This week I gleaned every last thing possible from our garden before the first freeze, which wasn't a whole lot, but now it's prepped and in the freezer. Started a jar of fermented green tomato pickles, and tried a recipe for green tomato cake - delicious! I also baked the pumpkins we used to decorate our front porch at Halloween, pureed and froze that in ziplock bags for smoothies and baking. It roasted the pumpkin seeds for snacking. I like your very detailed budgeting. I began doing detailed weekly budgeting when we were first married, and still do it today, 40 years later. We've always "paid ourselves first", and it gives a feeling of security to know all the bills are paid, savings accounts are growing, and you know how much you have left to use for discretionary spending. It's then a challenge to see how creative you can be to live within that limit. Budgeting allowed us to save enough to put our 3 children through college with no debt (scholarships helped), and we now have enough saved for a comfortable retirement. I can't recommend it enough.
Jane I love your channel. My husband and I have been living the frugal lifestyle for a few years now and we are at such peace and enjoy our lives more and more each day .Thanks for such an amazing channel and putting positive outlook on the frugal lifestyle
Another great video full of tips. Here in the uk food is also on the rise week on week. Trying to get a bargain is getting harder and harder. I too did a meat shop this week. Topping up my freezer, enough in there to last me into the new year. I bought my Christmas meat which included 2 large turkey legs which I find have lots of meat on them when cooked and striped.The bones can then be used to make stock. I got my yearly heating allowance which pensioners receive every year in the uk. As I have a large credit balance on my gas and electric account I decided to use my £200 to top up the freezer and pantry to help me over the next couple of months. Because my grocery needs will be lower over the next couple of months I should have money to stock up when Christmas food are reduced after Christmas. Anything to overall reduce the grocery budget.
We were in the UK in October and had a look around Lidl and Aldi, the food prices there were half or even cheaper than food in France. You’re doing well though Pat. Thanks for watching
Oh dear we are seeing prices rising here in the uk but we need to remember that things are bad the world over. Although I don’t like things going up much faster than our incomes I count myself luck. I can still always manage to put something into saving most months. Some months it’s not much but I never need to be hungry or cold so I count myself very lucky. I am happy to live frugally and shop around to save even if it’s only pennies it all adds up over the year. This allows me to sleep at night without the worries of how to pay my bills.
I really enjoy your budgeting, using sinking funds and long term savings. I am starting to use them in my personal finances. Wow they work great when aiming for goals. I am also in my mid 50's, but I had sudden job loss due health issues. Frugal queen in France has been a life saver. I am now able to manage my pension and social security disability incomes with alot more effectively. Thank you Jane and Michael for a glimpse into your mortgage and debt free lives. I also enjoy your recipes and your beautiful French cottage and gardens.
I've been eating dandelion greens w/tomatoes from my gardens. Dandelions are incredibly healthy, especially for kidneys. After that, I've cut the tops from beets, which are growing in water for salad greens & will start growing broccoli sprouts in jars, for once again cheap but incredibly healthy veg. And basically free, except start up cost on jars & broccoli sprout seeds. The tomatoes were self-starters from last yrs cast offs. I don't really consider myself very frugal bc of purposely trying, but i love investing, hate waste, & try to be a wise steward of finances. I'm amazed at how little i spend w/out much effort.
I appreciate your very specific video. I especially loved where you pay yourself first and have a little flexibility with discretionary funds. This episode is another educational window into how one family’s financial world works very successfully. Frugality is a life choice that if adhered to works well no matter what the income. And a positive “can do” attitude regarding one’s budget is a segue to success. You are certainly a shining example of that. I am looking forward to Wednesday’s chat!
I’m in Yorkshire and I have to agree. Interesting to see your budget and how you break it down for different categories . I do something similar- my grocery budget is £85 per month, and so far this year I’m below budget 😀
I absolutely love your videos! As an American who is looking for a retirement home in France, I am looking to live as frugally as possible. You are such an inspiration!
Thank you so much for the link. I'm budgeting for a specific reason looking forward. So useful seeing yours. I missed a monthly £13 banking charge! Doh! 😂 Thanks so much. Awesome video. 👍 👍 👍
Thanks for sharing! We learn every video. Your leftover veg dinner looks delicious. Also, not too bad of a price in the sasuage. In the USA that would be $7.99 minimum. (Close to 11€)
Thank you for your time to share your wonderful ideas .I live in the US and my husband and I spend very little .I'm blessed to know how to garden and can our own foods ,bake our own breads and dehydrate a lot of fresh fruits for future use .Waste nothing is how we should all live .Have a wonderful day
Probably the only frugal thing I did this week was “batch cook” a lot of different beans in the instant pot, then freeze them into meal size servings. Did the same with pasta sauce. Filled my small freezer with this. Less canned food I have to purchase! 🎉
Perception and comparison are funny things. I look at your €300 a month supermarket budget in awe. But then today I thought… well that is AUD$600 per month for 2 adults. Our house is 3 adults and a 14 yr old boy who maybe eats the most!. So double the 2 to 4 people and it’s AUD$1200 per month which is exactly what we budget to cover very similar items. I don’t feel so bad about our supermarket budget now.
