2018 Frugal Living Challenge

FrankieM · 31 January 2018 at 7:53AM

Morning Everyone :wave:

I worked all weekend and also did some extra hours last night and the night before after my 'everyday' job. I'm wondering if the evening work is worth it though as it seems to completely knock me out. The weekends, while long days, still mean I can get to bed at a decent time and have a full nights sleep. :cool::think: I need to weigh it up and see whether the amount of money made outweighs the tiredness...unfortunately it also usually means energy drinks and crisps to survive :eek::eek:

evuka My parents are complete techno phobes so it's letters or phone calls. I've found a number to dial before their number so I'm going to try that. I'm on talk talk and my package is £25 a month so it's just the calls I need to get cheaper..the research continues :rotfl::rotfl:

Right off to work, will catch up later. Have a good day

Kerreh · 31 January 2018 at 10:02AM

So payday is finally here

which means I get about five minutes of joy (pressing submit on the payment transfer to the credit card makes it feel so worthwhile) and then another month of focused frugaldom. I may not post much but I've been following along - everyone's doing so well! :j and any setbacks are just little speedbumps along the way to conquer:T

So January successes:

(Aside from an unplanned fridge/freezer purchase due to it breaking) - I stuck to my budget! So chuffed with this.
I set a meal plan for the entire month and followed it for the entire month
I didn't throw any food away (usually I'd go shopping every week and just throw out what was left because I had 'new' stuff to put away.. now I shop when I run out)
I've taken packed lunch to work 22 times out of a possible 22
I found that with planning I seem to have more time for me ... so I read more books

February plans:

Meal plan for all of February
Stick to budget
Cut the grass! Silly eh... it's already starting to grow so I just need one good weekend day to get that done
Read more books and possibly pick up my cross stitch again

Hope it's okay to post the above... thought it would be nice for me to look back at the end of the year on the month roundup posts

elly68 · 31 January 2018 at 11:19AM

hi ev1 I have been away fixing cc to 0% reckon if we are very good for 30 months we can clear the debt and have 2300 to add to our budget we have been very lucky on getting 0% cards for 32 months and 35 so we have worked them out as short term loans and a big loan 670 a month finishes in 18 months so happy to report we have 1000 a month to live of after all bills cleared .so looking forward to challenging myself not to spend much of that to build up money in bank have batched cooked today think cheapest shop will be 100 a month plus 80 for dinner money so that leaves 520 in bank for entertainment cinema for kids ect .but gonna try and bank 100 a month for emergency fund . looking forward to challenge tumble dryer is broken might leave it like that ?????but we do live in Scotland lol

bustiblondilocks · 31 January 2018 at 12:57PM

wow looks like everyone has been having a very eventful month. Sorry to hear all the bad things happening to people but so glad you have found the strength to share too. Much hugs to everyone! X

WelshSaver · 31 January 2018 at 1:09PM

Hi Frugaldom can I join the challenge please. Haven't had a chance to read through the whole thread yet, but am looking forward to learning as much as I can. I am quite frugal anyway using vouchers, quidco etc, but have set myself a challenge of £400 a month for food, fuel, haircuts, going out etc per month. This challenge will help me work with this budget.

bustiblondilocks · 31 January 2018 at 1:19PM

Well here goes.....
I've had to replace two front tires and have tracking done and now apparently it needs a part replaced as it broke and headlight gone. Best part £200 gone too!

But anyway apart from that I have managed this month to have 14 no spend days! I'm quite pleased. It would have been more but I keep getting sucked in with the yellow sticker reduced to clear goodies at a few pence each. It all adds up though and it was sweet treats like doughnuts that I don't need!! I'm quite mad at myself really.

But of the 17 days that I did splash the cash on groceries and non essentials it has totalled £171.69 which is great compared to last January when I spent a stupid £656.74!!! But over my budget I set myself.

