2022 Frugal Living Challenge

seabirdsandseaweed

Hello all, I know we’re over half way into January but can I join? I’ve been a lurker for a good while and would like to have a real goal of being frugal, instead of dreaming of being frugal. Will be going back and reading the 44 pages now x.

weenancyinAmerica

Hope you are okay MazzieD. That's the hard way to get a new-to-you car. That how I ended up with my Lancer.
Re-car mileage - my Lancer has 178,000 miles on it and the Corolla has 230,000 miles on it. "They don't make them like they used to" is a good thing with cars. My father always replaced cars when they reached 75,000 miles.

EskarinaWeatherwax

@MazzieD so sorry to hear about your accident. Rest well to recover soon x

Shopaholic_no_more

@Lindlou yes you are right….positive thoughts! Thankyou 😊

@YORKSHIRELASS yes this is what I’m worried about….this may not fix the problem…but how much money do you throw at it?! Nightmare.

@never_too_old YNAB is short for You Need A Budget. It is really working for me. It doesn’t work for everyone but it’s making me see where I waste my money and I’m actually changing the way I see money mentally. A massive step forward for me 🙌

@MazzieD oh my…I’m so glad you are ok! That must have been so scary! 

@weenancyinAmerica your dad definitely had the right idea! They are impressive amounts of miles!! 

EskarinaWeatherwax

Lovely NSD here. Walked 14 miles with a friend, olio and Xmas stocks provided my picnic. 

My council aren’t taking Xmas tres away this year and my compost bins are full so I’m slowly burning the very dry tree in the wood burner. I don’t use it much as there’s a big campaign against them where I live - it’s quite built up - but I do use it when it’s very cold like today.

Spoke to a few financial folks this week - my pension firm, business accountants and mortgage. I want to get a real picture of my finances so I can make as firm a plan as possible to pay the mortgage off and then ramp up pension contributions. It was interesting talking to pension firm - they aim to provide a yearly income of £25k. Without my mortgage there’s no way I need that, which was great to realise - I’m enjoying working this out rathe than just feeling it’s all a big mystery 

YORKSHIRELASS

@MazzieD how scary, glad you are OK.

A mixed day here.  Helped my parents renew their car insurance and got the promise of a £20 Lidl voucher through the comparison site, which they said I could have.  Then did DHs tax return (which I know I should have done before now) and found that his tax is going to be more than I had budgeted for.  £1000 or so extra to find, nothing that can be done about it.  I have a 0% money transfer I can use and we should be able to pay it off in time.

Hoping the next few days are going to be a bit less cold.  Fire lit now so heating is off.  Another NSD, havent left the house all day.  Curry out of the freezer for tea and we have put some spag bol in the SC to go back in the freezer.  Enjoying some Christmas wine and my library book.

cw18

MazzieD said:

Well, the decision about continuing to repair my old car was taken out of my hands yesterday morning.  I was involved in a car crash

.................

Not sure how much the insurance pay out will be yet but it's unlikely to cover the cost. 

gentle (hugs), and well wishes for a speedy recovery.

with regards to the insurance - remember that you don't need to accept their first offer.

I was doing some insurance quotes a couple of nights ago, and spotted that G0compare give estimates of values as soon as you enter the registration number (based on model and age of car).   Doing that may give you an idea of value as a starting point?




I'm another who prefers to keep repairing a car she knows.   My previous car (which I had to get rid of in July 2006) had been bought new in August 1993, and did over 100,000 miles (can't remember off top of head if was 104k or 114k!).   In the last couple of years she was in garage every couple of months, and even they suggested replacing her.   But when I pointed out that finance on a second-hand car I didn't know the full history of would cost just as much as the repairs, they happily continued to work on her

My current car (registered Sept 2002, but new-to-me in Aug 2006) has recently ticked over the 92k miles mark, and is due in for checks/repairs on 24th.   MOT is due 30th (and road tax at end of month), but my son is pretty sure she'll not make it through as we known of 2 problems - and one has flummoxed a friend of his who is a mechanic by trade (but now works on HGVs rather than cars).   I'm keeping my fingers firmly crossed she's fixable, but I'm not looking forward to the quote.   I'd always intended to do without a car once this one died, but having lost my Dad last November I could do keeping her going for another year or two so that it's easier to get to my Mum's.   It's possible (and not too expensive) on public transport, but it takes a lot longer which means I can only do it when I'm off work - and it's really only feasible if I include an overnight stay.