Loved Mikes wiggling on the mower. You must have a bumpy lawn 😂 I found butter for £1.29 a pack this week in Home Bargains. Was so chuffed as in recyclable paper too. Am sure my husband thinks I’ve gone mad, he’s on a different page to me, but slowly coming on board. Trying to slash our food spending now as just two of us in the main. Trying to avoid top up shops they are lethal. Very lucky as have a new Aldi, HB’s, Asda and Morrison’s close by. One difference I noticed paracetamol 65p in Morrison’s, 29p in H Bargains! Thanks Jane and Mike for these videos, very inspiring.
Thank you for being so open and honest about your budgeting. It’s always better to see everything written down. It’s getting more difficult to keep food shopping in budget every time we shop! Thank you so much.
I was wondering how you were going to manage November's budget. Thank you for showing it! Looking at your grocery haul shows what is available for meat in France. We have smoked ham for Christmas. I cut off ham steaks to freeze for later meals and then bake the rest. I will have to check and see if our paper products have gone up in price.
As you saw, after bills and regular expenses, there was nothing to go in long term savings, that’s a bare bones budget, we pay what we have for the essentials only
I've found that Dubbin works great to make leather boots waterproof. It comes in small flat tins, one for cleaning, one for polishing. My worst budgeting month is February as both my house and car insurance come due as well as hydro and water, which come every two months and every three months, respectively. Telephone and internet come monthly, although I got a much bigger bill than expected this month. I looked at my full bill, to see why and it said I only paid 48 instead of $84.00 last month. I get my bills online, type them into my budget on my computer, and pay them online through my credit union. I checked my bank statement first, then my budget. Sure enough, both said 48. How embarrassing. I won't make that mistake again! Cheers. Jon in rural BC, Canada
Hi Jane, I was wondering if you have buckwheat in France/UK? It's such a useful product. We use it like you would use rice for a side dish (really good with salt and some fried onions to top). It's goes well with any meat, veggies or mushrooms. In addition, in my childhood, we ate it for breakfast instead of cereal: sprinkle sugar on top of bowl of cooked buckwheat, cover with cold milk and enjoy. Yummy. If it's available and cheap, could be a nice replacement for rice, to diversify. Special thanks for your leek tart recipe. Have already made it twice!
I also track my monthly expenses by saving all my receipts; and then, log everything spent during each month at the end of every month. It helps me with preparing my monthly budget. I so glad I'm not the only person taking time to budget and track my low pension income. Can't afford to waste money!
A frugal thing we did Taught our son how to skin and bone partridge for roasting wrapped in bacon or for slow cooking The cost is nothing as we are in a shooting area here in England and game is given away
I have a problem with set budgets as if something that we use regularly is on special offer I tend to buy a lot of it in order to save in the long term - perhaps your discretionary spending accounts for this - but I certainly spend more some months than others - and it works for us.
Hi Colin, my food budget is more than enough, as you saw, I as able to stock up on a lot of meat for our freezer. I could, if I had to, feed us for 30€ a week. As I said, usually our discretionary spending is around 150€ a month, so if we wanted to stock up on cleaning products on offers, as an example, we can. Thanks for watching
Hi! New subscriber here! I’m Mo, from Lincolnshire, U.K. You just popped up on my page. Very interesting video, thank you for sharing Always good to get different perspective. It’s shown me I need to keep a closer eye on spending. Looking forward to your future videos and going to catch up on some of your previous ones too. Stay safe . Xx
That’s a killer. We had a Honda Civic when we were doing 200 miles a week commute, luckily it did 65 miles to the gallon , we used to do a tank of fuel every four weeks.
Thanks for sharing. I keep all my receipts and track for the month. I’m a pen and paper person and use my ledger every month for bills and expenses. I had $10 left from my grocery budget this week. I’m sure I’ll spend it next week
You got quite a bit of meat to stretch your budget amount this shopping trip. That leg of lamb for Christmas should yield many servings if it’s only the 2 of you that will be dining.
Inspired by you, I did the following in the past week. We've been heating primarily by wood stove and using solar electricity. We had a free energy audit (required when installing solar) and the company found many ways to make the house more energy efficient. They do updates for you like weather stripping, etc. I was not feeling well earlier in the week, so my non-culinary husband bought a rotisserie whole chicken. We ate one meal from it that night. We don't like dark meat, so the legs and wings went to our dogs. We don't feed them commercial dog food, but make it ourselves. I stripped off the last of the white meat and simmered the carcass overnight in the crock pot. This left a fantastic broth and we had chicken noodle soup the next night. I took the bones that had cooked over night and ran them through the blender and have used the resulting slurry over the top of the homemade dog food. They love it and it provides needed calcium.
