Frugal Living 2010

A question about : Frugal Living 2010

This thread is for those who've been taking part in the Frugal Living Challenge for 2010

We're having a change of 'host' for 2011 (still to be agreed upon as to who), but so that Frugaldom can utilise her time better with her own priorities I've kicked off this thread for the tail end of 2010 - meaning she doesn't need to feel obliged to bob in and post as often as she can make time to do so

I'm sure everyone will join in with me in wishing Frugaldom the best in her personal ventures, and in saying a huuuuuge 'Thanks' for the support over the last few years

================================================== ======

As many are aware, this challenge was started up by (and run for several years by) Frugaldom

You can find the original thread for the last quarter of 2010 here

I always found the following (in the header of each of the previous threads) to be a useful reminder as to what the challenge was/is about, so have chosen to quote it here

Quote:

People join in with this challenge for all kinds of reasons.

For some it's all about wanting to live on as little as they can while paying off debts/mortgages.

For others it all about building up savings - either so they have a 'rainy day' fund, or so they can have the holiday of a lifetime, or (in the case of one of our members) so they can start up their own business.

For another group (myself included) it's because income has dropped but bills still have to be paid. So by doing this challenge we are ensuring we watch where our pennies are going.

The most important thing - for all of us - is to ensure that our outgoings are never more than our incomes.

Each persons budget is different due to circumstances, some of which are covered below
how much of our income we're prepared to spend on the necessities of life
what we class as a necessity
what we include in our budgets for this challenge (some people exclude work expenses, and this year I've been excluding the expenses related to my garden, getting fit, and a bit of a social life)
how many people there are in our household
where we live (I have easy access to supermarket Whoopsies while some people don't have easy/local access to a large supermarket, so this is obviously refected by a difference in grocery budgets)

This challenge is NOT a competition to see who can live on the least amount of money, either as a household or on a per person basis.
This challenge IS about ensuring we only spend what we can afford/are comfortable with spending, and we share hints and tips to help others reduce spends in 'problem' areas.

Best answers:

