Frugal Roundup for August and September

I live a frugal lifestyle because I think it is best for myself, for my family and also for the environment and also because I would like to become debt free by 2019. I say debt free, but let me qualify. I have a number of loans which I am eager to clear and I also have two mortgages. Unless I win the lottery, I don’t think I will be able to pay off the mortgages by 2019 so for now, I’m going to focus on the loans.

My intention is to be really purposeful about the whole matter and hold myself accountable. One of the ways I will hold myself accountable is to live as frugally as possible. I will also try to document my efforts. This way I can follow my progress (or lack thereof, lol). But seriously, help me keep on track.

I should have started this a long time ago, but nevertheless better late than never. So it is now the end of September and I am doing my frugal roundup for August and September 2018.

August was a glorious month! We were spending it in Jamaica on vacation. We had such a wonderful time! I can just hear you saying ‘how can they be living it up in Jamaica when they say they are living frugally?’ Well read this post and all will be revealed. Yup! We did do it as frugally as possible, including having 3 stops on the flight out and two coming back. I’m looking forward now as well to receiving money from Top Cash Back. That I will count as savings which are earmarked to help pay off debt.

When we returned from Jamaica in August as well, we continued meal planning and that has continued to be a major focus in helping us to save money. These are our documented meal plans for the month.

No shop meal plan

Shopping tips for meal planning

 

To help with the aim of paying off debt, we have also purposely planned some frugal activities which we report on weekly. Check the following post to get ideas of some of the things we do to cut back and save.

Six frugal things we’ve done this week

Filming for series two, episode one

 

 

I have also determined that I need to do more, to make more money. Every income possible way of earning money legally that I hear about, I go for it. I have earned for QMEE which is a survey site, YouGov, which is another survey site and I have even received money from collecting and scanning receipts. They may be small amounts but every little help and I know they will add up to help the cause.

September saw us resume our role as ‘presenters’ on the Channel 5 program Shop Smart, Save Money. This is a program all about how people can save money in different aspects of their lives. For our bits, we look into how grocery items for meal planning can be sourced as cost-effectively as possible. It really is interesting to see how items are priced in different supermarkets.

We are hoping to be able to win the challenges (we are up against another blogger, Kelly, to see who can source the ingredients for three dishes, at a good price.

Here are some of the tips we have shared.

 

One of the frugal things we’ve done during August and September is to join some freebie sites where we are offered a variety of things from free seeds to makeup, to perfume samples and even multivitamins.

Just this week, I signed up for a site called Boom25. With this site, you do your regular shop at popular online stores like eBay etc and, if your purchase is the 25th purchase in the day, you can earn your full purchase price back. On the same site, there is also Boom15 and Boom10, which work in a similar way.

There is an added bonus in that you can get £3 for each person you refer once they have made a purchase. I think it’s a great idea. You can use my link to sign up.

Although the task of clearing debt seem daunting, I plod on because I know that in the end, it will be worth it. I will have more disposable income and above all, I will be relieved of the stress of being in debt.