Frugal Living Challenge, Month 12, Year 7

We have reached month 12 of our 2014 frugal living challenge and are now preparing to embark on our next big swash-buckling, belt-tightening, money saving adventure. Have you got what it takes to challenge your budget in 2015?

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There will be some major changes in 2015, none more so than those surrounding our new outdoor project. But that doesn't mean forgetting about the scrimping and saving, no way! On the contrary, it means even more rigorous overhauls of the new budget so it can incorporate even more into the development plans we have for Frugaldom.

Several of you have already taken the opportunity to visit the site and take part in the preliminary stages, so I am really looking forward to welcoming many more of you in the future. Meanwhile, however, life goes on, incomes need to be earned and many more bridges need to be crossed.

Fundraising

There will be plenty of this going on during 2015 and that means spreading the word, generating sales of handmade goods and homegrown produce, featuring sponsored links and reviews and making the most of every opportunity presented. We pay to protect the site from pop-ups and random third party advertisers, but we still need to make it pay for itself.

Tree Planting

We have already planted over 500 tiny trees at the Frugaldom project and we hope to take this number to over 1,000 before spring, all based on a cash neutral budget.

Frugal Arts, Crafting and Small Business

In order to pursue our goals, we will be introducing several new sponsorship opportunities for the purposes of fundraising and income generation to help take the project towards self-sustainability as quickly as possible.

Community - Virtual and Actual

Group activities and challenges will be organised throughout 2015 and, as always, all contributions towards costs and overheads are gratefully received. In return, we hope to be able to provide all our members and supporters with a fun and frugal retreat that can be visited at any time, either online or in person.

Merchandise & Souvenirs

We will be offering a selection of Frugaldom merchandise and souvenirs throughout 2015. These will be made available for sale through the Frugal Shop at www.frugalshop.co.uk where we will be providing 'buy now' and auction style listings.

www.frugalforums.co.uk

Join the Money Saving Challenges

In order to access any of the challenges (or chat room), you need a username and password. Registration is completely free and we do not store your details, nor do we pass on your details to any third parties. Dormant accounts are deleted, so please maintain some form or interactivity once you join. The Frugaldom web site, blogs, forums and chat room are all hosted within the Scottishmultimedia.co.uk website, which is owned, controlled and financed by NYK Media, who reserves the right to delete any content or username that does not conform to guidelines. It is a basic measure to help minimise risk to members from spammers and scammers.

Looking forward to the December ADVENTure Challenge, my needles are ready clicking, my milk cartons ready for cutting, my garlic ready for planting and my Christmas preparations almost complete. The 2014 budget is stretching nicely, the £1 per day savings have been maintained and I completed my 50,000 words in the November 'NaNoWriMo' writing challenge so all that remain now is to make it through the final 31 days and be prepared to face another year head on, with the ourse strings tied tighter than ever.

NYK in Frugaldom

Days 12 and 13 of Making it in March - Making Plans and Stuff

Where is Time Going?

 

Incredible! Another week and it's the Budget then the end of the tax year is almost upon us, when we all need to round up our numbers and get crunching for the annual tax returns! I suspect 2013/14 will prove to be minimal for me, as the past year has been focussed on the renovation project whilst scratching enough income to make self-employment pay.

 

It is almost 3 years since we bought Thrift Cottage and the pink thrift by the front door is looking like it may start flowering soon. Our fixy-up is meant to be a 5-year project, so we should be approaching 60% of the way to completion. 2 more years to go and then I need to get back to building a self-sustainable business that will provide me with both income and a pension plan, so it's time to make some headway in that direction. Being a frugal Scot and living in Scotland, where we still have both paper £1 notes and paper £100 notes, I feel that the photo above adequately explains what a frugal entrepreneur (frugaleur) is all about - making as much as possible from as little as possible!

 

I'm Hatching Colourful Plans!

 

Duck egg shells drying before planting cuttings in them

 

What did I make yesterday? Pizzas, spicy stir fry from leftovers and a start on my long-term plan for making everything pay for itself. I did get around to painting my duck egg shells - I now have 4 including the red one - but I still haven't made the macramé hangers for them all. Now I have another 2 duck eggs, as Phoebe is getting right into the swing of spring with her laying schedule.

 

Today, I defrosted some chicken, sliced it in strips, dipped it in egg, coated it in spiced breadcrumbs and made goujons - half got cooked for tonight's dinner and the other half went into the fridge for tomorrow. While washing up, I just happened to look out the window in time to see this little fellow!

 

The foraging Vole

It's a little vole that seems to have taken up residence in the dry stone wall that runs along the side of the patio. Voles are about mouse size but have rounder noses and short tails.

 

 

Vole stealing blackberry leaves

 

Mr or Mrs Vole was far too busy to notice me going for my camera. Tiny critter was nibbling off the blackberry leaves and taking them into the wall, obviously for nest building. Scruffy cat spends a great deal of her time just sitting staring at this wall, now we know why!