A tight month but the bills are paid and your bellies will be fed without getting into debt on the credit card. We are eating a lot less meat and I’m doing much more walking to keep us on budget. That leg of lamb will give you plenty of meals after Christmas too. Love Wendy ♥💋
Gotcha, you’re like dieter who loses the weight then puts it on again? Did you see how I budget for spending money? That’s discretionary spending. You need to do the same, you budget some money that you can spend on anything you like. That way, it’s not freed up money, it’s your allocated spending money.
Here in the US there is a clear spray product called “flex seal” that one year I sprayed on my roof, was awesome, did the job, you may be able to spray on your boots if you have available to you. It’s a rubber sealant coating and Amazon has it.
Thanks Jane and Mike - Lots of great tips here in the video. It's always interesting to see what groceries are like and what the cost is in other countries. I really appreciate you sharing your budget as well. Will your pensions increase at all as you get older? Here in Canada you get some extra money at age 65 as long as your income is below a certain threshold - just wondering if it will be the same for you with UK pensions.
So, pack of sausages, take required amount of sausages out of pack, put in freezer bag, tie a knot, same with all meat portions. We have a fridge freezer and the freezer section had three drawers. One is meat. I hope that helps.
We have sinking fund for annual costs, including Christmas and birthdays. We add 100 to our December budget for extra food at Christmas, our leg of lamb was 18€ and that was part of that 100€? Thanks for watching.
Jane have you tried Niki (I think that's how it's spelt) Niki Wax which should make your walking boots waterproof. Worth a try, save you purchasing s new pair of boots.
@@FrugalQueeninFrance Thinking about it, it may be called Nic or Nik Wax. My husband was a walker and used it on all his walking boots over the years. Hope it works, cheaper than a new pair of boots Jane.
Can I ask how long it took for you to save up your 12months of expenses, and what did you include in that? Does the French govt tax your British pension?
We saved the emergency fund whilst we still had two average salaries. We were as frugal then. We then included 12 months mortgage payments, 12 food budget, 12 months car running costs, and 12 months bills. That took us two years. We transferred that to a long term French savings account called an assurance vie. We put the maximum limit for each individual in each as we also saved some money from our house sale. We have government occupational pensions and they are taxed in the Uk not France as are uk state pensions. However! That amount affects our tax bracket here and we are not taxed but pay social charges, which is the French equivalent of National insurance.
Hi Jane you certainly got me budget ing I was at Saintsbury today there was so much I brought from meat to veg to bread all I done was went to the reduced items ready to go out date they have yellow stickers on amazing what I made today stir fry cooked and froze for next week even am making spinach pie by the way I got pastry from frozen section only 1pound that's made frozen till nxt week and we brought are turkey crown frozen so no rushing around for December xx thank you for your budget list on money going out and coming x
@@FrugalQueeninFrance I need to avoid gluten too. Do you cook using separate ingredients for you and Mike? Or do you both just eat gluten free? 🤔 I am on a tight budget for my family and gluten free ingredients are so much more expensive and prices are rising, like everything else.
It is always fascinating to see what people buy - for instance I would never buy paper roll for eco reasons and we use washable cloths for cleaning. This is not a criticism just an observation. However we also eat frikadellas - it is difficult to describe them if you dont already eat them. Yummy though!
I mainly do. I have a young dog that pees herself when she gets excited and also vomits if she eats too quickly. If you’ve watched previous videos, you’ll know I use clothes for cleaning. However, I keep paper for the occasional hygiene occasions. Am I forgiven? Thanks for watching
@@FrugalQueeninFrance You are certainly forgiven - we just use loo roll for such accidents ( we have an elderly cat with no teeth that sometimes vomits)
We pay 22% of gross income. If you earn one million euros, you hand over 22% of gross. If you're self employed, that's 22% of gross, not profit. It's not cheap. We pay for it. As well as having insurance
@@FrugalQueeninFrance Interesting. I never knew how that worked! That is a HUGE tax! Our Medicare costs for my husband and I will be about $2K per month -- but our Medicare tax when working is about 3% (plus we pay about 440 per month for insurance through employers).
@@jorasparents we’re happy to pay. We’re low income and get the same excellent treatment as the millionaire and don’t have to wait either. Our actual social security bill is 375€ a month for the two of us. That doesn’t just pay for healthcare for us but everyone. It also pays for pensions, maternity pay, sickness pay for everyone and everyone pays for me too.
