Frugal Living 2010 -The Cost of Living Challenge, INTRO

cw18 · 20 December 2009 at 4:17PM

oystercatcher - I allow for an increase of 5% where I'm unable to predict (such as Council Tax), or in-line with last year (window cleaner and insurance policies). My gas, electric and water (all metered) are based on last years useage at todays prices - which will hopefully balance out as I'm also working on reducing useage further if I can.

Fishcake_Random - I just turned them on for long enough to see an increase and for it to stop bobbing around. I have a couple of 'plug in' monitors I can attach to smaller appliances, and that shows useage and/or cost. The new one clips around a cable in the meter cupboard and transmits data pertaining to actual useage to the panel every 2 seconds. This can also be set to display how much I've spent today/yesterday/last 7 days/last 30 days..... but monetary figures are less meaningful to me as I'm on a 'no standing charge' tariff which means the first so many units are a lot more expensive than the rest. (I win on the gas during the warmer months by being on one of these tarrifs, but never on the electricity.... I submit meter readings every 4 weeks, and have had 7 bills out of my last 13 where I've not used all the more expensive gas units - 5 of those 7 only using half the expensive ones, so effectively only paying half the standing charge

)

grandma247 · 20 December 2009 at 4:54PM

CW I know what you mean about space. We have a typical northern terrace house with a kitchen add on at the back and I can stand in the middle and reach halfway across the worktops and it isn't much bigger the other way. I have fridge,washer and dryer in there and The spin dryer SM kindly gave me under a worktop that we can't put anything else under because of the electric meter. My pressure canner and a few baking tins also live under there. The only base cupboard I have is a narrow one for pans. The wall cupboards are not big enough to house most appliances and I only put those that only get used now and again on the top. I have made space in the sideboard in the dining/living room for my steamer,breadmaker and a few other things. The slow cookers and lots of other stuff lives under the stairs.
I keep the mini oven on the worktop and some plastic filing drawers which have knives and other small items in.
I would love to extend but I don't think that is going to happen now because we would like to move to a nicer place. Hate living here now. We have given it nearly 7 years but it has got worse.

raebhoop · 20 December 2009 at 4:59PM

One vets bill will screw up your budget....period

grandma247 · 20 December 2009 at 4:59PM

Cheerfulness If I could afford a large ramoska I would have one. I think you can do a decent size pizza in the large one. I have done small pizzas in the mini oven I sometimes make them out of rolls sliced in half. My mini cooker is a standard one. I don't know how the halogen ones compare.
I have an elderly friend who swears by her ramoska. It is the best thing she has ever bought and she bakes everything in hers.

cw18 · 20 December 2009 at 5:01PM

I have a good sized kitchen (especially by modern standards), but IMO it's been very badly designed..... I'd love to re-fit it, but can't justify the expense just to gain a better layout

Perhaps when it comes time to replace an expensive appliance or two (have built in oven and built in fridge/freezer) I'll reconsider

cw18 · 20 December 2009 at 5:04PM

raebhoop wrote: »

One vets bill will screw up your budget....period

nearly did me in this year......

Fortunately the gas, electric and water had all reduced by more than I'd anticipated (so big drops in direct debits due to annual reviews around the same time), and I've done much better on Whoopsie purchases than I'd expected -- so I actually look like ending the year no more than a few quid one way or the other from my original £8k bottom line

redglass_2 · 20 December 2009 at 5:18PM

Hiya.

After dropping out last year (my circumstances suddenly changed, with more income and more expenses and also becoming much less predictable, so that I couldn't realistically set targets, let alone stick to them) I've been sneakily reading the thread for a bit and have now admitted to myself that I'm still addicted!
It's good to see some new names, and also to see that the thread is just as positive and encouraging as I remember it.

I'm still not sure whether to join up for 2010 (circumstances still a bit fluid/wobbly/insane) or what limit I should set, if any. But it's really inspiring to see so many resourceful, focused, empowered people. :T

I have a question. Is anyone using a dehydrator? I seem to remember a fair bit of discussion about this earlier. Now I have an allotment and will be sowing my crops in spring I'm seriously considering buying one (preferably before VAT goes up next year). The American Exc*lib*r dehydrators seem to lead the market and I wondered if anyone is using one of those and what they think of it? Or is anyone using another brand that they think is just as good?

cw18 · 20 December 2009 at 5:21PM

cheerfulness4 wrote: »

I'd love to hear when you do pluck up the courage to do the oven.

Oven is now on for beef joint, and I have some (Whoopsied) Jersey Milk for making a rice pudding to join it.

Fan oven set to 180 degrees - bumps readings up 2.7kW when the element's working, but when it reaches temp it drops back down to a wobble over the previous reading. Not sure how it equates to kWh though, as it's clearly not a constant 2.7kW useage

knithappens · 20 December 2009 at 5:29PM

oystercatcher wrote: »

I am fascinated by this thread but too scared to join in just yet.

I can't understand how you can predict the cost of things for the whole year. The council tax and water rates will change in April and food costs go up. Power increased dramatically in cost last year....

It all seems incredibly sensible but I just can't predict what will be going on in my life so far ahead ....

That being said I can predict huge changes in my income as I strongly suspect I am going to have ill health retirement in a few months which is a third off our income (roughly) and then come June when DS turns 18 my very generous maintainance from ex will stop which is a further third off our income :eek: .

So I am working on cutting down expenses but just can't get my head round all the predictions. It doesn't help that my illness makes it hard for me to read print and figures for long so I don't think I am capable of working out a spread sheet.

So how do you allow for price increases and 'the unexpected' ?

like you i have a lot of changes this last year, i predicted what my income would be ( reduced hours at work, and maternity pay etc) and used that figure to work out a budget, and started living that way before the changes happened, that way any extra cash i had i could put away to buffer me a little when the changes took effect. I dont make spread sheets, my budget is the old fashioned way a piece of paper and a pen, and it is for ever updated and changed, not set in stone. The only things that are, are my mortgage, loan repayments , other things i over estimate to give me wiggle room.

the certainties are birthdays xmas etc, If i know how much I want to spend then i divide this by 11, and put that away each month.

grandma247 · 20 December 2009 at 7:14PM

Hello redglass nice to see you back. You could always be a cheerleader:)
I used a dehydrator and I think SM has one. Mine is just a cheapie from westfalia (actually it is 2 as I got another and used just the trays to make it a ten tray). It works fine but it has to be babysat because the trays have to be rotated to get even drying.
I would love an excalibur and a couple of the groups i am on recommend it as the rolls royce of dehydrators. I don't think there is an alternative to it but I could be wrong.

Frugal Living 2010 -The Cost of Living Challenge, INTRO

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free