I've found I no longer need to do a huge grocery shop as I think I prefer planning and just getting what I need. I've been browsing aisles and thinking 'oh that may be handy' or ' that'd be nice' for years and it's not compatible with the frugal life I want to live.

Had a horrid moment with dd last week when she bought home letter about school trip to New York for 4 days for the 'bargin price' of £1200! Not including food and shopping and trip to Broadway. Not hard to say no, just can't justify that kind of expense. It would pay a huge chunk of the debts off. I'm not huge on holidays anyway and whilst a holiday would be nice, I'd want to go away with the whole family for that kind of money. But the priority for the next couple of years is clearing the debts...I will do it, I will!!

Kerry_Woman · 31 January 2018 at 9:04PM

Done all the budget total's for January. This month is usually expensive due to property maintenance(pay in full for the year), contents insurance and prescription certificate due. Did not spend today.
A date has been made for my Dad's service and cremation.
Finally finishing my cross stitch project. Went on a walk in park despite the rain. Did a few bits in the flat and small bit of decluttering. Now having a chilled out evening.

Nonnadiluca · 31 January 2018 at 9:25PM

I haven't posted much but have been checking in every day for inspiration! End of the month and just over £16 under on the food budget which I'm really pleased with as I have stocked up on a few things which have been on offer, and also have been buying and cooking extra for DD and her family as she is laid up with a broken leg. Other spends are a bit over budget but I was expecting that as annual home and contents insurance was paid, a few much needed clothes were bought for DH, in the sales of course! Also car tax, only £20 thank goodness. Petrol bill was up as well, partly because I am doing a lot of running around because of DD's injury - over to her house at least once a day, extra shopping and ferrying grandsons here there and everywhere, and partly because DH filled up the car yesterday when I was planning to leave it till next week. Hopefully February will be even better; at least it has the virtue of being short!
Thanks to all for inspiration and encouragement, it's really helped me to keep on track.

PennyGrabber · 31 January 2018 at 11:07PM

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted for a while, but have been reading every day. Although I have spent more than I thought I would, I am pleased with how mindful I've been. On reflection, I need to spend less on take aways, but then this was not a normal month with me being ill and not able to cook, so I'll forgive myself and monitor this in February. I paid off £60 extra on my mortgage, made progress with my savings, started saving for holiday and Christmas, and made a prototype crochet Christmas gift. I decluttered quite a lot - not what I had planned, but I've moved those to February. I've lost around half a stone.

So, lots of good points, and some things to think about. In my journal, I have reflected on this month's goals, related to the year's goals, and I have set my goals for February based on this. Feeling really positive that I am working to better myself, thinking about the bigger picture and the steps to take. Go me!!!

PG x

spudsmum · 31 January 2018 at 11:13PM

Today has been a better day. Decided to stop wallowing about the car and count my blessings - some people are going through much much worse.

DS got on ok at the hospital so asked for a KFC afterwards. Was a very "unfrugal" £12 for both of us however he only ate half of his. We brought it home instead of binning it like we usually would and he happily had it for his tea so thats not as bad i suppose. He needs another procedure next week which he is terrified about so i might end up having to resort to good old fashioned bribary which is likely to be expensive but if its the only way he'll have it done then i'll go with it.

Finally got the verdict on the car at 4pm. It hasnt lost much steering fluid (oozing rather than dripping was their terminology - very technical :rotfl:) so they were quite confident that i can safely drive it for a while as long as i keep an eye on the levels - thats the good news. The bad news is it will eventually fail and it will be £1100 to fix :eek: There's also couple of other expensive issues that will make it fail its MOT in July so i need to get a new car before then really. So, either way the outlay will be significant but at least i have 6 months to mitigate the damage to finances instead of needing to find the money today. It only cost me £70 today (which, by pure chance, was equal to the first installment i put in my car pot on pay day - yay!) so all in all i'm fairly happy with that.

Hoping for a NSD tomorrow and DH gets paid Friday so if i can manage it i will come in well under budget this week - fingers crossed.

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2018 Frugal Living Challenge

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