Thank you Jane another inspiring video 💖. Can I just ask - if I rewatch any of your videos do you get paid again if I watch the ads or is it only the first time?
Do you pay a penalty on federal pensions for retiring early in France? In Canada you lose 20% for going before 60, plus what they call a "bridge benefit" that's paid from 60 - 65. It's an additional payment to bring you up to the level of Canada pension 5 yrs before you would if employed in the private sector.
I have a UK state pension, I have paid enough years of National Insurance contributions to qualify for the full UK state pension. I won’t get a French state pension. We get reduced occupational pensions because we took them at 35. Thanks for watching and you’re welcome to ask questions
@@frugalitystartsathome4889 I have a UK state pension, does not mean, I am currently receiving a full state pension. I will receive that at 67. It is fully paid up so I have it. I have and am in receipt of my occupational pension that I can take, albeit reduced, at 55.
Not often. Most of the food at the markets just comes from wholesalers. Often in the same boxes as from Lidl. It’s like farmer’s markets, you’re often paying inflated prices for the ambiance.
You pay income tax only? You don't pay school taxes, property taxes? Our taxes are around $300.00/ month and it's considered fairly cheap. I know people who pay 4 times that!
We pay 22% FB the gross of our income for social charges, the pays for 66% of our Health and 100% of critical medical care. We pay income tax as well, based on last years and the year before lasts income, our property taxes are 265€ a year, rubbish tax is 185€ a year and TV tax is 150€ a year. All French schools are funded centrally by the central government out of taxes. My income tax bill for last year was 570€ for the year and the year before (bigger income) is being taxed at 57€ a month for the previous year.
I find comparisons fascinating.Thanks for your transparency, your personal organisation is in a class of its own!
Thanks Veronica, we try to help by sharing.
This week I gleaned every last thing possible from our garden before the first freeze, which wasn't a whole lot, but now it's prepped and in the freezer. Started a jar of fermented green tomato pickles, and tried a recipe for green tomato cake - delicious! I also baked the pumpkins we used to decorate our front porch at Halloween, pureed and froze that in ziplock bags for smoothies and baking. It roasted the pumpkin seeds for snacking.
I like your very detailed budgeting. I began doing detailed weekly budgeting when we were first married, and still do it today, 40 years later. We've always "paid ourselves first", and it gives a feeling of security to know all the bills are paid, savings accounts are growing, and you know how much you have left to use for discretionary spending. It's then a challenge to see how creative you can be to live within that limit.
Budgeting allowed us to save enough to put our 3 children through college with no debt (scholarships helped), and we now have enough saved for a comfortable retirement. I can't recommend it enough.
Thanks very much for sharing. You’ve done so well.
Jane I love your channel. My husband and I have been living the frugal lifestyle for a few years now and we are at such peace and enjoy our lives more and more each day .Thanks for such an amazing channel and putting positive outlook on the frugal lifestyle
Thanks, enjoy our videos and plenty more to come.
Thank you for your sharing of life in france. I am in the u.s. and find it fun to watch and listen.
You’re welcome
Another great video full of tips. Here in the uk food is also on the rise week on week. Trying to get a bargain is getting harder and harder. I too did a meat shop this week. Topping up my freezer, enough in there to last me into the new year. I bought my Christmas meat which included 2 large turkey legs which I find have lots of meat on them when cooked and striped.The bones can then be used to make stock. I got my yearly heating allowance which pensioners receive every year in the uk. As I have a large credit balance on my gas and electric account I decided to use my £200 to top up the freezer and pantry to help me over the next couple of months. Because my grocery needs will be lower over the next couple of months I should have money to stock up when Christmas food are reduced after Christmas. Anything to overall reduce the grocery budget.
We were in the UK in October and had a look around Lidl and Aldi, the food prices there were half or even cheaper than food in France. You’re doing well though Pat. Thanks for watching
Oh dear we are seeing prices rising here in the uk but we need to remember that things are bad the world over. Although I don’t like things going up much faster than our incomes I count myself luck. I can still always manage to put something into saving most months. Some months it’s not much but I never need to be hungry or cold so I count myself very lucky. I am happy to live frugally and shop around to save even if it’s only pennies it all adds up over the year. This allows me to sleep at night without the worries of how to pay my bills.
@@patmartin9727 yes, the UK still has incredibly cheap food.
Food prices are rising and the ‘offers’ are less and less genuine BUT I’m finding if I cook from scratch and avoid impulse buys its still okay.
I really enjoy your budgeting, using sinking funds and long term savings. I am starting to use them in my personal finances. Wow they work great when aiming for goals. I am also in my mid 50's, but I had sudden job loss due health issues. Frugal queen in France has been a life saver. I am now able to manage my pension and social security disability incomes with alot more effectively. Thank you Jane and Michael for a glimpse into your mortgage and debt free lives. I also enjoy your recipes and your beautiful French cottage and gardens.
