2024 Frugal Living Challenge

Frugaldom

One week until solstice and then we can breath a sigh of relief knowing days cannot become any shorter. No chance of seeing the meteor shower last night or tonight here, we just have cloud and rain. Plus side - water tanks fully replenished for the animals. We did get a bit of a break last night so had a short walk to photograph the moon and a pretty sky.

The final run-in of the year has pounced on me again so the last minute panic is setting in - I've done almost no Christmas shopping for humans but the animals are all sorted.  

2025 is looming, which means a brand new thread beginning, bringing with it new challenges, more plotting and planning and, hopefully, new opportunities for all frugalers. Having been reading about the possibility of interest rates increasing again, I think I'll be throwing everything into the savings pot towards final retirement, wherever that may be. Looking back, I think minimum wage has almost doubled since I first began this challenge.

nannygladys

My Christmas is always a quiet one and just celebrate with family on the day. I give each family money at the beginning of December and they can buy presents or more usually put it to 'experiences' during the following year. I do buy a couple of goodies (treats) for myself, but nothing too much, I'm making some shortbread and trying out a recipe for Xmas cake slices to share with one dd. I try to eat non upf which helps me make wise choices and end up cooking from scratch or just leaving it altogether. This year I am having my eldest dgd to stay a couple of nights and we have chosen a simple menu for the day, that is mostly cooked from my stocks, so it sounds like a frugal simple Xmas to me for which I am grateful.

2025 - I AM going to finish my front room redecoration off and save for a new chair and settee as I'm 72 and never  had a new one in my life, I also need a new carpet as the present one is threadbare and getting dangerous, so I have to save all what I can, so super frugalling will be getting underway as I only get the state pension. I also want to grow more veggies in the back garden.

These are my main goals, I'm sure I will come up with a few more as I go along. I will try to work out a budget but I can't seem to get it much different from what it is at the moment, perhaps I should try no/low spend months or ban myself from buying certain things (not sure what though ).
I'll carry on having a think and see if I can come up with something different, I may have to start thinking outside the box somehow as I seem to be doing everything I can, so if anyone has any ideas I'd be very grateful, bearing in mind I do all the usual stuff that we all do. 
Nannyg

Prudent

I love all the simple Christmas choices. Yesterday OH and I went for a walk around the loch at the local university. Most of the students had gone home and,  apart from a few locals walking, it was very quiet. We had a cup of tea afterwards in one of the eating areas and again it was almost empty. Just what we needed. 

Today I am doing some cooking for a pot luck lunch tomorrow and must give the fridge a clean and audit. In the evening I am going to a concert with some friends. It is so rare I go to other cities for evening concerts now, it will be a real treat.

I am also starting to think of my plans for next year. I am planning to get in some retirement saving before rates fall too. I retired from work at 50 due to health, but financially I still see 60 as my official retirement as that was my normal retirement age at work. I readjusted my goal to match the loss of earnings from 50 onwards and thankfully I am now quite close to that goal. I am hoping to achieve the savings goal by this April. That will give me another year to do some of the jobs in the house I had intended to do for retirement. My two goals for the house are to refurbish my bedroom and to get some hard landscaping done in the back garden. I have a small garden and the only area I can put the washing line is becoming hard to access for me due to my issues with balance. 

Frugaldom

Good morning, frugal folks. Planning for 2025 seems to be at the forefront for most, as soon as the festive season is done and dusted. I decided to start checking out old accounts and streamlining so I know what can be allocated where and for how long. As a former stoozer, I can see there is still potential for that but the margins are so slim than I reckon it isn't worth it for small sums. Still, it's interesting seeing what the CC companies are offering by way of incentives. 

For our newer arrivals who may be in the early days of frugal living, I hope you enjoy the lifestyle and can succeed in achieving debt freedom. Frugal living is mostly about juggling finances to adequately afford to do what you want. For some, that means cutting hours at work, quitting work to stay home with family, travelling, early retirement or affording luxury items, experiencing neither debt nor guilt. It's not about being mean or greedy or selfish, it is about keeping your eye on the ball to achieve your personal goals and be happy pursuing and maintaining debt freedom. Most of the time, it is simple arithmetic and living well within your means. Good luck, everyone.

Katiehound

Frugaldom said:

  It's not about being mean or greedy or selfish, it is about keeping your eye on the ball to achieve your personal goals and be happy pursuing and maintaining debt freedom. Most of the time, it is simple arithmetic and living well within your means. Good luck, everyone.

And that sums it up very well, from afar I might be seen as mean! but I am very generous actually 'though I don't blow my own trumpet!

If you want a laugh, a couple of weeks ago I had a 'free 2 hours' of electricity' over and above what I normally use. profit made : 90 pence!! Of course it was better than a slap in the face with a wet fish but really proves that most of the electrical stuff I use doesn't guzzle power.
Not sure how much power I saved earlier in the week over a specified hour- probably teeny peanuts!! they haven't worked out the sums yet.

Frugaldom

@Katiehound I think working out the sums is one of my favourites pass times 😆

I've just sorted through some magazines and found a 20% OFF voucher for Mountain Warehouse. It's no use to me but if anyone can make the most of it, message me here or via my FB page for details. Seems a shame for it to go unused. 

kayannie

Frugaldom said:

@Katiehound I think working out the sums is one of my favourites pass times 😆

I've just sorted through some magazines and found a 20% OFF voucher for Mountain Warehouse. It's no use to me but if anyone can make the most of it, message me here or via my FB page for details. Seems a shame for it to go unused. 

If anyone reading this is a member of the Caravan & Motorhome Club, Mountain Warehouse give members a discount & that still applies even on their offers.  I can't remember what the discount is, as the store in my nearest town closed & I haven't been in one for a while. I think some of the other outdoor shops do the same.
KA

Katiehound

You can post Discount codes & vouchers on that very board on the forum- it's in the 'Shopping & freebies' category' on the Spending board.
Here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/discount-codes-n-vouchers

Prudent

Good morning Frugal friends, I have been meaning to post for a few days but this is definitely the silly season when it comes to busyness. I was reading a newspaper article about celebrations in France V UK yesterday and it noted that in the UK we start Christmas events at the end of November/ start of December. That has certainly been true for me. Each event individually has been lovely and welcome, but I am glad that this Friday sees the last party. Other than that I am happy with my ongoing simplification of Christmas, keeping gifts to those that are closest and most meaningful, avoiding food buying excesses and focusing on spending time with people who find this season hard.

As I finally start to look forward to some quieter days, I have been reflecting on where I want to focus my priorities my attention in 2025. A few nights ago I was reading in bed and reflected with sadness that I no longer hear owls at night after their trees were cut down for house building. I began to think about my joy in the natural world. So my first few priorities have been set as:

• Hearing owls hoot at night
• Seeing the Frugaldom badgers
• Returning to spending as much time in nature as I did in the pandemic. I hope to see our local red kites again and hopefully the otters and beavers that live in the river.
• Meeting Frugaldom mud monsters (I have met one so far)
• Using nature to inspire me to be more creative 

Katiehound

Gosh

I have just seen the figures- I managed to save £0.08 for that one hour low consumption recently! Not sure that it was worth the effort.....

We used to hear tawny owls in the churchyard but I haven't heard them recently, but then it gets dark so early so they may well be about. Luckily there are still some mature trees.