2024 Frugal Living Challenge

Frugaldom

Welcome to the all new 2024 Frugal Living Challenge

Join us here for year 17 of the Frugaldom challenge on MSE

It's that time of year again, the time when we all need to start thinking ahead into the new year and how we are going to organise our frugal lifestyles, be it to tackle debts, generate extra income or squirrel away some savings. Please take the time to read this post in full and if you have any questions, feel free to message me or ask in the forum.

This is an adaptation of the original NYK/Frugaldom 'Living on £4,000 for a Year' challenge. It has been running here on MSE for many years, although these particular money challenges began back in the 1990's, elsewhere. We have seen many changes over the years, none so much as affected us all throughout 2020/21 and the Covid-19 pandemic, followed by Brexit and then 'the cost of living crisis'. so there could be even more people from all walks of life now finding themselves needing to learn traditional methods of moneysaving, debt-busting and budgeting - a penny saved is a penny earned and each is as important as the other. Frugal living, for some, is the only lifestyle available.

Your budget is personal to you, it should fit with your personal financial situation. Some of you have already achieved debt freedom and now follow frugal lifestyles for the love of it. Others are still tackling debts and frugal living in an attempt to reach their debt-free and/or mortgage-free day. Whichever stage you are at, feel free to join us and share your progress.

The following links will take you to previous MSE versions of our challenges:

The 2023 Challenge - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6409294/2023-frugal-living-challenge/ 
The 2022 Challenge 
The 2021 Challenge
The 2020 Challenge
The 2019 Challenge
The 2018 Challenge
The 2017 Challenge
The 2016 Challenge
The 2015 Challenge
The 2014 Challenge
The 2013 Challenge
The 2012 Challenge
Part 1 - January to March 2011
Part 2 - April to June 2011
Part 3 - July to December 2011
Introduction to the 2010 Challenge
Part 1 - January to March 2010
Part 2 - April to June 2010
Part 3 - July to September 2010
Part 4 - October to December 2010
Part 1 - January to March 2009
Part 2 - April to June 2009
Part 3 - July to September 2009
Part 4 - October to December 2009
Part 1 - January to March 2008
Part 2 - April to June 2008
Part 3 - July to September 2008
Part 4 - October to December 2008
How it all began - Saving to buy a house without a mortgage 2007 Challenge
The original interest beater challenge
The original £1000 in 100 days challenge
The original free hobbies thread

IMPORTANT - Please respect others' lifestyles and beliefs. We are not here to judge, we are here to support. Thank you

This challenge is about living a frugal, sustainable lifestyle - establishing the true cost of living, sticking to a budget, clearing debts and making savings wherever and however possible to enable you to live the life you really want. Frugal living isn't for everyone, but everyone is welcome to join us.

Methods employed by our merry band of frugalers include: batch cooking, stockpiling, preserving, foraging, mending, shopping in charity shops, reducing, reusing, recycling, Local Exchange Trading Schemes (LETS), vegetable and fruit growing, allotments, keeping hens, using cash back sites and earning whatever it takes to become self sufficient in managing the cost of living without incurring debt.

For some it is initially about clearing debt, for others it's about increasing savings, buying property, becoming stay at home parents or paying off the mortgage early. Some choose the lifestyle on ethical grounds. Above all, this is a fun, fairly traditional and supportive way to manage your budget so you have control of your own cost of living.

It's about NEEDS and not WANTS.

Living on a budget = living within our means
Frugal = thrifty, living without waste

Ideas to help you achieve and/or maintain debt free living

Recognise the differences between needs and wants
Spend within your means
Set a proper budget
Quit expensive bad habits
Houseshare
Get a lodger
Shop via cash-back sites and always price compare
Buy reduced items in stores only if you need them
Stockpile & bulk buy only those bargains that you use
Batch cooking
Make the most of charity shops
Join freebie or waste awareness and recycling associations
LETS trading - become active members of trading & exchange groups
Bartering
Grow your own herbs, fruit & veg
Preserving & winemaking
Breadmaking & home baking
Card & gift making
Order splitting/sharing for better discounts & reduced delivery costs
Landsharing, allotments & frugal garden systems
Food sharing
Online trading - auctions, stores, social media pages etc, etc, etc...

Monitoring and revising your budget is part of a good frugal living plan. Gifts & cards could all to be homemade, livestock should pay for its own keep, anything else needs to be cash neutral.

If you haven’t already done so, join the MSE forums and share your frugal lifestyle hints, tips and achievements here, where you are among like-minded friends and supporters

GOOD LUCK IN 2024

Frugaldom

Preparing for 2024

Still working on my frugal living challenge budget for 2024.

Groceries - £800

Heat & light - £1,100
TV licence - £159

Mobile & internet - £360 

Insurances - £400

Clothing & footware - £50

Car costs - £1,000

Everything else - £131

Total - £4,000

Council Tax of around £1,200  is non-negotiable so there are no savings to be made there We don't have rent, mortgage or debts to pay, thanks to years of frugal living. The car is a luxury I can't do without as we are in a rural location with no public transport. The above is my frugal living household budget but it does include some business-related expenses such as mobile internet, as I spend so much time outdoors and off-grid. The budget will be juggled accordingly to allow for unexpected expenses. Overall, it's a budget of £100 a week all in.

