2022 Frugal Living Challenge

Kerry_Woman

I have set my budget for 2022.  Have increased the money going into my bills account which covers electric, water, landline and tv licence.  Also increased my food budget for the year, but am still going to try and be extra careful as to what I spend.  For January, I have made a note as to what extras I need to get and the cost.    January is usually an expensive month as I pay the full amount of the service charge for the flat, home contents and pre paid prescription certificate.  Going to look at free or low cost things for help with my mental health, eg mindfulness colouring books, reading.   Am going to focus on what I want to achieve next year, but going to take small manageable steps for the challenges/goals as it will help with my mental health.  Got a fixed term contract with the days and hours I wanted in my temp job until June 2022.  I bring my own lunch into work and they supply the tea and coffee.   
Wishing everyone a Happy New Year. 

joedenise

@Kerry_Woman - do you have a Poundland near you?  If so I bought a good sized colouring book from there, along with a pack of pencils, so certainly very cheap. Might be worth a look.

cw18

Deleted_User said:

1. ...... Case in point was when we got rid of the TV Licence (we don't watch live TV nor use iPlayer) - it started a serious argument with wider family. And I am still not sure why they were so upset by it. 

4. ...... Insurance - we have buildings, but not contents. Why? There is nothing high value here worth insuring if we truly look at things honestly!

1.    I've had many discussion with people about the fact I don't have a TV Licence - I cancelled mine 11 years ago today.   A lot of people assume I watch TV without one until I put them straight.   A few applaud me - and say they wish they had the guts to do the same (but won't make the final step and do it!)

4.   I'm afraid that contents insurance is an essential to me, however little you think you have.   When my three kids got their first places (all rentals) I actively encouraged them to take it out.   Two of them couldn't see the need - until I made them add up what they had in the way of furniture, furnishings, and things like clothes, books, cds and DVDs.    If you have a fire or flood you could end up having to replace absolutely everything - they won't have the money to replace everything, and I don't have it to lend them.

Kerry_Woman

joedenise - Thanks for the suggestion.

Baxtersmum

Hi, I’ve been lurking around this board for years. The last few years have changed dramatically for me and I really feel the need to become less consumer led and more sustainable. Kind of employing all the little hints and tips I picked up from spending time with my gran in the 80’s who used all her war years frugality to get through the Thatcher years. 

So I’m throwing my lurkers hat in and may I please join this group and hopefully squirrel away some savings ☺️

willow_loulou

Frugaldom said:

Eska... it's all about perspective, so we can't (and shouldn't) compare our personal budgets with others. The places that you MAY be able to scrape back a little would be things like groceries, insurance, support for others in several ways aside from just financial and I'll need to show my ignorance by admitting I was stumped at HLP - Home Loan Payments? Gifts, holidays and other stuff are all prime candidates for making savings if you are planning to spend on these things so don't be surprised if you start seeing the numbers fluctuating through the year as you get into the swing of frugaling. Good luck with it all.

I'll be back to join you all in here just as soon as the 2021 challenge finishes.   I'll be hoping to see some year end round-ups on the other thread. 

Just completed mine - it’s frightening how much I’ve spent on things I can’t reduce, so next year the challenge is really on! 

kimwp

cybertortoise said:

Can I please join for 2022? The last 2 years have been a total bust and I am in more debt than I started with. I've worked out my annual income versus expenses and I have enough money to be paying plenty off my debt across the year without any shortages in other essential areas.

My main downfall is paying for takeaways or popping to the shop when we havent got anything in for dinner, or its too late to cook. I need to get out of this! I spent over £3000 on food (groceries, eating out, snacks) between 1st September and 31st December. No wonder I'm permanently skint and can't figure out why!!

I am aiming to pay £5000 off my total debt this year. I have no savings or emergency fund. I have some major things that need to be done to the house as I want to be able to return to childminding on weekends so the garden needs sorting out. I have a budgeted amount per month for these repairs and improvements, some will be paid in a lump sum but budgeted for months, and if I can cut costs I will. The childminding will pay more than my current job so I see it as worthwhile expenditure.

I will try to get extra shifts at work but I'm not willing to allow extra shifts to affect my studies. Plus I have chunks of weeks across the year where I am on hospital placement and probably won't be physically able to work the weekends due to exhaustion and catching up with study time. I hope to begin childminding just after my major block of placement in April so will be quitting my zero hour job once I have some little ones to look after but not before.

I really struggle to budget because my major income is student finance and comes in 3 x per year with a large break over the summer. I've been poor my whole life so need to get out of the mindset that having a huge chunk of money in one go means I can spend it.

I have 1 more payment to make on our family holiday, due to fly to Tunisia in May for a week all inclusive - I can't wait! But after that's paid for I will not be looking at booking another until next year and that will likely be camping for the forseeable future.

I want to get into better habits now as by September 2023 I should be qualified and working in a job that pays more than I have ever earned. I want these good habits to stick so that I can clear all my debt and start saving to buy a house before I get too old to be accepted for any mortgage!

May I suggest that when your student loan comes in, you split the amount between the months (or even weeks) it has to cover and set up a standing order to transfer that amount to your main spending? Obviously tweak for covering your costs (make sure you set up the SO to transfer enough for rent when it's rent time etc). It might make it easier to have a grip on how much you have to cover each period.

Sweetlittledaydreams

Happy New Year everyone! Let's hope this year is better than last, in fact let's just hope the years keep getting better and better!
My January financial plans include;
*Wait until the January premium bonds draw - hopefully win the million of course 😉 then transfer the money from the bonds to pay off 10% of the mortgage, this will be my most exciting financial step in the new year.
* Attempt a month of spending a maximum of £20 a week on grocery and household supplies, this will help me work out what I'm actually spending.
* Continue with online surveys, I'm getting very close to the £50 mark where I will be able to cash out.
* January no buy month- with the exception of food, cleaning products, new work shoes (mine have holes in) and birthday presents but I will be getting these in the January sales at a reduced price.
* After payday start to top back up the premium bonds account with any money left over at the end of the month.
* And finally but maybe most importantly, start to write out a proper financial tracker of money coming in and money going out, then make this habit stick rather than letting it slip after the first week.
Good luck everyone with your frugal endeavours.

kimwp

I wondered the point of contents insurance, but my mum pointed out that it includes flooring and curtains as well as furniture, clothes and all other belongings. While I've acquired these usually frugally over many years, I'd have to replace all this quickly and therefore non-frugally were I to need to claim on the insurance, so it would add to a significant amount.

I would like to join the thread please - In terms of financial aims for this year, I want to:
- drastically cut back on takeaways and junk food - I've spent a whopping £600 and put on 16kg. This is mainly due to emotional eating (pandemic isolation) and getting hungry about three hours before finishing work. For the first, my aim is to recognise when it's emotional comfort and instead call someone for a catch-up. For the second, it's batch cook food I can heat quickly so I don't have to wait to finish work and then finish cooking.
- use the things I've bought and collected for projects in the garden to do those projects rather than merrily buy more bits. I need a plan, I think.
- generally try to only buy needs and really really wants. My rule is if something I have or can adapt does 80% of the job, that's good enough.

[Deleted User]

Happy New Year everyone. Here's to a frugal 2022.