2020...My frugal year, for real this time

[NorthEndGal]

This year I really want to buckle down on wasteful spending, like grabbing a coffee instead of bring from home.
Buying a shirt for a night out, instead of raiding a friend's closet.
I know I said it last year, and fell off the frugal wagon a week later.😳

Anyone else looking to cut frivolous spending in 2020? Any tips for staying on track? I'm good at budgets and such, shit at willpower though...

Any suggestions for sticking to it?

Different savings pots/pots of money so you have x amount of spending a month after bills and can’t touch the rest.
Or take cash out and when it’s gone it’s gone. Money saving expert forums have loads of tips for this.

I will join you.

I use spending as a way of coping with anxiety then feel anxious about what I’m spending and all the “stuff” around me.

I’ve decided to gradually become a minimalist.

I’m spending the next couple of days sorting, binning and donating.

Me too! I need this year to be the year I stop wasting money on eg coffee, buying lunch at work, accidentally spending £30 having popping into Sainsbury’s for some milk...

I'm in as I've got so many books on my kindle that I probably won't read them all in my life time so I'm not buying any more.

Happy to hear I am not so alone in this. It feels doubly frustrating, because I know better. So what cant I stick to doing better?! Arhghgh!

I know my worst areas are buying extras when food shopping, buying meals out when feeling tired/lazy/sick/busy and "sale" buys.
I think, oh, this is such a savings, and buy something at 70% off. Except I didnt need it in the first place .
Glucosamine supplements, I'm looking at you!

Yep, another one here trying to stop the midweek splurges, going into the shops for 1or 2 items and coming out having spent £30-60

Also trying to be more prepared when out and about, making sure kids take drinks bottles and trying not to be out over lunchtimes, other half likes to eat out and even fast food ends up being £30+ for us all, just for a lunch.

I'm in. Clothes are my worst indulgence. I'm currently losing weight (2 stone down and plenty to go) so I'm spending too much on clothes when I have drawers full of older clothes that fit me again.

I'm doing no new clothes (bar underwear and tights as needed) and replacement only beauty (so I can buy foundation, mascara etc when i run out, but no new palettes, lipsticks etc.)

I've made a spread sheet, not the most elegant but I will refine it as I go along. On it are categories like food/fuel/gas/lx/wine/insurance/other...

So far the other column has £1.69 for 00 railway people and 99p for Elinor Oliphant. I probably don't need the little people or the book. The miniatures are for my pupils to make up stories about (or me). I didn't like the bit of the book I read but FOMO!

It's working already though as I can see I'm spending far more than I can afford per day. I'm hoping to balance the books, keep a keen eye and ultimately save enough to go on a battlefield tour in France.

Leave your purse at home.
Have £10 emergency in your bag but don’t spend it unless it’s a total emergency.

Online grocery shopping- have a stored shopping list, book a delivery a week for 3 wks for each month - book at the start of each month and use a prepaid delivery pass as these work out cheaper. You won’t be seduced by sale items this way and will quickly learn what to order each week eg I buy multipacked lunch snacks 3 times a month and on the last week we just use up what is left. We have a ‘skint week’ before payday where I literally won’t buy anything at all. Car out of petrol? Too bad. Gas and electric metres low? Too bad. Makes us really think twice about our resources and budget/ration everything. So if I know that last month I had hardly any petrol in skint week, to avoid that again I do fewer car journeys in the other weeks. If we were low on the gas I’m skint week, we will wear extra layers for a few days and turn the heating off most of the time. When the kids are in bed everything is turned off bar the fridge.
Not always possible to be a Scrooge on the spending but often it is. I’ve even been known to pinch half used toilet rolls in skint week from work/anywhere just to get us through.
Needs must.

Use Quidco for all purchases. I just got £140 back from my daughters mobile phone contract I took out as her bday pressie in October. Saving this and any other bits of cashback to cover Xmas next year when I’ll cash it in for supermarket vouchers which you get something like an extra 5% on top which you don’t get if you transfer it out straight to your bank.