Marilyn, thanks so much for your kind words, we love making the videos and it’s great to hear that they help.
Love your cheerful, encouraging attitude and your effective explanation of your budgeting and how it plays out in real life!
Thanks for watching and you’re welcome
I like that you have colored toilet paper. Here in the U S we only have white.
I love that backsplash tile in your kitchen
Thanks
I love your grocery hauls. You and Mike are doing such a great job!
Thanks for watching and commenting
I've been eating dandelion greens w/tomatoes from my gardens. Dandelions are incredibly healthy, especially for kidneys. After that, I've cut the tops from beets, which are growing in water for salad greens & will start growing broccoli sprouts in jars, for once again cheap but incredibly healthy veg. And basically free, except start up cost on jars & broccoli sprout seeds. The tomatoes were self-starters from last yrs cast offs. I don't really consider myself very frugal bc of purposely trying, but i love investing, hate waste, & try to be a wise steward of finances. I'm amazed at how little i spend w/out much effort.
Very good for you
I appreciate your very specific video. I especially loved where you pay yourself first and have a little flexibility with discretionary funds. This episode is another educational window into how one family’s financial world works very successfully. Frugality is a life choice that if adhered to works well no matter what the income. And a positive “can do” attitude regarding one’s budget is a segue to success. You are certainly a shining example of that. I am looking forward to Wednesday’s chat!
Wednesday is all about the tips that changed our lives
Nice to see Yorkshire tea on your shelf! 🙂
It’s the best.
I’m in Yorkshire and I have to agree. Interesting to see your budget and how you break it down for different categories . I do something similar- my grocery budget is £85 per month, and so far this year I’m below budget 😀
I absolutely love your videos! As an American who is looking for a retirement home in France, I am looking to live as frugally as possible. You are such an inspiration!
Check out my video about retirement
Thank you so much for the link. I'm budgeting for a specific reason looking forward. So useful seeing yours. I missed a monthly £13 banking charge! Doh! 😂 Thanks so much. Awesome video. 👍 👍 👍
Thanks for sharing! We learn every video. Your leftover veg dinner looks delicious. Also, not too bad of a price in the sasuage. In the USA that would be $7.99 minimum. (Close to 11€)
Thanks for watching! We think food is reasonably priced here, however, it must prove expensive for large families
Thank you for your time to share your wonderful ideas .I live in the US and my husband and I spend very little .I'm blessed to know how to garden and can our own foods ,bake our own breads and dehydrate a lot of fresh fruits for future use .Waste nothing is how we should all live .Have a wonderful day
You are so welcome!
Probably the only frugal thing I did this week was “batch cook” a lot of different beans in the instant pot, then freeze them into meal size servings.
Did the same with pasta sauce. Filled my small freezer with this. Less canned food I have to purchase! 🎉
You did something to save money, that’s better than wasting money. Good for you
Watching from Texas I like that you're buying real food in the US there would be alot of junk food included. Great haul.
Thanks. It’s what we eat.
Hi Jane & Mike……another great video👍🏴
Glad you enjoyed it
thank you for showing us your budget and how you plan it out. It was helpful.
You’re welcome
Perception and comparison are funny things. I look at your €300 a month supermarket budget in awe. But then today I thought… well that is AUD$600 per month for 2 adults. Our house is 3 adults and a 14 yr old boy who maybe eats the most!. So double the 2 to 4 people and it’s AUD$1200 per month which is exactly what we budget to cover very similar items. I don’t feel so bad about our supermarket budget now.
You’re doing well, Australia is famous for the high cost of living
Another fabulous video, thanks so much. Your budgeting advice is so sensible! 💕
Thanks Elizabeth
Loved Mikes wiggling on the mower. You must have a bumpy lawn 😂 I found butter for £1.29 a pack this week in Home Bargains. Was so chuffed as in recyclable paper too. Am sure my husband thinks I’ve gone mad, he’s on a different page to me, but slowly coming on board. Trying to slash our food spending now as just two of us in the main. Trying to avoid top up shops they are lethal. Very lucky as have a new Aldi, HB’s, Asda and Morrison’s close by. One difference I noticed paracetamol 65p in Morrison’s, 29p in H Bargains! Thanks Jane and Mike for these videos, very inspiring.
Keep at it Tracey, you’re right on track.
Back after my time out - thanks for your kind words - it really helped.
You’re welcome, we must do a Skype coffee get together one day
@@FrugalQueeninFrance That would be wonderful!
I like your shopping hauls. :)
Thanks Lily
Thank you for being so open and honest about your budgeting. It’s always better to see everything written down. It’s getting more difficult to keep food shopping in budget every time we shop! Thank you so much.