 

On the windowsill, my red cabbage experiment is looking healthy with several more new leaves growing, particularly around the base. Here's how it is looking at the moment.

 

Red cabbage experiment

Has anyone else tried this experiment yet? I would love to know if it really does grow enough to start picking more meals from it.

 

That's about it for today - early night again, as I am enjoying watching the TV series about life on the International Space Station (I'm an ISS spotter) and then there's a very interesting money programme on afterwards about how to be a billionaire. I'll absorb inspiration and see how best to afford whatever they do on my frugal budget then I'll come back and tell you how I became a frugalaire!

 

UK Times for the flyovers by International Space Station

 

For anyone else interested, here is a handy chart of dates and time for looking skywards to watch for the space station flying over us, if the night sky is clear enough. I always wave, not sure why! I'm not that into it that I go out in the middle of the night - I need a really good meteor shower or the chance of catching a glimpse of an aurora for that.

 

Until tomorrow! Let's hope the sunshine returns here soon - seems all the good weather chose to abandon us after one great day and yesterday morning! Still, it was enough to dry the washing on the line and that's what counts for now. :)

Frugal Fun with our Interest Beater Challenge

This will Test your Will Power

In 2007, I began the Billy Can Plan to help generate extra savings and then, in 2008, along came the Interest Beater Challenge. To celebrate 5 years of interest beating and 15 years of assorted money challenges, we're having a creative makeover.

For those of you who haven't had the chance to read all about it in the Frugal Forums this is a bite-sized. photo roundup of the 2014 challenge to beat the interest rates (shouldn't be too difficult in the current economic climate) and earn ourselves a better rate of interest than any of the instant access, cash ISAs are offering WITHOUT needing money in the bank.

STEP 1 - Go get your old Billy Can

(It's time he brightened up a bit, don't you think?)

 

 

STEP 2 - Turn it into a Frugal Faberge-esque Billy Cans!

(Beads, buttons and recycled greetings cards)

 

 

STEP 3 - Prepare this year's notebook & diary (or add more pages to your old ones)

(This is the Frugaldom cash cow notebook, it can keep an eye on all the savings)

 

 

STEP 4 - Decorate your magic money box

(Recycled Christmas cards and shiny buttons can provide the basics)

 

 

STEP 5 - Pop a penny in your Mo(ney) Jo(urney) bag

(No excuses for losing your mojo now!)

 

That's it - 5 simple steps to preparing for this year's interest beater challenge and, as usual, it is totally free to join us in the forums and take part.

 

See you there!

 

NYK, Frugaldom

Frugal Bytes - Moneysaving Questions from Readers

Reader Questions about Money Saving and Frugal Living

Hi NYK,

Pennies make pounds

This seems a bit rude to ask, but as the saying goes, if you don't ask, you don't know! So apologies up front.

How did you manage to save your emergency savings?

Do you keep your 'emergency savings' separate from other savings?

Would you recommend a certain amount for emergencies?

Any advice on this would be gratefully appreciated!



NYK Answers

I love questions and am forever researching 'stuff', so thank you for asking and rest assured that I don't find it rude in the least, it is a huge pleasure to be able to answer. Apologies if I waffle on a bit, I'm rather passionate about frugal living. :)

Many years ago, while in debt, I got together a bunch of friends in similar situations and we compared our budgets. At that time, we all had very different household incomes, ranging from under £10,000 to over £30,000! The amazing fact that I learned from what became a regular get-together was that we practically all had the same amount of disposable income after paying everything we owed - mortgages, rent, council tax and all other debts!  It was amazing! The magic number worked out at £4,000, so that's the origin of my target budget. Now, in 2014, the figure is simply the amount I know I can comfortably live off and be happy to do so. It's also the minimum amount that I know I need to earn in order to live debt free! If push came to shove, I have sufficient flexibility within that budget to make alterations and also afford the Council Tax.

After living on the £4,000 budget for many years, the debts slowly and painstakingly reduced until, in 2007, I finally became completely debt free. At that point, I had two options for remaining debt-free:

• Live within my increased means or
• Continue as though I still had the debts, but pay the equivalent amount into savings. (At that point, I had no savings.)

2008 arrived and I had decided to stick to my previous budget and frugal lifestyle while starting to seriously save. (That's when I took the 'Living on £4,000' challenge onto the Moneysavingexpert forums.) With no debts, every penny over £4,000 got banked and all other spends had to be paid from extra income or else things made to pay for themselves.

Fast forward to 2011, we scraped up enough to buy this cheap fixy-up for cash, but it completely wiped out every penny of the savings - my son even chipped in all his coin savings!
Plus point - we had no savings left but nor had we any rent to pay, just council tax and insurance for our own house.

