Live on £4000 for a year - Part 3

lingojingo

I'm still here, need to update tomorrow, prob a little over budget, hopefully not too much!

sophiesmum_2

I'm still here:D Signature is up to date.I think I am on track or thereabouts

Been out tonight - took my oldies to theatre in Manchester to see Oliver, I treated my best friend to a trip out with us so spent £20 on her ticket.
Got all the oldies to take their own drinks and goodies as theatre prices very expensive,my friend bought us both a coffee when we landed and an ice cream in the interval.:D We all had a good night out, planning next trip now.
:rolleyes:

After thinking long and hard have decided not to buy a remoska:rolleyes: If I was paying for electric I would but as i don't I really can't justify getting one:o I have an oven,breadmaker, slowcooker,sandwich toaster and grill etc ,so really there is nothing that the remoska can do that I can't already do conventially :rolleyes: Decision made. However, i have decided to buy a jelly bag/stand from lakeland and some spare bags but the £21 that will cost is much less than cost of the remoska:D I want to make some rose hip syrup, and some blackberry jelly to go with my chutney for gifts.

Janey51

Me:hello:

Fell into the nettles a tad but did update my sig on Aug 1. I have all my receipts in a little pile on top of the microwave and will go through them soon.....definitely before Sept 1 so I can update

looby-loo_2

Janey51 wrote: »

Me:hello:

Fell into the nettles a tad but did update my sig on Aug 1. I have all my receipts in a little pile on top of the microwave and will go through them soon.....definitely before Sept 1 so I can update

Just like me, only mine have fallen down the back - but I will sort them soon.

I'm popping in for a quick read, nice to keep up with what everyone is doing. I'm trying to get the house decluttered and organised. DH officially retires, and thus becomes househusband, on 31st August. He has said he will 'do housework on Friday and shopping on Tuesday' HELP! Costs will go up:eek: At his request I made a 'cleaning box' to get him organised containing basic cloths, washing up liquid, Cif and bleach as basically that is all I use. His first words were 'gosh, is that it, mum used to have loads of stuff for cleaning.' Well, yes, I know that because most of it is in a box in the garage and will never be used by me (why would I need 5 different types of window cleaner:o ) And 'mother' was a serious Sainsbury's shopper:eek: :eek: The novelty may wear off;)

sunny here - good luck with your plans today

Frugaldom

nykmedia wrote: »

Who's who in August 2008

NYKMedia (I have spent 68.5% of my budget in 62% of the time.)
Slowlyfading
Doom_and_gloom
Penny2MyName
Wendywitch
Janey51
Bails
Marru
dfw844
Brighton Belle
PirateGirl
1274
MollyMop5
Lingojingo
Sophiesmum
Looby_Loo
DdraigGogh

I'll just keep updating the list of names and carry it forward to make sure I don't miss anyone in the final leg of the 'frugal living experiment' when it begins on 1st October.

Sophiesmum, I investigated the Remoska as well but couldn't justify (or afford) the price of one when I use the slow cooker and microwave every day already.

Janey, you need some docken leaves to rub on those nettle stings to help ease the itch and pain. :rotfl:

Looby_Loo, I think we'll all club together to get your retiring OH one of those litter picker sticks so he can retrieve any [strike]receipts[/strike] bits & pieces that fall down the back. :rotfl:

dfw844

Hi everyone,

1274 congrats on going self-employed! I also self-assess so would give the following advice - meticulously keep every single reciept for business purchases. Even if it's 20p biro, you must keep them all, or you are doing yourself (and your business) a disservice. I find it easiest to keep records as I go along (filling in a spreadsheet with all purchases / sales), but if you would prefer to do it at the end of the year (horrible job) put all your receipts together in a safe place. I am a bookkeeper, so if you are stuck on anything finance record-keeping wise, feel free to pm me. And I would second Nyk's advice about HMRC website. I would sign up the their online filing services as it saves a lot of time and paper as you can make all your returns electronically. Also a lot less scary than seeing the self-assesment pack land on the doormat.

Nyk as promised, time for my update. I'm going to do it as at end July. I work monthly, so:
7/12 months = 58% of year. 58% of £5000 = £2916.67 - my target spend.
Actual spend to end July £3528.

Budget remaining 5000 - 3528 = £1472 or £294.40 / month :eek:

The good news is that I look to be on target this month, and then I will have got all the weddings / hen dos out of the way. September should be a quiet month (off to stay with my folks for a week, yay, free food!), and my one big food shop of the summer should still be holding out - just.

Anyway, well done everyone, some of you are doing so well! Oh, and as always I will do my 2007 / 2008 comparison to show you all how far I have come. Based on the same expenses, by the end of July this year I have spent £3528 as you can see. But by the end of July last year I had already spent £5243!! So what an improvement :T thank you all very much.

Oh, and yes, now I know how to use them I can't get enough of the silly faces!

DdraigGoch

Still here, and taking it seriously. Unfortunately I can only onlook as my budget [extravagant to start with!] has been shot to beggary! I'm regarding this last quarter as a training run for the next year. OH is like a bear with a sore head who's being very good about it, but just KNOWS the paracetamol are going to run out soon, DS is blissfully unaware some days and very keen others [v helpful ideas some days though], DD? resents it all but is starting to see that Mum's Taxi doesn't run on fresh air ... though her methods of avoiding using it don't make me happy either, what's a girl to do, eh? Me? I enjoy it and see it as a challenge I can win, it mostly cheers me up and gives me some much needed get up and go - other days the rest of the family really get me down about it all. I feel a grouch and a misery, as if I'm not a Good Mum .... hey ho. I'm the pursekeeper in the family though I can easily be blackmailed.

Hey ho. So, still here, still failing miserably but cheerful about the prospects!

Hiya, Janey - love & hugs

Love and rainbows to all
DG

Frugaldom

Hi Ddraig

Having just spent last week with all five generations of my entire family, and whilst trying to budget for DD's wedding after doing the frugal engagement party stint, I can sympathise with your frustrations. I reckon most people think I'm a complete fruitloop where budgeting is concerned, but I'm happy to be a fruitloop if it means enjoying the lifestyle that brings with it DGD is here again (nursery on holiday) and is rhyming off all the people she loves; I was NOT one of them, so I asked why.

Her reply went something like this: "I don't need to say I love you 'cos you're just gran that's here all the time, silly!" :rolleyes: :rotfl:

House 2 door's up has now come on the market, so I feel less threatened by the prospect of my LL selling ours at the moment, especially at the price he was expecting! (He reckons around 145k for this :rotfl: ). 2 doors up - on the market at o/o £75k and it has similar size garden to ours :eek: It also means that if he tries to sell this now, there could be 5 similar houses in a row all for sale.

slowlyfading

okay, so my money for the topshop things i've bought has come out of my account today, so I've updated my total I'm also going to the cinema this afternoon and then a meal with a friend, so that's more money being spent! I am still under budget though, which is good I'll have to pull back the reins a bit after this though
have a good day everyone x

Frugaldom

Postman's just been - I have another £20 of vouchers to add to my total! Euroffice have replaced the House of Fraser ones with Kingfisher ones that do for B&Q or Woolies. I'm thinking there could be a lot of Chrissie shopping done in Woolies this year!
Now, did someone mention that the Tesco clubcard vouchers are due out this month and has anyone heard anything about the tax rebates yet? Mine hasn't arrived yet!