2024 Frugal Living Challenge

suzeesu2000

Utility bill is £10 higher this month as I have been using the oven more so that’s got to stop. Expecting next month to be high as had to use tumble drier for a huge amount of laundry. Was pouring with rain and had over a months worth of washing due to DH and I both having had covid and not able to do much. Still it’s all washed, dried and put away. Just the enormous pile of ironing to tackle, oh crumbs!!

Have a good weekend all x

Dizzycap

Morning all xxx

What a lovely catch up I've had with all the posts. Well done Prudent with the savings on the food bill. The Lidl fruit & veg boxes are a life saver for me when it comes to saving money, and here, there seems to be a good selection in each box. I've now managed to make a box last for at least 10 days so £4.50 a month on a good selection fruit and veg can't be bad

I'm still selling off my decluttered extra large black bags of clothes and goodies. I'm down to 5 now which is also helping to fill the savings pots. I'm still hogging the inpost lockers as I find it far easier to go either very late at night or very early in the morning with my large shopping trolly full and I can relax without the pressure of others waiting while I unload my trolly. Last night I filled up a whole collection counter of Yodel parcels at the BP garage round the corner

I hope to be fully decluttered by the end of November and not a black bag in sight.

Today it's listing the last few Christmas dec bits that are safely stored in the decluttered shed as I want those items gone asap. ........

Now I think it's time for me to go back to bed and get some more sleep having only had 2 hours - story of my life xx

God bless all and keep up your wonderful frugal efforts.

2Scratters

@Dizzycap that's some serious shifting of stuff. Well done. Perhaps I should have done some in the middle of the night last night as it took over my sleep for some reason. Just need to plan my time a bit better.


2 Scratters xx

suzeesu2000

While sorting things to go back in the sideboard we moved yesterday, found a load of brand new still in their wrapper photo frames so they will be going on eBay next week along with a leather jacket and anything else I can find. 

Frugaldom

Hi guys, I just lost my last post so won't try to rewrite it. Thank you to all of you for helping keep this challenge thread alive. 

Stove is lit, water warming for hot water bottles and lights are out here at the hut as we sit watching the badgers outside the window. Frugal entertainment if you ignore the price of peanuts. Sometimes we are lucky and the visitors bring their own.
As November poroaches, I'll be redoing budget for 2025. How scary the speed time passes! I must try to record my spends more accurately and make myself more accountable. Petrol spends are massively increased this month (for reasons beyond my control) but general household spends should be down, for the same reason. 
No reserving has been done, no apples cider vinegar has been made and no fruit stewed for freezing. I haven't applied for my bus pass yet but I did complete my tax return, pay my tax and national insurance contributions and keep up the monthly savings plan. I think 2025 sounds like a good year for ticking off items from my many lists.

Prudent

@Frugaldom it is indeed scary how time passes. I am way behind on the 'big jobs' I hoped to complete this year. I am finding a series of smaller things takes over.

Last week I was planning to sort out savings accounts but it got overtaken by feeling unwell and my fridge freezer dying. I am actually very thankful for the chilly morning here as I am trying to keep food cool until the new fridge is delivered on Wednesday! I have opted for a just a large fridge this time as we bought a freezer for the garage in the spring. I didn't expect the double whammy of replacing both however I think it might work out for the best. Having the extra fridge space will be helpful in terms of getting best value from the Lidl. veg boxes. 

Strangely my home insurance renewal popped into my inbox at 9 pm last night. AI is clearly no respecter of weekend downtime... I was happily listening to Classic FM and hand stitching the binding on a quilt when I found myself looking at another upcoming bill. I definitely had a Victor Mildrew face on. Must be getting old and grumpy! It seemed a bit of a steep jump from last year so I will need to get on the comparison sites this week. Then again they are the upside of this kind of technology. 

fionaandphil

I was expecting the worst when our renewal arrived last month but was pleasantly surprised that it went down about 25. I still checked on comparison and found one for about 110 cheaper with added cashback.

Prudent

@fionaandphil that is an excellent deal, well done. I am going to have a look at that and opening a new savings account today. I am trying to get in before the budget just incase there are any nasty surprises.

otb666

I had to shop for new car insurance this year as my Direct Line one had doubled for no reason.  But stayed with them for house as that renewal was the same.

Frugaldom

@Prudent I have been searching several times for a decent savings accunt but no luck so far. Found one at  5.5% but it was limited to transferring £250 a month and no lump sum initial pay-ins allowed. Plus, it only pays interest after a year. I really have to ask if it is worth the hassle when being a little bit enterprising could earn more. 

DECLUTTERING UPDATE
Just spent a couple of hours burning paperwork and some of it did make me laugh. The year I transferred this moneysaving challenge to MSE was the year I finally managed to clear my feet enough to begin my savings journey so looking back and seeing wages and salaries back then is interesting. In 2001, salary was £13,000 per annum. 2002 the agency I used was paying £5.50 per hour but there was no holiday pay. In 2003, £12,000 per annum and by 2006, returning to Scotland, I was still earning £5.50 an hour in fulltime employment. I have now found a pile of bank statements from 2001 - 2004. Turbulent times, indeed!

I also found an old newspaper clipping from 1999 listing special offers during the run up to the festive season:
Grants whisky - £6.99
Whyte & Mackay - £9.79
Hartley's jam (340g) 2 for £1.80
Mild cheddar cheese (400g) - 2 for £1.25   WOW!
Bird's Eye chicken curry 375g) - 99p

Back to the future - decluttering continues and apple picking hasn't even begun yet. There is someone local advertising for apples as pig food so I suspect that may be where all my windfalls will be going. There are bas of them at home and at Frugaldom but circumstances totally beyone my control have meant running out of daylight hours while travelling back and forth so much. Petrol costs have soared from around £40 a month to almost £40 a week but there's nothing I can do about that at the minute. Needs must.