I share on Wednesday how we are increasingly more flexible with budgeting to react to the rising prices.
Thank youxx
I was wondering how you were going to manage November's budget. Thank you for showing it! Looking at your grocery haul shows what is available for meat in France. We have smoked ham for Christmas. I cut off ham steaks to freeze for later meals and then bake the rest. I will have to check and see if our paper products have gone up in price.
As you saw, after bills and regular expenses, there was nothing to go in long term savings, that’s a bare bones budget, we pay what we have for the essentials only
I've found that Dubbin works great to make leather boots waterproof. It comes in small flat tins, one for cleaning, one for polishing.
My worst budgeting month is February as both my house and car insurance come due as well as hydro and water, which come every two months and every three months, respectively.
Telephone and internet come monthly, although I got a much bigger bill than expected this month. I looked at my full bill, to see why and it said I only paid 48 instead of $84.00 last month.
I get my bills online, type them into my budget on my computer, and pay them online through my credit union. I checked my bank statement first, then my budget. Sure enough, both said 48. How embarrassing. I won't make that mistake again!
Cheers.
Jon in rural BC, Canada
Thanks for watching
Hi Jane, I was wondering if you have buckwheat in France/UK? It's such a useful product. We use it like you would use rice for a side dish (really good with salt and some fried onions to top). It's goes well with any meat, veggies or mushrooms. In addition, in my childhood, we ate it for breakfast instead of cereal: sprinkle sugar on top of bowl of cooked buckwheat, cover with cold milk and enjoy. Yummy. If it's available and cheap, could be a nice replacement for rice, to diversify. Special thanks for your leek tart recipe. Have already made it twice!
Yes we do, I use it often. I have some in my pantry and will use it this week. We call it sarrasin here.
I also track my monthly expenses by saving all my receipts; and then, log everything spent during each month at the end of every month. It helps me with preparing my monthly budget. I so glad I'm not the only person taking time to budget and track my low pension income. Can't afford to waste money!
Absolutely and we hold ourselves accountable by checking we’re spending only what we said we’d spend
A frugal thing we did
Taught our son how to skin and bone partridge for roasting wrapped in bacon or for slow cooking
The cost is nothing as we are in a shooting area here in England and game is given away
I used to get free pheasant occasionally, it’s good meat.
Thanks for walking through your budget. It makes more sense to see it written out.
I always hope it will help someone.
I have a problem with set budgets as if something that we use regularly is on special offer I tend to buy a lot of it in order to save in the long term - perhaps your discretionary spending accounts for this - but I certainly spend more some months than others - and it works for us.
Hi Colin, my food budget is more than enough, as you saw, I as able to stock up on a lot of meat for our freezer. I could, if I had to, feed us for 30€ a week. As I said, usually our discretionary spending is around 150€ a month, so if we wanted to stock up on cleaning products on offers, as an example, we can. Thanks for watching
Hi Jane & Mike , I absolutely love your videos and find them so much help . Thank you both and keep up the great work!
We really appreciate that you watch and take the time to comment.
Love your informative videos
Glad you like them!
Our income is usually smaller in February since it is shorter month.
I’m a new subscriber. Thank you for sharing the wonderful way you manage your finances. ❤️
You’re most welcome
Jane I love the way you break down the budget. I look forward to every video. ❤
You’re welcome and thanks for watching
So interesting, Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for dropping by and commenting
Love your precise budgeting approach!
Thanks. I’m getting better. Now to start investing.
I enjoy your videos and seeing your way of life in France. Thank you for sharing.
You’re welcome and thanks
Hi! New subscriber here! I’m Mo, from Lincolnshire, U.K. You just popped up on my page. Very interesting video, thank you for sharing Always good to get different perspective. It’s shown me I need to keep a closer eye on spending. Looking forward to your future videos and going to catch up on some of your previous ones too. Stay safe . Xx
Hi Mo, thanks to you tube for showing us to you and most importantly, thanks for watching and commenting. See you again soon.
Great video Jane, petrol is killing our budget, only 2 weeks into the month and we’ve spent £150 of £200 😫🤦🏻♀️.
That’s a killer. We had a Honda Civic when we were doing 200 miles a week commute, luckily it did 65 miles to the gallon , we used to do a tank of fuel every four weeks.
Jane, was the Civic a hybrid? I have a Civic and I only get 32-35 miles per gallon
You are doing such a great job with your budget. All of your food looks so yummy too.
You’re so kind Dawn and a great supporter
Thanks for sharing. I keep all my receipts and track for the month. I’m a pen and paper person and use my ledger every month for bills and expenses. I had $10 left from my grocery budget this week. I’m sure I’ll spend it next week
It’s nice to have a buffer for a little top up.
I always break up big packs of meat for the freezer especially if I get bargains in lidl the reduced mince is a great buy at times !!
