Since handing in my work Blackberry in December I’ve been using an old mobile handset for a phone; it’s on a Pay as You Go, one off top up plan which allows me to control how much I spend. So far this year I’ve spent an average of £5 a month topping it up, however I’m trying to stop using it all together; the only reason I feel the need to keep it is for {real} emergencies.

I like the fact that this makes me look extremely frugal but I’ll be honest and admit it’s more about my loathing of answering a phone; I thank my old job for that, it’s given me a phobia!

So could you imagine being without a mobile? Would you want to?

Get free updates from this site here . Thank you for visiting.

{photo credit: splorp}

So a couple of weeks ago I joined three other bloggers {Single Mom, Rich Mom, Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance and Money Funk} in a {fun} challenge to see who could achieve the biggest percentage decrease, in June, on variable budget costs.

The five categories of spending we agreed on for the challenge are listed below {I’ve included my normal monthly budget for these categories in brackets also}

So far on the challenge I’ve been good girl, no unruly spending has occurred, lol……..which makes for a change just lately!

To date I’ve spent £125.53 in grocery, £0 on clothing and £9.79 eating out, going well, but can it last?

For a month I think it’s possible for anyone to cut their spending, it’s keeping it low for the long term that’s harder. There is also a tendency to perhaps, when your month is up to go on a spree, or in my case, there will perhaps be a necessity to spend more on grocery next month, as my cupboards will need a little restocking.

I never know if our budget amounts are low, medium or high because there are so many variables in play, location, family size etc, and they are so personal. Budgeting to me is all about setting a level that you’re happy with, personal to you and your family, which fits in with your current income and your priorities…….and then trying to stick to it

Anyways, plans for this week include a little gardening, a little sewing and generally getting some of my June mini goals accomplished…what about you what {frugal} activities do you have planned?

If you would like to receive free updates from this site by email then you can subscribe here . Thank you for visiting!

 {photo credit:ouvyt}

You know how I love a good challenge as I find them motivating, well I’ve signed up for another one. This time I’ve joined some ladies from across the ocean in a sort of personal finance frugal challenge; it’s a fun, frugal {extreme}, challenge to see who can spend the least on variable budget categories in the month of June.

As Christine from Money Funk, one of the challengers writes about in this post, if you are trying to pay off debt then reducing your variables expenses is one of the best places to start. Jacq, another challenger writes about how making it fun to lower your expenses without feeling deprived, is the key to moving towards your long term goals. Barbara the other challenger promises some ‘extreme personal finance training’ or as Barbara calls it like The Biggest Loser with savings not lbs!

We will also be getting {extreme} advice from Jacob at Early Retirement Extreme; Jacob’s site and particularly his ‘Early Retirement Extreme 21 day Makeover’ will give you the tools you need to become financial independent in 5 years; it’s not easy, but it can be done. {Christine is working through it at the moment}

The variable budget categories are;

• Groceries
• Personal care & household
• Clothes {I’ll win that!!!}
• Auto {no spending there for me!}
• Eating Out

So how low can I go in all these categories? Well we will see…the pantry is going to get used for starters, so it’s only fresh food I’ll be buying, and as for clothing, I went twelve months without buying anything new, so they’re all going down in that category!!

The Challengers:

-Single Mom, Rich Mom, Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance and Money Funk

Wish me luck!

PS. Don’t forget to enter my book giveaway; Win a copy of The Tightwad Gazette

If you would like to receive free updates from this site by email then you can subscribe here . Thank you for visiting!

{photo credit: jek in the box}

It’s time for another book giveaway on Move To Portugal and this time it’s my favourite book on frugality: The Complete Tightwad Gazette, Amy Dacyczyn’s brilliant 900 page plus tome ‘that promotes thrift as a viable alternative lifestyle’.

If you’re learning about frugality and want to learn more, then this is the book for you.

{picture via here}

How do you enter:

To enter:

1. Leave a comment below telling me your favourite frugal practice or habit
2. Retweet {RT} this post on Twitter and let me know in the comments that you have done this

Rules:

• Giveaway closes Midnight {GMT} Monday 14th June 2010
• Maximum two entries per person {comment and retweet}
• All entries to be given a number and the winner to be chosen by Random.org

…….and don’t forget if  you’re on twitter and not following me, why not? lol. You can also subscribe to my RSS feed here.

Please help me to publicise this giveaway

If you would like to receive free updates from this site by email then you can subscribe here . Thank you for visiting!

This giveaway is now closed

One of the things I can {easily} spend money on is items for the house; I can keep my wardrobe streamlined, but seeing an item, and resisting an item that would look great in my home is another thing; to keep this spending trigger at bay, I move stuff around……all the time.

The pictures, among other things, in my house have been everywhere; they travel to every room.

Moving pictures is easy and it changes the whole way a room can look without any cost; keeping the walls all a fairly neutral colour helps with this and means every time I want a change around I don’t feel the need to paint and buy different coloured accessories.