Sticking with the £4,000 household budget, we are now slowly renovating the place while also saving for emergencies. I know I need £4,000 to run my household for a year, I know I realistically need another £1,000 to cover Council Tax and I know that incidentals may be needed along the way, so my goal is to have at least £5,500 in emergency savings and increase that by at least the rate of inflation each year, seeing as bank interest no longer affords us that luxury! THis, again, is what has prompted the latest edition of the Interest Beater' challenge in the forums.

Emergency savings are totally separate from 'normal' savings, so no mistakes can be made and I can't be tempted to spend from this pot. Initially, I needed to invoke all my will power to ensure every penny was saved. In saying that, I am using an instant access ISA, 'just in case'.

I hope this helps explain the way I view my finances, both in the frugal forums and here on the blog.

Feel free to continue asking questions and I do hope you will join me in the latest frugaldom challenge, as we hatch another great Billy Can plan and prepare to do some money magic.

NYK, Frugaldom

Frugal Money Making Ideas

How to recycle games consoles, DVDs, CDs, games, books and even clothing for cash. I am looking for an easy option that doesn't involve travelling, waiting in for callers or listing in the online auctions - I want simple convenience and the ability to de-clutter or recycle for cash straight from home.  De-cluttering and Recycling for Cash  The process looks simple enough even for a technophobe like me. You just enter the make and model of the gadget or barcode of the DVD, CD or Game that you want to sell and click for an instant offer price. There are a few terms and conditions that need to be met but these seem to be basic common sense, so nothing too complicated. Read More here

Barricades and Barack Aides

Closing Down Sale, Everything Must Go

I've been looking more at the current American situation with the Government shutdown and I think I now understand the basic principle. Feel free to correct me if I'm completely wrong!

Click here to read more

Have You Got a Frugal EEK?

Frugaldom's 'Everything Else Kitty'.

As you know, my annual household budget challenge for all things household is £4,000, but I also have a very interesting revolving budget challenge known as my 'EEK' - the 'Everything Else Kitty'.

 

The household budget includes groceries, toiletries, laundry and cleaning products, electricity, heating, clothing, utilities bills and the general needs of a frugal household, excluding Council Tax, which is simply non-negotiable and has to be paid. We have no rent or mortgage, we live in the fixy-up while it's being, err... fixy-upped.

 

The EEK literally needs to account for everything else - including feeding the livestock that are part of the microholding project (It's a bit like smallholding but on a much smaller scale) and creating that microholding in the first place.

 

Everything Else Kitty has some huge responsibilities - if I want a holiday, the money has to come from somewhere. Entertainment and socialising costs cash, so that has to come from somewhere. That somewhere can be from a variety of sources - selling surplus eggs, cash back, vouchers, gifts, refunds, surplus plant sales or even Moneysupermarket.com when they invite you to take part in one of their competitions. I do love to grasp any opportunities that come my way.

 

 

 

So, when the opportunity arose to take part in the Charcoal Challenge, I leapt at it! The first thing I had to do was look at what was or wasn't already available - plenty of charcoal but we've no barbecue! It's on the list of 'things to make'. 

 

"Show us how you’d throw the ultimate summer barbecue for £50!" they said. "Show us how creative you can be!" And, lest we forget, there's a prize of £250 cash to be won by one of the lucky bloggers taking part in this challenge!

 

My £50 has been received and is now in the safekeeping of 'Everything Else Kitty', all barring £5.85 + £2.80 delivery that I have just spent buying a very frugal barbecue!

Now all I need to do is get planning the best BBQ ever on the remaining budget of £41.35 and make sure there's something extra special about it. That takes care of July's socialising!

Today is a great day! Not only am I getting the fun of planning a frugal (read that as paid for by

someone else) BBQ party, but the new poly tunnel arrived yesterday and has now been built! It's looking great and the temperature inside it is definitely tropical.

A seat and a refreshing drink of lemon balm tea whilst nibbling on freshly picked strawberries provided suitable reminder that life in Frugaldom is good. Then the postman arrived!

My mini tunnels and mini potting greenhouses are here! (See earlier post for details and get later posts for updates).

Frugal living means making hay while the sun shines, so it's blackcurrant picking for me this afternoon before I can begin playing with any of my new toys! The 'Everything Else Kitty' won't feed itself and it has been getting slightly over-worked recently and I really don't want to have to dip into the household budget for anything garden-related. Bad enough I had my frugal trip up Ben Nevis in May, never mind overspend on plastic! ;)


You can follow the frugal living challenge updates on Twitter @Frugaldom or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NYKMedia There are also forums where you are free to join and participate in any of the challenges.

How Will I Ever Afford Retirement?

'Frugaldom' Could be the Answer.

Frugally philosophical thoughts about how to avoid abject poverty in the event that the State Pension collapses and we're left without an income.

 

Part 1

 

Continuing with my musings on the topic of retirement income, I was told not to take this lying down... so I lay down to contemplate the future!

