2023 Frugal Living Challenge

2Scratters

@nannygladys do you use TooGoodToGo (TGTG) it is an app. Where you can buy produce at reduced rates sadly it is pot luck what you get. Or can you make use of Olio another app this gives free food away.
 I hope you have checked to see if you are entitled to any benefit top ups. 

Well done on being able to "shop from home" for your unused brand new coat.

Onwards and upwards for you in 2024

2 Scratters xx

kayannie

@nannygladys Do you live anywhere close to a Lidl? We live 10 miles from any supermarket and usually go food shopping every week or so. I always keep my fingers crossed for a £1.50 box of fruit & veg from Lidl, although it isn't something I can rely on getting. The time they put them out varies & although occasionally they are just not worth it, I usually come away happy with what I get. I tried a TGTG box once, but we are vegetarians & it was all meaty stuff.KA

joedenise

@kayannie - the only shop we've ever had meat products from was Aldi.  We've found that Morrisons are usually pretty good for fruit and veg although our last bag was awful!  It was absolutely full of stale bread and rolls.  The only veg was a very limp hispi cabbage!  TGTG refunded us when I contacted them.

patentgirl

Count me again for 2024 been MIA most of the year not sure why but thanks to Frugaldom and this thread retired early at 60 3 years ago by being frugal and squirrelling away all the savings, still not got our camper van so still being as frugal as we can be 2023 been expensive year as doing up our bungalow which we had for 18 months nearly done tried to save costs by doing a lot ourselves but building materials have been more than we budgeted don't post much but was reading regularly need to get back into reading TH gets his pension in May so that will be very welcome.

catz4m8z

I feel like its getting harder and harder to be frugal these days. I never have holidays, dont drive (or even take public transport), cook from scratch and have had precisely 2 take aways this year and yet just doing a monthly food shop makes me feel like Im throwing my money away!!LOL
I then decided to try and be extra careful this month so I can save to get my house fixed/decorated and I totally forgot to factor in 3 elderly dogs who cost me over £900 in vet bills this month....not only did I manage not to save but I dipped into the savings I do have!LOL I mean I dont begrudge the doggos, but...dayum! they are expensive lil poop machines!

ah well, next year I plan to really try my hardest to save (and get my house in order before I retire!).

mumof3.12kindebt

Siebrie said:

I'm on a watching binge of youtube 'under the median', currently enjoying the episode 'How we met and married'. It's as if your (grand)parents are giving you advice, and the way most of us here live (I think). Very low on ads, and very high on passing on how they live(d).

I love under the median I follow a few other frugalists on YouTube too. 

Hi all I haven't posted much this year 

Ive been on ssp since July.  thanks to being quite frugal and cashstuffing we have got through it so far and still managed to add to savings. Considering m wage use to be between 900-1100 every 4 weeks and ssp is around £430 I'm really happy with how we have done.  

My February budget (could possibly be January) is the last month I will have ssp to include in our income. 
I'm not sure when I'll be able to return to work so I'm going off worst case senorio. 

We are a family of 5. With a dog and a cat but I'm determined to keep our spending as low as possible. I'm also wanting to massively declutter, boost our income with side hustles and overpay the mortgage, and because we are decluttering I'm going to do a no buy year. This is for 2 reasons 
To save money 
To prevent us adding clutter back into our home. 

Replacing needed items and consumerables are allowed. 

As part of the declutter I want to create capsule wardrobes for me and the kids (my partner can do what he likes with his clothes) 

I'm hoping for a frugal 2024. I have set my goals. And I have a plan the rest we will figure out as we get to it 

Hope everyone is well 

KajiKita

@nannygladys, you are giving a lot of thought to how to spend less but is there anything you could do on the other side to increase your income a bit? Do you do online surveys? Could you get a PT job? Could you declutter and sell some things you wouldn’t miss?

I hope these aren’t teaching you how to suck eggs, it’s just I see you cutting back and back but I don’t see any actions or thoughts on how to increase the other side of the balancing act. 

Sending hugs.

KK x

pelirocco

2Scratters said:

My added attempt at being more frugal this Christmas is actually asking friends for practical items that can be used through the year. I have asked for specific coffee beans and syrup flavours to go with that. It's a win win as my friends also like the coffee we have and serve up. 
I need to continue and re focus on using up gifted stuff it does not need to be used up any quicker just because it came to me cheaply. It too should be conserved appropriately.

2 Scratters xx

Have you thought  about not gifting amongst friends and just have a get together instead

nannygladys

Just a quick catch-up.
There is a Lidl not that many miles from where I live and I do like shopping there, but I’ve never seen any of the £1.50 boxes yet and I do look each time I’m there. 

I find on the survey front that I’m excluded from quite a few due to age so I stopped doing them. And I’m in my 70’s now so I’m not going back to work, I will manage it’ll just take some organising. At the moment  I seem to be on plan and then off plan, I need to get my head in the right space and stick to it. I know it makes sense to start now, but as I have a few bits and bobs on in the run up to Xmas I’ll do the best I can and then pull my bgk’s up and buckle down tight after new year and in the mean time I will go through all my finances with a tooth comb and start making lists of what I have and what I need and organise myself. I do manage  quite well and always been pretty frugal, but feel I could do better and save more to improve my house etc. I have redone my budgets but I’m sure I can do better shaving bits off here and there, so it really just needs fine tuning.  Anyway just rambling on now so I’ll go.
Nannyg

Frugaldom

Hi frugalers, thanks for sticking with the challenge and continuing the journey with us through to 2024.

I'm saving on the food budget by using Olio within a small network of us who can access stuff, then sharing whatever comes out way. Local Tesco is about 15 miles from us but it's struggling to find 'food heroes' who can collect and distribute the food. It's sad hearing of food waste simply because charities can't pick up and redistribute within the time scale. I'm asking everyone to link to Olio if they can.

Agreed on the shopping front - it's getting ridiculous, especially for those of us who work voluntarily or on extremely low pay. 2024's minimum rate of £11 per hour seems like a fortune to me - who'd have thought it could be that when I first started this in 1999. Items are still shrinking in size and escalating in price. 

Our house still isn't fully renovated after, I think, 14 years of owning it but I'm still happy we saved like crazy and invested in property. Over the past couple of years I have spoken to so many people who have no houses - some through choice after moving into vans or caravans, others through situations that range from divorce to unsustainable debt, mental health issues, and other reasons I'm yet to understand. Recently, I've been approached by not one but two lots of people looking for tent space because that's where they live. One had children, the other has a cat! It's horrifying to think of living in a tent during sub-zero winter weather. I do hope they all find dry, wind-proof shelter but there's surprisingly little of it available. Frugaldom is surrounded by a river and sits mainly on marshland that floods during heavy rain so it's definitely not safe for campers.

I have been stunned by how many visiting campervans and motorhomes are inhabited fulltime by those who have no other place to call home. If reminds me of Freegan Sue and family, who attempted to join us on here some years ago. I was very disappointed in some of the comments that Freeganism attracted, mostly by those not part of our challenge. If we had services at Frugaldom, such as electricity, running water and sewage system, then there would be plenty of opportunities but the Government doesn't seem to want to allow tiny house living, on the grid or off. Shame, really, as we don't actually need all that much space to live happily, sustainably and affordably. 

A fun challenge, perhaps... Turn one room of your house into tiny living accommodation and see how you manage.