Above is a corner of my dining room after a little move around; a totally different look without me buying anything new {the picture was here before}.

So let me know, do you move stuff around in your house?  Have you been known to get up in the middle of the night to do it, or is that just me?

Don’t forget I’m having a book giveaway this week, so keep looking out for that; A clue. It’s my favourite frugality book!

If you would like to receive free updates from this site by email then you can subscribe here . Thank you  for visiting!

I think I may have finally got to grips with cash budgeting ……

{here they are, in the kitchen, minus two lids}

I have four different cash amounts every month; grocery, social, personal spending and miss mtp’s expenses. I keep grocery money and personal spending money in my purse as it’s easier for me this way {different sections} and the other two in jars; any money left in the jars at the end of our budget month goes into the NY fund jar {a big incentive not to spend anything!}

My kids laugh at my jars, but it’s a good way to teach them about living on {and sticking to} a budget.

I also keep a separate jar for Euros and Dollars, as you never know when you might need those ;-)

For free updates you can subscribe to this site here. Thanks for visiting!

I know it should be ‘rose garden’ but singing herb garden works well don’t you think?

This is my progress in growing things {I also have some mint outside in a bigger pot}. You have to ignore the lolly stick names as they went in after I planted and I just guessed which herb was which {perhaps you can help, does that look like the first signs of coriander in the first pot?}  Two out of the three are coming along nicely however that poor little pot at the back is struggling.

Growing these has taken me back to school times; do you remember when you had to plant cress seeds and watch them grow? Did we all do that in school?

I’m going to re plant them into bigger pots this week and set up a little herb place outside my back door, and as per normal, any tips would be greatly appreciated as green fingered I most certainly am not

Take a look at Emily’s wonderful Salsa Garden.

PS. I fibbed on Saturday, June’s goals will be up Wednesday, sorry

 Get free updates from this site here . Thank you for visiting.

I haven’t tracked my grocery spending on this blog for a little while, so this month I’ll be doing it to see how much progress I’m making, if any, in keeping the costs down.

My money month runs from 18th May -17th June so this is the ideal time to start. I’m also, because I have a spreadsheet obsession, and because I’m learning a lot about nutrition, breaking down the food I buy into categories; I want to see the percentages of where the money goes, eg, 20% on fruit and vegetables, 22% on meat; I know I’m still spending in the wrong areas and I’m hoping that the figures will shock me into further action.

To make it a little more fun I’ll be doing a Menu Plan Monday post; Menu Plan Monday is a weekly link up run by I’m an Organizing Junkie, a great site to visit if you love organising and simplicity.

I’ve blogged before about how much I love menu planning, it saves you time and money and I love it.

So what are we eating next week? {I try to incorporate at least one day of leftovers and one day of eggs or beans}

• Monday: Grilled Salmon & New Potatoes
• Tuesday: Chickpea Curry with Rice
• Wednesday: Chilli with Rice
• Thursday: Leftover Chilli
• Friday: Margharita Pizza
• Saturday: Dinner out
• Sunday: Scrambled Eggs/Baked Beans with Toast

My budget for the month is £230 and I spent £62.46 at the supermarket on Friday, more than I normally spend as I stocked up a little.

Grocery Spending Tally £230/£62.46

For free updates you can subscribe to this site here . Thanks for visiting.

There are the little things that I do daily without even thinking that would make me look frugal in peoples eyes; yet I still feel like a frugal learner; there are still so many things that I feel I can, and want to do.

So what are the things are on my frugal to do list. Well making my own bread is one thing, growing my own tomatoes is another; I also wouldn’t mind being able to sew and make my own home furnishings, the list keeps growing.

Becoming a super frugal person doesn’t happen overnight, especially if you were once a spendaholic like me, so I take simple baby steps to slowly change the way I do things; I make gradual changes.

What about you, what frugal practices are you working on?

For free updates you can subscribe to this site here . Thanks for visiting.

:: To advertise on Move To Portugal please email me at movetoportugal {at} gmail [dot} com ::

{photo credit: chelsea (: }

I was thinking about the frugal things we do everyday, that have now become a habit.

The first thing I thought of was my obsession with turning electrical items off at the plug, which I do all the time {like a mad woman}, the second thing was our devotion to packed lunches.

We made the switch to packed lunches quite a while ago and, although it’s a frugal cliche, I would hesitate to guess how much money it has saved us over the last few years; I know it’s a lot.

We keep our lunches very simple, sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, raisins a biscuit and a flask of drink; easy to make and easy to eat.

I think one of the things that put people of a packed lunch is boredom whereas we take a different attitude, it’s just lunch; I also think know that my husband still smiles every time he eats his, all these years later, knowing it’s saving him money!

What about you, do you always take a packed lunch?

For free updates you can subscribe to this site here and you can follow me on Twitter here!

{photo credit: wendy copley}