 

We learn all the best lessons the hard way, I think, but I'm not entirely sure why that is. I suspect it's because we're usually too impatient and want to get on and enjoy ourselves without waiting to study the more intricate details - a bit like putting together a new DIY project without reading the instructions or, as we all know to our detriment, signing some agreement without reading the small print. We want the feel good factor and we want it now!

 

As previously mentioned, I got my tax return done for another year and I'm as poor as I thought I was. On the plus side, I have apparently paid enough qualifying years of National Insurance to entitle me to the full basic State Pension of £110.15 a week, but I need to wait until the end of 2030 before I can claim that! That's only another 17 years to wait and find out if the Government can actually still afford to pay me a State Pension!

 

My calculations are basic, to say the least; based on my current lifestyle and increasing it in line with 2.5% inflation (a conservative guesstimate), my £4,000 per annum becomes over £6,000 - things could cost over 50% more by the time I retire and could be double their current prices by the time I reach 85! (I may not, in which case I'll need to hope that the tiny life assurance policy is sufficient to cover funeral expenses - happy, am I to be dwelling on such thoughts!)

 

So, back to the lying down thinking of this long-term possible predicament, where and how best could a frugal living person such as me invest my paltry savings? The volatility of the stock market worries me, the potential for the collapse of the banking industry is a real possibility and keeping cash 'handy' isn't an option if there's potential for the Government to completely change (or even abolish) hard cash. Future fantasy it may seem, but the ring of truth cannot be ignored.

 

What do we NEED?

 

Food & water

Clothing

Shelter 

Energy

Good health

Fitness

 

What do we WANT?

 

Comfort

Enjoyment

Relaxation

Stress-free living

 

As frugal investors, we need to look back and see what progress has been made over the last 50 years in order to be able to grasp the possibilities for the next 50. The old quote about man living for three score years and ten is now outdated - some haven't even given up fulltime work by that age now and could still have about 30 years to go; that's like another lifetime for some reading this!

 

Nuclear powered electricity for homes first came to the fore in 1951 but let's skip forward to the 70's, because I know many of us were around then. Looking back over this relatively short period of time, we see the following inventions developed and brought to the mass market:

 

Pocket calculators

Videos

Compact Discs (CDs)

Satellite broadcasting

Car phones and mobile phones

Computers

Mass produced electronics

Microchip technology

Games consoles

World Wide Web

High speed Internet access

Cloning & Genetic Modification

 

The list is endless, but even the most frugal of us have experience of at least one of the above and we no longer consider things like digital communications or genetically modified foods as anything special. (I use the 'genetic modification' term broadly.) We have power at the touch of a button, can speak to people practically anywhere in the world and can do most things at whatever time of day or night we want. We can go virtually anywhere in the world, we can travel further and faster than ever before and we can even go to the edge of space and leap to earth in safety - how fantastic does all of that sound when we look back over history? How crazy is it that I can sit here right now and key in a few letters on a keyboard and see the Sphinx and Great Pyramids in aerial view or travel along YOUR street, looking at your neighbourhood? It's phenomenal! We have witnessed a whole new world develop before our very eyes and, with every new day that arrives, we see the beginnings of the next new world unfolding.

 

Stay 'with it', because history has a habit of repeating itself. It may not be an identical tragedy, the exact same virus or a similar weather phenomenon, but nature rules supreme and we can never know what's around the next corner. We COULD soon reach a stage where our elderly residents are reaching the age of 150!

 

Oh my, I have wandered completely off course again and need to get back on track - we're supposed to be solving the problem of affording our retirement, not wondering what life could be like at 150...

I need coffee!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! WELCOME TO 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND FRUGAL WISHES FOR 2013!

 

 

Life will be back to 'normal' soon enough, so make the most of the break and prepare to meet 2013 with renewed vigour and let's all try to have more frugal fun.

 

Usual resolutions are made - get fitter, eat less, stick to the budget, avoid debt and make a Will. The latter has been on my list for several years but I really do need to sort this out now that I'm part-owner of a house. The legalities are complicated, so best be prepared for all events.

 

No spending to be done today but the year got off to a good start with email from Amazon informing me that I have a voucher heaing my way to the tune of £27 something or other, so that's a great start to my 'EEK' Money-making Challenge. Added to what's left over from 2012's vouchers earned through cashback sites and Nectar points, that should take me up to about £35. For the benefit of new readers, EEK stands for 'Everything Else Kitty', which is a separate challenge from my £4,000 household budget challenge.

 

That's all from me today, dinner is almost cooked and I haven't even finished making the trifle. Organisational skills haven't improved since 2012 left us last night, that's for sure.

 

Have a great year, everyone!

Micro McGonks? How Much Cuter can it Get?

When Recycling Develops into an Obsession!

