It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

Bluegreen143

Kudos to you for managing without a car in a rural environment @asparklyblonde, as the stereotype is if you live rurally it’s impossible to not have a car. 

Always lovely to hear an update from you, I’m in awe of how you manage it all!

euronorris

How far a salary stretches is dependant on your circumstances. £40k may seem a lot to some, but if you are the sole earner in a family, or a single parent, or indeed you live in or close to London (for example), or a single parent with childcare costs, your basic living costs can be a lot higher.

Our rent, council tax, water, gas and electric, contents insurance, life insurance (for both of us), broadband and car fuel alone come to £1,300 a month. That doesn't include car tax, insurance, maintenance, mobile phones, groceries, TV licence etc. Which all adds up.

I'm another one for whom a car is necessary for me to get to work. Cheaper and a lot quicker (would be several bus routes and approx 2 hours each way). It's fine to look for a job reachable by public transport when just starting out, or changing jobs, but part of me choosing this particular job recently was to up my income and increase my progression opportunities. My previous company was the only company close to my home, that is in my line of work. All other local companies also either require car travel or much more expensive train travel. And the other jobs locally just don't pay enough. *shrugs*

[Deleted User]

Ahh thanks lovely. Hard graft, a can-do attitude and a willingness to compromise go far. 

Acceptance is everything has long been my motto and really does help in difficult times x

Onebrokelady

Deleted_User said:

I maintain a budget of £3,800 per annum for absolutely everything, excluding mortgage and council tax. 

If I could fit a car into the budget I would, as it would really improve things for us in many ways, but I can’t so we don’t have one.

I went to Lidl today (lift from a friend who was gong there anyway, in exchange for a HM cake), and spent £45. This will see us through for around 3 weeks, and included some treats (huge watermelon 🍉for £3.50, and a bottle of wine at £3.39).

Our life is very moderate on many levels, but we’re happy. Rural life, I think, gives more room for a different currency too. My eggs are traded for HM sourdough and we were given half a pig, already jointed, for our help in lambing time xx

I just don't know how you do this but I take my hat off  to you. Have you thought about doing videos on YouTube showing people how to live on a limited budget,I would subscribe straight away 😀

annieb64

So would I . 

[Deleted User]

Thank you lovely. I’ve thought of it, but dismissed it due to the extra work it would mean on my already full days. Also people can respond quite negatively to our way of life 😔

Living the way we do means hard graft which a lot aren’t ready for. But if it means we have live our chosen lives on such a small budget it’s absolutely worth it. 

For those who are prepared to compromise on things in favour of others, my route is the way to go. Happy to answer any questions xx PS I do this with two primary age children in tow xxx

Onebrokelady

As far as cars go I have never learned to drive so having a car is not an option anyway. I've always managed with public transport which to be fair has always been mostly ok until Covid happened. I live on the outskirts of a city in the southwest and my job is on the other side of the city. I used to walk to work a lot but it's an hours walk and with my health issues I can no longer walk that far. The compromise is I walk to my local train station which is fifteen minutes away then catch the bus that stops outside that goes straight to the hospital, I then try to do the same coming home but don't always get that far because there is a shortage of bus drivers here so the bus often goes out of out of service in the town centre,this means I have to catch a second bus that goes to where I live if it turns up,I waited an hour and a half on Friday for this bus to arrive 

I have spent  some of my time today watching frugal living videos so I'm all fired up to start being even more careful with my money. The current craze of cash stuffing has me worried though as some people have hundreds of pounds sitting in their houses for all their bills and savings and I get why they do it but what happens if you get burgled 🙀 that's all you bill money for that month gone in one go. I am thinking of using it for my food budget though as I think it will help keep me on track  

Ive also managed to dry some washing for free on the line despite a couple of little rain showers so that's a win today ( I never replaced my tumble dryer after it broke and haven't really missed it since ) oh and I saw a Nut hatch  and two Woodpeckers  in the garden earlier so that was a treat 😊

Bluegreen143

Frugal success today for dinner. My lovely and very frugal friend brought me a 60p YS chicken on Friday when she was babysitting for me as she’d picked up two at the supermarket on the way over!

Froze on Friday then we had tonight, I spatchcocked it for a quick roast (HIGHLY recommend this as you lose very little meat and it cuts the cooking time in half which means less oven use - I always spatchcock them now!). I cook new potatoes and veg under the chicken so it’s all on one tray.

The success was not only that the chicken was free but also that my two kids ate a full drumstick each and then used a bit of bread to each make their breast meat into a sandwich which they also ate! Normally they hate roast dinners so this is a big step forward. I got them to try the potatoes/veg but also served a big bowl of raw pepper and cucumber which they crunched up so they had a good balanced meal.

Even better, my friend told me which Morrisons she got the YS from (she also gave us a 10p apple juice) as the Tesco I usually shop in normally knocks about 20p off and that’s it. So I’m going to try shopping there tonight. It’s further away so I wouldn’t go every time but I’m just curious to see if they always have bargains at this time.

ladyholly

Onebrokelady said:

I don't have a car so rely on a terrible public transport system which costs  me £52 a month, this is done through work so is taken from my pay before I get paid then I pay slightly less tax 

I dont know if it applies to you but if you cannot drive for medical reaasons you can get a bus pass like the one for pensioners.. No good before 9am (depending where you live) but useful for other times and weekends.

linz

Well i'm just back from my weekly wander to the co-op with my soft plastics for recycling. Quite a few good YS bargains came back with me, all in freezer;

Port crackling shoulder joint - £2.99. Going to do a nice meal with this on Friday.
Pack of beef mince - £1.55
Pack of diced chicken breasts - £1.15
2 salmon fillets - 85p. 
Seeded loaf - 38p
Pack of ready to eat carrots/broccolli/baby corn - 34p

Went to B&M this morning for some tomato feed. Have got about 5 tomato plants on the go. Nowhere near ready yet but i hope to get a decent harvest this year It's the first time i've used the car in about a week and a half so still got about a third of a tank. I'm dreading filling up. I don't use it for work as I work in a city centre with no parking. Thankfully I have a railcard which cuts the train cost by a third. Have thought about giving up the car on and off, i've never used one as little as I do at the moment and i'm thinking more and more about the costs that come with owning one. I will give it some thought over the next few months..