2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

mama67 · 25 January 2008 at 11:54AM

keren29 wrote: »

Need to do a normal loaf today - to go with the haggis and tatties as it is Burns night!

We are having haggis, tatties and "neeps" for dinner tonight also, got my haggis from Tesco the other week, they always have them on offer in the run up to and just after, so I usually get enough for a few months then once summer hits we don't have it until autumn.

Both boys love haggis, and "scottish" carrot as we used to call swede (Grandad OH dad was Scottish)

princess_leia_3 · 25 January 2008 at 12:00PM

bails wrote: »

On a serious note, for those who are already over this month's budget, don't forget to take a look at my and Nyk's sigs! Now, while mine may not reassure you (I am after all only a measly undergraduate in Frugal Studies), the fact that The Master herself is over budget should help The sums will sort themselves out over the rest of the year, and don't forget this is an exceptionally long month (followed by a v short one). Fear not, we shall overcome!

Thanks, thats just what I needed! I thought DH got paid today but nope its Monday :eek: so not only are we over but we are bound to be even more over than first thought :rolleyes:

I did just buy some pyrex lidded freezer dishes half price in Mr M's so I can do some more batch baking ready for when baby gets here :j
Also I had a disaster with some hm bread as it sunk and was just crumbly so could not use half the loaf :mad: now, in the old day that would have either gone to the ducks or birds but I found a simple recipe for bread pudding (not bread and butter pud) and made that and it is gorgeous :T so I now freeze any left over crusts/stale bits and then make one of them when I have enough - sorry ducks

Frugaldom · 25 January 2008 at 12:25PM

Janey51 wrote: »

Is one of the symptoms a need to pay for an item (if one really must spend) with a larger coin than necessary so that the resulting change can be squirrelled away in one of the many savings pots which seems to be another sign of an exacerbation of the condition?

The above side-effect has a double-edged sword effect. Yes, the above is an early symptom of Frugalitis. HOWEVER, there is a further development to this, depending on your state of financial health at the point of contracting the condition. Stage 2 of the coin-hoarding side effect will be the compulsion to count the saved coins and then using them for one of two things -
(1) paying towards outstanding debt, even if it's only £5.13 at a time to round down the debt figure or
(2) paying into a bank account so you don't miss a single penny in interest. If the bank account says £93.22 then you would be compelled to pay in £1.78 or £6.78, depending on how severe a dose of Frugalitis you have caught.

If you have debts of any description then Frugalitis increases in relation to the decrease in debt until the point of being debt free. At this point, my dear fellow frugalites, the condition, rather than disappear, can become chronic :eek:

Oh, my poor Janey... your Frugalitis is quite progressive!
QUOTE - "Whatever is left from each month's allowance will be going into my Post Office Instant Saver. As you can only make 6 withdrawals a year from this account without penalty, it will curb my temptation to dip in when I am a bit short. I still need access to money for unexpected bills." I am so, so extremely proud of you! :T :T :T

MRSMCAWBER · 25 January 2008 at 12:45PM

Morning all

I used to have the symptoms.. Using big coins when i shopped so i had change to put in all my tins

I must have developed a different strain :eek: -

I opened my tins just after xmas and opened a savings account with €250 out of there and now i will scratch about to use my last cent -rather than break into a note or large coin... as then i will have more Notes to put in the bank .I also used €200 of this months shopping budget to open a currrent account :j . And as i have enough of this months budget left to cover Februarys GROCERY CHALLENGE -When hubby gives me FEBS house keeping its going straight into the savings account :shhh:

This thread is really helping me focus -although i had my 1st "NET" yesterday Non Essential Treat ..... I spotted the Jamie Oliver silicone tongs reduced to €3 each about £2.25:eek: ....so i had the last 2 orange pairs as they match my le creuset stuff

...but as its my first NET im going to let myself off

keep up the great work everyone and thanks for all the encouragement

Frugaldom · 25 January 2008 at 12:48PM

bails wrote: »

Ha ha, I've been doing this for years, I must have had early onset frugalitis and not realised! I wonder how much damage has been done while I was totally unawares? :eek: (NYK says - Frugalitis can lie dormant for many years despite it's having a very short incubation period once the affliction has been kicked into life. It is HIGHLY CONTAGEOUS and INFECTIOUS)

Nyk, I do indeed believe that you won yesterday's Stingy One award; your reward is to put another [strike]99p[/strike] nice round whole pound into your house fund Anyone want to challenge Nyk for today's honour?