Good evening readers and followers of all things frugal. As you will know, my obsession with challenge setting has continued to flourish over the years, each Hogmanay (31st December) bringing a whole list of new challenges to be faced during the following year. 2013 will be no different, except that we launched the Frugaleur (frugal entrepreneur) Challenge in late November, in order to allow ourselves adequate preparation time without being hampered (pardon the pun) by the annual festive celebrations. 2013 is going to be my biggest push towards zero waste, combining it with my eco-arts project to recycle as much as possible into something worthy of developing into a micro-business. I'm not looking to stock superstores, I'm just looking to make the most of whatever I can in the hope of earning a few pennies extra towards the upkeep of Frugaldom.

 

Clan McGonk went 'live' at the weekend, which is when I made my first ever sample of the furry little critturs available to view online. I like to refer to these as my frugal pets and I'm sure you can see why it is so easy to become attached to them. But they have many secrets to divulge over the coming year. They have places to go, people to see and the whole wide world is their playpark, assuming anyone wants to get involved. Feel free to browse the Frugaldom Store at http://frugaldom.ebid.net and I will happily sell you a McGonk that's been handmade here in Thrift Cottage, Frugaldom. For those of you who prefer to make your own, I'll put together a simple to follow 'how to' post very soon.

 

This evening, I found myself forced to play my next hand early, after someone mentioned keychain McGonks. So that is what you are looking at in the top photograph... but I call them micro-McGonks. This one has a keyring attached, so he can always be seen hanging around the place, looking cute and looking towsled. These are much smaller than the McGonks, as you can see by the first photo and, once again, I used shredded paper as stuffing, a button for a nose, scrap of fabric for his hat and then added the luxury of wobbly eyes and a tiny pompom. So there you have it - Frugaldom is not only the home to Clan McGonk, we have also developed our very own micro-Mcgonk. As many of you know, microholding is one of the other things that we are attempting here - everything 'smallholding' but on a much tinier scale.

 

Once again, I would like to thanks all of those friends and associates who are kind enough to donate me their offcuts. I do have to make one not so frugal admission, though. I invested another £6.44 into my 2013 Frugaleur Challenge after I spotted some fabulous off cuts of furry fabric listed on eBid. I guess I should really give you a run down of how my participation in the Frugaleur Challenge is going, so here it is, as briefly as possible.

 

2013 Frugaleur Challenge - to set up a frugal enterprise that will help pay some bills or, at worst, convert a home-based hobby into a self-funding passtime (so it doesn't drain any of your much-needed financial resources).

 

Starting 'investment' limit = £50 maximum

 

Spends to date = £30.22 including .com and .co.uk domain names

 

Sales to date = £21.77 after deduction of PayPal fees

 

The above means that of my original £50, I currently have a balance of £41.55 and I am hoping to be able to recoup the full £50 before the 1st January. At that point, the hobby of recycling one thing into another will need to sustain itself. Fortunately, the act of writing the little stories for the series doesn't cost anything more than my time and the brain-ache of trying to keep everything interesting and entertaining while thinking 'recycling'!

 

Hoping a few of you will join me for the McGonk-making workshop soon and I'll look forward to sharing my frugal fun.

 

Frugaldom

www.frugaldom.com

 

PS: Don't forget you can join us in the Frugaldom forums at http://frugaldom.myfreeforum.org or on the McGonk Facebook page www.facebook.com/ClanMcGonk and also on Twitter, where you can follow @Frugaldom

 

Frugal Entrepreneurs, Remnants and McGonks

So much to do, so much to blog!

As you know, the brand new Frugaleur Challenge has already been launched and there's now less than a month to go before 2013. December is such a busy month for frugalers, making, mending, baking, wrapping, steaming, brewing, mixing and concocting, but we can't lose focus on money-saving or earning that little bit extra wherever possible.

 

'Clan McGonk' will now progress steadily towards the new year with a little bit of help from several online friends, to whom I am truly grateful! The first handful of McGonks will need to be sold in order to kickstart the enterprise, so here's a final rundown on how things are going.

 

I have sufficient furry remnants to make eight individual McGonks. The main 'bodies' were machine-sewn by sis, the rest will be done by hand. There are plenty of bits and pieces rounded up and donated by friends, both at home and online, to make each furry little character unique. The first to arrive was Rory McGonk, unleashed on the world last night while opening the Clan McGonk Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ClanMcgonk). Tonight, a little more progress has been made with the help of my trusty paper shredder!

 

McGonks are not toys, they are novelty characters for decorative purposes only. I'd like to call them eco-friendly, but a friend came up with the even better term of, "reco-friendly", much more befitting the recycling process involved in making the little critturs.

 

As I was saying, the paper shredder has been hard at work in Thrift Cottage, shredding scrap paper to use as stuffing for the gonks. Old newspapers passed on from friends (I never buy newspapers or magazines) usually get made into kindling sticks for the fire, but some paper simply isn't the right type for doing this job. Things like catalogues, brochures and old telephone directories are pretty useless as fire fodder, so these are now being recycled into McGonk stuffing! I guess this means the McGonks are a bit like certain other furry creatures that shouldn't get wet!

