So at the beginning of the month I set myself a few frugal living aims for October, and I thought I should check in to see how I have done. In the past, I’ve been a bit of a talker and not much of a do-er, so I’m trying to be accountable to myself and stick to my goals and budgets!
This was my original list from my October Goals post, and underneath I’ve got some feedback on each frugal goal:
- Earn at least £200 extra on top of my normal salary
So far I’ve got abut £120 saved up from this month, which is not bad considering that sometimes it feels as if I’m living on peanuts! But October is not over, and I’m hoping to add another £20 or £40 to the pot, so all in all although I haven’t reached my original goal, I haven’t done too badly either. - Don’t put ANYTHING on credit cards this month
Yeahhhh, this one didn’t go too well as I ended up buying a big ecourse bundle to help with my freelance, and I’d forgotten that the Amazon Prime annual subscription was coming out this month too! Added to that, a few little shops prior to pay day meant that I added another £30 to the balance, but at least I’ll be able to pay that off straight away now that I’ve been paid. I thoroughly deserve a smack on the wrists for this one, though. - At least 15 no-spend days
I’m not actually sure, but I do know that there were many days where I didn’t spend anything! I think I shall have to get my old bujo (dotted bullet journal planner) out again and start drawing up my No Spend Day charts again so that I can track this one more closely. But I would definitely say that the spend:no spend ratio was much, much better this month. - Harvest the rest of the carrots in the veg patch
I have harvested around 75% of all the carrots in the veg patch now, and we are eating our way through them. The Autumn King carrots have grown very well this year and are a really good size. I decided to leave the rest in as our well-draining soil is a great natural store for them. Once my supplies are getting low inside, I’ll clear the rest out and then it’s time to get the alliums in!
- Make my own sloe gin in time for Christmas!
As we’re still waiting for a frost, this one is on the back burner at the moment. Once the first frost arrives, I’ll pick the remaining sloes and into the gin they will go! - Batch cook more freezer meals
This month I’ve been really pleased with how much more batch cooking I’ve managed to do, as it’s really made a difference with cutting down spends for lunch at work, as well as making easy, quick but healthy meals in the evening. I made a huge batch of veggie chilli which I will be making again for November, and I think I’ll also make my sweet potato and lentil pie portions too. I’m also planning on batch cooking and freezing leek and potato soup portions, as these are really lovely with crusty bread for lunch on a chilly day. - Spend no more than £60 at the supermarket each week (a tough one)
Well, no, this didn’t happen. But we have cut down our supermarket spends a lot since I’ve been concentrating on meal planning and doing the big weekly shop. I still managed to miss a few items that we had to go back for, but I noticed we have been going back far less regularly and have probably knocked £30 off our weekly spend already. I still maintain that we can get through a week with £60 for the three of us plus two cats… it’s not an easy task but definitely not impossible!
So a bit of a mixed bag on the October Frugal Aims front… I think it’s easy to slip into bad habits when the salary starts getting low before pay day, but I’m pleased that I’ve managed to put aside some extra earnings this month too to balance the bad bits.
How about November then? Check out my next November Frugal Goals post!
My food budgets are out of the window as my always hungry son has returned from university to live at home for a year! I find sticking to one supermarket shop a week good, and I write down everything I have in store before I go so that I can plan better. Sadly, I won’t be picking sloes this year – they all go very quickly, either birds or foragers, as I have to pick from the berries in the wild.