(NYK says - I cannot possibly add £1 to my house fund - LOOK at the figure! You cannot be serious about making me changing that nice round zero to a 1?? :eek: It would have to be at least £5 and even that will grate on my nerves until I reach the next £100)

Penny2myName · 25 January 2008 at 12:59PM

Bough a £1.28 root veg pack yesterday from Mr A, and made 14 servings of clear veg soup (the spring greens one was foul so binned) this one on the other hand is lovely. Ate two in the course of 'production' solely to test if it was ready or not as i made it in the slow cooker. Anyway 11 servings are now in the freezer and I have one to give a friend who said if its good he may make some himself.. Slowly starting to get my cash to fall in-line with when my spending diary week starts. Going to check all payments due from bank this week, and see if I can finally change my budget money standing order to a Monday now instead of Thursday.

liuhut · 25 January 2008 at 1:01PM

I did the coin thing myself yeserday and the bank account rounding up!!! V scary but nice to know I'm not the only one!!!
Just warming up my HM lasagne leftovers from last night for my lunch...had a real temptation to pop to the shops to get some cobs (breadcakes, baps etc for those in differnet parts of the country!!) but know that I would have got chocolate and cakes so quite proud of myself.
Got my mobile bill through and it has gone from £50 last month to £19 this!!! Should have been less but I had got the dates wrong when working out my minutes...oh well know for next month!

Frugaldom · 25 January 2008 at 1:04PM

During the process of this morning's activities, before I got side tracked by catching up on here :rotfl: I happened across the following 'newsy' item:

"The average Brit spends £1,229 on essential items, £865 on non-essential items and £356 on debt repayments a month against a net income of £2,607…leaving just £157 at the end of the month."

I'd just like to point out that I have downloaded the Government statistics spreadsheet so I can take a closer look at these figures for myself - I'm THE eternal sceptic! But instantly, I can see that the problem with this country would appear NOT to be about the amount of debt we are all in but, in fact, the cost of NON ESSENTIAL ITEMS. I believe MRCMCAWBER just recently christened them NETs (Non Essential Treats). So, next time you hear some media mogul mention the debt trap, replace that phrase with this challenge's equivalent - the DEBT NET. At least once you have contracted the dreaded Frugalitis you can begin to plug all those old financial leaks caused, most probably, by over indulgence in NET.

But I digress. Correct me if I am wrong, but the above figures would put your AVERAGE Brit well into the 40% income tax bracket, wouldn't it? (£31,284 NET annual income) I don't want to get too personal about finances here, but who is all an upper rate income tax payer on here, as tax avoidance (not to be confused with evasion!) is one of my favourite 'pet subjects'.

Come on, own up - who, on this challenge, is actually paying 40% tax on part of their own or their OH's income?

On the NET and GROSS issue, we have now learned that NET = Non Essential Treats, so I am introducing GROSS as
General Rules Of Sensible Spending :cool:

Burlesque_Babe · 25 January 2008 at 1:06PM

oh dear, I've had an attack of frugalitis - a severe one.

On top of the fact I got the breadmaker out (mild frugailitis), put Value flour in (moderate frugalitis) I opened the cupboard door and saw, right at the back a single sachet of unloved yeast. I have 10 perfectly lovely , new sachets, but I thought - I'll use this up!!!

Use by Sept 07............oh dear..........severe frugalitis.......

oh well, if it doesn't work, I'll see if it is useable as breadcrumbs. I can whizz it up and then freeze them for coating chicken.

I've also used the last of my vegetable oil in the bread so if I do need to do anymore, I'll have to melt some of my Stork baking margarine.......aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrhgggghhhhh I need a Consultant Frugalitis please nurse!

liuhut · 25 January 2008 at 1:12PM

nykmedia wrote: »

But I digress. Correct me if I am wrong, but the above figures would put your AVERAGE Brit well into the 40% income tax bracket, wouldn't it? (£31,284 NET annual income) I don't want to get too personal about finances here, but who is all an upper rate income tax payer on here, as tax avoidance (not to be confused with evasion!) is one of my favourite 'pet subjects'.

Come on, own up - who, on this challenge, is actually paying 40% tax on part of their own or their OH's income?

My understanding is if the person earning £31k was an individual then they could be on 40% but if it is a couple earning that amount between them then they would be on the normal rate...I think thats right so no I'm not on the 40%!!

2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free