 

Having completed Rory McGonk last night, I proceeded to stuff and stitch the remaining seven little gonks, giving me a total of eight. There are two each of red, orange, pink and pale blue, but no two are the same. Owing to the nature of the eco-arts (economical) project, there will never be two identical creations, each will be unique in its own right, depending on what was salvaged and recycled or upcycled to produce it.

 

Tonight, I completed Hamish. He and Rory are such cute little chappies that it's going to be challenging to part with any of them! Nonetheless, parting with them needs to be part of this frugal challenge. Now I need to price my little characters so they're frugally affordable to anyone who would like to own one. This is proving to be just as challenging.

• Do we count time?
• How does one price surplus materials donated by friends?
• Factoring in electricity for heat & light while working at home during the day is a consideration
• Purchasing glue, thread and any other extra bits and pieces needed, albeit sourced as cheaply as possible, has to be factored into the equation

Product pricing for a new business is difficult! Business budgeting is a complicated process, as there are so many hidden costs to be rooted out and included. Bank fees, card transaction fees, PayPal fees, to name but a few. I'm fortunate in that I am already self-employed and work from home, meaning I already have a business bank account, a reference number from HMRC and my National Insurance contributions being paid, but for newcomers to business, frugal or otherwise, it can all become a bit daunting. Don't let this put you off trying - the people at HMRC are actually very patient and very helpful, in my experience. If in doubt, give them a call or check their website at www.hmrc.gov.uk

Back to pricing - If I add everything up and factor in the time, in case this new project 'takes off' and I need to pay someone to help (remember this is a frugal entrepreneurial challenge), then we're looking at about £3.50 per item plus postage and packaging. With current pricing structures coupled to the fact that we cannot cram a McGonk through a large letter postal slot, 1st Class postage amounts to £2.70, but then there's still the cost of the packaging, getting to and from post office (my nearest one is several miles away) and it all adds up to quite an amount.

Would anyone be prepared to pay over £6 for the priviledge of owning one of these wee gonks, I wonder? That remains to be seen.

Please feel free to comment on how you handle your pricing structure for homemade or hand crafted goods. I love making things but it's a whole different kettle of fish when it comes to making something pay, even on a semi-commercial level.

 

Onwards and upwards, let's get into the festive spirit! I've got some fabby-dabby news coming your way tomorrow, so watch out for a rather fun and frugal announcement - it's something really exciting!

 

Until tomorrow,
Frugaldom.

It's Almost a Frugal Kitchen

Units of Measure

 

Well, that was an experience and a half!

 

After measuring absolutely every available millimetre to ensure the view from the new kitchen sink would be through the middle of the window, things seemed to be going well - adequate space either side, nice view of the garden...

 

Disconnecting the old sink had been relatively straightforward, barring the drips and accidental spills, and removing the worktop out onto the patio was painless. Building the unit - not that I did that myself - was simple enough, then all we'd to do was slot in the sink, connect the taps and attach the waste pipe. And that, my frugal friends, is where the fun really begins! Aside from that, spacial perception just isn't my 'thing'.

 

Having a kitchen that appears to have been built more for housing livestock than for cooking family meals means that the floor is concrete and slightly sloping. When these houses were originally built in c1805, there were no water mains - there were wells in a couple of the gardens. Laying in water pipes would have meant digging through the stone or concrete floors and then feeding that water from the point of entry to the newly introduced taps and indoor toilets via exposed pipes, because they couldn't sink them into solid stone walls. So, you get the basic idea - solid walls, slightly sloping floors to compensate for no drainage systems and pipes that run along the edges of kitchens and bathrooms.

 

Having opted for DIY flat pack kitchen units, we had overlooked one important point - adjustable legs! These units have solid panels from top to bottom, probably designed for building onto perfectly level, modern floors surrounded by even walls that hide pipework behind them.

 

Solution? A sharp saw remedied the pipes problem, we just cut holes in the wood and sat the units over the pipework.

 

Fitting the pipework so there's water runs through the taps and waste runs out to the drains, this was trickier. In fact, at one point I ended up trapped inside the sink unit! Having climbed in to reach the pipes behind it, I'd forgotten that the hinges for the doors had already been fitted (but not the doors). How might this trap an individual beneath a sink, you might ask? Well, those pesky hinge attachments love nothing more than to grab your hair in the passing and hang on in there, knowing fine well there's insufficient space for the unsuspecting frugaler to turn and stretch to free one's self! It was very lucky that I wasn't home alone and that help was at hand... once they'd overcome a bout of hee hawing and laughing!

 

All five units have now been constructed and it's amazing how good they look, despite not being fitted and not being safe to sit an egg on and leave it unattended. I am, however, finding it a little difficult to site stuff exactly where I want it, owing to something else I didn't full think through... electrical socket placement!

