering of the qualifying age).

The original warning was that I'd be back to having to justify them keeping me on if I had 10 days or 2 periods of sick before the end of September, and then needed to take care until mid-March.   I've managed with one period of 2 days in August, so now really need to not take any more before April.

I've also had to take short notice leave as we lost my Dad last month - 13 years to the day of losing my husband, and 35 years to day of my OH losing his father   So I had a week at the start of our pre-Christmas A/L embargo to help my Mother with dealing with procedures and moving utility accounts into her name, with an expectation of possibly 3 days special leave - but my manager checked the handbook and disovered he's allowed to give up to a week depending on circumstances.   He and I do not normally get on well or see eye-to-eye, but he gave me the entire week.  I suspect this was because I'd kept him informed since my Dad was diagnosed with cancer in the summer of 2020, including about his hospital admission at the end of Oct '21 when they found it had spread before discharging him to a hospice.    I had to take last Monday as annual leave for the funeral because I'd had the full week, but I was more than happy to do.

My OH was out of work from December 2019 - and couldn't find anything new once Covid hit.   He managed to get short term work for a couple of months in the lead up to and for a short while after Christmas 2020, but was then out of work again until August 2021.   His new job is in the hospitality industry, but is causing some problems.   He's enjoying the work in the main, but not the work schedules.  When he was offered the job he was told there was an expectation that everyone work every other weekend - with some additional requirements when they have staffing problems.  Since he started there, with the exception of 4 weeks around holiday (start and end of a week off twice) he's been on the rota to work EVERY weekend bar one Sunday - and he ended up working that Sunday as someone else had a family emergency.    This means we only get to see each other when I'm off work on leave or my one-week-in-6 rest week, as he can then come over on a mid-week rest day.   His working hours are almost always mid afternoon until very late evening, so I'm working when he's at home and he's working when I get home - giving very little chance to text/phone each other other than his days off (used to be almost every evening that he wasn't here).   We survived the first total lockdown as we spoke in some form every day, but this total lack of contact for most of every week is starting to get us down.    He's currently part way through an 8 day stretch of working, and is then off on 24th before working Christmas Day and Boxing Day unless things get closed down again.  He is at least meant to be off the Bank Holidays (Mon & Tues) when I'm also off, so we'll get some time together then.

I have seriously overspent in some areas of my life over the last 12 months - and am now back to having a balance on my credit cards     I need to address this urgently in 2022 - especially as my gas/electric fixed price tariff comes to an end on 31st Jan, meaning my Direct Debit for that will have to go up by at least £20/month (and with the threat of more substantial increases in April).    It's also looking likely my Council Tax bills will have more of an upwards shift this year than previously.  The main element was unchanged for 7 years (with the only increases being small ones for the adult social care precept and local police/fire elements), but went up by just under 1% last year.  I'm expecting a higher increase this year!!

And it's doubtful my car will pass the MOT at the end of Jan, so I need to decide what to do about that.   I don't have money to replace it, but will struggle to pay for (expected) substantial repairs.  My Mum has offered me my Dad's vehicle, but it's going to be more expensive to insure, tax and run (I have a petrol Punt0, his is a diesel people carrier!) and will need some work as it's been largely unused for 2 years - I'd expect a new battery and brakes as a minimum.  My intention had always been to give up car ownership when mine died, but the timing couldn't be worse as my Mum (who seems to be coping well in general) needs more regular help figuring out how things around the house operate.  I can see me needing to make more 'quick visits' when I'm off work on Sundays, which is when public transport isn't a viable option.  My OH would have gladly driven me there & back (and helped out with jobs), but that's also not an option with his current work schedule.

I still have a HUGE stockpile of groceries to get through, so my first way of attacking my accounts is to base as many meals as possible around items in that and divert my grocery budget to paying other things.    I'll still need to buy bread and fresh/frozen veg from the off, but I have loads of meat & fish in my freezer, plus tins of tuna, tins of tomatoes (and some other veg), jars of sauces, packs of noodles and bags of rice (but I'm going to need pasta shortly into the year).   I also have a fair amount of flour for baking, and mixed dried fruit which I use to make a tea bread with Weetabix type cereals (which I also have a supply of) or bread & butter pudding.

My garden has become rather overgrown throughout Covid (busier days at work meant no time or energy to do anything with it), so I want to get that back under control and restart my veg growing attempts.   Whilst this isn't cheaper than buying in many cases, it does taste much better - and that encourages me to eat more healthily.   Unfortunately both my 'greenhouses' (plastic/PVC types) have now collapsed, so I'm in the market for another which means spending    I'll start by looking at Amaz0n, because I do various tasks that earn me vouchers for there which equates to 'free money' - a lot of which has traditionally been spent on wants rather than needs, but I currently have over £45 in my account.   The first thing to do is check the frames of my old ones, and see if buying just a new cover is an option (in the hope that will be cheaper).

