Frugal Living

So every January I set myself new goals and aspirations for the year. Like most people… these start with the initial promise of keeping to task… and then as the days, weeks and months pass the aspirations waiver or become less of a priority.

I would say that I am pretty good at goal setting. I don’t always do this at the start of a new year. I am a rather ambitious person, so am always thinking of ways to widen my horizons and challenge myself.

The one area in which I fall flat on my face is financial. I have been known to be very frugal in the past. I’ve lived on £20 a week for 2 adults and a baby many a times. I know how to save money on bills, etc. I always shop around. However, when my ex left 2 years ago my finances went from secure (just a student overdraft to clear) to spiralling out of control with another overdraft and credit card. This year I have taken out a car loan (needed a car as mine was costing me monthly) and brought a sofa on finance (0% DFS job). In total I have racked up over £6000. I am not proud of myself. The implications are that I am no paying interest to the bank on these debts. Essentially giving away money.

So… as a new year approached I have decided that to just pay off some debt is not going to be enough. I need to change my attitude towards money. My saving grace is moneysavirngexpert.com and their forum. On there I have joined several threads and challenges to ensure that

1 – I keep busy and resist buying new things by talking to others about ways to save etc,

2 – I get tips on how to earn extra money by decluttering and living a more frugal life.

There are so many inspirational people in this community with some great tips and its helping me challenge how I view money. I have been there for a week and found a number of key points that are helping…

1 – decluttering – I am going through my house, one area at a time, selling things either on local selling sites or on eBay. Or, if knackered, sending it to the tip/recycling.

2 – savings challenge. day 1 save 1p, day 2 save 2p, day 3 save 3p. Every day I am putting back loose change. if you following the days then is total you can save £671.61 in a year. There is a spreadsheet on moneysavirngexpert.com or skinntdad.co.uk. I am a bit of a bullet journal addict so I have created a spread on a page and am highlighting the amount that I am paying off. I doing a mix of saving loose change in a pot as well as saving online using a savings account and transferring money into it. I choose days at random and sometimes do more than one day at a time. My plan is to transfer any online money saved to pay off my overdraft. Any loose change saved at home will be used for my sons birthday in June or Christmas at the end of the year. £670 is a large amount for xmas for me (I only buy for a small number of people) so that’s why I am using some for debt.

3 – following the frugal living challenge – this has recipes for cheap meals, suggestions about alternatives to buying things – i.e. making washable makeup remover pads rather than buying cotton pads, ideas for buying things that are cheaper, etc.

Here’s to a frugal lifestyle and paying off debt…one penny at a time!

That 30 something life x