2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

Can you live on £4000 a year? :eek:
Part 1 - 1st quarter of 2008

Part 2 - 2nd quarter of 2008 HERE

Throughout 2007 there were several of us accepted this challenge elsewhere for various reasons. With only a week or two to go, I can say that it IS possible and I WILL succeed. I'm setting myself the exact same challenge for 2008 and have heard from a few people on here that would like to know how it's done.

CHALLENGE RUNS 01 JANUARY - 31ST DECEMBER 2008 - GOOD LUCK TO ALL!

Please remember that 2008 is a leap year. £4000 over 366 days = £76.50 per week

Edited in - For those participating in the challenge, £4000 is for EVERYTHING except rent/mortgage, council tax/water rates. Hopefully, this should avoid confusion. Budget wisely and, if all else fails, learn to play 'catch-up' rather than "rob Peter to pay Paul".

The target figure is for essentials and all regular household bills. It does NOT include rent, mortgage payments, council tax or water rates. However, since announcing the challenge, numerous variations appear throughout this thread to reflect individual circumstances. For some, their target does not include repaying debts, essential work related expenses or 'luxury' items such as holidays - that's what everything over the target figure is for. That and, of course, savings.

Set your targets, I can list them here, then from 01/01/08 you deduct your essential spending throughout the year, not forgetting that the amount includes gifts for friends and family for birthdays, Christmas etc.

The Live on £4,000 a year Challenge starts here - have you got what it takes to succeed? The figure was calculated against minimum wage earnings, feel free to join using your own target figure. If you have a family, then you should be in receipt of Family Allowance/Child Benefit, so your target would be £4000 + Child Benefit.

CHALLENGER LIST

001. Nykmedia - £4000
002. Whitetigeress333 - £3920
003. Notanothergreyhair - £4000
004. Mini_huny_money - £4000
005. Penny2myname - £4000
006. Hypno06 - £4000
007. Impomdasp - £5000
008. Whitewing - £5300
009. LoadedIWish - £4000
010. Tigerseye - £4000
011. Oliveoyl - £4000
012. Funbrum - £4000
013. Tryingtodobetter - £5000
014. 87p - £4000
015. Cranky40 - £5000
016. Bluesteel705 - £4000
017. Chewits - £4000
018. Prudent - £5500
019. Shell37 - £4000
020. Juliejay - £5000
021. Azjh77 - £4650
022. Nicola1982 - £4000
023. Rachyp - £4000
024. Kiki - £5300
025. McSaver - £3000
026. Pollydaydream - £4000
027. Maverickangel - £4000
028. Loadedlaura - £4000
029. Kayharcombe - £4000
030. Buffythedebtslayer - £4560
031. Flowerofthewest - £4000
032. Mollymop5 - £4000 + Child Benefit
033. DdraigGoch - £4000
034. Shazrobo - £5000
035. 1274 - £4000
036. Always_amazed - £4000
037. Protogenia - £4500
038. Georgiasmum - £5200
039. Chaddee - £4000
040. Chriz1000 - £4000
041. Bigbullyweedave - £6000
042. Affordmylife - £5000
043. Liuhut - £6000
044. Cumbrianmum - £4000
045. Che75 - £4000
046. Sweetpea03 - £4900
047. Scorpio04 - £4000
048. Broke mum of three - £5200
049. Artnoble - £4000
050. Barole - £4000
051. Ephemera - £4000
052. Liloandstitch - £4000
053. LyndaSharp - £3500
054. Sassamac - £4000 + Child Benefit
055. Sue09 - £6000
056. Don't want to be in debt - £6760
057. Princess Leia - £6200
058. Saverram - £4000
059. Sashacat - £4000
060. Whiskylizzie - £4000
061. Slackster - £4000
062. Jamiedodger - £4000
063. Whitevanwoman - £4000
064. Skintwellie - £5000
065. Fairywings - £5000
066. Sos999 - £4000
067. Mumzyof2 - £5000
068. Keren29 - £4000
069. OldMcDonald - £4000 + Child Benefit
070. Mah_Jong - £3500
071. Hardup Hester - £4000
072. Miss_Pink - £4000
073. Grunnie - £4000
074. Rafiki - £4000
075. Catzine - £5000
076. Andromache - £2750 (student)
077. Doom_and_Gloom - £3000
078. Tracey04 - £4000
079. Wherediditallgo - £4000
080. Sallyrsm - £4000
081. Wornoutmumoftwo - £4000 + Child Benefit
082. Lexxi - £4000
083. NEGirl - £5000
084. Wendyw1947 - £4000
085. Truthseeker - £1500 (a teenage budget - I am most impressed!)
086. FrankieM - £4000 + Child Benefit
087. JustKeepSwimming - £4000 + Child Benefit
088. RedMel1621 - £5200
089. Blackfairykitten - £5000
090. Funkyfunkymonkey - £4000
091. Carlsberg - £4000
092. Nate123 - £4000
093. DJenks - £4000 + Child Benefit
094. Miss Empty Piggy - £4000
095. Micron - £4000
096. Hopeless_Spendthrift - £4000
097. The_Cat - £5800 inc Child Benefit
098. LilyBee - £3000 from 01/04/08
099. Carolinabirichina - £5000
100. Bails - £4000
101. Debrag - £3000
102. LittleMissClimsy - £5000
103. Gem2509 - £4000
104. LMac - £4000
105. LollopyBear - £4000
106. Slowlyfading - £4000
107. IHateDebt - £4000
108. Frugal Fox - £4000
109. Looby-Loo - £4000 + Child Benefit
110. LingoJingo - £5000 inc Child Benefit
111. Fizzel81 - £4000 + Child Benefit
112. Summertea - £4000
113. Jammiejen - £4000
114. Jay1 - £4000
115. Yoshimi2306 - £5720
116. Janey51 - £4000
117. Freyaluck - £4000
118. DJJoJoJuice - £4000 (£3836.07 from start date 15/01/08)
119. Frugalmum - £4000 (£3836.07 from start date 15/01/08)
120. Lysasparkles - £3,500 (from 16/01/08)
121. Shelovestobuystuff - £3,700
122. Angelofthenorth - £4000 (from 17/01/08)
123. Mama67 - £3661 (from 01/02/08)
124. BigEars - £3661 (from 01/02/08)
125. Paul Varjak - £3661 plus disabled vehicle expenses (from 01/02/08)
126. Stefejb - £3661 (from 01/02/08)
127. Laurabelle - £4000 (from 20/01/08)
128. MSHAWX - £3661 (from 01/02/08)
129. Hansolo81 - £3661 (from 01/02/08)
130. Jumble-Bee - £2008 (from 01/02/08)
131. Nimbo - £3661 (from 01/02/08)
132. GemGems - £3661 (from 01/02/08)
133. DFW844 - £4000
134. Elantan - £80/week (from 08/02/08)
135. Marru - £3345 + nursery fees (starting 1/3/08)
136. Alli_Baba2 - £3388 (from 25/02/08)
137. SophiesMum - £3388 + child Benefit (from 25/02/08)
138. Charlies Angel - Living on under £1000 a year
139. Tigwell - £3333 (from 25/02/08)
140. Headofsteam - £2983.50 (from 01/04/08)
141. Bleufleur - £3158 (from 17/03/08)
142. All_hours - £80 per week

