As part of a semi-serious New Year’s Resolution (and both of us looking for new jobs), we thought we’d attempt the Uber Frugal Month by Mrs. Frugalwoods. It’s more me wanting to do this, I manage all of the finances, but Eli is also on board.
Day 19:
- Write down everything that is ‘just $5’.
- I don’t really have a problem with this $5 thing. It saves me that I rarely leave the house to be tempted by this. Ironically (once again), this was a day I went for coffee with friends I hadn’t seen for 2 months (see me justifying it here?). I did save some money by taking my own KeepCup however.
Day 20:
- Frugality is a mindset.
- My brainstorm here is the delicious iced tea maker that Eli got me for Christmas. The teas you buy from the shop are expensive and create lots of wasteful packaging that haunts me. Instead, I’m going to dehydrate my own fruit and make tea (so far, so good, it passes the Eli taste-test).
Day 21:
- The only person who cares, is you! Don’t be a conformist.
- Let it not be said that I do things to impress others. If I was a conformist, I’d be looking for a 9-5 job and I’d hate it. Instead, Eli and I are happy doing temp work and using our frugality skills to make our variable income work for us.
Day 22:
- In-house labor in order to strenthen your partnership.
- Eli and I now cut each other’s hair. I have long, very curly hair and I was worried that it wouldn’t trim well at home. I got Eli to cut off an inch or so off the bottom, and it looks 200% better than it did before! Now I’ll actually have hair that looks nice, and it didn’t cost me a cent.
Day 23:
- List things you are grateful for.
- I am grateful for my health issues being mostly under control, for Eli to be at home a lot at the moment, and to have a great house that we have customised to what we want.
Day 24:
- When less is more.
- The less I buy, the less I need. I’ve got things down to the essentials, but I’m still struggling with a couple of things. I so want those glass containers…
Day 25:
- Host a frugal party!
- Tick! We’ve done this, and I’m looking forward to doing it again.
Day 26:
- True happiness isn’t bought in a store.
- What is my own good life? Being able to read books I didn’t pay a cent for, and to build LEGO that will make me a profit or at least break even.
We went on vacation to NZ, so I can’t catagorise our expenses. Let it be said we spent around AU$400 on the trip while there, but we didn’t pay for the airfares. Those expenses weren’t avoidable, but next time I think we’ll try do more our own way, by hiring a car that is more expensive at the outset but will allow some freedom for how we eat out.
January’s running expenses (and a catalogue of posts in this series so far):
- None
- swim -$17.40, PayPal payment for Lego sale $69.40
- None
- None
- apricots for drying -$100, eggs and cockroach bait -$23.10, disposable wipes -$3.99, found $10!
- None
- None
- petrol for both cars -$77.96
- fruit and veggies for the guest we had staying -$26.30
- None
- money onto public transport cards -$20
- groceries for the guest we had staying -$106.22
- parking in the city -$47!!!!!
- none
- none
- none. Potential future income from homestay students.
- fish and chips -$23
- none
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