2023 Frugal Living Challenge

leftatthetrafficlights

I've been awol due to family stuff but hopefully I'm back in the game now! 😉 

A few frugal wins this month - dh renewed his car insurance and breakdown cover and managed to save quite a bit by haggling - mine are up next month so I may get him to do the same again! 

In none frugal stuff - my wm died last week 🤦‍♀️ had a new one delivered at the weekend but its not working properly so I've got someone coming out Friday to have a look at it!! Not impressed 😕 

@Frugaldom - I'm intrigued by the ivy laundry stuff - I'll mooch back to see if I can find the explanation but if you haven't posted it could you put instructions up please? I've got more ivy than you can shake a stick at so would love to know more!! 

sunnyflower

spudsmum said:

Well I made it to payday! Well strictly speaking husbands payday - His cost of living bonus came to £560 after tax etc which covered the car bill with a few pound leftover that’s gone into the emergency fund to start building that back up. 

Gas and electricity bill came in - £547 for the quarter which I don’t think was too bad considering it was for Oct/Nov/Dec. After the cost of living payments came off I had to pay £347 - I had plenty in the electricity pot to cover it with some left over so I’ll be ahead on the next bill (and hopefully milder weather should make it cheaper) 

That said I am doing whatever I can to save energy and nagging at the boys to turn of lights etc and not have loads of devices on that aren’t being used. Hopefully every little helps.

Other than an hour in the morning and sometimes an hour in the evening IF it’s cold we don’t have the heating on - when I’m working from home it’s never on. I have several layers on, a big cardigan etc. On the chilliest days I have rug over my legs and fingerless gloves - it sounds daft but a colleague recommended them and they make a huge difference.

Frugal things this week: 

Good haul from the eco pantry - a 2kg chicken, sausages, 4 steak pies, fruit, veg, cereal, butter etc. Enough for several meals and only cost £2. 

Shopping came to £45.46 - Happy with that - the first shop after payday is usually pricy as I replenish cleaning supplies, loo roll, wash powder etc for the whole month. Still well under my budget too. I usually Budget £75 due to there being 5 of us and youngest having dietary restrictions but usually come in under. Any left over at the end of the month goes to the debt.  

Got a pair of waterproof walking shoes from charity shop - £1.50 and they’re unworn. RRP £69.99 online. Also got my daughter 2 Disney t shirts, Disney pjs and 2 pairs of leggings £2 for the lot and they look brand new. 

£52.56 left in my budget to last until Friday which I’m super happy with - I need a few household bits but Sunday, Monday and Thursday should be NSD. 

What's an eco pantry? Never heard of it!

Frugaldom

@leftatthetrafficlights I tend not to post much on here for various reasons so the ivy leaf washing liquid, I think, went onto my Frugaldom FB page. I picked a tubful if leaves while taking some cuttings, which are now hopefully rooting. The leaves go in a pan of water, bring it to boiling point and then simmer for at least 20 mins. Leave them to soak overnight then strain off the liquid to use for cleaning. I didn't have any laundry detergent and had left the soapnuts at home - I was doing a camp out at the hut so decided to just make some ivy liquid and handwash smaller items while I had water warming on the stovetop. (I try to do the whole off-grid experience as much as possible.)

@cw18 Any news about your car? 

On the topic of insulation -our house has none as it's stone with no access to any roof space so we wallpapered the attic rooms with the rolls of thin insulation then painted over the top of that. You can also get insulated paint that a few if our frugalers have tried in the past. I've used fleeces as insulated window blinds and I now have kitchen film stuck to the single panes of glass in a door, which can now get a curtain hung over it.Windiws have the sticky back draught excluder tape around them and heaters have silver foil behind them to reflect the heat rather than outside walls absorbing it. 

cw18

Frugaldom said:

@cw18 Any news about your car? 

Nothing definitive until Monday.

Called into the centre where I'd booked for the MOT, and mentioned the basic problem.   He said it could be a number of things, so I mentioned what my son's friend thought it was.   Turns out chap at garage knows of the lad (knows his Uncle), and seems to think his training means he's likely to be on the right track.   However, the garage chap didn't think it was as big an issue as lad thinks.   So I'm going ahead and taking it in on Monday.   Decided I'd rather gamble the MOT fee and have her scrape through than just scrap her and struggle to fund a new(er) car which would probably mean asking my Mum for a loan!

Problem is that we don't know whether there are any more serious underlying problems, especially with bodywork as she had a fair bit of welding under the floor 3 years ago - so it could be she fails on something else we can't afford to repair.....

RavenRover

@cw18 would leasing a car be an option if the MOT goes pear shaped.  I had to do this when I started my full time job and my now ex threw a wobbly about me having exclusive use of our car even though he worked 5 minutes from our home!  It really helped and allowed me to save for my own and buy it outright!

cw18

RavenRover said:

@cw18 would leasing a car be an option if the MOT goes pear shaped.

Unfortunately not.  We'd struggle with the payments (even if we got cleared for it, which I doubt), and I dread to think what the insurance for a new car would be - especially with my son on it.

tooldle

Do you have a car club anywhere nearby @cw18 ? Might be an option depending on how frequently you need to drive

cw18

Not that I'm aware of.

I don't *need* one on a regular basis (although it's useful to have when I want to get somewhere and time is short - and the only way I can go visit my Mum / daughter / grand-daughters as a day trip unless my OH isn't at work and takes me up), but my son does.   It's almost impossible for him to get to jobs without one.  He had a lot less choice of work when he was cycling to/from jobs, but even with being able to borrow my car to get further afield he's had a lot of time recently (including the last 2 weeks) with no work at all      As an self-employed agency worker / driver, no work means no income.

ladyholly

Its tough being an agency worker.

Frugaldom

@cw18 I'll have my fingers crossed for you on Monday.

My fuel delivery arrived safely and then friend came along and gave me £40 for their £38 cylinder of gas, which was delivered with mine. It's ll these little things that mount up to help stretch the budget further. I now have plenty of fuel but need to keep on top of the log chopping. There are also a few bits of dead wood to be cleared out from among the Frugaldom  trees so I'm really hoping I don't need to buy in any more bulk deliveries of logs.

Pan of water is warming on the stove for filling hot water bottles. It's looking like it could be a chilly night as the sky is clear. I keep hoping to catch a glimpse of the Green Comet. It's a once in a lifetime event that is totally free to attend.