A Frugal Life for Me!

Your budget looks well planned and realistic enough. Would it help if you took the actual cash out and put it in envelopes. When its gone its gone? This really helps lots of people to stick to their budget but I know some people don't like to deal with cash. You could take it out in weekly amounts then its not so long to wait if it's all spent on the first day of the budget! It might be helpful to shop your husband and son the actual cash that you have to last for the week, and may stop them asking for other treats.

Hey NP, happy new year to you!

Like you've my debts has gone up and down over the years. Always manageable in terms of never having a failed DD, but it's been tight at times! I tend to get mine down and then it creeps back up again with impulse buys here and there. So I've started a diary on here as a pledge to myself to get it down and cleared once and for all.

I wonder if it might help you, if you break your targets down to perhaps quarterly targets. That way you can have mini celebrations/ self congratulations when you've reached your quarterly targets. I think sometimes we start off well but knowing there's years ahead of us until we are debt free seems to far away and too long to stay focussed. Or perhaps look at clearing one card/debt at a time whilst maintaining the minimum payments on others - this is my preferred option. I also think if you can and sounds like you can and do, we need the little treats along the way. Working hard all month and paying large amounts of debt and having nothing to look forward too can, in my opinion make it even harder. Perhaps a 241 lunch with a friend or cinema tickets. Family Day to museum (free) except travel or a free day out to a nice park with a packed lunch if things are really tight.

Best of luck to you NP keep up all your good work x

Hey NP,

I was thinking about your diary this morning and I wondered if you had done/considered the following:
Move all cc to 0% or lower %. I switch mine over to each other, and play the 0% game. Sometimes there’s a small fee but the fee is less than the interest wld have been and means the debt doesn’t increase. (I’m sure you’ve done this already looking at the above)

The seagull aisle - I’m a great lover of the yellow sticker. I’m also a lover of M&S food. M&S final reductions are marked down to 90% of the original price at the end of the day. I like to go on a Sunday if I’m free as the shop shuts early so makes for a nice walk and I normally get a nice reward. Plus when I do get something really good I feel fantastic! (Sad I know)This week I got:

Lasagne big one for 2 £1.35 ( put in freezer)
Nectarines 4 for £1.15 (only half price)
Bag of new potatoes 20p
Pasta salad pots x 2 at 24p each ( we had them for lunch on Monday)
Bag mixed fresh veg 20p

Whilst we cld afford to eat in M&S and I do like their food, it’s not a great place to shop when trying to watch your budget (which I’m really trying to do - AGAIN!) - I’m a lover of Aldi’s for that, and save a regular small fortune when compared to other big supermarkets so tend to shop here quite frequently and order a online shop at Tesco’s everyone now and then. But all supermarkets mark down at the end of the day so maybe that’s an option, you can then stick stuff in your freezer. I also like the element of surprise and takes some of the ‘what shall we have for dinner next week’ out of the equation. If there’s not much there then I’ve still had a nice walk, so win win and I probably do this at least once a month.

I also thought of another free treat for you. If live/work near a large department store and wear make-up you can book a make-over at one of their make-up counters. So Mac, Chanel Clinique etc. Of course they are hoping that you will be a convert to their products. I’ve done this before on my birthday when I knew I was going out and wanted a ‘new professional look’. I said that I wanted to see how the products lasted when worn and would be back to buy any that I really liked. As it happens I did, and purchased Cliniques eyeliner and lipstick as I liked them both, but have since switched again to another brand Maybelline ( boots often do 342 and I get to collect points, which I can use to buy things with. I also check eBay for these). But I thought this might be a nice treat at the end of the month for you and or for a special occasion or because you’ve hit a mini target and it’s all for you and FREE.

You’ve said you have a DS, I wonder if you could sell any clothes he no longer fits into on eBay? Even if you only get a few pounds it goes towards renewing stuff.

DH cigarettes - I wonder if any of your family or friends are travelling abroad this year and could bring some back for him as a ‘gift’. Strictly speaking I think you can only bring back for personal use but hey hoy lol. But if their non- smokers then it may help you from time to time and you cld pay them back. I bought some back from USA for someone at the end of last year they cost $25 (£20) for 200! Or depending where you live a day trip to France by ferry, may be in the summer then you could use both your DH and your own personal allowances. Friends last summer took their car and 4 people for a total of £10 to stock on booze cigs etc.

I was also wondering if perhaps out of the money you have left come payday you might treat yourself to something. A new lipstick, nail polish, or a couple of multi pack bars of chocolate to stick in draw at work. Something that’s just for you that’s says I’ve done really well this month stayed within budget. I have money left over and this treat is a reward just for me, for keeping a VERY close eye on things for the past month. After all your son (who I hope has a better day tomoz) had a treat today, which no doubt made him feel better. And maybe you wld feel better if you cld do this every month too. This way if you have money left you get a ‘free reward’ every month, which has effectively cost you nothing as you’ve managed to save a bit extra from money already allocated. Id sooner a £3 nail polish than pay an extra £3 off my debt which won’t clear for many years to come. Of course that’s my personal choice, but I think not having treats and living to bone month after month is to hard to maintain for most people. This can result in much bigger impulse buy than £3. then bang goes all the hard work!

Well that’s it from me for now, keep up your good work and well done on taking your flask of tea today. I've subscribed so will pop by and see how your doing. X