2026 Frugal Living Challenge

wishus

Thanks @Frugaldom - appreciating the support. Had a very full morning of work so far, but I have some deadlines looming, so need to do a lot more.

wishus

This morning's frugalness has been to sort through my fridge and freeze/prep any vegetables that didn't look like they'd last the week otherwise, and eject Zuul from the back.

Went to work, did my banking, and managed to avoid any town temptations even though this would be a great day for ice cream.

However, I scream because of insurance. My home insurance is up for renewal shortly. There have been no changes since last year and the company even checked and found I'd made an error regarding a previous claim, but a small charge got my policy corrected. This year, same info, and alternative quotes are suddenly triple! So I'm sticking with the one I got last year. It will only go up by a few quid.

startin_again

Hi all,

I’ve now wrapped up my June budget and moved on to July, my second ever monthly budget. Each of my sinking fund categories now has two months’ worth of contributions in it, which feels great. I also have £2000 in my emergency fund.

I realised I forgot to include dog expenses as a sinking fund, so I’ll be adding that in for July. I also don’t yet have a replacement car fund or a home repair/replacement fund set up. However, I do have a large bill to pay, so I may hold off on starting those for now and instead through the extra money towards reducing that balance more quickly.

I reduced my monthly food bill in June by £111.17. I spent £321.67 in June for two adults…this was a shock. This is double what I budgeted for. I can’t believe the amount I spend on food. I was clueless. Olio has helped and stopping popping into the shops on the way home from work.

This is going to be a reasonably quiet month for me. All my family celebrations are over. So from here on in every penny is a prisoner.

I hope everyone is keeping well?

ET22

@frugaldom , sorry I missed your comment. Yes I’m in England. A management company came in, took over and raised the service charges so high all the owners had to get together to buy the freehold to get shut of them. Even had the cheek to start charging 1000 pound a letter for late payers!

I’m not sure if a retirement home or property would have the same set up but definitely check and see if there would be a possibility that a different company could come in and charge whatever they like . Defo speak to a solicitor first.

Unfortunately there are unscrupulous people who really do not care. I was really ill at the time too. Was trying to pay a small mortgage out of benefits.

On a lighter note , Because of my health I’m quite isolated and was recently given a referral to a social prescriber. They have loads of information about local organisations etc and I’ve started to spend time doing activities for free with services I didn’t even know existed!

I wonder if anyone is in the same boat as me, not knowing how to get out and about for free groups etc. see if your gp can make a referral. There’s so much out there that people don’t know about or try ro contact a social prescriber yourself x

ET22

I used to drive but can’t now for health reasons. I’ve got a disabled travel pass so I don’t have to pay for buses Trains etc. the price of day tickets on buses is ridiculous. No wonder the travel service by me wanted loads of information when I applied for the pass.

But I’d I could drive again, I don’t think I’d buy a car. They are so expensive with all the insurance and petrol prices etc. i think when people have always had a car they can’t imagine getting public transport all the time. I actually like it more than I did driving

wishus

Budget done for the month!

Tomorrow is sort out savings day.

My friend has asked me to go to watch the footie with him today and I accidentally said yes. Oh dear.

ET22

Today I went to a local community shop. I was really suprised to see how cheap it was. Will definitely be going back!

Arrietty

Hello,

just popping in to catch up and to confess that I took my dear old Dad out for a birthday lunch last Sunday I've been on annual leave all this week, went shopping for wedding shoes and fascinator with ED who's wedding is now just 4 weeks away, also filled my car up with fuel, had it cleaned and I'm having the decorating done!

Zero frugality in those respects but nothing that wasn't budgeted for and I have decided to give myself a break until after the wedding at which point I will not only be back on the wagon but strapping myself to it 😄

Being confronted with the volume of clothes I have worn only once or twice for various occasions has been sobering and has also made me realise that I probably do have some sellable items so once everything is back in place I shall be having a thorough sort out and listing items.

Keep frugalling.

startin_again

@Arrietty you ’ve inspired me to go through my wardrobe and list some items of clothing for sale. 

Apart from my daughter’s graduation at the start of the week, which I had budgeted for.  I’ve had a pretty frugal week overall. 

I sold item at auction and made £42 after commission. 

I picked up two packs of turkey mince from olio, which I going to use tomorrow to make turkey Bolognese. 

My daughter’s work had a heavily discounted sale for staff and brought me home perfume, a bottle of foundation and a lipstick. 

I’m becoming slightly obsessed with money saving…I’m looking for savings at every turn and scrutinising every bill..long may it continue. I’m still awaiting my big bill to land in my doorstep.

Hope everyone is having a lovely frugal weekend.

Frugaldom

Good morning frugal folks 😊

@ET22 The retirement homes near us belong to the nursing home that sits within the same estate. They retain one sixth ownership of the houses and the £9.50 per week (paid 6 monthly in advance) covers grass cutting, window cleaning and buildings insurance. It does state on the information that ownership will not change. I think they way they keep things in house is by their one sixth and the properties won't be heritable as they are for the pensioners only so no families could inherit and the nursing home will get one sixth of every sale going forward. I think it's a great idea, although I'm not quite ready for that sort of retirement yet.

Finding free outside interests is great. There are so many things being organised voluntarily all over the place as long as you have access to public transport. Not so great if you live in a rural area, which is another reason I would prefer to be within easy reach if civilisation when I retire. There's nothing within easy walking distance of us where we are.

@Arrietty We call the money saving obsession is what we call numerical OCD 😄 Savings become obsessively about rounding up to save quicker and debts are about rounding down to pay off quicker.

Tax return has been submitted, I'll pay the National Insurance and income tax at start of September, when I do my next quarterly roundup.

Groceries budget was set at £1200 for the year . The running total is currently sitting at £770 after doing this month's supermarket online order for home delivery and the total includes pet food plus around £15 in delivery charges so I'm not far off my budget.

Won £25 on premium bonds this month, woohoo! It gets automatically reinvested into more bonds as one of my long-term goals has always been to achieve the maximum holding. I've still quite a way to go yet.