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My new years resolution is to be more frugal. Anyone else?

90 replies

PublicEnemyNumeroUno · 22/12/2013 13:23

I need to stop frittering money away on crap. I'd like to have some savings, one day I'd like to be able to take my children to Florida but struggle to save.

So in the new year I'm going to be a superscrimper.

I used to meal plan and was very good at it. But then when I passed my driving test and started actually going to the supermarket rather than doing my shopping online my food bills doubled!

So I'm going back to meal planning and would like to get my food bill down to £40 a week. Even less if I can.

I will be buying all clothes from eBay and charity shops OR just making do with what I've already got.

Cook and bake everything from scratch

I also plan to bulk buy some stuff in January and have a bit of a stock pile, things like rice, pasta, washing powder etc

Is anyone else planning to save/be more frugal in 2014?

I've also been lurking on the money saving expert forums for tips.

And yesterday, instead of chucking some rather soft black bananas in the bin I made banana and white choc chip muffins out of them using ingredients I already had :)

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pixiestix · 22/12/2013 14:56

I'm with you! I'm having a baby in March and my credit cards are teetering on the brink of out-of-control. I am terrible at sticking to a budget - I feel really hard done by if I can't treat myself to a posh coffee here and there or a takeaway - and I'm going to try really hard to fight that in 2014.

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PublicEnemyNumeroUno · 22/12/2013 15:11

I want to aim to save £5k next year, it will be extremely hard but I'm going to challange myself to it anyway. I'm sat here writing out loads of cheap to make recipes and am going to put them in a folder for when I do my meal plans

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PublicEnemyNumeroUno · 22/12/2013 15:28

Eek just worked out I'd have to save £96 every week to make £5k. Not realistic to me :(

New target in £3k. Might be do-able

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MincedMuffPies · 22/12/2013 15:41

Yes I'm in I have no idea how to stick to a budget. Would really like to get a handle on my money and stop wasting it.

I do already buy the massive rice and massive pasta bags, I stock pile dc crisps and toilet rolls to oh and the massive washing powder boxes. But I am still spending to much in asda.

I really want to take the dc abroad, flights alone will be 3k for all of us..but accommodation will be free where I'm planning on going.

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MincedMuffPies · 22/12/2013 15:50

we could post recipes and tips and keep the thread ongoing?

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MudCity · 22/12/2013 15:54

Me too! Me too! Yes, be realistic in your savings plan. There is no point over-estimating what you can save and then having to dip into it every five minutes. Just a small amount every month is good....at the end of the year you will feel really pleased. And of course, the main thing is not to use your credit card as all the hard work going into saving will be offset by the credit spending.

Make sure you transfer your credit card balance to a 0% interest deal as well. I am trying to prioritise clearing my credit debt above all else. No point saving if you are paying huge amounts of interest each month on an outstanding balance.

I have set up a cash ISA account (a book one...I can't be trusted with a web account) and am going to try to put a realistic amount away each month.

I am also planning to be much more organised about using supermarket vouchers I receive through the post and at the till (up until now I have put them somewhere "safe" and they get forgotten.

I am not very organised with meal planning but wastage upsets me so my goal is also to only buy what I need....which actually isn't that much I have come to realise. I think you are right...plan your menu carefully so as little as possible goes to waste.

One thing I have learned too is to shop around for the best insurance deals. I managed to more-than-halve my car insurance when it came up for renewal recently. I now realise how much I have been ripped off for years by not shopping around. My home insurance is due for renewal in September so I plan to do the same with that. I have no doubt that I have been ripped off with that for years as well (bit upsetting really).

Very, very good luck with your year of austerity!

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chickydoo · 22/12/2013 15:55

This sounds a plan. Am going to have to cut back next year, have a jolly tax bill waiting to be paid, have several big family birthdays, and a whole heap of other stuff. I would like to save about £50 a week if possible.

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RevoltInParadise · 22/12/2013 15:59

I'm in! Need to economise and stop living in our overdraft!

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lifesgreatquestions · 22/12/2013 15:59

I really want to do this. I would rather have a savings than a new top here and there. I have managed to start a savings though. I'm hoping to get £5000 into an isa by April 5th but not sure I'll make it. I aimed to put in a set amount each month but in the end I usually just put what's left over at the end of the month. Sometimes that's been good, sometimes it hasn't! I also leave my cards at home to limit my ability to splurge buy. And I give myself a small allowance for each week, which has encouraged me to take in my own lunches - which are healthier (bonus!). My real problem is online shopping. If I see an S&B thread that mentions a sale I'm hooked. In fact I have improved on this a bit as I used to keep most of whatever I bought and I do send a lot of it back now. Xmas Blush. But it's pretty weak minded.

