Resolution Thrifty

My transition towards a more frugal life is going well and so far much easier than I thought it would be. Sky TV has now gone and we are enjoying a free trial of Netflix and using our Amazon Prime membership more than we did before. So far the withdrawal symptoms are manageable especially for me as I am a bit of a podcast addict which doesn't cost me a thing. However, the new and final series of Game of Thrones is yet to be aired and that may prove to be much more painful for the household! I now cook most of my meals from scratch. I already cooked probably about 65% but now its up to about 90%. This means no more weekly take out meals which is a saving about £50 a week. Added to this I have been reading a lot about sugar and decided that as a family we really need to cut back on it, realistically this means buying no biscuits or other snacks as frankly if its in the cupboard we will eat it! Doesn't save us much money but our health will thank us. There will still be ice crea...

I have been listening and reading lots of material by personal finance and FIRE gurus to find ideas and inspiration on how to be more frugal and channel this extra money into investments and savings. I don't live in a rural area and have no plans to move to the countryside so living off the land and using firewood for heat will not work for me. Instead I think I will work on small steps which eventually will become ingrained habits. So here are some of my ideas: - Get rid of Sky! This should save about £40 a month although it is likely we will be subscribing to Netflix for £7.99. - Cook more meals from scratch and plan meals over the week. This will hopefully mean less waste and a lower grocery bill. - Go to Lidl to buy things like pasta, tins and biscuits. Again this should shave some money off the grocery bill. - Change mobile contracts. Saving will be about £20 a month - Stop mindless spending on things like clothes, shoes, snacks, drinks, books, magazines and other pointl...

I have been away from blogging of late as life just got in the way, sometimes positively and sometimes less so. Before I knew it, 2016 has been consigned to the pages of history and 2017 has arrived and is speeding away. Brexit, terrorism and the possibility of a second Scottish referendum are dominating the headlines. I am trying to ignore the newspapers and focus on my goals for this year. I am now in my 40s and frankly my thoughts have strayed to the fact I am not going to get younger and so need to actually take health more seriously, this in practical terms means I have to do some exercise and eat better. With frugality at the forefront of my mind, I am not wasting money on gyms or dance classes so I have taken up jogging, twice a week in the local park! I am not very good and my stamina is rubbish, the same guy laps me every week! However, after a month it is definitely improving, my aim is to be able to run for half an hour without stopping. I have to say that doing exercise doe...

Not long ago, I received a letter from my house insurance providers, I am normally the kinda gal who just gives in a cursory look and files it away. However, for whatever reason, I decided to compare the quote they gave me to last year's. I was pretty surprised at what I discovered, they had increased it by nearly £10 a month so well over a £100 for the year. I couldn't understand why they would do that as as we haven't claimed on our insurance ever! So I gave them a call and this is more or less how the conversation went: Them - How can I help you ths morning? Me - hi, I received my renewal quote today and you have increased my premium by over a £100 a year. Why is that? I've never claimed. Them - Lets take a look....we have reviewed all the postcodes and your postcode may have been reclassified as more risky. Me - In what way? Nothing has changed in my area. In fact when I look at quotes on the comparison sites, they offer much cheaper quotes then yours, why don...

I try (although don't always succeed) to view life as a glass half full so I am hopeful that I will be able to find another local part-time job but I am also realistic that this may take some time. So until then I decided to turn to the Internet for inspiration and ideas on how to make a bit of money. I typed a few choice words into the search engine and discovered the rather wonderful site called The Money Shed . "What's that?" I hear you ask. In the shed, a community of knowledgeable homeworkers generously share their ideas, stories of what has worked or failed for them, and tips on how to make money online. There is a real supportive feel to the forum and other users will happily help or give opinions if you ask. I never knew such a world existed but am very grateful to have found them. I am currently joining lots of different sites covering paid to click, micro tasks, surveys and everything in between. Most of these sites have already been tried and tested by th...

One of the best ways to save money when you are an avid reader like myself is to simply join your local library. Free books on any subject you can imagine, as an avid reader myself, I can't and don't want to shell out 20, 30, 40 pounds each month to maintain my reading habit, and yes e-books are cheaper but despite enjoying my kindle, it doesn't beat the feel of a real book. Also if you really wanted to save money then you could also give up your home internet connection and just use the free WiFi at your library. As an ex-library worker, I remember talking to one member who did this and also turned off her heating, spending hours every day in the library to save money. She loved it there so it made financial sense. Libraries are are going through an extremely rough time at the moment. With council budgets being slashed, libraries are an easy and convenient target for cuts. Book budgets have been slashed and staff laid off as well as many branches being completely closed....

Austerity has affected many and at the start of 2016, I found myself with no job yet still plenty of after school activities to fund along with a tea and chocolate habit. I had less money but a lot more time on my hands so I I decided that it would be fun to write a blog, practise my long forgotten touch typing skills and just have an outlet for all my thoughts. Being at home can be a lonely experience and keeping busy helps with that. So I did some research and then I stumbled upon  a blog called 'Resolution thrifty' written by me! I had started a blog back in 2012 and then completely forgotten about its existence when I returned to work. I don't know if its fate or just an example of a poor memory but I decided that it made sense to just carry on from where I left off with a tweak here and there. So this is my first post to my old blog and long may I remember I have one!