January Frugaleers thread brings no judgment just friendly banter & advice for like minded folk

[Happierwithouthim]

A place where all are welcome regardless of income, level of debt or reason for being in debt or debt free.

We're friendly, full of good advice and open to new ideas where to shave off expense and how to live your best life on the income you have.

Over the years we've celebrated debt payoffs, babies, leaving jobs, getting different jobs, bonuses, and we've been there for each other through difficult times.

New posters welcome always & I hope posters who have fallen off thread will rejoin too

Checking in.

Thanks for the new thread @Happierwithouthim

£40 Amazon on a bulk purchase of coffee, oat milk and tea bags. That should be it for spending today, a quiet day is planned.

Ooo shiny new thread thanks @Happierwithouthim . The clicky link didn't work for me btw it said 404 error?

Well we are starting off the year with a spendy day today as both teens need new shoes for school and school uniform. I've scoured vinted but nothing quite right. Definitely harder to buy preloved for teenagers!

Happy New year to all hope it's a good one for everyone, and a frugal one too of course!

Ooh, thank you for new year thread @Happierwithouthim (what's the preferred convention on this thread btw - do we do @ or just pick out the poster's name in bold?)

Hope everyone had a good evening and the new year has dawned well. Ddog switched his firework response mode from loud and punchy to quiet and cowering, poor boy. Sleeping happily now.

Sorted house insurance, pet insurance, bike insurance yesterday. Boiler service booked for tomorrow. DH says he's going to switch our broadband provider from Virgin, who have been very reliable, but expensive. So hopefully we will make savings there. Sent in the meter reading and our bill is high, as expected, (about £380 in deficit) but should have some leeway this month to pay down a chunk.

Chicken and pastry out of the freezer, leftover cassoulet in the freezer. About to jump in the shower and get organised to meet friend for lunch. Had some very nice WhatsApp messages from friends and family last night - it is nice to hear from people I realise I've now know for decades - 30 years and counting - and be with each other through all our changes. Aww!

Happy New Year to all!! Thank you @Happierwithouthim for keeping us all together. The weather is grey and miserable so a perfect excuse to avoid the shops!

decaffe you reminded me dd needs new runners before going back to school

BigSkies we usually just bold names

I bought animals food in Aldi yesterday but had my YNAB budget sorted so I'm entering it as todays date! €55.53 including a couple of reduced decorations and a bottle of vino

Signed up for a second half marathon this year this morning, same one I did last year, it's flat, the one in July isn't.
Bought T-shirt instead of half zip top because I got half zip top last Sept & probably only change will be the year €54.38 using 15% early discount

I am hoping for a more frugal year but to be honest I join these threads then after a few weeks/months i lose all motivation and I'm back to my old ways!

I think either way is fine Big. I do bold but only because that's what I've always done!
Happy new year frugaleers, may you achieve your frugal goals.
We do a secret santa with dh's family & I got a 3 month world food subscription from The Spicery which I'm really looking forward to using. The first month is Trinidad Bake n Shark, appropriate as we've been & I've eaten it there. The bonus free gift spice mix is for a tagine. DH also got me a 3 meal curry pack from the same company so we're going to have them as a bit of a weekend treat through Jan & Feb.
I've also got a £30 voucher for a local restaurant from my birthday and a birthday £30 from the dc to use at the local posh cinema. Again we'll be using them in the next couple of months. "free" treats.

I think we are all a little guilty of that @mickandrorty There's no judgement here - life and spending gets in the way all the time. Drop in and catch up or whatever floats your boat. Sometimes just being aware of where and what you are spending is enough to help trying to be frugal.
I could be a lot more frugal but DH and I want to have enjoyable times too - but we have managed to make some of those no-spend fun times so it all helps.
Other than that, today will be spent filling in new calendars and diaries, maybe begin to put Christmas decorations away, still need to do a list of freezer contents for meal planning, bring GCs toys back downstairs (back on the childcare tomorrow but only for one day) and then like last year promise to declutter my house - yeah right!! 🤔

Can I jump on board?

No debt, but we are low income and have to be as frugal as possible, its been a way of life for about 20 years now, by choice, either carry on working full time, or enjoy life and live within our means

Hit the sales yesterday, not clothes or household, but the yellow stickers :) I managed both yesterday and the day after Boxing Day to snaffle over £100 worth of meat and wee bits and pieces which will be used over the coming months to make meals more interesting - stuff like posh stuffing - for £25, so freezers are groaning.