Things I do to help cut costs:

Needs not wants

Make do and mend

Reduce, reuse, recycle, upcycle

Collect firewood

Olio

Grow fruit, veg & herbs

Swap and barter

Only drive when it's essential

Socialise with friends at Frugaldom, mostly outdoors

No shopping trips

Online shopping via cashback sites

Pay using a cashback credit card

Play the free postcode lottery

Savings get put into Premium Bonds, 'just in case'

Use portable solar whenever possible, usb lights, phone charging

Harvest rainwater (not difficult in Scotland)

Composting (I've also got a wormery)

Log burner for heat - make paper and cardboard sticks for kindling

Fleeces and hot water bottles - if the logburner is lit then water for bottles gets warmed

No takeaways or fastfood

Love homemade soup

Only make what costs less than buying or it's false economy

Quit smoking (years ago - challenge is on MSE somewhere)

Daily exercise to try and keep relatively fit and healthy

Make the most of offers, cashback and money off coupons only when they are needed

Betharooni

Hi

I would like to join in and be a bit more active on here in 2024. I have joined and read along this challenge for the last few years but I really want to get a bit more back to basics in the coming year. I have some very “unfrugal” things coming up but would like to embrace the frugality in between so that I have the money and freedom to truly enjoy the bigger things that I’m doing. So I will aim to lurk less and be a more active participant on here in 2024.

Budget still being planned and I will aim to come back before the end of the year to post my plans.

B x

London_1

Count me in, my outgoings for the year is around £6k but about £2.5k of that is long term savings for not only a rainy days, but for major works, or things necessary for the house .
 I guess off the top of my head, until I can get to the figures at the end of this year, I suppose around £3.5 k, maybe even less if I can bargain stuff down for big items .

But this coming year if all goes well maybe even less as my DD and son-in-law and I are hoping to move within the next 6 months so bills will be shared to a third of the main ones between us each Is the utilities water, heat, light, internet and telephone etc. So maybe even less than I'm paying at the moment as we are consolidating our two houses into one. So I'm only using the bills etc I have at this year just for myself.

But I shall keep a running total of purchases foodwise, to see how my budget is doing . At the moment very well, as because of moving I'm eating down the food stocks quite a bit as I really don't want to be packing tins and food and I'm trying to run down my freezer as well.

Exciting times ahead I think, well interesting at least .

I wonder what the New Year will bring us all. I'll be glad to be rid of this one as I had a good few health problems and spent over the year around two months in and out of hospital three times. One reason why I seem to have an abundance of frozen stuff, plus an awful lot of tinned stuff as well. Only 2/17 NSD so far this month

definitely onwards and upwards 

  JackieO xx

Asparklierblonde

I am in once again, and commit to posting monthly figures. My budget started on 6/12/23, and will run for one year from there. I have tweaked the figures a bit again, and my annual budget is £8,800. This divides up as follows:

- Car insurance £250
- Other car costs - tax, MOT, service, fuel - £758
- Food - £1,100
- Electricity - £1,000
- Coal and wood - £400
- LPG - £900
- My mobile and daughter's mobile - £92
- Internet - £650
- Home insurance - £250
- Council tax - £2,200
- Animal feed - £500
- Everything else (clothes, prescriptions, school trip money, some treat spends) - £700

Interestingly some chunky costs are already in my spreadsheet, e.g. we had a meat delivery from a local farmer, plus our own lambs, so we won't need to buy any meat for the year. I have just taxed my car for the year too. 

Best wishes to you all, I will keep on the 2023 thread until New Year's Day xx

leftatthetrafficlights

I'm in again this year - I've not posted much in the past couple of years but will be more active in 2024. 

Budget not worked out yet but will add to this post once decided upon. 

kayharcombe

I’m in for 2024 😁

7500 for the year, which is roughly the original 4k increased by inflation. Aim is to pay off all consumer debts by end of 2024 which is entirely doable if I stay on track.

aiming for a no spend January to set me up well. I have a double allotment which I’ve not made good use of yet in the last 2 years but aiming to work towards self sufficiency so I can reduce hours at work long term. 

Frugaldom

Exciting times ahead for all who take part as our frugal living challenges can be quite the adventure. 
@kayharcombe I'm shocked! I hadn't even thought to factor in the inflation over the years: is that really what the original £4k now equates to in today's money? No wonder I'm finding it more difficult to stick to my original budget but that's kind of triggered my brain into making me even more determined to undercut it.

mama67

Hi again. 

Will be joining in if nothing else but to keep a rein on the spending. 

nannygladys

Participating in 2024, I'll post annual budget in the new year as I keep adjusting it. I have a few biggish projects in the house in 2024, and some need saving for. 
State pension only OAP.
Nannyg 

allie23

I am in again and plan to be more active on the forum in 2024.  My budget for the year comes to £20k - that's for the two of us.  Biggest expense is running 2 cars.  Both are paid for but it's the fuel, insurances, tax, servicing etc.  Ideally I'd like to get down to one car but needs must while we're both still working.

I've decided my word for 2024 is going to be FRUGAL.  DH and I need to regin in some bad habits using FRUGAL as a focus.  Like DH using the car for short journeys in our local area every day (sometimes multiple times a day) to go to the shops rather than do a weekly shop.  Me buying lunch from the canteen at work - it's daylight robbery but I still do it when I'm tired and can't be bothered making lunch to take in ... and many more small silly things that all add up.  We need a bit of a lifestyle rethink and a bit of a shake up.