2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

Mortgagefreeforme

Thankyou to all of you. Today is pay day for us,:j and while I have not been doing this challenge I have been reading it, and enjoying it.:A It has made me much more aware of my usual spending, while quite tightfisted there were savings to be made. Anyway back to the point, we made it to pay day with £114 left in the bank, this in January is totally unheard of for us. I'm going to add it to the money I've saved for our new windows as I'm determined not to take out a loan for them. So yet again thankyou, keep up the good work and keep inspiring all us lurkers!

Burlesque_Babe

ooh, this frugalitis sounds highly contagious!!!!

£11.00 for me for an Excel course. Needed to brush up on it as it's a package that has always passed me by and I need to be able to say I can at least do the basics as I'm looking for a new job.

£12.39 in Asda. And I still need to get some milk for my mashed potatoes tonight!!!!

chewits

I can't believe the difference this is making to our lives. I only wish I'd done it sooner when I had a little more money to play with, until waiting until it was an absolute necessity! But I'm determined to continue with it when my financial situation improves. Mealtimes have become so inventive (well, inventive for me anyhow!). No meal seems to be a stand-alone any more. We had bacon hot-pot a few nights ago, and the leftovers went into pasties, and the same with corned beef hash. Everywhere I look in my freezer, there's a pasty!

Haven't dared go near Mr T or Mr A, since this challenge started I'll only go in either Aldi or Netto, mainly Netto. Theonly thing that's really getting me down is having to leave things off the shopping list that are non-essentials for the coming week. I've always liked having plenty of things in stock - storecupboards and toiletries, but I can't see a way to do that at the moment. When all the bills and DS's spends and karate are paid, I'm left with £23. We're eating well, but I don't know how long I can keep deferring some of the things I would normally buy!

Other than that I'm finding it really satisfying, even making tea seems to be far more rewarding than before!

Burlesque_Babe

Have to say - my fruit bread I experimented with in the breadmaker the other day was amazing - I made a second loaf and sliced it, popped it in a bag and put it in the freezer. The honey seems to make it last a bit longer, it's lovely toasted - just had the last slice of the first loaf for my breakfast. I've used all the dried apricots, but I've got plenty of raisins and dates to make a few more loaves!

Need to do a normal loaf today - to go with the haggis and tatties as it is Burns night!

MSHAWX

I have been following this thread with great interest, logging in every day just to catch up with things. I started at the beginning of the year to try and keep to the challenge even thought I didn't join in online and so far so good. I just wonder how many others are out there doing the same.
One thing that I have to say is that I wish this type of challenge was on the go 30yrs ago (shows my age as we are now retired) I would have saved such a lot. It grieves me to think of what I have wasted over the years.

catshark88

I have a Furugalictic Crisis...

Am heading off today for a v. expensive weekend away, booked before the onset of frugalitis.

Symptoms include:

• Spending 2 days trying to decide whether to cancel whole thing or not;
• Hard boiling a vast number of eggs so that we can take sarnies and not have to pay motorway prices;
• Refuse to drive at any decent speed as DH's car is least efficient I have ever seen.

The conflicting emotions of seeing hotel bill and early onset frugalitis may however make my brain explode. If I do not survive the weekend, best wishes to you all on your quest! :rotfl:

bails

Janey51 wrote: »

Is one of the symptoms a need to pay for an item (if one really must spend) with a larger coin than necessary so that the resulting change can be squirrelled away in one of the many savings pots which seems to be another sign of an exacerbation of the condition?

Ha ha, I've been doing this for years, I must have had early onset frugalitis and not realised! I wonder how much damage has been done while I was totally unawares? :eek:

Thanks for all the great laughs on here, Aril and others you've had me in stitches, been laughing out loud so good job I'm on my own I saw Jennie Bond, didn't think to put her cc bill in the context of this challenge, OMG!!!
Well done Mortgagefreeforme at still having so much in the bank at the end of your month:T, it's amazing how much difference this challenge is making to so many people already! MSHAWX, why not come on in properly and join us? Try not to think about the money previously wasted and concentrate on how much you can now save.
That bread sounds lovely Keren, I'll have to try that when I actually get round to using my breadmaker All in good time though eh?
Now that the decision has been made about moving, we're going to make a start on decorating/renovating our house - exciting but financially scary! :eek: We really don't have much cash (although this will of course change when OH finishes uni this summer and becomes a flourishing sculptor :rotfl:) so I think I'll aim to save for what we need as we go along. First job is to take a peek under the 30 square miles of woodchip to see how bad the plaster is....
Off to work in a bit :j then lots to do around the house, but will need my Frugal Fix too Nyk, I do indeed believe that you won yesterday's Stingy One award; your reward is to put another [strike]99p[/strike] nice round whole pound into your house fund Anyone want to challenge Nyk for today's honour?

Burlesque_Babe

Have to say bails it was a complete experiment chucking the chopped up fruit in, but it works!!

bails

LOL at us both mentioning early onset frugalitis at the same time Catshark! Previous extravagances can only be tempered with frugal tweaks, such as said egg boiling brainwaves, and should be enjoyed to the max - once the Frugalitis has fully taken hold, when will you ever being staying in a hotel again?:rotfl:

EDIT: I have completely forgotten how to spell the word 'extravagance'...and I'm an English teacher. My symptoms are much worse than I thought!:eek:

bails

On a serious note, for those who are already over this month's budget, don't forget to take a look at my and Nyk's sigs! Now, while mine may not reassure you (I am after all only a measly undergraduate in Frugal Studies), the fact that The Master herself is over budget should help The sums will sort themselves out over the rest of the year, and don't forget this is an exceptionally long month (followed by a v short one). Fear not, we shall overcome!