2026 Frugal Living Challenge

suzeesu2000

@Frugaldom I would like to get plenty of good home made stock in the freezer. I think they have the bones all year round but I don’t order too often.

PipneyJane

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82011345#Comment_82011345

You’ve made a good start at getting your finances in order @startin_again .

There are lots of frugal tips and tricks, but when it comes to budgeting, start by creating a list, either on paper or use a spreadsheet on the computer. Here’s an example of how I do mine:

Take-home Pay £nnnn.nn

Monthly expenses
Rent/mortgage. Nnnn.nn
Council tax. Nnn.nn
Power bills. Nnn.nn
Telephone bill Nn.nn
Mobile phone bills. Nn.nn
Broadband. Nn.nn
TV licence. Nn.nn
Water Nn.nn
Commute to work costs. Nnn.nn
Groceries. Nnn.nn
Haircuts. Nn.nn
Contingency. Nn.nn
________
Total. Nnnn.nn

Annual expenses. (List first then divide the total by 12)
House insurance. Nnn.nn
Car insurance. Nnn.nn
Road tax. Nnn.nn
Car servicing (based on last year) Nnn.nn
Christmas presents & costs Nnn.nn
Birthdays. Nnn.nn
Club/professional memberships. Nnn.nn
Holidays (guesstimate). Nnn.nn
Glasses, dentist, etc. Nnn.nn
_________
Total annual expenses. Nnnn.nn
Monthly share (1/12) Nnn.nn
________
Total bills to deduct Nnnn.nn
_________

MONEY TO LIVE OFF EACH MONTH. YYY.YY

(This is where being able to insert lines on a spreadsheet is a godsend. You can insert extra lines, whenever you remember something missed off.)

When I was digging my way out of debt, I ring-fenced all the Bills money into a separate current account and had all my direct debits and standing orders transferred to it. On pay day, the bills money is transferred to it by standing order and then my Money-To-Live-Off is whatever is left in my account. Since I was always running out of cash, I kept a running total in my Filofax of where/when/how I was spending my Money-To-Live-Off. That way, I always knew what I had left for the month.

These days, I have multiple separate savings accounts for the annual expenses and another for the car, but the above is where/how I started.

HTH

• Pip

ETA. I had it all nicely tabulated, but the damn text editor won’t save the spaces that I inserted. ARGHHHHH

Viking_mfw

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82011387#Comment_82011387

I waited to prune our enormous elderflower which was beginning to invade our child's room and also to threaten the guttering. Did it despite the heat this weekend and more than half were in flower. Made 3 huge batches of cordial, elderflower fritters and a very bijoux green Gooseberry and elderflower jam. Have distributed some cordial to friends and family and frozen some. Generally delicious!

My mum, further north, has not seen elderflowers yet but is waiting for her black elder to flower as it makes pink elderflower cordial!

Esmeralda2662

@startin_again that's a great start on reducing your outgoings! All those individual savings add up and will help you get back on track. 😉

Nelliegrace

I turned the shower down to the lower setting. The tap water is a bit warmer now so it doesn’t need the higher setting for a hot shower.

Mamma2004

I've just heard about this Supermarket price comparison app called Trolley

on Radio 4. I'm so pleased 🥰 it will make it so easy to get the cheapest food items.

Sallyp2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82012640#Comment_82012640

Hardcore having a hot shower in this heat

lurkeralongtime

In my excitement at winning £50 of nectar points and getting 15% cash back at a@di,from bank, I went on a supermarket spree..bought about 12 weeks supplies from A@di, then walked over the road to Sainsbobs, where I also had a £4.50 voucher. Spent just over £30 and it cost me £1.15. You can only spend £25 of points at once. Stocked up on dog food, price matched to A@di, disinfectant (zoflora) which can be used for all sorts, air freshener, cleaning windows, laundry rinse,fabric freshener……

Managed to buy more bread and milk than I could fit in the freezer.So made savoury bread pudding last night. Bread torn into pieces and soaked in milk with 2 eggs(gifted) beaten in. Add any precooked or easy cook veg,I used frozen beans, spinach and olives.Baked it in the Remoska. Delicious. When the children were at home I used to do the same thing with cooked rice, with cheese added. They loved it.

RateTartExtraordinaire

Okay. I'm inspired to make elderflower cordial this year.

The tree I've had my eye on is now flowering. It's my neighbour's tree and in his garden (more of a wilderness really - overgrown with self seeded sycamore trees and stinging nettles) but it over hangs the alley that backs onto me. It must have been a beautiful garden at some point but it has gone completely wild.

I'm on good terms with the owner so I'm going to ask his permission to take some cuttings and offer to give him some cordial (if it comes out okay!)

If I'm making a batch for the first time, what is best for storage jars or bottles? I've got some muslin cloth or would I be better with a fine sieve?

All tips welcome.

startin_again

Thanks for the advise on budgeting @PipneyJane. I wish I knew how to create a spreadsheet it would make things a whole lot easier.

Thanks @Esmeralda2662 for the encouragement.

Thanks for the advise on the shopping app @Mamma2004, looking forward to saving some money.

Congrats to you @lurkeralongtime on all your windfalls.