Please note that this is part of a cyberdosh (online money) challenge

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I reserve the right not to spend.
The less I spend, the more I can afford.


Frugal living challenge - living on £4000 in 2024
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Comments

  • £4k.. with or without any form of benefits? Even when I was a student my rent was £2184 a year.

    Frankly, i don't think it's possible without state assistance, and if funded with benefits, then this is quite an irresponsible challenge.
  • Frugaldom
    Frugaldom Posts: 6,936
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    UPDATED: updates in blue

    £4000 excludes rent or mortgage and council tax/water rates and, frankly, it is possible - and no, I am not on benefits :)

    I didn't say that's what anyone is earning, only that after rent or mortgage & council tax/water rates £4,000 is what you attempt to live on - everything else is used to pay off debts or gets saved. (I think there is some confusion over what constitutes 'the cost of living' - if anyone is unemployed or disabled and relying on Social Security benefits, they will not be paying full rent or Council Tax.) This challenge is for a purpose - you either need to pay off debts in order for you to afford to live, or you want to save cash for something.

    I'm may be mis-understanding you, but what is irresponsible about living on a budget of 4k?

    ======================

    Edited in for further clarification:

    I'm still being asked the question, why £4000? So I'm going to try to explain, again, how I can arrive at that figure. I compared several very different lifestyles, such as the following:

    Lifestyle 1
    Couple with 2 of a family, husband works full time on a salary of £30,000 and wife is a full time mother/homemaker (not sure what the politically correct term for this category is any more!) Total income approx £452 per week including Child Benefit.

    Mortgage & Buildings insurance - £740 per month = £170 per week
    Council Tax/Water - £125 per month = £24 per week
    2 cars, both on HP - £300 per month = £70 week
    2 x road tax, insurance, servicing, petrol/diesel etc = £270 per month = £62 week
    Credit cards - £100 per month = £23 week
    Bank loan - £100 per month = £23 week
    Total expenditure before actual living expenses - £372 per week
    Balance to live off - £80 for everything else

    Lifestyle 2
    Couple with 2 of a family, husband works full time, wife part time, joint salary of £18,000 plus Child Benefit, total income approx £300 per week

    Mortgage & Buildings insurance - £303 per month = £70 week
    Council Tax/Water - £100 per month = £23 week
    Home Improvement loan - £266 per month = £61 week
    Credit Cards - £100 per month = £23 week
    Other debts - £100 per month = £23 week
    Car - road tax, insurance, servicing, fuel etc - £100 per month = £23 week
    Total expenditure before actual living expenses - £223
    Balance to live off - £77.00 for everything else

    (There is a slight difference in today's figures in that both of the above would now qualify for Child Tax Credits. Family one would be entitled to about £130 per year, family 2 would be entitled to about £878)

    It didn't really seem to matter what the annual income was, there always seemed to be a significant difference in the way that income was spent. As an example, a single professional person earning £52,000 a year may well only have £4000 to actually live off after paying the upkeep of a rather spectacular house complete with tennis court, swimming pool, fast car, regular entertaining, foreign holidays and paying for the resident gardener and housekeeper. No matter what your income bracket, we could all be in the exact same boat. Fortunately, we have the freedom to choose how we stay afloat. No matter what you do or how you do it, you are always going to have to pay the cost of living. If you can reduce the cost of living and clear off ALL debts, then think of the fun you can have from thereon in.

