2026 Frugal Living Challenge

FrugalFalafel

Hello all, hope I'm not too late to join the party!

I got divorced last year, sold the house we owned together, and after a few bumps in the road am moving in to a new place I bought on my own at the end of next week. Between selling the previous house and buying the new one I was able to stay with some very understanding friends for 3 months (a great money saver!)

I've spent some time focussing on my budget and financial goals especially now I'm a single income household - something that has prompted a lot more anxiety than I was expecting. I'm up to a 6 month emergency fund which gives some reassurance, but there are some home improvements I need to make, so every penny I can put towards that or overpaying the mortgage is what I'm aiming for this year. So this seems like a great time for me to joing the challenge!

I wasn't sure which things are included in the challenge (I'm a way off £4k), but I'll be aiming to minimise the discretionary spending as much as possible and the below is what I've got in my budget as maximums. My challenge to myself is to see how much under that budget I can get each month. Some of the below costs are estimates (electric and gas, water) as I haven't moved into my new place yet.

Monthly expenditure= £829.22

Yearly expenditure= £9950.64

Monthly budget

Food: £173 (£40/week)

Electric and gas: £125

Water: £24

Phone: £24.50

Internet: £18

Home insurance: £39.56

Car insurance: £41.00

Life and critical illness cover: £48.31

Nails: £45.33 (£32 every 3 weeks)

Hair: £30.69 (£41 every 6 weeks)

Toiletries: £40.00

Petrol: £55.00

Parking permit: £4.83

Apps and storage: £10

Nonsense: £150 (eating out, cinema, birthday presents, misc treats)

Not included: mortgage, council tax or road tax as those are fixed; sinking funds (house repainting, new car, money put away for car service); health related spending (prescription certificate, therapist and physio) and money into savings.

My aims for this year:

Moving into my own house (next week!)

Some roof repairs (~£5k)

Damp treatment and redecorating the guest bedroom (~£5k)

Maintain the 6 month emergency fund

No paid for holidays this year as not a priority, spending time with friends and family and I. The great outdoors instead.

Make do and mend, buy nothing new, if I have to get something buy second hand (with the exception of some DIY project materials). I've already found some great items on FB marketplace (kettle, microwave) for great prices.

I'm quite into cooking so minimise food costs. Also looking forward to inviting people to the new house and cooking for them (more fun than restaurants).

I miss my garden from the old house but have signed up to the allotment waiting list, might be a little wait but looking forward to growing my own veggies again.

Arrietty

Morning everyone,

welcome to @FrugalFalafel
It sounds like you're off to a good start with already having your emergency fund in place and some great fb bargains.

After a week of ice, snow, wind and rain here I woke up to a cold but bright and sunny day. 
I think HRH is in for a shock when I go down to yard later and get him tacked up, he thought he'd retired.

I've survived my first 2 days back at work but admit to not looking forward to a whole 5 days in a row from Monday! It has, however, strengthened my resolve to spend as little and save as much as I can.

Incredibly, I am on NSD number 10!  Not entirely sure how I've managed that other than the weather kept me indoors when I could have been out buying plants and such at the garden centre and I have eaten a LOT of soup.
 
I've also been looking through my wardrobes and drawers and know that I do not need to buy any regular clothes or shoes any time soon.  I also have a fairly large stash of skincare and haircare products and will be interested to see how all my storage looks if I actually use everything up rather than keep buying more each time there's an offer. 

I was lucky to have a £100 win with my PB's so that has been transferred into my Four Day Fund. 
I will need to do a bit of grocery shopping in the next few days mainly for bread and carrots for HRH but hope to keep spends low and have enough left in my budget to hit my January saving target!

ShelivesintheShire

First spend of the month. We have booked to see Hamnet at our local independent cinema on Friday 23rd, £22 for DH and myself.

ShazzaDazza

Arrietty said:

Morning everyone,

welcome to @FrugalFalafel
It sounds like you're off to a good start with already having your emergency fund in place and some great fb bargains.

After a week of ice, snow, wind and rain here I woke up to a cold but bright and sunny day. 
I think HRH is in for a shock when I go down to yard later and get him tacked up, he thought he'd retired.

I've survived my first 2 days back at work but admit to not looking forward to a whole 5 days in a row from Monday! It has, however, strengthened my resolve to spend as little and save as much as I can.

Incredibly, I am on NSD number 10!  Not entirely sure how I've managed that other than the weather kept me indoors when I could have been out buying plants and such at the garden centre and I have eaten a LOT of soup.
 
I've also been looking through my wardrobes and drawers and know that I do not need to buy any regular clothes or shoes any time soon.  I also have a fairly large stash of skincare and haircare products and will be interested to see how all my storage looks if I actually use everything up rather than keep buying more each time there's an offer. 

I was lucky to have a £100 win with my PB's so that has been transferred into my Four Day Fund. 
I will need to do a bit of grocery shopping in the next few days mainly for bread and carrots for HRH but hope to keep spends low and have enough left in my budget to hit my January saving target!

@arriety,  good work!! sorry, as a newbie whats a Four Day fund? 

FrugalFalafel

ShelivesintheShire said:

First spend of the month. We have booked to see Hamnet at our local independent cinema on Friday 23rd, £22 for DH and myself.