• Thanks Cheryl for doing this
• Hear hear!
• Thanks a mill for starting this Cheryl.
• whispers again because i'm not in the challenge but.... i've just done my budget for next year Ј9000. Think I need to do it again
• I will defo be here next year - my third yr of the challenge, but with baby due anytime now (due 20th nov) - i couldn't commit to running. Why can't a couple of people run the thread together BTW...... (not me tho lol) - you could take it in turns to reply to threads - like one person is in charge 1st-10th the month, another 11th-20th etc etc???
  Looking forward to the final run til 2011
• I'm another one not officially on the challenge, though I was a couple of years back. Looks as though I've dropped in at an interesting time! Thanks, Frugaldom, for everything you've done over the years: you've inspired so many people. And thanks to Cheryl for taking on the work.
  Erme, have you thought of putting up chains? I find these very useful and cheap about the house - just ordinary lightweight chain from the DIY store. Get one with large enough links and you can hang it from nails or hooks, you can hang hooks (maybe butcher's hooks) from the chain, you can move and rearrange them easily. My kitchen roll is on a length of chain between two cuphooks screwed into a shelf, my extra toilet rolls are stored on another chain to keep them off the bathroom floor, my fanlight window has a chain attached so I can pull it without dislocating my shoulders. At the moment I'm planning a chain to go in the airing cupboard so I can attach clothes hangers to it. The hangers can be spaced out and won't slide up and down because each hanger hook will go through one link of the chain. And if you get tired of one way of using the chain, you can recycle it into something else. It's very adaptable stuff.
• Thank you frugaldom for all your hard work. Will we still be able to keep up with you on your blog/website?
  I am glad that people still want this to continue. There are not many friendly threads on here.
  Most of them I steer clear of because they can get so nasty.
  Our lodgers have settled into their new home and I am slowly getting things back to normal in the house.
  I will soon be sorting out my paper work so I will be able to see how things went this year moneywise.
• I'd love the forum to continue also so thanks cw18 for stepping in to finish this year off. I dont post very often as it often feels a bit clique and I seem to be very much on the outside most of the time. I continue doing as much as Frugaldom suggested as I can and obviously I'm nowhere near as frugal as she is however the whole concept of this forum grabbed me as being careful has been how I've existed for years. I log in from time to time and catch up with things and people and am grateful to all suggestions from other forum members but don't have much spare time to comment daily and neither do I think most of my ideas would be of much use to most of you anyway. I'm finding just looking after myself and trying to keep healthy and well and make my income go round is as much as I can manage day to day.
  Many thanks to Nyk for starting and guiding us on this forum, I hope she looks in from time to time as her posts are an inspiration for me and probably many others. X
• cw18 - Thanks for starting the new thread.
  Frugaldom - Thanks for all your hard work. Wishing you all the best for your future.
  I definately want to continue in 2011. Still not finalised my budget as yet.
• I definitely want the thread to continue and I'm prepared to help out with the admin where I can but I don't want it all on my shoulders because sometimes I'm not online for a week or more and like I'm not online on Sabbath....
  Thanks redglass for the tip...How much do these chains cost (is this a really stupid question?) and are they heavy or light...and how will they stay up if I have them laden with coathanger and wet clothes? Still researching this idea but thinking now more about putting the lines in the hallway (across it) about headheight rather than the bathroom with the probs with the shower that would need a plumber to fix...or else still in the bathroom but lengthways sink to top of door....
  Any input on this idea most appreciated...
  Anyhow hope everyone is welll. Just checking in...
  Blessings
  E
• *delurking*
  I, also, would like the thread to continue. I have lurked on the old thread for the past couple of months and it's been very inspirational. I have plans to join in when next years challenge starts and am looking forward to it.
  Thanks to Frugaldom for starting the original thread(s), and to cw18 for starting this one. Hope that the Frugaldom website / blog will continue as it is another of my lurking haunts
  *back to lurking mode for now until the 2011 thread (hopefully) starts *
• Thank you Cheryl for picking up the baton, I would love to see this challenge or something similar continued for 2011. You've ALL helped keep me on the straight and narrow with useful advise and tips over the past year and it spurs me on hearing how everyone else is doing.
  Being as I am two seasons behind you all, I am tapping into inspiration and memories of the earlier posts in this challenge when you were all plotting and planning growing your own fruit and veggies. Am heavily into my garden at present, dashing out every evening to tend to my seedlings and do the watering. We've got strawberries coming along, raspberry cane in flower, runner beans and taters just planted out.
  I was awfully brave and spent the weekend digging out my compost heap Scary biscuits, cos I was convinced there were rats in there. (Thankfully there wasn't)
  On the budget front, it's getting very close now and with little room left for juggling and still quite a long list of things I need to get for Xmas, so I am going to have to be very strict with the remains. I have a list of the minimum requirements for presents, food etc down to the stamps for cards and that takes care of pretty much all I have left to spend.
  My mantra is to be strong and not be at all tempted to deviate from the plan.
• Thanks, Cheryl.
  Yes, I will be continuing my challenge as normal, just not on here. Many thanks to all who have taken part and enjoyed following the frugal lifestyle. No doubt I will pop in for a read now and again. My personal challenge remains unchanged, but the challenge on here took a completely different route when it moved from DFW. I had no intentions of upsetting anyone, I still don't know how I managed that, but I guess my interpretation of frugal living is just different from some others.
  All the very best with your individual challenges, however you decide to meet them.
  NYK Media / Frugaldom
• Kiwisaver meat attracts rats so don't put any in the compost and you should not get them I have found the odd mouse though including one that had got itself trapped. I could hear it squeaking and dug very carefully till I found it and freed it. It was just a field mouse so not scary at all.
• Erne I bought some cheap yellow plastic washing line from mr m and hung it from my bathroom window on the handle, through to the handle on my bedroom window - this was my indoor washing line I now have an aluminium washing line that is brilliant - it is really light but a proper circle washing line. It is a caravan one. Got it on eBay and is brill for indoor use x Evay: portable rotary caravan washing x x
  Still being frugal and slowly putting together next yrs budget. I have already decided that instead of paying car insurance in installments I am paying in full and using the monthly equivalent to pay back into savings. This will save me 140 in interest!
