2022 Frugal Living Challenge

FreshStart20

No spend day today.
Spent time with the girls baking and doing some art work. Then spent time in the garden with them clearing some veg beds and planning changes to increase our growing space this year.
Heating off for most of the day again and snuggling by the fire this evening. 

Tomorrow I’m going to list some things for sale on eBay and I have lots of things being collected for charity donations as part of my huge declutter that is ongoing.

nannygladys

Marionmgcars - I have grandma duties once a week for the next couple of years, so I will need the car until dgs is old enough to start school, it also depends on dd as she works p/t at the moment but she would like to get back into f/t at some stage. 

Been quiet here today but kept myself occupied doing this and that, mainly shredding! Ive finished the first lot now but I have to sort out one more file which I just keep putting stuff in as a 'keep but may not be needed' one, it goes back years and then it's all recycled.

I've been looking at my figures and I'm on track at the moment, my saving pots have all the correct amounts in and the grocery spending has been very low, as per signature, which started at the beginning of January (originally it was middle of Dec, but I reset it) I am trying to eat out of the cupboards and freezer, but at the moment I'm getting enough from the hub and community pantry to mainly leave them alone, which is why it's so low. It's mainly milk, coffee etc that needs buying (and maybe some chocolate as well).

When I first started using the hub I felt guilty, but you don't need a referral and the food goes to the tip if not taken. It's very hit and miss as they aren't given as much as a food bank and they're only open a few days, but it really does help. They seem to get lots of bread (which I don't eat much of) and fruit and veggies (which I do eat a lot of) and then random bits. The community pantry, you have to take a membership out and then there's three levels you pay for ie 10 items plus a few free bits, which is good, they offer tinned food, cereal etc, which is why I use both! And the price starts at £4. I include this price in my grocery spends, but I don't use them every week.

Anyway, off to browse the boards
Nannyg

Focus27

NSDs have been going well, much better than I thought they would. Being part of this group is making me feel accountable and I’m really thinking twice before unnecessarily spending.  I wish I’d done this years ago!  Anyway, better late than never  . Thank you all for your inspiring posts.

Floss

@nannygladys thanks for explaining the food hub & food pantry - I must admit I was wondering about how they all work & what the criteria were for using them. I don't know of any near me, and I work full time anyway so would struggle to get to any & quite frankly would not feel comfortable in taking food when I can afford to feed myself.

EskarinaWeatherwax

Another NSD here. I’ve finally cut up the Xmas tree, which is now just a trunk in the stand, in the living room! - and am using the dry parts for fires. Between that and the cat I’m keeping warm. 

I sorted out my cold frame today too - my dad made it for me from an old shed window and other bits and it’s sheltering my rosemary and lavendar cuttings brilliantly. More pea seedlings going in this week for salad too. 

spudsmum

@Ellie79 hope you back feels better soon. I had similar last month - it was absolute agony then after 3-4 days it just went away - bizarre.

NSD here today just had a day at home. Used the time to go through my budget and set my figures for the year. I always work to a zero budget so the aim is to have nothing left at the end of the month (every penny has a job) so I've had to do some shuffling to accommodate higher utility bills and the expected CTax increase but it still looks doable and will still allow overpayment to my debt and a payment to my emergency fund (though those might need to reduce if I need to take out a car loan - at least I have some wiggle room to accommodate that)

My broadband contract just ended . I need a reasonable package for work but it's gone up by £20 a month so I rang them and said I couldn't afford it - after a bit of haggling I've managed to get it down by £25 so it's ended up £5 cheaper than it was before - result!

Spent the rest of the day going through my stockpiles. 

Aside from the food stock I've already gone through I have:

Enough cleaning products for about 6-9 months - just need washing powder which I'll bulk buy when husband gets paid.

Enough toiletries to last probably the full year - other than toothpaste. 

Kids won't need any clothes or shoes for a while hopefully - I've got 2 bin bags of stuff in next size up. If they do need anything my mum gave me an asda gift card to get them some stuff - there's still £250 on there which should more than cover whatever they need. 

Also have a big stock of bday cards, wrapping paper etc and a cupboard full of other miscellaneous bits. 

It's made me realise what a prolific hoarder I am but sctually should mean I can get by without buying much at all 

nannygladys

Floss - I felt like yourself until the man who runs it (the Rotary Club) explained that the food they received was only what was left behind after the food banks had their collections, and he would rather anybody who could use it have it, otherwise it would go to land fill, which is a real waste of food.
I only have the state pension (but no debt or mortgage, thankfully) and find it helps me out immensely, and this year I'm having to have some work done on the house so every little bit is helping me out

spudsmum

Floss said:

@nannygladys thanks for explaining the food hub & food pantry - I must admit I was wondering about how they all work & what the criteria were for using them. I don't know of any near me, and I work full time anyway so would struggle to get to any & quite frankly would not feel comfortable in taking food when I can afford to feed myself.

@Floss

Each food pantry has its own criteria so might be worth checking if you can  get to one. 

We can afford to feed ourselves just fine but our local pantry is an eco pantry - it's not for people on low incomes (though they are welcome of course) it's to encourage people to use things that would normally be destined for landfill. So it's surplus products or things which can't be sold in the shops for various reasons (misprints on packaging for example) They encourage everyone to go regardless of income to help combat food waste as anything that doesn't go has to be binned. 

We also have a food bank which is specifically for families on low incomes. I wouldn't use that one unless I was really struggling to feed us. 

MazzieD

Today will be sorting out where I go from here and updating my insurance company now I've spoken to the police.  I was warned the pain would get worse before it gets better and it has despite all the painkillers.  I'm going to shut up about the accident now and concentrate on trying to get over this

Budget wise for January I'm fine at the moment but that may change with current circumstances.

Checked through all the info about my new gas/electricity tariff as my fixed rate ends on 31 Jan so I will then go onto the current standard variable rate until April.  Only thing missing was the new Direct Debit amount.  Had a thorough look at every screen on my on-line account, they are updating and adding lots of stuff at the moment. A new page has been added to show your current balance.  My account has credit - normally I ask for a refund so rather than do that I'm going to leave it for the moment and see how it goes with all the predicted price increases.  I'm sure it won't be long before that balance disappears.  No wonder they haven't put the DD up yet, it saved me a phone call as well.  

Viking_mfw

Picked up some bags of sprouts from an Olio food hero which were ready trimmed so had a use by date meaning she couldn't get rid of them all in time as they can't be given out for human consumption. I claimed them for our rabbits but frankly we're going to freeze them. 5.5kg of them!! It's absolutely wicked that 'trimmed' vegetables count as ready prepared food that has a use by date.