2023 Frugal Living Challenge

snowbird20

Siebrie,  that's GREAT news!  

Our usual electric bill is $200 or less.  Last month it was $700!!!  (it was very cold for florida and the husband-man insists on swimming every day so we heat the pool to 85F daily).   I nearly keeled over.  

mama67

we finish our fixed tariff on 31 January.

I had discussed with the company the amount needed per month based on their estimations and my readings before Christmas.

Have just entered my latest meter reading and that monthly amount can already come down by £25 per month, and I think we will still be overpaying. But I would prefer to have that bit of wriggle room.

Sausageroll14

So just went into Lidl to do a quick top up shop and spent £18.26!!!!!! Absolutely ridiculous. The prices are just extortionate. Needless to say the budget has been well and truly blown. Next month I am being super strict!!! 

Cherryfudge

Sausageroll14 said:

So just went into Lidl to do a quick top up shop and spent £18.26!!!!!! Absolutely ridiculous. The prices are just extortionate. Needless to say the budget has been well and truly blown. Next month I am being super strict!!! 

If you are able to go to Lidl in the evening, they often discount meats by a third and with the app you can get a third off bakery items after (I think) 7pm.

Cas

Time for my weekly check in.  I’ve loved catching up with what everyone’s up to this week

@SecondStar your new home plans sound amazing.  If it feels right and you know you can make it work and you’ll be happy there then go for it!  And I second using the newspaper shapes of your furniture to work out how your furniture fits it.  

@RateTartExtraodinaire is right about the house feeling warmer after you’ve been outside.  I take the dog out for a long walk at lunchtime in all weathers and find that when I come back into house even with the heating on low it’s still much warmer inside than it is outdoors!  

On the porridge debate I make mine overnight in the slow cooker and it turns out lovely and creamy.  For 2 people I put 75g porridge oats, a pinch of salt and 400ml of liquid (I use 50/50 milk/water) in a bowl (no need to stir).  Put about a centimeter of water in the bottom of the slow cooker, put the bowl of porridge mix in and leave on low (lid on) overnight. Stir and serve with toppings of your choice.

Wins this week

• Cold but dry weather this week meant I managed to get a few laundry loads outside to partially dry.  No walks in the heavy rain with the pup also helped. 
• Have started to inventory the freezers and store cupboards so I know what food and cleaning products I have.  There’s a lot of frozen veg, frozen sausages and tinned tomatoes so next stop is the recipes on the Grocery Challenge thread. 
• Submitted manual meter readings and EDF have confirmed that they won’t increase our monthly DD by £30 as this was based on an estimate. 
• Also checked my energy DD using the calculator and it’s accurate.  I’ve also reviewed my energy bills and can see that our usage has reduced.  Don’t know whether we should stay on monthly DD or switch to a variable DD as we have enough in the savings pot to cover a large monthly bill especially if it meant we weren't building up credit balances with EDF when the money could be in our bank account. 
• Potted up some of my baby spider plants so I now have lots of greenery about the house. 
• Checked my TCB earnings and found I had £25 waiting to be claimed.  
• 4 no spend days for me this week and 3 for DH.

Could do better

• Yet another EDF engineer visit and the problem with the smart meter still isn’t fixed. 
• DH is not a fan of using the whey leftover from making yoghurt in his porridge as he thought the milk had gone off so we won’t be doing that again. Or I’ll use a smaller quantity next time and build it up.  
• We gave into temptation and got takeaway pizza from our local Italian deli.  That said, it’s our first takeaway in nearly 7 weeks and we got a basic margherita and added our own toppings. 
• Looks like my baby strawberry plants have succumbed to the overnight sub zero temperatures.  Hopefully they’re hibernating and they come back up when it gets warmer. 
• Trip to Ikea for some things we needed but as always some nice to have things made their way into the trolley like a new knicker chandelier!

Sausageroll14

Cherryfudge said:

Sausageroll14 said:

So just went into Lidl to do a quick top up shop and spent £18.26!!!!!! Absolutely ridiculous. The prices are just extortionate. Needless to say the budget has been well and truly blown. Next month I am being super strict!!! 

If you are able to go to Lidl in the evening, they often discount meats by a third and with the app you can get a third off bakery items after (I think) 7pm.

Thanks Cherryfudge I will most definitely bear that in mind for future trips. Need to be better organized!! 
Still £116 for food for a month isn't to bad considering what I used to spend. Onwards and upwards!! 

mandy47

Good month so far. Used £20 on my Asda app, which created a further £4 with star points and reaching milestones. DH had a £25 voucher from work at Xmas, so only spend  this month is fresh fruit from local market. Grabbed a few YS items for the freezer which will help make next month a little cheaper. 

fionaandphil

I think lots of us are using up our points, certainly keeping the grocery spends down! I've been horrified this month at the increases in prices, even in Aldi. I did a bit of shopping in Sainsbury's with the points and it was shocking, just as well it was a points spend or I'd have gone without.

Sdg70

Cut up empty Tissue  boxes and Tea Bag boxes in to strips and use for shopping lists. They are so much easier to slip into your bag or pocket when going to the supermarket. I find I lose pieces of paper. 

weenancyinAmerica

I can get several heavy-duty pages for notes from cereal boxes by cutting them up that way. Much easier to find in my purse when I shop.