    I'd love to reduce my overall cost of living to £10 per day over the coming year (£3660) and my main motivation for this is to save every penny I can towards living debt free in a mortgage free house.

    Budget to within an inch of your life and see just how much it costs you to live. You can see by the above how I arrived at the £4000 and hopefully this will make things a little clearer for our newest members rather than having to scroll through about 50+ pages of posts :)

    Thank you to every single one of you for helping make my year 2 a very, very exciting prospect and I really do hope you will stick around to see this challenge through to a successful conclusion for 2009.
    I reserve the right not to spend.
    The less I spend, the more I can afford.


    Frugal living challenge - living on £4000 in 2024
  • Perhaps a link to the original thread may have been of use then
  • Well yes maybe. £76 per week is this for a family of 2/3/4 or just a single person?
    Make £11,000 in 2011 / ebay £600
  • mumzyof2
    mumzyof2 Posts: 3,343 Forumite
    sooooo what does this include? sorry i ask so many uestions just i need things in simple terms to understand it..sorry xx
    if iam correct i can make £4k from ebay amazon extra work etc? but what des it include
    Sealed Pot dec 08 - dec 09 so far £27.67, Live off £4k Spent £330.20 GC £1,200 for 2009 Spent £50.78 PaD so far £650.07
    Debts: L/woods £154.00 C/One PAID O/D £649.90 Next £299.95 O/D PAID Gas £72.60 Electric £155.73 Mum £640.00 Orange £490.32
  • Frugaldom
    Frugaldom Posts: 6,936
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    Well yes maybe. £76 per week is this for a family of 2/3/4 or just a single person?

    Mine was for a family of 3
    I reserve the right not to spend.
    The less I spend, the more I can afford.


    Frugal living challenge - living on £4000 in 2024
  • Mollymop5
    Mollymop5 Posts: 2,095 Forumite
    nykmedia wrote: »
    If you'd seen the original threads elsewhere then you would know that 4k excludes rent or mortgage and council tax/water rates and, frankly, it is possible - and no, I am not on benefits :)

    I didn't say that's what anyone is earning, only that after rent or mortgage & council tax/water rates £4,000 is what you attempt to live on - everything else gets saved.

    I'm maybe mis-understanding you, but what is irresponsible about living on a budget of 4k?

    I haven't een the original threads.what does the £4000 per year cover? what would I pay out of this ? I do find this interesting :)
    lost my way but now I'm back ! roll on 2013
    spc member 72

  • mumzyof2
    mumzyof2 Posts: 3,343 Forumite
    i fidn it intresting too :)
    Sealed Pot dec 08 - dec 09 so far £27.67, Live off £4k Spent £330.20 GC £1,200 for 2009 Spent £50.78 PaD so far £650.07
    Debts: L/woods £154.00 C/One PAID O/D £649.90 Next £299.95 O/D PAID Gas £72.60 Electric £155.73 Mum £640.00 Orange £490.32
  • mumzyof2
    mumzyof2 Posts: 3,343 Forumite
    £4k.. with or without any form of benefits? Even when I was a student my rent was £2184 a year.

    Frankly, i don't think it's possible without state assistance, and if funded with benefits, then this is quite an irresponsible challenge.

    Ringo im on benifits at the mo..so at end of year il let you know if i do it..i bet i do! I KNOW i will. I will cut back on things like im doing now
    Sealed Pot dec 08 - dec 09 so far £27.67, Live off £4k Spent £330.20 GC £1,200 for 2009 Spent £50.78 PaD so far £650.07
    Debts: L/woods £154.00 C/One PAID O/D £649.90 Next £299.95 O/D PAID Gas £72.60 Electric £155.73 Mum £640.00 Orange £490.32
  • Frugaldom
    Frugaldom Posts: 6,936
    Name Dropper First Post Photogenic First Anniversary
    Forumite
    First of all, this is not about earning extra money, it is about an economic lifestyle that allows you to either clear debts or increase savings. I did the challenge in 2007 so I could clear my debts and start saving to buy a house. Initially, I'd just like to know if there's anyone here who lives on a really tight budget and fancies making it 4k so there's a bit of moral support. It is a very difficult challenge, in my opinion.
    I reserve the right not to spend.
    The less I spend, the more I can afford.


    Frugal living challenge - living on £4000 in 2024
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