 

I opted to have several extra sockets included during the wiring, but I never did specify exactly where. Now I see why I should have paid much more attention to such a seemingly trivial detail! We live and we learn. Hopefully, the frugaldom exploits will serve to remind others of the importance of getting even the simplest sounding jobs right from the start. It really does matter exactly where you place things like sockets, light switches, cooker cables and pipes. It also helps if you know where the wooden straps behind the new plasterboard are, for the purposes of hanging stuff securely in future. I haven't even risked hanging the clock back up on the wall, yet!

 

Now, on a completely different topic, I need to prepare for the 2013 Frugaleur Challenge and get ready to try to earn some extra income. If you haven't already heard or read about it, the challenge details can be found at www.frugaleur.com It's another money challenge, based on the premise that we can start a frugal buiness with no more than £50. It's the continuing attempts at becoming a frugal entrepreneur!

 

Frugaldom

www.frugaldom.com

Moneymaking Challenges

2013 Frugaleur Challenge

12th - 18th November is Global Entrepreneurship Week so this is a good week to launch our new challenge.

With just over 7 weeks remaining of 2012 I decided it was time to start planning ahead and setting some new challenges for 2013. Times are getting hard, income is at an all time low and spending at an all time high, so I need to look especially hard at redressing this balance before things get out of hand. OK, I've no rent or mortgage to pay now but the truth is, there wouldn't be enough income to cover rent if it had to be paid! Something, somewhere, just isn't adding up correctly.

 

Prices are escalating on everything while the Government has allowed an extra £75 BILLION of new money to be pumped into the system, diluting the value of the pound as it goes. They don't seem to reflect this devaluation when they spout off inflation figures, so we're left wondering how much our pound is going to be worth by the time we reach retirement age, especially if we fail to generate sufficient income to make up all these shortfalls. It's scary stuff!

 

Fired up with enthusiasm, I set to work dusting down old projects that had to be shelved in the past for a variety of reasons, mainly personal circumstances and finances. I began the relaunch of www.scottishwebdirectory.com and hope to gradually fill the pages with everything Scottish and I'm equally hopeful of incorporating a few affiliate links that may cover the costs of running the project, plus earn a bit extra. We're talking pennies here, not pounds... even if the site only generates 35p profit each day, that's enough to cover the cost of annual Class 2 National Insurance Contributions. Of course, it doesn't help when so few people actually want to be linked to a free directory - this part has me baffled! I don't understand why people wouldn't want even a tiny bit of extra promotion for their own businesses, especially when it is offered free. (Comments regarding this peculiar state of affairs are very welcome.)

 

Next up, I need to plan ahead for the frugal living and frugal working challenges that are conducted through the Frugaldom forums. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it? Nobody actually needs the forum, few read it and even fewer post on it. It's a bit like blogging - there's no real purpose to it other than sharing parts of your daily routine and lifestyle with a handful of strangers in the hope that it entertans, amuses, enlightens or even helps them in some small way. Money isn't the be all and end all of this life. Which brings me back to income.

 

Love or loath money, we all need it, but it isn't always easy to find the enthusiasm, determination or even the confidence to launch yourself headlong into a new business venture or land yourself a well-paid job that you love doing. That's why the frugal working challenges are kept low budget, in an attempt to make them affordable to all.

 

Just as we have frugal living challenges, so, too, we have frugal working challenges, based on the pricipal that anyone can be a entrepreneurs, even when following a frugal lifestyle. Anyone can set themselves up a frugal micro-business with very little cash outlay. Indeed, the 2012 challenge had a maximum start-up budget of just £10. Succeeding in turning a profit and generating a significant income seems to be down to some sort of single-mindedness that tells you to keep going, against all odds. To this end, I'd like to remind you that Sir Richard Branson began his enterprising rise to fame and fortune off the back of, I think, £3 he borrowed from his mum back around 1966. This, he used to pay for the printing of his first 'magazine'.

 

Opportunities to become a frugal entrepreneur, or fugaleur, as I now call them, are all around us, we simply need to grasp the opportunities as soon as we spot them. Had someone set aside £3 back in 1966, their money would now be worth just under £50 (plus whatever interest accrued) so that's the starting figure for the all new 2013 Frugaleur Challenge.

 

If you would like to 'play along', you'll find details at www.frugaleur.com along with a link to the relevant section of the Frugaldom forums. Could 2013 be YOUR year?

The Great 2012 Frugaldom Financial Challenge

Join us in the great 2012 Frugaldom Challenge.
Money saving, cost cutting and frugal living.

Knowing your bottom line while living and working within your means is a great lifestyle. It enables you to pursue the lifestyle you choose at a price that's affordable to both you and your business. Set your sites on making 2012 more affordable.

Beat any recession by knowing your bottom line, both in the home and at work. The cost of living is one thing, but few ever stop to consider the cost of working, financial or otherwise.

Set your budget based on what you already know and join us in the great Frugaldom Challenge in 2012.

Frugaldom - Kingdom of the Frugal Entrepreneur! It is NYK Media's free forum for frugal living, self-sufficient(ish) microholding and moneysaving in all things. It is home to the great 2012 Frugaldom Challenge.

