2026 Frugal Living Challenge

lurkeralongtime

further experiments with yogourt (75% milk reduction this time) have led to the discovery that a dollop of yogourt and a dollop of pesto stirred into hot pasta,veg cooked with the pasta, makes a wonderful creamy sauce. Same thing when cold, for pasta salad.

I keep an old cake cooling rack under my wood burner. It goes on top to dry kindling and logs when necessary.Also citrus peel to use as fire starter. When the fire is low clothes can be aired on it too. Orange juice/milk cartons etc have the top cut off and are filled with coal slack to burn.

PipneyJane

Did anyone else get the email today regarding the Nationwide member bonus? I qualified for it so will get £100 in July. That’ll be £300 earned from them since I opened my current account with them last year. (I got £200 for transferring a current account to them. Not my main account - this one was labelled “sacrifice”, had 2 direct debits set up in it, and transferrred less than a month ofter it was opened.)

• Pip

RateTartExtraordinaire

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82007743#Comment_82007743

Yes! The NW is one of the backs that continues to keep a branch, too. I think I will keep it going for next year. They have a decent reg saver and a fixed-rate saving option, too.

Sallyp2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82007743#Comment_82007743

yes got it - we get 2 x£100.Mortgage & saving a/c

Prudent

Yes I got it too. I think this is my fourth payment.

Also on a happy note I had a letter from HMRC saying they owe me a tax refund. In November they told me I owed over £500 in relation to interest on savings in the 2024/25 tax year. They took this off me by changing my tax code from January for three months so that I repaid it through tax. My income is marginal and requires careful budgeting so this was a difficult hit, especially with the way costs are rising. It made no sense to me as I would only be due this amount of tax if the interest on my taxable savings had been around £2,500 over my £1,000 allowance. I asked them for breakdown and none was forthcoming. I have been scrambling around to try and locate closed accounts to check the interest. However, this week I got a letter from HMRC saying they had made an error and they had changed my tax code again to rebalance the error. I did not owe any of that amount. This means I will pay less tax this year. I have subsequently found this is a widespread issue (there is an article in the Telegraph about it). If your tax code looks wrong due to taxable savings interest then please check the breakdown is correct.

startin_again

Hi all, I know I’m late to the party, but I’d like to join the thread.

My engagement with MSE goes back a long way. I never posted a huge amount, but I spent years reading and picking up frugal hints and tips from the community. I had some success with the comps in 2008.

I fell off the frugal bandwagon due to many things but in particular to a family bereavement. Which caused change in my own circumstances and living environment. I found myself in a very stressful situation, which probably led me to making poor decisions with money. . “I stopped questioning everyday spending and chose convenience over budgeting. Now, quite a large bill is winging its way towards me — one that I cannot afford to pay outright. 

So, I’m going to pull on my big girl knickers again and focus on getting this bill paid off, although I’m not entirely sure what the final figure will be yet.

I also want to start focusing on my retirement. I get part of my pension at 60, 7 years off yet and part at 67.

I look forward to catching up with the thread and getting to work.

Frugaldom

@Arrietty Hopefully the car incident isn't too financially painful.

@Viking_mfw you're well ahead of us, no signs of elderflowers here yet.

@suzeesu2000 Will it be bone broth stock-up for autumn and winter or can you get the bones anytime throughout the year?

We managed to rescue some Olio, enough to keep the goats happy with veg plus vegan cheddar cheese for us (we aren't vegan but any type of cheese that tastes like cheese is fine for pasta sauce), and a bag of lovely, sweet, juicy oranges... A real treat!

Good weather finally arrived so it's been full steam ahead getting the outdoor jobs done. Very exhausting labouring in the hot sun, though. 🥵

startin_again

Following on from my last post. This past week I have…

• Cancelled Prime £8.99
• Cancelled the Gym £36.99
• Stopped paying parking fees in work £6.99 daily. (I have a thing about getting into work early to do more work). 
• Bringing lunches to work everyday. 
• Stopped popping into the shop on the way home from work.
• Turned the heating off
• Started batch cooking. So far I’ve made chilli con carne. One pot without meat for my daughter and one with mince beef for me. 
• Line drying clothes
• I registered with Oilio and picked up my first food yesterday. I added the food up and it came to £10.45
• Picked up yellow sticker shin and turkey steaks yesterday. My food shop was £34.85. Saved £7.84. 
• Friend give me some cut offs of wood. Never too early to prep for winter. 

I get paid on Wednesday. I need to figure out my incoming and outgoing bills and make a budget. I feel overwhelmed. When it comes to mathematics my head turns to mush.

retiredinfrance

Well done! You are off to a great start!

kayannie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82011343#Comment_82011343

I made elderflower cordial today. Every year I gather the flowers from the same tree as it's well away from roads, pesticides etc. I only make enough for 2 large bottles & I label the bottles with the date I made it. When I washed the bottles I used last year, I realised I'd made it on exactly the same day!

KA xx