Although i said i would update daily with how my living for less challenge is going on reflection i feel weekly updates would be best as there are days that i dont spend any money at all and some days i dont even leave the house which would make for pretty boring reading.
Week 1 has gone amazingly well, we have now got rid of one of our cars so we are back to being a one car family and this in itself has saved us a small fortune (£1334 p.a to be exact). This is broken down as £121 car tax, £45 M.O.T (if it doesnt need anything doing to it to pass), £10 p.w petrol and £54 p.m insurance. On top of all that we got £175 for the car so to my total shock that is roughly a saving of £125 p.m!!!!!!!
I have also had my mum's birthday this week but sticking to my frugal way of living i have made her birthday present and got the card for less than £1 (card factory is now the only place i will ever buy cards from). I have made her a lovely red and white patchwork quilted blanket, i already had the material and wadding so all it cost was my thought, love and time and with having my little man's hand and foot prints on it i am sure she will love it.
I did have to pay postage (which i nearly had to remortgage the house for!!!) £4.50, when did postage start to cost so much? but i also sent my little brothers and step dads birthday cards and presents in the same parcel so i will have not birthday or postage costs in weeks 2 & 4 (beginning and end of September). My brother just wanted a maths set from W H Smiths which cost £6.50 so across 3 birthdays including postage and cards i spent £13.25 which i think is pretty good going.
I also had my friends little boys naming day to go to which would normally see me spending £20+ on a present but instead i ask her if instead of a present she wanted me to make his cake (i make a lot of cakes) she happily excepted the offer. I spent the grand total of £2.94 (butter 84p, icing £1.21 & card 89p) i already had eggs thanks to my girls (the chickens), flour, sugar, jam and food colourings. This is the cake i made her.
This week i have also been out in search of free wood or pallets as our chickens where in desperate need of a nice big run. This is the wood i found just dumped by the side of the road
After pulling some of it apart and rebuilding, a lick of paint and some wire mesh we had a finished chicken run. Kirstie Allsopp would have been so proud of me :-)
It may not be the prettiest chicken run in the world but it serves its purpose, was free(ish) and loving made by me. I did need to spend £17 on the wire mesh but its a small price to pay for happy safe chickens and they will have paid for it themselves within 6 weeks as they provide me with 14 fresh free range organic eggs per week and if i was to buy them from a super market they would cost me £3 a week. I already had nails and paint and i feel very proud of my little self and have had no complaints from the girls.
All in all i would say week 1 has been a roaring success. we saved money on everything from cars to cakes, we stuck to our food shopping budget and didnt need to get any extras and we even upcycled some free found wood. I must admit i am feeling a little smug and looking forward to what week 2 will bring.
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