Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 2

dizzy_lizzie · 1 April 2011 at 8:27PM

A shiny new thread, yay

Hello to all our newly joined 'frugalistas' :wave:

Have decided to do a bit of a grocery challenge and decided on £70 a week for 5 adults and an ickle doggie.
It was just for groceries but think I'll add sundries/toiletries to that too. Will update sig. everytime I have a spend on these.

Laura M65 I sympathise with the chest infection. I'm prone to those too and they can be pretty scary when it feels tight. Hope it improves soon.

franticflyerSue56 sorry to hear of your job loss. It's the same at our local library, which is always very busy too. Hope it stays open, I love going there. On a positive note you'll get lots of support on here with masses of ideas and tips.
Good luck on your new journey.

Spiral was it you I did the yo yo link for but it didn't work? They are also called 'suffolk puffs' and made of round material. Traditionally sewn together for making blankets. Was a bit naughty and ordered the extra large and jumbo size yo yo makers today. But who knows I might start a blanket project going.

Hope everyone is having a good day.

Luv Dizzy x
♥

redglass_2 · 1 April 2011 at 8:35PM

Welcome, Winnie in Pooh, Heather and Living proof :hello:

I daren't complete the SoW right now - will do it later tonight.

Oh, well, on this thread we never forget tomorrow is another day

LolaLemon · 1 April 2011 at 10:17PM

ok ive been 'thinking' frugally for over 3 months now, so im going to take the big bold steps into my true frugaldom life!
for some reason i cant see the sow link

but it is probably because im looking for it, so i will look again later.
But i am going to update it religiously from now till end of year, and it will serve as my 'old' life - although it is not as bad as it used to be, but then from next year i have a real true fgure to be 'beating' - cause we all love a personal challenge

my car broke, garage fixed it for the "lovely" price of £300 - which my dad has paid for me just now

and its a lovely price as its only cost of parts, no labour included cause its my uncles garage.

this weekend may not be gthe best to be working from, as its my sons birthday so been buying all the usual - big 'party' food shop - which consists of 'value' fish fingers - but i compair them with 'named' brands and they actually have more fish content, and less 'unwanted extras' so very good value

i paid for 6 packs at 53p for 10. £1 for a big bag of oven chips. 2 bags of self raising flour, (50odd p each) icing sugar, £3 for 2 dozen fresh farm free range eggs, cocktail sausages, chicken dippers (they where the most expensive at £3 for 2 packs! so £6 for the sausages and chicken dippers)... some cold meats,,... £1 each for 3 extracts -almond, lemon n orange (all mine have been out of date for a looong time, im ok with using for personal use, but not wanting totake the risk with other kids/babies, alot with allergies etc, so really needed to replace) some coloured icing (cant get brown

)
as u can tell, most of teh party is going tobe homemade, by me tomorrow! cant wait till its all over on sunday and i can relax!
for mothers day ive spent £8 on a top for my mum, son is going to make her a card whist im cooking tomorrow.
My brother turns 18 on friday, he would like clothes from me, but his clothes are expensive! £50odd for a jumper, if im lucky!!!

Ill update and give amounts etc probably next week....

bummer! just rememebred ive STILL not done my census! need to do asap, cant afford the £1000 fine!

thanks cheryl for keeping on top of this... thanks to everyone else aswell, as this place is fantastic for people, tips, hints, advice and hugs.

mooomin · 1 April 2011 at 11:17PM

Evening frunchkins!

It's a wild and windy evening in Edinburgh tonight - :eek:

I've had a bit of a spendy day as I went out for lunch with a friend, but as we only met up at the work canteen it cost less than £5!

I called the council today as my direct debit hadn't come out for my first council tax payment of 2011. It turns out that I set it up too late for this month, so they're going to amend the amount to £135 for nine months instead. Although it means I'll pay the same amount by next year, I'm going to be ahead on the budget, and am going to have £122 extra in my account this month :j I'm going to pop it into my savings account tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'm off to do some overtime at work and then the supermarket to try and make sure the cupboards are nice and stocked for the rest of the month.

Hope everyone has had a good day

enjoyfinancialchallenges · 2 April 2011 at 12:23AM

Winchelsea wrote: »

I'm a bit like enjoyfinancialchallenges - prone to spending too much time on here - but you're all so interesting! Resolution for the month is to set my kitchen timer when I come on - can't decide how much time to allow myself though.

I'm pleased that I'm not alone in finding this thread addictive, from now on I shall try catching up daily, I think I will time myself for a while just to get a true picture of time needed.

Winnie_in_Pooh wrote: »

because we're about to take a massive hit on our income
I suspect I will be mostly lurking and stealing idea s to make our money go further, but is there a recommended starting point?

TIA

Welcome W in P, love the name by the way

I think we all feel a bit that way at times. Guess what? you will have no need to steal ideas as they are all generously given on this thread. Whatever suits you just try it and see if it works for you. I cant remember if I've been on here two or three years but whatever it moves fast and there is always something of interest to read.....hence the reason I'm going to limit my time catching up.

Welcome to any others who have just joined us, I'm so looking forward to new ideas etc from you all.