This was my first outing of the year too - great film, some amazing acting and fantastic score. Be warned both my friend and I cried multiple times, really moving and well made so well worth the trip out (in my opinion anyway!). The independent cinema was cheaper than cineworld type places too £8.50 each, definitely going to be my go to this year too. 

Spending wise in on track with groceries - just below my £40 but am making a nice dinner for the friends I've been staying with so a more pricey week. (Crispy chicken legs, bok choy with oyster sauce, spicy noodles). Meal prepping for me overnight oats with nuts, seeds berries for breakfast. Rice bowls with spicy tofu and a slaw on the side for lunch. Then I just tend to have snacky bits in the evening so have apples, oranges and few options to go on top of rye bread for dinner (egg, cream cheese, tinned fish, peanut butter - not all together 🤮). £11.23 on some toiletries, but switched out a better value option to my usual.

Did get my nails done (on my £32 budget), and my cinema was my only 'nonsense' spend this week, so below half that weekly spend.

Did have to pay the movers a deposit, did think about hiring a van and doing it myself with some friends but decided against it in the end it was worth it just to (hopefully!) make it all go smoothly - plus the various dodgy shoulders, knees and backs in my friendship group I'd probably have to use the van to take us all to A&E afterwards. I'd budgeted for movers anyway. 

Mamma2004

Supermarket consideration... 

I'm lucky enough to have Sainsburys, Lidl, Aldi, Iceland and Tesco within a mile of me.

Tbh I have defaulted to Tesco because delivery or click and collect is so convenient and some particular products I can only get there.   However, over the last 6 months or so I have had issues with product quality on vegetables EVERY time.  Usually the potatoes are rotten, and the corn and asparagus are off but it can be any veg, and it's become a game of seeing what I need to return with the driver and what I later discover is off and have to WhatsApp with Tesco. 

Tbf Tesco are excellent at refunding the product quickly on WhatsApp and will often give me a refund of delivery charge and/or a compensation gift card.  But I have just really reached the end of my tether bc it often means I am having to go out and replace the veg that's bad. 

Lidl veg is equally bad for us here. 

My food shop is probably 40% vegetables. 

Today, I did a mainly veg shop at Sainsburys.  And surprisingly with nectar prices on some of my usuals, my shop was £2.28 cheaper than Tesco AND I got £1.40 in nectar points. 

I just wanted to share this, as I am surprised!  And also, just wondering if anyone else wants to add their 2 pennies on where they shop, particularly for fresh veg. 

Thanks all 😊

Edit: Sainsburys veg quality has always good in my experience.  I think I may have to split my food shop and get my veg in Sainsbury's and everything else in Tesco. 

dollypeeps

Enjoying reading every ones frugal tips and ways.
Doing the GC and 12k in 2026 well £7500 but it’s still a challenge.
I think we live a frugal and thrifty life but I’m trying to be more conscious of what I’m actually buying …. Definitely needs over wants.
I will be a lurker on here for now but thanks to everyone who contributes

Quantaqa

Hello frugal friends, I am way behind on the thread so took some time to catch up tonight.

@sheilavw, I am so sorry to hear about your brother.  Sending my condolences to you and your family.

@Prudent, I'm sorry to hear that you've been ill.  Wishing you a speedy recovery.

I still have not looked at the budget for this year.  I do need to give myself some time to do this but I know that it needs to decrease big time.  

Gifting will need to decrease.  I really struggled in the run up to Christmas this year, I thought I was organised but somehow in the weeks before Christmas spending got out of control.  There was always something else that was needed.  So the plan this year is to reduce spend and reduce the number of people we buy for.  I've done reasonably well in the sales and have several gifts set aside already for birthdays/Mother's Day.  I plan to do some homemade items (Crochet, baking) as well.  I have set a budget for this already.

Holidays.  We have had fantastic holidays over the last few years but we need to cut down for the next few years minimum.  This year we have one holiday booked at Easter time at a friends cottage.  We get a very reasonable rate for this.  Other than this we are going to holiday from home and have days out taking picnics and drinks/flasks with us.


Some items will be no spend this year:
Books - use the library
Kitchen appliances/pots/pans/cutlery etc
Household items including linens and towels.  We have plenty.

I need to inventory what I have in terms of food in the freezer and pantry, laundry and cleaning bits as well as skincare/shampoo/shower and bath bits.  I will do that this week as well.

I'll spend some time this week doing a budget for the year and also look at more ways to cut it down.  My focus just now is maximising savings towards retirement so the less spent the more saved.

Gem-gem

Good evening everyone, 
Well what a week it has been, my feet haven't touched the ground and it certainly hasn't been frugal. I have been away twice, to Leicestershire (3 days) and Somerset (2 nights), travelling by train both times. A birthday meal with my Dad (his birthday), a trip to the cinema, watched Twelfth Night at the Barbican with a friend, went to a quiz, three gym sessions and running around picking my mother up from A&E, speaking to drs and chasing medication. Tomorrow, I am staying in, no spending and no running around just some housework and chilling out. Money spent will be accounted for and taken from the different pots. Budgets will be adjusted. 

DH and I have decided that we are going to eat from the freezers for a while. One small one needs defrosting. We are considering getting rid of this one as it is very old (second hand and ice builds up quickly). The others are self defrosting. 

crazybeautiful

Please can I join in

This year I'm focusing on intentional spending, my health and wellbeing, decluttering, reading the books I own without buying more, and using up what I already have (groceries, toiletries, craft items).