We do our own cooking, and don't go out or drink much so it really is my online shopping habit. Help!

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Mum2Fergus · 22/12/2013 15:59

I'm in! Can see one of the cars needing replacing shortly...and I need to save approx £5k for next stage of the work I want done in house. Need to get back to proper meal planning,it's become a bit hit/miss last couple of months. All my utilities/house outgoings are as low as I can get them (always shop around at renewal time).

I paid off store card at start of Dec, but have a credit card Id like to hammer hard at too...

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MudCity · 22/12/2013 16:01

Oh yes, meant to say, sell as much stuff as you can. I used to sell a lot of stuff on Ebay. More recently, due to lack of time, I sold a load of clothes on Music Magpie. I got a pittance for them (approx £50) but £50 is a good amount of groceries isn't it?

Better a bag of groceries than a load of clothes I never wore.

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LittleMissRedSparklyBaubles · 22/12/2013 16:05

I'm in. I am terrible at frittering money away on crap, and am useless at saving. I want to start being more responsible with money and saving it up rather than just spending whatever I have left at the end of the month.

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MudCity · 22/12/2013 16:05

lifesgreatquestions I'm an online shopper too. It is addictive and at times has been out of control. The internet is probably the worst thing that has ever happened to my spending.

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MudCity · 22/12/2013 16:09

LittleMissRed Ditto for me. I have so much crap It is almost a health hazard. I don't know what I have got most of the time because I have so much STUFF that I never wear...clothes and jewellery. It is appalling.

Seriously, if there was a Shoppers Anonymous group, I should join it.

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ssd · 22/12/2013 16:13

me too!

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paneer · 22/12/2013 16:19

me

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MincedMuffPies · 22/12/2013 16:34

How the hell can you be frugal though! I have no idea how to not spend my money.

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Hawkmoth · 22/12/2013 16:36

I did see a post on Fb yesterday where you put money away every week. £1, £2, £3 up to £52 by the end of the year (or reverse) and you end up with £1378! I'm going to do this. I have a special piggybank.

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garlicbaubles · 22/12/2013 16:43

Yeah, this is a resolution the DWP's made for me, assisted by the council and my landlord :( I'm already frugal, perforce. 2014 will be the Year of Rice & Beans chez moi.

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WoodBurnerBabe · 22/12/2013 17:22

Me too! I daren't check my credit card statement right now, but my aim for next year is to end the year debt free. So I've got to pay off this credit card (poss £700???) and then save around the same amount to pay for Christmas next year to end the year in zero.

My biggest waste is food at work. Around £20/week easily, which if I took packup every day would save me about £1k per year.

Am gulping in shock now I've just worked that out...

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monikar · 22/12/2013 18:09

My biggest problem was popping into the supermarket for a bottle of milk, and ending up spending £30 on just bits, so I have tried to stop this.

I find that to try not to go to the supermarket I look and see what we have in the cupboard and freezer and make a meal out of what we have - in a 'ready steady cook' sort of way. It makes for some interesting combinations but it keeps me away from spending.

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MincedMuffPies · 22/12/2013 18:13

I'm going to start writing down everything I spend, plus meal plan and see what I can adjust.

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claretandamberforever · 22/12/2013 18:19

Yep, me too. We already have a monthly thread on the credit crunch board so do feel free to come and post on there.

I really, really do need to stop haemorrhaging money and spending it on crap. Aim is to pay off my Tesco credit card which all this year's Xmas spending went on, whilst trying to prepare for Xmas 2014 so I don't have to use the credit card again.

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PublicEnemyNumeroUno · 22/12/2013 18:26

Online clothes shopping is a serious bad habit for me too, I try to buy cheap stuff but it all adds up!

I've got a big page to day diary for 2014, I'm going to (try) and write all my spends down so I can see where money is going.

My car is due its MOT in January and I'm dreading it.

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PublicEnemyNumeroUno · 22/12/2013 18:27

We can put our meal plans and stuff on this thread to keep track, plus our spends, any good bargains we see etc

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