Amaz0n are doing me a favour by stopping accepting UK visa credit cards by the middle of next month - if I have no vouchers in my account, that's how I general pay for anything from there.   So from 19th Jan if I have no vouchers I'll have to have the money in my bank account to pay for it, and I think that will stop a lot of my impulse shopping

I've managed to buy about half the Birthday and Christmas presents I've needed to get this year from Amaz0n, and could have covered them all (and more) with the vouchers if I'd not bought 'wants' with them.    So I'm hoping to be more controlled with those in 2022 - using them for needs or presents only.   From two sources I get just over £300 a year (£120 from one, and the rest from another).    I generally buy larger birthday and Christmas presents for 7 people - and smaller ones (from local shops) for another 3 people.   I average £25 each for the larger presents, so the £300 should cover the majority of them

I've also lost several fence panels to the wind over the last 12-14 months, so those need replacing urgently (once I'm happy we're through the storms this winter).    I'm planning on pricing up a number of options, as I've seen a lot of houses with plastic ones which appear to be lower maintenance and with a longer life expectancy than wooden ones  - but I need to weigh up the outlay, and the 'cost per year' based on suggested life expectancy.

I need to look at my income and outgoings to work out my budgets yet, but will try and get that well started before the end of the month.   I can see it being late January before I finalise them though, especially given the car situation.

balabooberlies

Oh Gosh Cheryl, I too suffer from Sciatica but have had to self medicate with over the counter medication.  Didn't even know the doctor might help.  Some days it's beyond awful.

It's great that you have a stock of groceries to work from.  

Was just wondering whether you could search places like facebook marketplace or freecycle for some of the things you need.

I had run out of ink for my printer and the cheapest replacement was about 25 pounds.  On marketplace I found a 'never used' printer in the same range for 15 pounds with full inks.   Bought that and then knock me down with a feather someone was giving away the large version of the inks for free !  They had bought the wrong ones and forgot to send them back in time.  And how many times in the past have I done that........

I applied/requested them with tightly crossed fingers and waited 2 days for a response.  The long and short of it is that I collected them today.  16 miles, 2 hour round trip.  The way I look at it is that I have never been paid 45 pounds for 2 hours work, which is what they would have cost.

Good luck with everything

bala

cw18

balabooberlies said:

Oh Gosh Cheryl, I too suffer from Sciatica but have had to self medicate with over the counter medication.  Didn't even know the doctor might help.  Some days it's beyond awful.


Was just wondering whether you could search places like facebook marketplace or freecycle for some of the things you need.

The GP started me on Naproxen (anti-inflammatories, which I have to take Omeprazole alongside to reduce the risk of gastro problems), and when the pain worked through those they added in Codeine which made little difference.  July 2020 they gave me Gabapentin (nerve blockers) to take as well, and it was those I reacted to - a shame as they did actually kill the pain.   So off the Gabapentin, and then they added in paracetamol (over the counter).   The mix has become less and less effecient as time passes, and all the meds are supposed to be for 'short term use only' so I've not been happy to stay on them.

Since about 3.5 weeks ago I've been taking either Naproxen or (more commonly) ibuprofen a couple of times a week, but alongside that I'm self-medicating on CBD oil on a daily basis.   My GP has shrugged it off ("there's no scientific proof it works - all evidence is anecdotal'), but is happy for me to use it if I 'think' it's working.   I was very sceptical about it even though I've had at least half a dozen people encouraging me to try it since Oct/Nov of 2020, but am delighted to find I'm in a lot less pain and have a lot more movement back     Not as cheap as my prescription meds (which I got on a prepayment certificate as it was cheaper than paying per prescription), but I feel it's worth the extra at least for now.



The only things I need, other than new glasses, new gas boiler, and new(er) car, are currently the fence panels and new walking boots - even the greenhouse is a want more than a need!  The only one I might find on FB etc is the greenhouse, but I didn't see any last year.

I'm hoping to keep my list of needs to an absolute minimum for 2022, and the boiler is going to have to last me at least another year (I was told in 2016 and 2017 that it's now too old for spare parts to be easily located, and cancelled an expensive service care agreement early in 2018 as they confirmed they couldn't guarantee to fix it if it broke down!).

