2018 Frugal Living Challenge

evuka · 26 January 2018 at 10:36PM

FrankieM wrote: »

And, last but not least...I need to find a cheaper way of calling my Mum and Dad in Australia..so a bit of research needing to happen today.

Have a lovely day xx

FrankieM
A few ideas for cheap(er) phone calls. I'm with $ky now and they have a package for phone that costs me £12 a month but it includes free calls to certain countries' landlines. Now I don't know if it includes Aussie but my home country is in and I can talk an hour for free. If I hang up, I can restart counting the hour again. May be worth checking with your provider if there is such option to over there. (Also I was told that I can change the package without paying a fee or penalty so I will see if I use it during the year or it may be worth only having it during the festive period when I prefer to call everyone more often.)

If your parents have a smartphone, you could all use either Whatsapp or Viber - I've tried these to Hungary and to Sri Lanka as well and the lines were really clear. It costs nothing, the apps are free and the calls are free, too (you need to have internet connection but at home I use my wi-fi, so it won't eat up my data alllowance). If you want, you can use the camera function to see each other but it works just as well if you only use the "phone" function.

evuka · 27 January 2018 at 12:33AM

Kerry Woman, I'm so sorry to hear about your Dad, especially so quickly after your Mum...

Please accept my condolences and take care of yourself. If you feel you'd like to talk, feel free to pm me!

Aruba, Congrats on getting out of a toxic relationship, must be a huge relief! :beer: Well done with the debt, you proved you can do it!

I amended my start date of the challenge from 20 Dec to 20 Jan - can't remember why but it works out better. On track so far although spent money on pizza from d0min0s and some other ready meals from Sainsbug but I still think I can make this month's food budget. Thanks Cheryl, for the spreadsheet!

My depression took a turn for its worse and now I'm at home, couldn't go to work and spent most of the day sleeping and catching up with the forum.
Mentioned on the 2017 thread last year that I work in Edin and have to commute from Glasgow after I moved back here following last year's living in a village in West Lothian. I think the commute and the early hours of getting up contribute to my current mental state so I'm thinking of moving back, closer to work, again. Haven't made up my mind yet. Rent would be cheaper, transport would be cheaper and could sleep minimum 30 minutes more in the mornings and my commute would cut back to 2-2.5 hours instead of 3.5-4 hours. Plus I would have access to a garden, my own garden, not a shared one and own bins. (What a luxury! Not sharing the bins in the communal area!

) I think I'm going to spend this weekend making up my mind.

On frugal front:

I have a duck carcass frozen from Christmas, planning to cook it up with my veggie scrapes and bits to a soup that would last me for a couple of days.
Go to P0undland to buy cat food. The convenient store here sells them by can for 89p while I can get 2 for £1 there! Now that I have two cats, it is a significant difference in my budget.
May drop in to HB as well to buy coffee whitener and perhaps coffee as well, need to check my cupboard.
Possibly Sainsbug for fruit and veggie but not much to make sure I use them up before going to waste.
Some veggies I prefer to buy nearby in an African-Asian shop where I can get them package-free and the price is reasonable. Though there is a new greengrocer type of thing next to P0undland so that may get a visit from my frugal self to eye up their prices and choices.

Contrary to almost everyone else, January is going really fast for me, I'm almost travel sick so fast! :rotfl: Wouldn't mind it, had I not been so slowed down... both mentally and physically. Still, I feel 2018 is going to be a good year and I'm determined to make the most out of it!

Aruba · 27 January 2018 at 8:30AM

Kerry Woman, sorry to hear that. I have no contact with my elderly parents as per precious post. Dont know how Ill react when their time comes

debtaghh · 27 January 2018 at 9:13AM

Sorry Kerry woman to hear your sad news.

Pipsmum · 27 January 2018 at 10:32AM

So sorry to hear the news about your Dad, Kerry Woman - you really have been going thought it recently. It is never an easy time, but please look after yourself, and take care.

cw18 · 27 January 2018 at 11:44AM

((hugs)) for Kerry Woman

evuka wrote: »

My depression took a turn for its worse and now I'm at home, couldn't go to work and spent most of the day sleeping and catching up with the forum.
Mentioned on the 2017 thread last year that I work in Edin and have to commute from Glasgow after I moved back here following last year's living in a village in West Lothian. I think the commute and the early hours of getting up contribute to my current mental state so I'm thinking of moving back, closer to work, again. Haven't made up my mind yet. Rent would be cheaper, transport would be cheaper and could sleep minimum 30 minutes more in the mornings and my commute would cut back to 2-2.5 hours instead of 3.5-4 hours. Plus I would have access to a garden, my own garden, not a shared one and own bins. (What a luxury! Not sharing the bins in the communal area! ) I think I'm going to spend this weekend making up my mind.

Sounds to me like the only reason to stay where you are would be if you have a fantastic network of friends and family there - but it does't sound like you have time to interact with any such group, making it unlikely. As such I reckon moving closer to work sounds a fantastic idea.

sweetpea33 · 27 January 2018 at 3:12PM

I really need to do this. It will be more motivating following this through with others.

Kerry_Woman · 27 January 2018 at 6:44PM

Thanks for the kind words. Have been kind of taking it easy today. Did go for a walk in the park. Did not spend today. Also managed to decluttered things today -paper and paper shredding into the recycling bin, binned somethings and a few things in a bag for a cs. Managed to sort out call protect for my mainline phone as I do not wish to receive phone calls from 2 people. This is a free service. Hugs for those in need of them.

spudsmum · 27 January 2018 at 7:27PM

Kerry woman - so sorry to hear your news.

Frugality in full force here at the moment - I've sold a few more bit online and scoured the house for all the loose change DH leaves lying around. Also got a £15 pay rise yesterday so decided to act as if i hadnt (previous payrises have just been absorbed into general spending and have nothing to show for them) so that went straight into the debt jar and a direct debit set up to saving account (AKA virtual debt jar)

Been food shoping today - food is my major weakness so i was worried - Normally spend at least £70 but spent £63! Didnt need loads but had a voucher for £9 off a £60 spend so bumped it up slightly with extra nappies and wetwipes as I know they will definitely get used rather than food. So, after the voucher my spend was £54 for the week and i have all my nappies and wipes for 2/3 weeks which will save me on future shops. Very pleased with that for a first attempt.

Made my very first debt payment today - £80 on my credit card which is all the money I've collected in my debt jar from various things. After less than two weeks of frugaldom I'm absolutely thrilled with that :money:

PennyGrabber · 27 January 2018 at 10:19PM

Hello all,

Having thought I would have a nsd today, I ended up paying £3.58 for some ice lollies on the advice of the dr for my daughter's throat, and £8.26 on a McD's lunch as that's what she fancied. That's pretty much all she's eaten in the last two days, other than a couple of ice lollies and a few spoonfuls of soup...

Tomorrow will be a spendy day, as need to do the weekly shop. This will include about a fiver's worth of stuff for dd's cookery lesson on weds. I'm also meeting up with a friend, if dd feels up to it, so that will prob be at a coffee shop as friend won't come into my house because I have a dog and she's very allergic.

Having never kept a log of all spends in a month before, I'm shocked at just how much I spend. It's been really eye-opening, and a great way of seeing where I can cut back or make tweaks.

PG x

2018 Frugal Living Challenge

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