2022 Frugal Living Challenge

QueenJess

Sweetlittledaydreams said:

Thank you @QueenJess, i thought that's what would happen that I would get paid next month and it would be like you say 6 weeks worth of money, that's why I found it odd today when I found my wage slip with January's pay typed in it when nothing had gone into my bank account! I'll chase it up tomorrow. I've had that in the past when I had 2 jobs while I was at uni and they stuck me on 40% tax which I didn't like especially when I was only on minimum wage. Hope everyone is keeping well. 

When I rang the tax office and told them they had the wrong code, the man there asked me what my salary was and actually laughed when I told him. That’s how wrong their code was.. at least it was quickly sorted!

Floss

@Sweetlittledaydreams is your pay date today, or the last working day of the month i.e. Monday? We get our payslips several days ahead of actually being paid

Sweetlittledaydreams

Floss said:

@Sweetlittledaydreams is your pay date today, or the last working day of the month i.e. Monday? We get our payslips several days ahead of actually being paid

Hi, it's meant to be the 20th. But I spoke to someone today who said she did some shifts there back in October and only got paid for them this month which is a bit worrying.

MazzieD

Just thought it would be worth mentioning that I noticed the £1.50 grocery delivery charge was deducted from my Cl*bcard promotion offers (if you shop at  T*sco you will know what I'm on about). so I just saved slightly less on my shopping!.  Still think it was cheap at £1.50 though. 

Will have to think very carefully about shopping for the next few weeks, £40 minimum order charge for home delivery is still an issue.  A friend has offered to get some shopping for me if needed so that's probably a better option!.  Starting to recover now so I'm not going to push myself and overdo it.

Won't be spending any more money before month end,  I'm under budget for January (even if I had included this shop)  so really pleased with that.  February will also be a low/no spend month, hopefully just groceries and bills.  Don't need to buy any fuel

spudsmum

Primrose said:

Also popped into charity shop and got a massive wooly Cardigan which will save me putting the heating on when I'm WFH - also got a really nice shirt dress which is great quality - I've been looking for something similar for a while - they were both on the £1 clearance rack - result!

Well done on the thick woolly cardigan investment. At today,s inflated heating prices it will take a very short time indeed to recover the cost of that £1 investment.  The thick woollen tartan knee blanket I bought for £3 in a charity shop a couple of years ago has paid for itself many time already in terms of reducing  central heating bills.  Thick indoor clothes. or multi layers definitely help reduce heating costs.  Woollen fingerless gloves really help when using a keyboard too.

I wore it yesterday and it was great.

I never have the heating when I'm at home on my own but it soon gets chilly when you're sat at a desk and not moving about. 

Even the kids have their own little blankets now to snuggle up with in the evening and we have electric Blankets and hot water bottles so we're managing to only have the heating on maybe an hour in the morning to take the chill off. 

wort

@MazzieD I have my cat on raw food, 80% meat 10%bone10% organ , this is around a £1 for 500g which does 2 days of 2 meals . He is a big 🐱 not sure how that compares to what you feed now. 

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

OH went to the charity shop yesterday to take some drinks glasses that we didn't need. He came back with a couple of items of clothes for the boys but he also managed to find a leather jacket that looks practically new. The tag said £10 but when he got to the till they told him that all the clothes are now 50% off so it only cost him a fiver. A quick google shows debenhams selling similar ones by the same brand for over a hundred pounds. He was pretty pleased with that!!
Grocery budget is still doing really well and hoping I won't need to spend again this month.

FreshStart20

Managed to sit down and sort proper spreadsheets for tracking spending and saving yesterday so feel much more on top of finances now. Proper saving plan in place for the wedding and a spread sheet sorted for that too.

January’s spends seem to be on track despite a couple of unexpected costs this month so that’s good. For the first time I am actually planning ahead for February half term too. I have a plan for activities and outings for the week and a budget for them and money set aside for it.

Had to buy a new iron today as mine finally gave up. It was about 18 years old and had been stuck back together with tape where the plastic had broken a long time ago but suddenly just stopped. Think I probably got my moneys worth out of it! Not spent much on a new one as thing we only thing I actually iron is uniforms.

Off for a trip to the garden centre tomorrow with the girls. Apparently there is a really good deal on seeds at Dobbies 50% off plus an extra 20% off for card holders. I’ll get my free hot drink too and treat the girls to a drink while we are there. Then a visit to the library to stock up on some good reads now I’ve read all my Christmas books and then we will head out for a nice long walk with the dog and see if we can spot some more snowdrops.

Primrose

Jacket sounds a real bargain.  Just tell him not to ruin it by hanging it near a hot radiator.

nannygladys

No spending, eaten food already cooked and a quick visit to the food hub where I snaffled some grapes and a couple of courgettes.
Also called at the library and acquired 5 books, when I only went to return some!!! And a quick visit to the lottie, where I picked the last swedes, beetroot and a turnip, dd took some home with her when she collected dgd.
That's about it, oh also got my vintage sewing machine working - yay