2024 Frugal Living Challenge

basketcase

@suzeesu2000
I kept my Nectar points to pay for Christmas too.  What with bargains, veg etc and the points, Christmas cost me £41.94!  And I still have quite a few points left.

natnat13

I am trying to have a 'no spend month'  to really help me to stop spending on unnecessary things.

First win today, DH wanting Chinese takeaway for dinner, I have 2 hungry teenagers so it would have been £50 ish. I had planned a katsu curry so that is what we had. I shop weekly and meal plan so food spending is good in that respect, it's just the extra treats that need to stop. BTW DH enjoyed the curry!

I was thinking of reverting to cash as I use my debit card all the time (credit card is not used now except for online and what ever I spend on it I transfer straight away) Those who use cash, do you think you spend less? 

mama67

I save my Tesco vouchers to use for Christmas food shop. 

This last year I’ve utilised the double points vouchers alongside extra points vouchers and offers. 

And already have £40 towards this next years Christmas food shop. 

Frugaldom

nannygladys said:

Frugaldom - I'd never really thought of putting any spare  money into PB's but it seems like a good idea to me, I'll have to have a look into it.

Premium Bonds aren't everyone's cup of tea in the savings and investments department but I like the security they bring, plus the opportunity of a win now and again without losing the £1 each entry costs. The other plus point is that they can be accessed by next of kin when the time comes so I also look at them as paying into a funeral account. I don't have life insurance, private pension or a funeral plan, just an ever hopeful thought at the start of each new month. it works for me. 

Day 1 of 366 - no spend day (NSD)
Balance remaining = £4,000

Everyone - don't forget to factor in the extra day if you are budgeting to the penny. There aren't exactly 52 weeks in each year and this year we have an extra day. This means that my £4000 per year budget gets divided by 366 and then multiplied by 7 to arrive at an average weekly amount of £76.50 and not £76.92. It's the pennies that make up the pounds.

Frugaldom

Today the sun shone long enough to recharge my batteries via the solar panels and it stayed dry for long enough to get out and chop a basket of kindling. 

amber03

Where I live if you have a library card you can download the Libby app, which is connected to your card and you can “borrow” magazines on your electronic device. I used to buy a few magazines a month, but they are all on the app and I can now read them for free. I also save all my points on my supermarket loyalty cards for Xmas. I have a gift card for A@da that I save monthly on. I will be on the lookout for anything for next Xmas.  I usually do this but for some reason last year decided not to do this and that I would go out in December and get everything. In the end I got in a bit of a pickle. Running around at the last minute for bits, didn’t know what i had as I hadn’t made any lists, forgetting stuff. Also forgot that the 2 weeks prior to Xmas I would be looking after my GK’s, the thought of taking them shopping with me filled me with dread.xx

Prudent

Wishing everyone a happy year of frugalling. 

I was gifted a lovely planner for Christmas so I have been writing in my aims for the year this morning based on the priorities I put in an earlier thread. 

One of my priorities was time with my daughter and another time the rest of my family. All live quite some distance away. Tomorrow I am going to start booking some trips for the spring and summer and hopefully it will give me a better sense of my budget. 

I also sorted out my sewing cupboard and hope to work my way through the stash a bit this year before buying more. I think the rule until I have done that will be to only buy things I lack to complete a project. 

Tomorrow I will also begin allotment plans for the year as 'outdoor time' is another my priorities for this challenge/year. 

suzeesu2000

Been good today. Needed a mat for kitty as he makes such a mess with his food. Was going to buy a placemat BUT didn’t. Had a piece of thick card from a box, marker pen, sticky back plastic from my stash and jobs a good ‘un. Won’t win any prizes but cost zero and fits the bill. Yay me🤣

suzeesu2000

Evening all. Does everyone, the crafters among us, know of the scrap store? I didn’t but I do now! Nearest to me is Southampton but there are others in UK, https://www.watersidescrapstore.co.uk/ 

anyway, you pay a VERY small, for me it’s £6 for a year, membership fee.Then Members can fill a carrier bag for only £1.50, a bag for life for £2.00 or a big blue sack for only £2.50 I believe you  can mix your items. 

Most of these places are only open for a couple of hours but, especially if you have children, so much cheaper than High Street craft stores.

retiredinfrance

Loyalty money and Christmas. I mention this as many posters have mentioned saving up loyalty points/cash for Christmas. I used to do this then last Christmas I had a sudden thought. By leaving the cash on the card( French supermarket loyalty scheme) I was in effect letting them have the use of the cash all year until I spent it at Christmas . So I decided to spend each month’ s sum at the end of each month. I let November and December’s alone to be used for Christmas. As it happened I was much more careful this year and shopped around , mainly at Lidl and not at the bigger supermarket. I think I spent a lot less as I was aware that I had to use just what I had.
Still do whatever works for you - we’re all different!
Happy frugal 2024 , and take care everyone.