The bigger packs are always cheaper
You got quite a bit of meat to stretch your budget amount this shopping trip.
That leg of lamb for Christmas should yield many servings if it’s only the 2 of you that will be dining.
The leg of lamb will make many meals. I’ll slice it and freeze it afterwards. Thanks for watching
Inspired by you, I did the following in the past week. We've been heating primarily by wood stove and using solar electricity. We had a free energy audit (required when installing solar) and the company found many ways to make the house more energy efficient. They do updates for you like weather stripping, etc. I was not feeling well earlier in the week, so my non-culinary husband bought a rotisserie whole chicken. We ate one meal from it that night. We don't like dark meat, so the legs and wings went to our dogs. We don't feed them commercial dog food, but make it ourselves. I stripped off the last of the white meat and simmered the carcass overnight in the crock pot. This left a fantastic broth and we had chicken noodle soup the next night. I took the bones that had cooked over night and ran them through the blender and have used the resulting slurry over the top of the homemade dog food. They love it and it provides needed calcium.
A tight month but the bills are paid and your bellies will be fed without getting into debt on the credit card. We are eating a lot less meat and I’m doing much more walking to keep us on budget. That leg of lamb will give you plenty of meals after Christmas too. Love Wendy ♥💋
We haven’t owned a credit card since 2008.
Help! My struggle is when I start freeing up money from budgeting, I find ways to spend again.
Gotcha, you’re like dieter who loses the weight then puts it on again? Did you see how I budget for spending money? That’s discretionary spending. You need to do the same, you budget some money that you can spend on anything you like. That way, it’s not freed up money, it’s your allocated spending money.
It’s interesting to see comparisons
Thanks so much for watching and commenting
Here in the US there is a clear spray product called “flex seal” that one year I sprayed on my roof, was awesome, did the job, you may be able to spray on your boots if you have available to you. It’s a rubber sealant coating and Amazon has it.
Thanks for the tip Val
Thanks Jane and Mike - Lots of great tips here in the video. It's always interesting to see what groceries are like and what the cost is in other countries. I really appreciate you sharing your budget as well. Will your pensions increase at all as you get older? Here in Canada you get some extra money at age 65 as long as your income is below a certain threshold - just wondering if it will be the same for you with UK pensions.
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment
Please show us how you break down your meat and show us your freezers
Love your channel ❤
So, pack of sausages, take required amount of sausages out of pack, put in freezer bag, tie a knot, same with all meat portions. We have a fridge freezer and the freezer section had three drawers. One is meat. I hope that helps.
Thank you ,great video as always, just wondering how do you save for Christmas and birthdays ,extra food and gifts .
We have sinking fund for annual costs, including Christmas and birthdays. We add 100 to our December budget for extra food at Christmas, our leg of lamb was 18€ and that was part of that 100€? Thanks for watching.
Love the food videos x
Glad you like them!
Jane have you tried Niki (I think that's how it's spelt) Niki Wax which should make your walking boots waterproof. Worth a try, save you purchasing s new pair of boots.
Thanks for the tip.
@@FrugalQueeninFrance Thinking about it, it may be called Nic or Nik Wax. My husband was a walker and used it on all his walking boots over the years. Hope it works, cheaper than a new pair of boots Jane.
Can I ask how long it took for you to save up your 12months of expenses, and what did you include in that? Does the French govt tax your British pension?
We saved the emergency fund whilst we still had two average salaries. We were as frugal then. We then included 12 months mortgage payments, 12 food budget, 12 months car running costs, and 12 months bills. That took us two years. We transferred that to a long term French savings account called an assurance vie. We put the maximum limit for each individual in each as we also saved some money from our house sale. We have government occupational pensions and they are taxed in the Uk not France as are uk state pensions. However! That amount affects our tax bracket here and we are not taxed but pay social charges, which is the French equivalent of National insurance.
Would spray on waterproofing help make your walking shoes last longer?
We use it all the time, thanks for the advice
Hi Jane you certainly got me budget ing I was at Saintsbury today there was so much I brought from meat to veg to bread all I done was went to the reduced items ready to go out date they have yellow stickers on amazing what I made today stir fry cooked and froze for next week even am making spinach pie by the way I got pastry from frozen section only 1pound that's made frozen till nxt week and we brought are turkey crown frozen so no rushing around for December xx thank you for your budget list on money going out and coming x
Good for you Joan, you’re doing well.
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Great video!🙏😊❤👍
I'm a pen and paper gal myself. Faster than an app!
I find that so too
Excellent video, very informative. Do you sometimes eat gluten free and sometimes eat gluten? Just wondering.
I try my very best not to eat gluten, when I do eat it, I will be in the bathroom for the next 24 hours.