We have been running these challenges online for the past five years, encouraging small businesses and individuals from throughout the UK and overseas to pursue their dreams of living and working within a debt free environment, striving for a better, happier life.

By analysing all our costs, prioritising all our needs over wants and focussing our attention on how we, as real people, can adapt to what many call frugal living (and working), it is possible to free up precious time that can be spent elsewhere, be it with family and friends, pursuing hobbies you may never have imagined possible or exploring the realities of world travel.

Naturally, it follows on that this challenge will also free up much-needed cash that can be spent elsewhere.

Regardless of your current financial situation, it is always possible to improve upon it. Perhaps you have been burdened with debts or have had to face the prospect of bankruptcy, or maybe you are unable to pursue a fulltime career because of family committments, health issues or other circumstances beyond your control. There are countless reasons for finding yourself in a financially precarious situation, but there are always escape routes. We simply need to know where to look.

By joining us in the 2012 Frugaldom Challenge, you will be joining like-minded individuals currently engaged in many different real-life situations.

We have maintained a very dedicated following, each with their own story to tell, but now the time has come to spread our wings and encourage many more to pursue their dream of a better life.

Businesses opportunities have been created from home, debts have been cleared, health and fitness issues overcome, mortgages paid off in full, houses bought for cash and even the dream of owning a racehorse has been realised.

Frugal living and working may not be for everyone but for many it is their lifeline to future security and happiness.

Knowing that all important bottom line and then designing a new lifestyle around it is what can make dreams come true.

NYK Media has created a landscape of opportunity into which anyone can venture, where like-minded others go about their daily lives, sharing their trials and tribulations, supporting their fellow Frugaldom challengers and sharing an enormous amount of information, help and companionship.

This is a completely free forum with an accompanying blog where anyone can participate at whatever level they feel most comfortable. It can be as anonymous as you want, with no need to divulge personal details. All that you require is a username and the will to succeed.

Make 2012 your year. With 366 days, there's plenty of time to leap at the chance of taking charge of your finances in a way that will reap you longterm benefits.

NYK Media invites you to take this free opportunity to become part of a great community.

Join us now at http://www.frugaldom.com/

NYK Media
www.scottishmultimedia.co.uk

In Preparation for the Next Frugal Tax Year

Now You Know - News Updates from NYK Media

Today's Top Pick bargain: 'The Good Life - Complete Boxed Set [DVD]' for an amazing £37.99 including FREE postage & packaging!Having decided to 'renovate' the old website, work has now begun on updating content and links, accordingly.

The free Scottish Web Directory is open to any Scottish websites, although all links will be checked for relevance prior to being added. We do have a dedicated section for reciprocal national and international links, so it's not just restricted to Scotland. It's free advertising, afterall. Apologies for any missing or broken links, these will all be corrected in due course.

We're almost at the end of the first quarter of 2011. Our 100+ frugaldom challengers should now be gearing up to release their household budget figures, in the hope of having cleared some more debts and/or accrued more savings.

Here in Frugaldom, we have just taxed the car for a year and opted to save a few pounds extra by paying for the full 12 months' line rental up front to BT. With luck, we'll soon be starting off on our adventure into the world of microholding development and it's hoped that the residual income from the developing websites will be sufficient to see us through the leaner periods. I guess we'll be needing all the help we can get, on that score.

Anyone is welcome to join us in any of the money-related challenges.

Simply register your details HERE to access all the daily updates and discussions.

News published on the updated website will be transferred to the Frugaldom Blog and the new 'news panel' will be updated on a daily basis.

If you have any free tips, hints, helpful advice or suggestions, please Tweet them @Frugaldom on Twitter or submit them through the free forum, where you can also send direct messages or email.

NYK Media
http://www.scottishmultimedia.co.uk/

Take the Challenge - Take £10 and Grow a Money Tree

Micro Money Making Challenges

 As a member of the free Frugaldom forums, you are invited to take part in any of our moneysaving challenges. But if you have ambitions beyond just reducing your cost of living, shifting debt or growing your savings, then you might be interested in participating in one of NYK Media's micro-moneyMAKING challenges and trying your hand at earning from home or developing your own business ideas.

Have you got what it takes to become a frugaleur (frugal entrepreneur)?

I am looking for enthusiastic individuals who would like the chance to explore their own frugal micro-business potential and don't mind a bit of a challenge. It's a tiny challenge, but from little acorns, great oaks can grow.

Micro-moneymaking challenge No. 1

Can you start a business with £10? Can you beat the banks and turn a better profit?

If you would like to take part in this challenge, register here - it's free. Anyone can join/play/take part. For the purposes of this first challenge, as it will be the easiest, it will run for approximately 10 weeks. Over that time, you might be able to earn as much as 6.7p interest from a high interest savings account, so you can see that it isn't much of a challenge to beat that.

As an added incentive, NYK Media will provide the initial £10 to selected, money savvy challengers...

More here