My Mum has offered us my Dad's vehicle, but it's bigger than I'm totally comfortable with on some roads - and has a much bigger engine (2.2 diesel 7-seater MPV, compared to my 1.2 petrol hatchback) meaning road tax and insurance are almost double    Plus diesel is 3p/litre more expensive than petrol and the mpg on the large one is lower than on mine, so it's more expensive to run all round.    My Mum has also offered to sell my Dad's and buy us a smaller vehicle - an option I think I prefer, but my son is keen on having the large one!!   We share 'my' car, in that he uses it for commuting and I use it for recreational, so in theory I have the final word.   But we're short on time as he can't get to work without a car, and we're currently waiting to hear what work the large one needs to get it back on the road (barely used for the last 3 years, and no current MOT).   My car is now approaching 19.5 years old, and my Dad's is almost 12.  Given the offers we've already had for it (sight-unseen, so allowing for the fact I'd expect them to try reducing the payout when they see it!), I think selling and buying smaller could get us something several years newer again.    I might have a bit of a look around while I'm off work this coming week.......

I've discovered a food hub in the town where I work.   I'd seen it before (I've even delivered their mail!), but I was under the impression you had to be on means tested benefits to use it.   They've moved to a slightly larger (and slightly more central) location this month, so I checked out their website and FB page last night and came across the application form.   It does ask which benefits you receive if you get any, but doesn't say you HAVE to be getting.   But it does ask WHY you want/need access to the service, and I'm not sure what to say.   Does wanting to reduce my grocery bill so that I can pay off debts / pay for car repairs / cope with rising interest rates & fuel costs / save for a new central heating boiler (BG pretty much wrote mine off as far as repairs are concernced 4 year ago!) mean they'd consider me a suitable applicant?   It also asks how many people in the household, so I'm not sure how being a singleton will impact any decision on giving me access.    The opening hours aren't great for workers either - unless I'm off work my only chance is just before they close on a Saturday, and I'd have even missed that today.   So it's possible I'll only be able to get there every 6 weeks or so!   There's a £2/year membership fee, but from what I read of such places on here it sounds like I could cover that with just one or two visits?

RateTartExtraordinaire

@never_too_old
Regarding You Need A Budget, my brother signed up to this but I knew he couldn't afford it. It is subscription after the free trial. As it costs money to use it, I would set a review period at 6 months or 12 months. It needs to be earning its keep! 
It might work for some. I use a combination of the Emma app to keep a track of all my bank accounts, credit cards and savings in one place (free) and spreadsheets. 
If you are thinking of using YNAB, I would ask some questions at review time: What features did I actually which saved me money in bank charges or better rates of interest on debts and savings?

How compatible with the UK financial system has it been, or were most features for US citizens?

Did I have finances/ budgeting needs which really necessitated an app for budgeting, or could I have achieved the same using an spreadsheet with minimal effort and zero cost?

FreshStart20

@MazzieD wishing you a speedy recovery, that must have been quite a shock!

Had a lovely day today. Spent lots of time walking as a family in the Peak District. Took soup and sandwiches to eat on the walk and had lots of fun in the mud! It is a bit of a drive away so there are fuel costs but otherwise it’s lovely a free day out. We do this roughly once a fortnight so need to work out what that is costing us in fuel. We did treat ourselves to a pub lunch but we had already put the money to one side for that. We used to get a weekly take away at our speediest. Now it’s a fortnightly pub tea after our walks. Next time I will put something in the slow cooker instead so we can walk in to a hot dinner all ready for us. Little steps in the right direction for us 😊

Being out all day also meant very little need for heating being on other than an hour or so when we got in. 

Planning a cosy day at home tomorrow doing some baking for the week and using some arts and crafts kits that the girls got at Christmas.

Happy Saturday everyone 😊

elbree

Poor you @MazzieD! Hope you are feeling not too stressed and recover quickly.

As regards cars I actually went the new car route a few years ago after years of horrible garage bills and worrying if it was going to conk out on a motorway with a 4yo in the back.  I worked out that with savings on repairs, MOTs, free breakdown cover, reduced petrol costs AND two thirds off my yearly parking permit buying a new car (a very middle of road one) wasn't actually that much more expensive than running my old one. It's now 4 years old, fully paid for and I still love it. I never worry about whether it will start and if I had a problem with it the parts are guaranteed for 7 years so they would fix it. For me, it was an investment I was prepared to make in peace of mind but obviously everyone's situation is unique.