I do still have one pair of walking boots with some life in them, but I'm not sure they'll see me through the year (and I like to have two pairs so I have a pair to wear while the others dry out after a wet outing).

The glasses (over £200) aren't really negotiable as I'm still wearing the pair I was given 6 years ago, and I've just had my 3rd prescription change since then    In my defence, I wear disposable contact lenses for work (and most outdoor activities when off work) - and I've had several changes to the prescription of those which makes for minimal (if any) additional expense each change.

I could save money by giving up the contact lenses, but (as a postie) I find it very hard working in glasses in certain weather conditions - and find glasses hard work when running or cycling, and impossible for swimming (contacts for swimming done under strict conditions as laid down by my optician before anyone points out I shouldn't do it - it's that or risk swimming into other people or the side of the pool).   But I may consider working in glasses as much as possible when we get back to nicer (warm and dry) weather, as that would reduce how many pairs I need over the year and save some of the annual cost (though wearing face coverings makes glasses tricky whatever the weather!).

Well done on the free printer cartridges     The printer with inks may not be as much of a bargain, as printers don't normally come with full capacity cartridges - a trick the manufacturers play in order to get you started, but needing to spend more money sooner than hoped.

skint_chick

I've had a strange 2021 - I got a lovely new niece in July and finally got to see my family in May and August after not seeing them since Feb 2020. Unfortunately 5 weeks ago my mum was taken seriously ill very suddenly and I just made it in time before she lost consciousness and sadly passed away 2 weeks later. Our Christmas is usually just OH and I as he usually works but we are staying with my dad until 28th along with my brother SIL and 3 kids aged 3 and under! I will need to budget more in 2022 for trips home to see him and make sure he is getting on OK as he's struggling with a routine as my mum did everything for him and he has issues with memory loss due to a brain injury. My plans for 2022 include reducing my stress levels, increasing my activity levels and getting back to crafting and creativity, which were plans for 2021 that just didn't happen! I've done well on the budget this year as we didn't take a holiday, just one long weekend to visit nephews and niece and one road trip to my parents. Barely used the car apart from that and didn't do as much socially as I expected, just had friends over for coffees and a few bbq's in the garden. Because of the last few weeks I hadn't bought any Christmas presents so have just got one gift each for the kids. I've finished my grandad's war service record to give to my dad for Christmas, that just cost me petrol and parking at the National Archives (about £20 total).

My business has started to recover from Covid so I've made slightly more than I expected, but not nearly as much as pre-Covid, but I'm hoping this will also increase again next year as I've already had enquiries about availability and interest in projects. My sciatica still flares up regularly but I've been walking a good bit more to try and sort out my tight calf and thigh muscles and that seems to have helped a good bit.

balabooberlies

Condolences Skint Chick

Lost my dad 6 weeks ago so know what you're going through.

bala

x

cw18

((hugs)) to skint_chick

My daughter and her girls are spending Christmas Day with my Mum so that's she's not on her own.    I was expecting to spend it with Mum, but am now staying away until Boxing Day - possibly slightly selfish of me, but I can't cope with how noisy my GDs get (and the fights between them) when they're over excited    So I'm on my own (my personal preference), but doing voluntary dog walking in the morning for the local kennels that rehome ex-racing greyhounds (something I do regularly when not at work, including this morning).

cw18

((hugs)) to balabooberlies as well

Hard_Up_Hester

I think I'll try to join in this thread, we aren't skint but i's like to keep a closer grip on the finances.

We live on a canal boat so don't have a mortgage and we don't pay rent, neither do we pay utility bills. We manage with solar panels during the summer mostly though we run the engine occasionally to top up the batteries. We run a fridge freezer without any problems but don't have many appliances, just a small stick blender. Other electric usage is a juggling act I run the washing machine when we travel or if it's really sunny but I can only do a 15 minute cold wash. If I want to vacuum I can only do short bursts and then wait until the batteries are topped up.. We are looking into having a solar dump so we can use the immersion heater, mostly we boil the kettle for hot water.

We cook on bottled gas a bottle lasts about 3 months in the winter I often cook on the multifuel stove which is our main source of heat. We usually get a winter mooring which means we don't have to travel, this costs around £300 a month. During the summer months we travel from place to place and mooring and water is included in the yearly licence fee.  Next year we are travelling on the Thames where there is very little free mooring so approx £10 a night needs to budgeted for.

In the winter we have an electric book up but try to limit our usage as much as possible. I've recently given up the car so we now have to pay for shopping to be delivered and last week when I needed to post a parcel it cost me £5.20 bus fare on top of the postage costs.

I'll work out our budget and post it later.