2022 Frugal Living Challenge

nannygladys

Happy Christmas everyone and a frugal 2022

Nannyg

mumtoomany

Officially joining again for another year. Lovely to see some old faces back, I had been thinking about you the other day CW, and great to see new faces joining, welcome aboard Hester and others. 
This year our income will drop a little more. We have three, very small, pensions of DH's and working tax credit. These will stay around the same each month. They c total around £8300, for the year. Plus an additional £1440 towards for from DD1. On top of these we have any money we earn from the smallholding, selling lambs, eggs and vegetables. Also money from DD1 for childcare. Youngest DGD starts full time school at Easter and DS-i-L1  is able to mostly work from home now, new job, so needed for fewer hours. At 1st I'll have more time to plant things and weed.
DD1, DS-i-L1 and the three grandchildren are still in the house as us. So it's very difficult to cut down on fuel bills. Hopefully they will have finished their house this year. They've been delayed by a shortage of competent builders. First did not follow the plans! Second one was imprisoned for murder! Third one is overrun with work. Add to that suppliers who don't deliver on time and throw some covid into the mix, much delay.
So the budget. Monthly i am allowing £300 for bills, this includes council tax and house insurance. £100 for the car, tax, insurance, MOT  and fuel. £50 for all things animal related, food, vets, paying to have the hay bailed. £110 for savings, we have a help to save each, so want to keep paying the maximum into them plus a £10 long term thing. £220 for food. This should leave around,£40 per month, from the guaranteed amount, to cover clothes, mobile phones, and entertainment. All other costs will have to come from money we make, . These will include hobbies,household and farm maintenance, Christmas, birthdays and everything else. We do have some savings, but i would like to leave those alone, if at all possible. Another frugal year.
Now off to try to update my signature, have a good remainder of the holidays all and a happy New year, see you in 2022, mumtoomany.

Mortgagefreetobe

I would love to join this year please. I followed the last few years but would like to actively participate for 2022. 

I’m aiming for a no spend year as I just seem to frivolously spend money but not on huge things. A coffee here and there etc. In theory we shouldn’t have to touch my wage but the reality is we never seem to have much money and the only way I can get on top of this is to just leave my bank card at home! I home educate my three children so there will need to be some exceptions but only for their needs and not my wants!

I love all the great tips I read on here and am looking forward to a great year ahead. 

nannygladys

My total budget is £9344.40 because that's my income and its all allocated, that does include £200 savings each month for the canopy though, so it will be tight but I don't have any debt or mortgage so that really helps. I have small accounts attached to my main one where I save for different things like annual bills, EF etc and then my direct debits go out of my main account, and I draw out cash for petrol, window cleaner and groceries (which this year will have to include trips out, clothes, presents etc  so I guess I won't be going far or buying any clothes lol). I keep thinking it's only for a year, and I will try to cut back on things like gas and electric even more, to create a bit more money. I will also eat out of the pantry, eat seasonal food and use my dried beans!!!!! I will see how I get on, but I know I have to save about £2000 for the repair work so needs must.
Nannyg

cuddlymarm

Hi guys
I hope you all and a lovely Christmas 
As OH has a monthly pension coming in he deals with the electric, rates etc and I pay for food, most clothes for both of us and extras like holidays. This year is mainly replacing things, the microwave needs replacing and  I’ve £2500 of credit to clear. Luckily our van passed its MOT so although it will need replacing eventually we can put that off a bit longer. COVID allowing we’re going to las Vegas in July to celebrate a friends 60th. We’re getting to the age where we’re stopping putting off bucket list things. Also and the most important, DS1 and his partner told us on Xmas day that we’re going to be grandparents ( our first grandchild) Long waited for and so so exciting. Needless to say we’ve had a wonderful Xmas.
So no penny will be spent unless absolutely necessary.
I’ve falling into bad habits, eating far to much sweet stuff and catching the tram when I could really walk. We both need to get fitter and I’m quite ashamed of the amount I’ve spent on cakes and sweets this winter. We need to get fitter both financially and healthwise and this lovely news is the impetus to get us started.
So best foot forward guys and a Happy New Year 🥳 

elbree

Congratulations @cuddlymarm! That's very exciting news! I'd like to join again. My monthly bills come to £1400 for myself and 8yo. The main chunk of that is £1000 rent, I'd love to buy but even with a deposit (I've now saved a small one) no lender will give me a mortgage big enough to buy in my town by the sea. So I'm stuck renting basically.

I'm keeping up with the saving though and plan to save at least £300 a month this year. Long term I'm considering buying a rental with my brother in our (much cheaper) home town. This might provide some long term security for myself and 8yo.  I've joined the grocery challenge to see if I can save there in January and plan to have a very quiet month to give the savings a boost before spring/summer activities come along. 

Focus27

Hello everyone

Can I join in for 2022 please?  I’ve been lurking for a while and feel totally inspired by your stories.  I’m needing to pull the belt in quite tight. My lodger moved out this year.  That’s good and bad news as I’m quite frugal and she was not but now all the bills are mine.  I’ve just discovered a huge damp problem with the house, not sure how much yet it will cost to fix but it needs doing.