  Going to have a lazy day - still have a cauli in the veg box to pick - have wrapped it's leaves around to keep the frost away - also need to plant more salad leaves. My food budget is going to be an area I cut drastically next yr. We are trialling 160 this mtg and on grocery challenge, this is a cut from 275 month usually!
• Thanks FRugaldom for all the hard work over the last years and thanks to cw18 for keeping this thread going. I only just joined again and have not been on that often yet but I definitely would like to keep going.
  Had a little go at BF yesterday. I'm four months pg but he still goes out once or twice a week. Fair enough if he wants to let off steam before the frugalmite comes and to be honest I quite miss drinking in the pub with mates. But anyway, he was never that great with money and he used borrow money off me before his payday (btw he does not have any other debt though apart from a car loan) but it's gotten a bit better lately I thought. Then he had quite a few unexpected repair on his car and was complaining about how costly the car now is and if he could borrow some money til payday AGAIN! I had to compose myself for a few minutes and then told him that he maybe shouldn't go out that often if he doesn't have the means and I was dissapointed that he still hasn't started to put money aside for these kind of eventualities . The baby is only 5 paycheques away, how is he gonna have money once I'm on maternity pay? Gggrrrrr...why can't men think of the future. I'm not worried financially because I have put enough money aside for the baby etc but it's a two way street.
  I sometimes also suspect that money is the reason why he doesn't want to marry rather than it not making a difference to him (but he knows I'd like to), not that it has to cost a lot. Don't get me wrong I love that man and he's very excited about the baby and caring just sometimes ........maybe it's because as someone told me for man it's not quite real till the baby is born.
• Heartfelt thanks to Frugaldom for setting up the original challenge and cw18 for taking up the baton. Between you (Frugaldom's thread and sage words of advice reminding us to distinguish between needs and wants, and cw18's spreadsheet reminding me when I've started to confuse the two) I have literally saved thousands of pounds this year which has gone to paying off debt
• [Frugaldom, I have taken this from your original thread because I've found the links really useful in the past . If anyone objects I will remove the post]
  For some it is initially about clearing debt, for others it's about increasing savings, buying property, becoming stay at home mums or paying off the mortgage early. Some choose the lifestyle on ethical grounds. Above all, this is a fun and supportive way to manage your budget so you have control of your own cost of living. It's about NEEDS, not WANTS.
  Living on a budget = living within our means.
  Frugal = thrifty, living without waste
  Ideas to help you achieve and/or maintain debt free living
  Spend within your means
  Set a proper budget
  Houseshare
  Get a lodger
  Shop via cashback sites but always price compare,
  Buy reduced items in stores only if you need them,
  Stockpile & bulk buy
  Batch cooking,
  Make the most of charity shops,
  Join Freecycle or other similar waste awareness and recycling associations,
  LETS trading - become active members of trading & exchange groups
  bartering
  Grow your own herbs, fruit & veg,
  Preserving & winemaking
  Card & gift making
  Order splitting for better discounts & shared postal costs,
  Landsharing, allotments & frugal garden systems
  Free scratchcards,
  Matched betting,
  Free online bingo,
  eBid and eBay trading
  etc, etc, etc...
  Sample Budget
  Groceries - Ј1,095.00
  Toiletries - Ј40.00
  Cleaning & Laundry products - Ј10.00
  Heat, power & hot water - Ј1,500.00
  Mobiles, Internet & telephone - Ј400
  TV Licence - Ј145
  Clothing & footwear Ј50
  Travel Ј240
  Household Insurance Ј55
  Gifts & everything else - Ј465
  TOTAL Ј4,000
  Monitoring and revising the budget is part of frugal living plan. Gifts & cards could all to be homemade, livestock needs to pay its own keep, anything else needs to be cash neutral. If you live with debt and are serious about clearing it, there's no space in the budget for luxuries.
  Quote:
  HANDY LINKS:
  (I am neither endorsing nor recommending any of the links provided here, members of our extended frugal community have simply found them to contain helpful information.)
  Approved Food - amazing bargains if you don't mind short dates or past sell by – save a fortune whilst saving it from landfill!
  BigBrandsforless - even more amazing bargains on short or just past sell by dates
  Bite Card - 20% off food at train stations (ideal for regular travellers)
  Budgetbrain - MSE's free to use budget analysis tool - BRILLIANT!
  Carrot recipes - loads of ways to use up those carrots
  CASHBACK - The official MSE list of sites offering the best cashback deals
  Cheryl's FREE spreadsheet - how to download & use it free
  Complete (MSE) cooking collection - Loads and loads and loads of recipes
  Cookingbynumbers - using up food you have in stock, free to use
  Crafting for Christmas - homemade presents
  Eggs, eggs, eggs - My '100 things to do with eggs' list
  Electricity & Gas savings - monitor your electricity & gas with the MoneySaving Carbon Club
  Flannel Cake making - unusual gifts
  Food Bargains - Discounted food, short dated and past 'BBE' dates.
  Foraging & Preserving - free foods, when, where, what to do with them
  Free 2010 OS MSE calendar - download and print
  Free crafts ideas - how to make papier mache banks etc
  Freecycle - don't bin it, rehome it.
  Freegle - Originally Freecycle in UK
  Gift Baskets & Hampers - an index to the MSE relevant threads
  Gifts in a jar - you don't need a canner for these
  Greenfingered money saving - Gardening & growing your own food
  Grocery bargains - Supermarket price reduction times
  Hunger Site - Charity site where every click counts
  i-Measure - log your meter readings and try to reduce your carbon footprint
  Laundry Gloop and loads of other frugal cleaning related 'recipes'
  Leftovers - don't bin them, get creative, make another meal.
  LETS - Local Exchange Trading Schemes and alternative currencies within communities
  Martin's mad moneysaver ads - a surprising new addition to the site - advertising offers!
  Martin's current offers & discount codes - updated daily
  Menu Planning - hundreds of options and suggestions
  Nutrition and diet info, an excellent thread - thanks to Weezl74
  Old Style indexed collection - Indexed collection of links, hints and tips for anything old style, moneysaving and frugal.
  Preparing for winter the frugal way
  Recipes part 1 - thanks to Rosieben on the Grocery Challenge
  Recipes part 2 - thanks, again, to Rosieben
  Remoska discussion - everything you need to know about Remoska ovens
  Rural Moneysaving Hunt - official MSE discussion
  Selling on eBid - decluttering and recycling for cash with no listing fees
  Snowman Soup - always a favourite with frugallers during the festive season
  Soapnuts - The frugal, eco-friendly alternative to soap powder or detergents (free samples)
  Soapnuts thread on MSE - discuss, ask questions here
  Spending Diary - excellent free resource for recording your spends
  Start a cottage industry - the official MSE discussion
  Veg Planner - free printable vegetable planting guide/calendar from the RHS
  Weezl74's 50p per person per day eating healthily thread
  Weezl74's frugal recipe testing thread - Phase 1
  Will Power & Billy Can - part 1, part 2, part 3