2025 Frugal Living Challenge

Bozwood

I would like to post. We are living on my husband sick pay for the moment so money is tight for now he’s should be back to work soon. I am going to carry on with some of the things we have done to get by.  I am menu planning. Which has helped going forward I am going to use up thing before we replace them I do overbuy I like shopping in second hand shops so does my dd   

Frugaldom

fionaandphil said:

Lovely to see so many people joining. For anyone looking to save for next Christmas, there is a Principality account paying 7% for up to £125 per month

Thank you for that, I, too, will take a look. I managed to get one at 5.5% at max £250/month for 12 months, which will soon end. It's becoming increasingly difficult to calculate interest when the financial institutions skew the figures by capping how much can be paid in monthly and then not paying it until the term is up.

Managed to rescue a few bits from Olio tonight and I've asked friend if she would pop into Sainsbury's and check the points on my Nectar card. I can't seem to get their website to work so I'm hoping it's not because my card or points have expired.

Glittering_M

Hi all,
I've been lurking but hope to post a bit more on this forum.

Our biggest non necessary expense is eating out, there is just 2 of us, we don't even eat out that much or at particularly expensive places and only one of us drinks but looking at the spreadsheet, it's on average over £100 a month. I'm pretty sure that surprised me last year and I'm pretty sure I started the year saying one meal out a month! Groceries feel like a lot too. I've got out the habit of planning meals and doing shopping lists. 

I've been using the Sh0p1um app more. I have a code if anyone wants to start using it to get a free packet of chocolate buttons (well, you buy and then claim the cash back, new users only). I think I can share the code via PM as it says you can share via websites etc. Full disclosure, for everyone that signs up and makes a valid cashback request, I get £3 up to 100 people. The app isn't as good as it was as you now can only withdraw cash when you've got to £10 but I've apparently saved £58.14. 

I'd like to get into the garden more and grow more. This year was dreadful in terms of growing so much failed. I also want to try and create a new bed but it's just trying to work out where is the best place. 

I'd like to get chickens for the eggs but we aren't in a position to do that yet. 

I also want to start cleaning more eco friendly. On the list to buy are some spray bottles and various other stuff. Hopefully that will encourage me to do more cleaning...

We are in the process of buying a house so we will need to really be particularly careful with budget. We also need to do more to try and insulate it etc and make it more habitable short term whilst we save for major work..



Good luck to all this year!

oceandreamer

I'd like to join this year please.  Last year I managed to finally pay off my mortgage and become debt free which was a massive change after decades of forever paying things off only to borrow again.  I would really like to retire in a few years time but need to save some money for this.  Also, I have concentrated so much on paying debts off that I haven't really kept on top of the house and now there are a lot of jobs that need doing.  I am actually scared of borrowing any money again so am hoping that a frugal lifestyle will allow me to save towards retiring and also start on that list of jobs before the house gets any worse! 

Frugaldom

Welcome back @Glittering_M - chickens are great but keep in mind they don't lay eggs forever but they can live for about 15 years, most of those without laying eggs. We kept ours as pets until the last one died a year or so ago but we still have 3 ducks (drakes) that I'm sure are all over 10 years old.

Welcome to the frugal gang, @oceandreamer, I hope you will grow to love the lifestyle and maintain your debt freedom forever. 😊 Congratulations on becoming mortgage free.

Like many on here, my challenge is to maintain my debt freedom and work towards retirement. State pension is another 7 years away and I've no private pension and no husband with a pension so every penny counts.

Good luck to all in 2025! I'm just a message away if anyone needs me, even if it does take until I find signal to retrieve my messages. 

Dizzycap

Wishing everyone a Very Happy & Enjoyable Frugaling 2025 xxxx

Pauper1

Hi all, I'd like to join please. I'm sure I have many, many years ago, but this year is my knuckle down and grow up year so I'm back!

I worked out yesterday that I owe around £11k on interest charging accounts again. I've been overspending, being frivolous and impulsive, and trying to "fix" myself by throwing money around.

I love a coffee out, but Snoop tells me I spent £1382 at coffee shops last year. This would've included some work lunches but it's still a huge amount of money! I need to get back in the habit of taking flasks out...

AnimalTribe

Hi I'd like to join you again this year. I hope to post more than I did last year, but I need to catch up with the previous pages first. I'm also going to join the declutter and grocery challenges.

PipneyJane

Count me in for 2025, please, @Frugaldom.  Thank you for running this challenge.

As many may know, my 2024 was pretty brutal both healthwise and financially - I was off sick with lymphoma for. 9 months while, at the same time, my DH was made redundant - so my plan for 2025 is to recoup lost ground, rebuilding my savings/investments while putting a capital L into Living Below My Means.

We were lucky.  Years of frugality meant we had savings, so didn’t go into debt.  We’re both back at work now and all the joint savings schemes have restarted (holiday savings, date night, house improvements).  My personal financial goals are to save £2,500, rebuilding my Emergency Fund, and invest £12,000 in 2025.  Once everything else is accounted for my personal spending money each month will be £342.

- Pip

Gem-gem

Happy new year everyone. 

Jan 1st - first NSD of the year for both my personal account and our joint account. 

Travelled back to home, (nearly 200 miles) family made me two small cheese rolls and a gave me a banana to have on route.

For dinner - had left overs from Christmas Day - turkey, stuffing, Yorkshire puds. Veg and potatoes - from the cheap Christmas veg. Desert - Mince pies - DH got 6 for 21p yesterday. 

Spent late afternoon upcycling Christmas cards into eight new cards plus gift tags for next year. Have some spares for brother who likes to turn them also into tags as well. I have a punched a single hole punch into the tags and will collect threads and use up old small bits of ribbon to help attach to gifts.
Crocheting a scarf for my nephew's birthday (next autumn). Using wool stash - wool left over from other projects.