2023 Frugal Living Challenge

Bluegreen143

I think if you can get the repair that much cheaper than buying a new car it would make sense to repair. Could you borrow the money if needed or use credit? Just given you’ve said it is essential for your son’s work. I agree that car prices are mad and you can’t get cheap beaters that cheap anymore. 

We paid just over £3k last year for a decrepit 13 year old BMW estate with 130k on the clock, that was a poor decision and it was a lemon. Five years earlier we paid £2k for a then-7yo Ford fusion with 40k miles on the clock which ran like clockwork for five years, with almost no repair costs in that time. I was staggered by the difference in what your money gets you now versus when we bought the Ford. I now really regret scrapping the Ford as I think that although the repairs would have cost more than the value of the car it would have then run fine for years.

We replaced the lemon with a 7yo decent mileage car and it was £8k and is already in the garage five months later 🤦‍♀️ 

cw18

Bluegreen143 said:

I think if you can get the repair that much cheaper than buying a new car it would make sense to repair. Could you borrow the money if needed or use credit? Just given you’ve said it is essential for your son’s work. I agree that car prices are mad and you can’t get cheap beaters that cheap anymore.

Credit isn't a viable option for either of us - which is why a replacement car is a hard option to swallow.

Anything we can't fund ourselves will mean approaching 'the bank of Mum' - and at my age it's something I really, really don't want to be doing!   But the amount for repairs wouldn't feel as bad as the cost of a car.

I use her in an evening and at weekends because she's here, but the only thing I couldn't do without having a car is a day trip visit to see my Mum, daughter and grand-daughters.   By the time I got there on public transport I'd have to turn around and come home again, so it means at least one night of scrounging a bed from my Mum if I do that.   So if it were just me I'd be looking at giving her up and doing without for a couple of years (keeping an eye on the deadline for losing my full NCD if I don't take out another insurance policy).

ladyholly

I know very little about cars but my dh says that on modern cars mileage is largely irrelevant to ho reliable they are. If its any comfort to you our 20 years old car has recently passed its MOT for the 5th year running with one minor advisory.

Frugaldom

@SecondStar We have TV at home but I can happily live without it as I almost never watch it.
@cw18 sorry to hear the car news but if the repairs can be done for round the £400 mark and that gets it through its MOT, it sounds your only viable option. Hopefully you can split the cost with DS if he shares the car.

No seeds sown here yet other than grass seeds from the ponies' hay. I did make a start on cutting back the herb garden so I can top up the raised beds - hopefully, the manure has composted down onto something useable for this year.

Frugaldom

January round-up

Aside from the regular direct debits for phone, internet and CC, the grocery budget is what has been kept down. I'd hoped to have a zero spend on groceries in January but ended up sending £2 on milk. That's it! The sum total of my January grocery spends. Several of us have made the absolute most of olio, sharing collection, freezer space, soupmaking and generally putting more effort into getting creative with rescued food. Meals are a bit strange at times but who dictates what combination of food represents a meal? In this household, anything goes as long as it's nutritious.

mama67

Treasurequeen said:

I signed up my pet onto my local vets health plan, I pay a set amount of £15.00 each month which covers flea and wormer, booster, nail clippings and a two  vet checks. In total I will save £40 a year. 

I have just done this for our dog as well. Just before annual check up & boosters so they were covered. 

2Scratters

@Glittering_M - re your need to declutter some duplicate items shared with your other half pop over to Decluttering 2023 lots of tips and friendly help.

@Bluegreen143 To help with getting up your emergency fund you need to "pay yourself" first i.e 10%/20% or whatever you decide you need then pay your pots. The grocery bill is the one we have most control and flexibility over. Checkout Frugal Queen in France on You T or FB. Well done on your current reduced spend/saves.

I'm looking forward (if there is such a thing) to getting the next water bill (I think!) as have been using a water butt for the first winter and have put in some effort of catching the water for home use. If I have saved £50 I will be very happy. Finally got DH on board with this and he is starting to do his bit now.
Thanks for those talking about starting off seeds and propagators I've just remembered we have 1 in the workshop that hasn't been used since we moved here 7 years ago  time to dig that out.

2 Scratters xx

SecondStar

January round up, and I’ve been able to save £250 +sell some items for £170.

Planned out my February budget, and if it sticks then I’ll have saved £560 this month.

Mortgage offer came through yesterday, survey is booked for the 10th. Provided nothing major gets flagged up, there shouldn’t be anything else in the way other than getting paperwork done!

With some luck, I might complete in 10-12 weeks!

Bluegreen143

2Scratters said:

@Glittering_M - re your need to declutter some duplicate items shared with your other half pop over to Decluttering 2023 lots of tips and friendly help.

@Bluegreen143 To help with getting up your emergency fund you need to "pay yourself" first i.e 10%/20% or whatever you decide you need then pay your pots. The grocery bill is the one we have most control and flexibility over. Checkout Frugal Queen in France on You T or FB. Well done on your current reduced spend/saves.

Ah, yes, totally agree! I wasn’t very clear. I do save 20% upfront (£100 into our help to save accounts then rest to the emergency fund), plus put money in pots, but then throughout the month/month end I’ll add extra if we can afford it that month which is why the overall total saved can vary. 

When we spend money from pots I account for it all in that month’s spreadsheet (on my spreadsheet I don’t spread it across the 12 months even if I have physically saved the money aside that way), so some months will naturally have quite high spending as we go on holiday or pay annual bills. It’s all the same but it suits my accounting better.

Unfortunately last year we had a lot of emergencies so it kept getting depleted, but we did end the year with more in there than we’d started with at least. The aim by the end of this year is to get to a 6 month emergency fund, we’re about 1/3 of the way there, but will have a bit of a car bill this month which will make it harder. We’ve got £120 in the car maintenance pot and the bill is about £750 so rest will need to come from emergency savings. We’ll get there though!!

Jazee

January update from me.  We kept to our budgets, didn't buy anything new with cash ( used vouchers), and having just done the February budget, as there is no council tax I have put £200 to premium bonds today.