@@FrugalQueeninFrance I need to avoid gluten too. Do you cook using separate ingredients for you and Mike? Or do you both just eat gluten free? 🤔 I am on a tight budget for my family and gluten free ingredients are so much more expensive and prices are rising, like everything else.
It is always fascinating to see what people buy - for instance I would never buy paper roll for eco reasons and we use washable cloths for cleaning. This is not a criticism just an observation. However we also eat frikadellas - it is difficult to describe them if you dont already eat them. Yummy though!
I mainly do. I have a young dog that pees herself when she gets excited and also vomits if she eats too quickly. If you’ve watched previous videos, you’ll know I use clothes for cleaning. However, I keep paper for the occasional hygiene occasions. Am I forgiven? Thanks for watching
@@FrugalQueeninFrance You are certainly forgiven - we just use loo roll for such accidents ( we have an elderly cat with no teeth that sometimes vomits)
If we have a mortgage, car payment and debt what should we tackle first? You talked about snow balling.
Debts first, then car, then mortgage. Have a great day
Your healthcare/insurance costs are so low! I'm envious. :)
We pay 22% of gross income. If you earn one million euros, you hand over 22% of gross. If you're self employed, that's 22% of gross, not profit. It's not cheap. We pay for it. As well as having insurance
@@FrugalQueeninFrance Interesting. I never knew how that worked! That is a HUGE tax! Our Medicare costs for my husband and I will be about $2K per month -- but our Medicare tax when working is about 3% (plus we pay about 440 per month for insurance through employers).
@@jorasparents we’re happy to pay. We’re low income and get the same excellent treatment as the millionaire and don’t have to wait either. Our actual social security bill is 375€ a month for the two of us. That doesn’t just pay for healthcare for us but everyone. It also pays for pensions, maternity pay, sickness pay for everyone and everyone pays for me too.
@@FrugalQueeninFrance You won't find any argument from me! U.S. healthcare costs are ridiculously high.
Thank you Jane another inspiring video 💖. Can I just ask - if I rewatch any of your videos do you get paid again if I watch the ads or is it only the first time?
Every time you watch the adverts, we get a few pennies.
Corned beef is expensive in the UK, well I think it is. Jane’s recipe looked lovely and I’d like to try it.
@@karenccs67 it’s 1.99 a tin here, it’s shot up for 1.50
Oh it is excellent to hear you get a little everytime we watch. I need to do whatever I can to make sure you keep doing what you are doing😉
@@wendytushingham201 no, we only get any income if people let the adverts roll, you tube don’t pay us, we get paid by google ads.
Do you pay a penalty on federal pensions for retiring early in France? In Canada you lose 20% for going before 60, plus what they call a "bridge benefit" that's paid from 60 - 65. It's an additional payment to bring you up to the level of Canada pension 5 yrs before you would if employed in the private sector.
I have a UK state pension, I have paid enough years of National Insurance contributions to qualify for the full UK state pension. I won’t get a French state pension. We get reduced occupational pensions because we took them at 35. Thanks for watching and you’re welcome to ask questions
@@frugalitystartsathome4889 I have a UK state pension, does not mean, I am currently receiving a full state pension. I will receive that at 67. It is fully paid up so I have it. I have and am in receipt of my occupational pension that I can take, albeit reduced, at 55.
Do you do any of your food shopping at markets
Not often. Most of the food at the markets just comes from wholesalers. Often in the same boxes as from Lidl. It’s like farmer’s markets, you’re often paying inflated prices for the ambiance.
Could you address gifts and how you approach them? Thank you
In sinking fund A, we save over the year, 600€ for Christmas and birthday gifts.
Do you get a vet plan, or just cross that bridge when you get to it? (annual shots, parasite treatment, unlimited exams is $50 here in Canada).
Per dog
We have a sinking fund built into sinking fund A for vet fees.
You pay income tax only? You don't pay school taxes, property taxes? Our taxes are around $300.00/ month and it's considered fairly cheap. I know people who pay 4 times that!
We pay 22% FB the gross of our income for social charges, the pays for 66% of our Health and 100% of critical medical care. We pay income tax as well, based on last years and the year before lasts income, our property taxes are 265€ a year, rubbish tax is 185€ a year and TV tax is 150€ a year. All French schools are funded centrally by the central government out of taxes. My income tax bill for last year was 570€ for the year and the year before (bigger income) is being taxed at 57€ a month for the previous year.
Hello! What is on the wall în the kitchen ?
There’s lot of the wall, what in specific would you like to ask about, you’re welcome, thanks for watching
@@FrugalQueeninFrance it is tile above the sink? I m not fluent în english? Sorry
@@FrugalQueeninFrance the colours are very beautiful
@@flvl5448 There are French tiles on the wall behind the sink, your English is perfect, thanks for watching
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