£5 fake Chilly water bottle makes home brought drinks so much nicer.

Daughters only allowed to go to the cinema etc on a Tuesday or Wednesday -meerkat movies- bought £4 UK holiday insurance to qualify and made the money back 3 fold in the first week.

Haven’t been to a high street or shopping centre for about 4 years- no temptation!

My fridge and oven recently died and I needed up getting second hand replacements from a charity shop for a total of £50. They won’t last forever but there’s no way I could have afforded new- it would have meant more credit.

I’m not perfect and have loads of debt but living like this really helps. Once I pay off a loan in early 2021 everything will be easier. Determined not to ever get another. Then will plough extra money to repaying a catalogue which will prob take another year to clear.
So Easter 2022 I’m coming for you!

I started saving this week for dd’s prom dress which we will start to look for now on ebay etc
And I have a big birthday in a couple of years that I would like to do something special for as my other big birthdays have all gone unmarked.
Other than that no holidays or big purchases.

Also considering going for child maintenance as I’ve never received a penny and youngest dd is 15.
Prob won’t be much but £200pm x14yrs would have meant I never would have got into such a financial mess as I’m in now.

Think how long you'll have to work to make up for paying for stuff. Do you want that top enough to work two hours for it?

Yes, I will join you! I need to stay out oh home bargains and b&m as I aimlessly wonder into them and then spend £40.

I've started a bullet journal and put a money tracker in it. I've allocated a fund to add to so I can buy some new clothes when I lose weight. I'm hoping being frugal will encourage my weight loss.

I think you have to work out WHY you're doing a frugal year and keep that in mind - is it to save money, for environmental reasons, because you have too much stuff, because you feel out of control?

For me its all of the above! Plus a weird thing about 'treating myself because no one else will' - which is very very self pitying of me and not even true!

I look at my goal list, then ask what's stopping me. A big part of it is budget. Then I scrutinize my budget, and make a plan. I follow the plan for a week or 5, and then SQUIRREL! Or the financial equivalent.

Then I get the guilts, and try again, but last half the time. And repeat.

I need to hold myself as accountable for my spending .
I need to have stronger self discipline.
I need to stop making excuses to keep spending once I fuck up.

I've been trying to really deal with my budget head on. I've listed everything going out monthly and yearly and marked down all the big one off outgoings in some months like insurance or service charge. I was looking through my banking app a minute ago and I always think I've been robbed because it's just little outgoings - £7 here, £11 there, £3, £1.50 etc but it does add up correctly and I haven't been robbed.
I think one of my biggest problems is when my balance is high after a lot of money has gone in at once, I feel flush and buy clothes (always discounted) but I don't need them and it puts a big dent in my balance, then I'm watching the pennies half way through the month. It's really stupid and I should have learned a long time ago. I don't need any more clothes or "stuff," so I'm banned from buying things unless it's a replacement - eg tights, underwear, or for beauty/makeup if it's something I've actually run out of and need like foundation, makeup remover, as opposed to a lipstick I've seen that I like the look of. I do find I spend about 1/3 less in the supermarket by shopping online. It's a shame to miss the marked down items but I always end up buying impulse purchases when I go into a big supermarket

m.youtube.com/watch?v=VCr-54OH7IY

This video really changed my way of budgeting last year. The wheels came off a bit at the end of the year but I’ve found Revolute brilliant and have the vault savings x3 of spare change and I can’t believe how fast it adds up!

I started a Low Buy last year, inspired by a friend who was inspired by Hannah Louise Poston ( www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLizpYXWzzy0XNziDYlDujEB776fZn4ggu )

Rules are flexible but in general.... Don't buy it if you ready have a replacement at home, even if the replacement isn't quite perfect. So, use up all those lurking toiletries you were gifted 8 years ago before you buy a new one. Pay attention to what's in your wardrobe rather than buying new. Swap with friends if you can, etc.

I helps me think "do I really need this?" when I go to buy something frivolous.