I need to sit down and work out a budget.  Not sure yet whether I’ll do a monthly or yearly budget, I like the look of both.  I need to play with some figures

[Deleted User]

I hope everyone aboard the merry frugal bandwagon has had the best couple of days possible. I for one am very glad it is over, it is very overwhelming for me.

For ease, here is my 2022 budget. 

As I noted on the 2021 thread, a few side notes first:

• Income is low and variable. I sell a lot of bits and pieces on second hand sites, sell our hens eggs and will do bits of cleaning for friends when I am able to.
• I choose not to run a car. This can be tricky at times, but overall I am very happy with this choice.
• After the kerfuffle with the energy industry in recent months, I now pay for my electricity on receipt of bill; we are LPG in a tank for gas. This has just been filled up.
• We don’t have a TV licence. We don’t watch live TV nor do we watch iPlayer.
• There is no food waste here. The veggie scraps go to the hens, and the wider plan is to get a couple of pigs next year who will certainly help on reducing waste.
• Electricity consumption is kept right down. Water is boiled in a camping stove which constantly sits atop the woodburner. The slow cooker is used regularly, and I also boil veg on top of the stove. Very rarely hoover – I choose to sweep instead. Same for mopping – no fancy floor steamer here.
• There is no budget for mobile phone - I have one, but it is PAYG and I put a max of £10 on it per year, which is covered by egg sales. 

Budget for the year - £3,800 (excluding mortgage/rent and council tax):

-        Internet - £542.88 (due to our location we need to use a 4G hub – no fibre at all)

-        Netflix - £71.88

-        Gas - £500

-        Electricity - £600

-        Logs - £300

-        Food - £1,200 (this includes paying for school dinners for DD, she loves them and they are excellent quality so I am happy to pay this)

-        Clothing, included school uniforms - £200

-        Gifts, travel, postage, trips out with the children - £250

-        Leftover slush fund for the odd treat, boiler service, DIY items etc - £135.24

I have a notebook with each of the above headings written on them, and when I spend on a particular category I make a note of the amount and date on that page. I loathe spreadsheets so a good old fashioned cashbook works for me. 

We live very well on this. The children have all they need, we are warm and eat good food. How we live just isn't seen as the "norm" by a lot of people (questions such as "how do you cope without a car?", "why do you bother chopping pallets for the fire when you can just turn the heating on?", "why don't the children have the latestX/Y/Z?" are examples of questions I have to field. 

Find your "why?" - be it clearing debts, reducing hours at work, building your savings, climate reasons - and take an HONEST look at what you spend. It is frightening at first, and takes some real soul searching, but the rewards are incredible. 

I set myself mini challenges (I haven't spent anything since 8th December other than £43 on a pre booked Asda delivery on the 20th), and will be aiming to continue this through to 8th January. In January, I have an £80 budget for food which has to include school dinners at £2 per day. It is fun, and if you view it as a game it won't be a chore.

Best of luck to you all xx

patentgirl

Morning  Everyone
I am in again hoping to post more since I retired a year ago I seem to have less time but going to make an effort to log on few times a week. Retirement been brilliant definitely spent less on food as more time to meal plan shop wisely and make most things from scratch vegetables gown this year helped although lost all the tomatoes to blight.  My dad died in August which has taken it out of me more than I thought although his death was welcome as his body ravaged by cancer in continual pain still a shock. Our plans for 2022 are to sell our house and move into Dads bungalow has been neglected since dad ill so hoping to do everything ourselves within reason DH has taken some  discussions to move as garden is small compared to what we have now but he is now on-board so lots of fluttering for both  homes. Like cuddlymarm  got another grand child on way which is so exciting after our loss will come back on with figures soon.

Jellytotts

elbree said:

Congratulations @cuddlymarm! That's very exciting news! I'd like to join again. My monthly bills come to £1400 for myself and 8yo. The main chunk of that is £1000 rent, I'd love to buy but even with a deposit (I've now saved a small one) no lender will give me a mortgage big enough to buy in my town by the sea. So I'm stuck renting basically.

I'm keeping up with the saving though and plan to save at least £300 a month this year. Long term I'm considering buying a rental with my brother in our (much cheaper) home town. This might provide some long term security for myself and 8yo.  I've joined the grocery challenge to see if I can save there in January and plan to have a very quiet month to give the savings a boost before spring/summer activities come along. 

Have you looked at shared ownership schemes in your area? Both our daughters started this way. The eldest found a 1 bed flat on the scheme that was a 33% shared ownership, so popped in her deposit and got a mortgage on the other part of the 33% and then paid rent on the other 77%. It's a lot more secure than renting and obviously you're paying into your mortgage so your profits go up as the flat value does.  She sold hers after 2 years to buy a house with her partner and she got a great return on it.

Youngest daughter has a 25% share of a 2 bedroom flat, shes hoping to step up and buy another 10% share next year.  It was the only way either of them could afford to buy here in Kent as prices are daftly high.