My MEGA withdrawal from supermarket spending is over

......but ... can you believe it I went 90 days with only buying fresh fruit and veg's and using the contents of my larder and freezers....all three of them..:o I cant imagine why but I've put on heaps of weight whilst doing this, I think its due to me not always having balanced meals.

Today I went to Mr T and spent loads, most of it was to buy ingredients as my car boot sales will start soon. I suppose about half was spaving although I did go a little mad probably because I'd run out of so much and needed to stock up again. Plus the fact that a lot of the contents of the shelves actually tried to leap into my trolley...cheek of it! Some I managed to fight off but not all unfortunately, well three months away from supermarket shopping is quite a time isn't it? There is so much stock in store as well.

I'm not sure how I shall manage to keep the car boot ingredients separate from my own expenses what with being unable to use the Sow. I shall try putting all those purchases in a separate book and deducting it from my income. I think it will be trial and error initially.
My marmalade making is still going well despite having the driest skin on my hands ever I think due to to citrus juice. As well as selling outside I'm trying to build up a stock for my car boots and that also is doing well, full boxes are building up upstairs. People I did not even imagine would know I needed jars are appearing at my house so my fame is definitely spreading...no I haven't made it on the news yet.

Must go my bed is calling me....listen!

keenan1_2 · 2 April 2011 at 7:53AM

Hi all,
Im a bit of a dipper in and outer to the forum but have found myself dipping in to the frugal living challenge more and more

I am living quite a frugal existance at the moment although I think theres always room for improvement....but where I hear myself ask?

So now I may be a little dim in asking but the SOW where can I find this marvel? I have searched high and low and it seems to be hiding from me

A few things I have done this year get rid of virgin v+ package which was £66 a month and bought 2 playtv gizmos for the playstation 3(one was a freebie which came with sons PS3 that he bought out of xmas money),they are like freeview boxes with a record facility(on to the PS3 hard drive),pause and rewind etc and cut my virgin down to £28.50 for M TV,M phone and 30mb internet with free upgrade from 20mb and a new superhub

If you have a PS3 already I can highly recommend the Playtv,its great in all it cost me £35 from HMV £16 for a remote control,though you dont need this if you can work a PS3 controller (my son uses this for his) and my dad gave me a digi aerial sorted so a one of spend of £51 and a monthly saving of £37.50

Also started using mysupermarket website,which is great now I can work out whats cheapest before I leave the house and I already have a list so no extra spends on treats

If its not on the list its not getting in the trolley.
Ooh and put my mobile on to the virgin £5 sim,100 mins,unlimited text and unlimited virgin to virgin mins,all my family are on virgin mobile so I can call them for nowt for as long as I like

and I am making a saving of £3.50 a month woo hoo!
I have just read through my post and I have realised I sound like a walking advert!!!
Could you add me to the list please and point me in the direction of the super hiding SOW please

and then I can really get stuck in

Edit-Thought I should mention,just incase anyone was interested in the playtv,the digital aerial is just one of those little aerials,you dont need the virgin tv I only have it as a free extra to my virgin package as 30mb BB is £28.50 a month anyway but for some reason virgin really want me to keep the phone and tv hence the free upgrade from 20mb to 30mb...odd really
(I really do sound like an ad now,don't I!!!)

cw18 · 2 April 2011 at 8:08AM

keenan1 wrote: »

So now I may be a little dim in asking but the SOW where can I find this marvel? I have searched high and low and it seems to be hiding from me

It's in the first post - listed as 'My FREE Spreadsheet'

I've also added it's nickname to the line as well now, so that others can find it more easily

And I've added you to the list - welcome aboard :T

Mush dash - due at DD's in 1.25 hours, and I've not even showered yet :eek:
Was a tad late getting up due to being later to bed than planned (but I wanted to stay up for a phone call after someone left a night out with friends...)

knithappens · 2 April 2011 at 8:15AM

1st quarter went very well, well within budget, however redundancy looming at work, so have taken voluntary severance, the payout will keep me ticking over for a few months, but i am using that time to become self employed, so my budget needs to be tightened even more, focusing on gettign rid of my cc debt so that I have less to worry about. So i need to be more furgal than ever. Sorry i dont post as much - but stress at work, and my kids keep me busy, I am still blogging though, so lots of updates on there

keenan1_2 · 2 April 2011 at 8:18AM

Hee hee! that's confirmed it then...My name is Keenan1 and I am a little dim!:rotfl:
right off to do some magic on 'My FREE Spreadsheet' ahem!:D

miss_empty_piggy · 2 April 2011 at 8:22AM

Wow, page 2 already. First three months already gone - so quickly it scares me a little.

Today I am going to an auction with my sister, to try to get some cr***y old furniture to paint and decopage for DDs bedroom. Don't know if I'll manage to stick it out as although fun they can be a little boring. Then off for lunch. It is my sisters birthday tomorrow as well as mothers day so have 2 presents to buy today but they are both worth it.

Have a wonderful day today (I almost daren't leave the site as goodness knows what page number we'll be on by the time I get back!!!!) but how great that we're all in this together. I feel all renewed and refocused now. (PS I gave up with the Eat Pray Love). x

Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 2

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