I do still spend too much on food top up shops so I'm going to try super hard this year. I drew up a meal plan yesterday based on what's still in my cupboard, fridge and freezer from Christmas etc. Aiming to totally empty it really, just buying in fruit and veg to keep us topped up.

I think sometimes we get brainwashed into thinking the thing we pay more for is better. I like to eat out or treat myself to coffee and a cake but honestly, I can make better myself.
Now I bake and freeze in small portions and bring my own coffee cup (made exactly how I like it). I hadn’t noticed how often I was tolerating not-quite-right products because I was thinking of them as a treat. It doesn’t feel frugal to bring my own, it feels like self-care.

I withdraw cash each week, rather than using cards as it completely changes the spending decisions I make. I don’t always stick rigidly to it, as sometimes it can be more frugal to take advantage of a special offer, but it helps me to slow down and think rather than spend impulsively.

I set up a seasonal capsule wardrobe along the lines of 3-33 but not quite that tight. It helps me see what I need to buy and to think through whether an item will fit with the rest of the clothes, rather than buying random things that take my fancy. It’s not especially frugal as I’m prepared to spend more for good quality clothes but it’s not wasteful.

I stock up on staples we actually use and top up every month. And I use my freezer a lot. If I’m cooking something that takes effort I double or triple the recipe and freeze, but again in small portions so I can pull out a meal for 1 person if necessary rather than a huge family portion that will take hours to defrost. Again, while a takeaway is a lovely treat, it’s not necessarily tastier than a home made meal, and not necessarily faster. I freeze staples like breads and sliced meats which I buy once a month in a supermarket trip. The weekly shop is just fruit, veg and meat which I get from the butcher and green grocer. I have milk delivered, which is more expensive than buying instore, but saves me a fortune on all the other extras I’d end up buying if I had to go to the shop.

I did so well for a huge part of the ysar but ariund September time the work day meal deals started slipping back in.

I'm going back on the wagon for January.

Need to cut foodwaste and get back in the habit of getting cashback for any (necessary) purchases that I make.

I am terrible for just buying random crap so keeping away from shops as much as possible.

You need a plan for when you are tired and hungry. Can you put some dinners in the freezer to have instead of getting a carry out or quick shop?

If you get one but under control first?

Same here. Ive just done a balance transfer on my CC so i really can clear my debt. I will be debt free in 27 months. I have a new job which pays more. Sick and tired of debt.

I really don't do takeaways, always take in lunch to work, never buy coffee. I do need to stop popping in to HB & B&M🤭. Save more too and have something in the bank a day before payday that hasn’t eaten in to my overdraft😡

Were gonna bloody stick to cheap and cheerful meals too.

I super appreciate all the advice, now let's see if I can implement it!
Just came back from shopping, and actually stuck to the list.
Wonder of wonders!

Just came back from shopping, and actually stuck to the list.

Well done!!

Similar to others, I think my biggest issue is top up shops mid-week. I'm by myself so I can't do online food shops regularly as I don't spend enough for the delivery charge really (although I might if I planned I suppose!). I also stock up on things when I've already got them in a cupboard at home - then struggle for cupboard space. Bonkers really.

Otherwise I spend a lot on hobbies but I'm fairly aware of that and happy to at least.

I need to stop getting treat food regularly - and picking up random crap when doing a top up shop.

I have found Monzo helpful - not only to make a budget and see where your spending is going (I wasn't too surprised there) but mostly because it gives you a running total of what you've spent that day, as a push notification. So you can't really ignore it. Was quite helpful on Boxing Day when I was doing some online sales shopping...

I don't use Monzo for food shopping however, that's my 'fun money' card. Wondering if I should start so that buying random food affects the amount of money left over for fun things!!

I’m in! Last year wiped out our savings as we had to have major work done on our roof and chimneys. One was in danger of collapse so it had to be done.

Both kids have PGL trips and DD1 has a trip to France with school.

I like @Barbararara’s advice about batch cooking and using the freezer. I am going to bake stuff that freezes like muffins for packed lunches and freeze meals in smaller portions.