Using the last of the 8p veg today to make soup and casseroles , freezing in flat bags to get them in the freezer

Already been out for a two mile walk with the dog , stripped the bed, have the first load on. Just enjoying a coffee before I tackle the ironing mountain - well most is just fold and put away but theres piles of shirts. Will find a film to watch whilst I do that, something that I know Mr S wont watch so I can enjoy it myself

Happy new year! Hoping it's okay to join in. 😃

I'm on a bit of a mission to curb spending and start saving in 2025, I don't think I could do no spend with an ever growing 6yo DS but I'm going to try and get most of his clothes from the likes of Vinted.

What else could I do to curb spending? I'm a huge "posh coffee" lover but this is something I want to cut down too and lose the weight I've been trying to shift for 5 years now.

TIA!

wholenutcadburys , for the coffee, I shelled out for a espresso machine. I did lots of research and got the best price I could. Yes it was a considered purchase but its my daily treat, a decent cup of coffee to drink at leisure

I also have good travel mugs which keep it hot for ages if Im taking one into work in the morning

Thank you for your reply!!

I do enjoy the at home Nescafé sachets and you get ?12 in a box for around £4 which is obviously better than £4 per drink at Starbucks or Costa.. it just never feels as much of a "treat".. I do love sitting in the coffee shop with a good book and enjoying some quiet on the rare occasion 😃

@Rainbow1901 sounds like a plan, I need to sort out diary and planners as well but I think I might wait until kids are back at school so I can do it in peace! I did a bit of decluttering before Christmas but it didn't even touch the sides, I'm pretty sure over Christmas it was all totally replaced with new clutter anyway, it is definitely one of the worst jobs not only is it boring its a pain to get rid of as well. This thread has already prompted me to dig some veg out i had frozen to make soup for lunches tomorrow rather than going to the shop.

wholenutcadburys, I didnt think of that aspect lol

Great title happier thanks

I’ve been out already sorting the animals and will
have a run to the coast. Probably get some chips

£3.36 for mil but will get that back

there is no right or wrong way to use this thread. I can recommend thermo king cups. Mines been based about loads, including this morning, and is fab.

what about keeping a spend diary wholenut see where you spend & maybe allocated a small coffee shop budget but take your own other days.

Can I join? I'm not in debt and I save regularly but have been really irresponsible in the past but have changed my ways and feel better for it. But always feel I could do better.

I was looking for the tips post but I can’t find where I saved it.

Have to borrow more dogs to save money. Had doggy visitors from 16th December until 30th so didn't goto any shops. They are not in their own homes so I don't leave them but have loads of walks instead . Soon as they went home I compensated for all the playing and cuddling by going online and buying crap.

Also on a mission to curb spending this year! Got a fair bit planned (some pre paid) until mid Jan, but starting in earnest after that! I def need some accountability …..and ideas to make life still enjoyable without spending too much

Glad I spotted this thread to focus my mind!

I do my own January challenge every year:

1. Use up as much food in the cupboards and freezer (tinned toms, pasta, spices etc)
2. Meal prep cheap lunches - usually just have to buy some mince and I can have spag bol for weeks on end!
3. No unnecessary purchases - clothes, home accessories, takeaways etc, instead I transfer how much I would have spent into a separate savings account

I can then have a nice tidy up of the kitchen in Feb, and have some extra money saved up too that I can spend guilt free!

Edited to add I transferred all my credit card balances to a 0% deal, so the goal is to pay it all off before the deal expires.

I got a milk frother and a stovetop espresso maker, and a nice insulated cup. Make it in the morning and take into work. Total cost about £100 (asked for them for Christmas and birthdays so didn’t actually buy them myself), so would have paid for itself within a month or two (I drink a lot of coffee). Also much better for the environment.

I also make myself a cafetière coffee at work with microwaved hot milk - that works out very cheap indeed (£10 cafetière) and is a reasonable latte substitute. Other people at work have a small lavazza pod machine - they are fairly cheap to buy (£50) and the pods are about 25p each but I’m not a big fan of pod coffee personally.

Welcome to all the new posters. All welcome, it's a super friendly place.

A few tips have helped me save money and plan at this time of the year.

DD and I have a challenge to only buy essential toiletries (toothpaste, shower gel etc) and use up everything we've decided we don't like of have been gifted etc.

At the start of every month, I transfer some small amounts of money into various 'pots', that I want to save towards covering the cost of over the year. Think car costs, holidays etc but also personal stuff like say, running (for me) or whatever is an expense but it's important to enjoyment of life!

Menu planning makes a difference!

Using actual cash to pay for items can make a difference. I don't do this but some do. Once it's gone it's gone.

Might be worth buying Christmas wrapping paper and cards (if still sending) now, while they are cheap.

Any unwanted gifts I can use for raffle and tombola prizes I do. There's only so many reed diffusers I need in my life! 🤣

£155 new vacuum £6 chips at the beach

I use up in Jan. must do a freezer audit before my next shop