Live on £4000 for a year - Part 3

Janey51

Prudent wrote: »

I saw this article and though of you all:

http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/I-survived-on--a.4465258.jp

Interesting article. She will now make her fortune by selling the book :rotfl: Now, why didn't I think of that

tryingtodobetter

Prudent wrote: »

I saw this article and though of you all:

http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/I-survived-on--a.4465258.jp

quote]

Interesting article, I would like to read the book but only if I can get it from the library LOL.

BlueFleur

They were talking about this story on the news earlier. The ideas in the book didn't seem all that different to the ones on this site- taken to a slightly more extreme level perhaps I'm determined to do sort out the housework today and then make some kind of chore rota. At the moment I leave it all for the weekend, and I'd really rather have the two days off!

Thanks Janey, we are both feling better. Although that may be because we are dosed up to the eyeballs! Hope you're ok after your very early wake up.

I'm aiming to not spend anything today, as my mobile bill has just left the bank account. Counting down the months till I'm free from the contract :rolleyes:

redglass_2

quote=Prudent;13956679] I saw this article and though of you all:

http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/I-survived-on--a.4465258.jp

Oooh! The woman in the article moved to Bruton. That's not far from here...I wonder if I know anyone who knows her?

I found a tantalising reference to making bread in a slow cooker, using a large round coffee tin to hold the dough. Off to research the possibilities...:)

Later: the easiest I found is at recipezaar.com - the number, if you want to search the site, is 112579. You can use a Pyrex dish. Might get round to it sometime this week, work permitting (I have a bad habit of muddling through too many projects at the same time and am trying to control this before I go completely nuts) .

Marru

Hello all,

I am here still working on my shopping list. I have been snooping in Weezl's thread to get inspiration and found a recipe for meatless shearpherd pie, snack bars and for three yummy freezable sandwich fillers that seemed to be very easy and quick to do. Weezl, can you please post link here to your new thread?

All my piggies are out enjoying fresh grass. It doesn't seem that my bully boy is disturbing my girls too much. They seem to be grazing in harmony so far. Perhaps the girls have ganged up on him :cool:.

Need to go and finish my shopping list. My aim is to cook this weekend three soups, three spreads, couple of HM loafs, one lot of snack bars and four to five evening meals. So my owen, hob, slowcooker and breadmaker are going to do over time. Wish me luck!

Hope everybody has a great day. No rain here so far but I don't think I want to risk it by hanging my washing out.

Marru

bails

Janey51 wrote: »

Being a rich person is obviously destabilising your personality :rolleyes:

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I can't believe she actually only spent £365 in a whole year especially when one of her top 10 tips is hire a book from a library for 'only 60p' Am I being truly cynical? This comment made me laugh though:
'You'd think she'd at least keep the price of her book under a quid.' :rotfl:
£365 for a whole year, is this really possible?...*goes off to mull it over*
Potential new challenge next year Nyk?

redglass_2

bails wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I can't believe she actually only spent £365 in a whole year especially when one of her top 10 tips is hire a book from a library for 'only 60p' Am I being truly cynical?

It was actually £3,365 as she says she paid her landlord £3k up front at the beginning for rent and utility bills, but even so her account sounds a bit strange. For a start, a full-time, long-term frugalist with £3k to spare might well have put it in a high-interest account until it was needed, instead of letting it swell the landlord's coffers for a whole year. And what about council tax, insurance, phone bills and all the rest of it? Even a season ticket for the bus costs a bomb these days. I suspect her £365 is for food and entertainment and not much more.

BlueFleur

Good luck with your weekend cooking mission Marru! I don't know if I could ever be that organised.

They mentioned that she pre paid her utilities/rent at the beginning of the year, but I haven't heard anything about council tax or TV licence or anything like that I imagine that there is a certain amount of interpretation regarding how much she lived off and if you could call it sustainable.

I've managed to do some cleaning, wash a load of clothes and sort through some drawers. I'm calling this a break, but really I think it could be termed a grinding halt Off to make my rota now.

bails

Hmm, I've been doing some more research on this story - she walked or cycled everywhere, gave up her mobile, bought whoopsies and had free chicken carcasses from the local butcher, hitchhiked to France for a hol, went to free events for her social life (which sometimes included free buffets). She only went over budget once when she had to go to the dentist, didn't allow herself to bulk buy or scab off friends. She wasn't even growing her own veg at the time (she does now). Do I sound like I've become Kath Kelly's stalker? :rotfl:
I couldn't do the transport side of this and would need money aside for meds but think everything else is manageable (except perhaps the jumble sales, seems impossible to find them round here ). My biggest stumbling block would be that, instead of gaining a man as she did, I would almost certainly lose mine

Great news about college Mumzy, well done for getting on and sorting all that out :T I was just thinking about you this morning, glad you're still lurking.
Good luck with the batch baking Marru, don't be disappointed if you don't get it all done; every little helps!
I bought a new cookbook in a charity shop yesterday which I'm looking forward to trying out. Why is it that I have oodles of time to fill usually but this week when I'm all geed up to do some cooking my 'to do' list is so long it'll be impossible?
EDIT: yes, I saw the 3k for rent/bills Redglass, I was still sceptical about the rest I don't think she was a fugalista at all beforehand, she describes herself as an advertiser's dream. It seems it was for transport, food, clothes, entertainment and (I think) health judging by the dentist reference

Brighton_belle

BlueFleur wrote: »

They mentioned that she pre paid her utilities/rent at the beginning of the year, but I haven't heard anything about council tax or TV licence or anything like that I imagine that there is a certain amount of interpretation regarding how much she lived off and if you could call it sustainable.

They said she rented a room in a shared house - so her council tax and TV license and all utility bills would have been included in her rent, as it is for my lodgers. She left notes for friends rather than use the phone. And we all used to manage without mobile phones not so long ago! I'd be interested in reading her account, but as already said, only through the library:D . Been out and bought some silicon pastry cases for the remoska, & reusable baking liner: justified it as 'birthday money' - got £10 from very dear aged aunt(who's really a 3rd cousin removed or something).
Also bought some 6 padded envelopes for a £1 for the poundshop to sell more books on amazon as have now sold my first book:j .
Nyk - I can see why there might be differences between you & DD for the wedding:eek: Perhaps you could suggest she ebays some of her bags to contribute to the cost, then duck:rotfl: . As for where and what the 2009 challenge is called- I don't mind at all -I think I am already actually doing the 'reduce costs as much as possible' challenge and have made myself comfortable as an inteloper here:o . Just being here has helped me make changes, such as making my own bread, cutting my freezer labels in half and joining the GC. We're now buying our petrol at the cheapest available price and OH has become more money/budget conscious. So many many benfits in the first 2 months:T .
I'm at the start of 2 weeks leave which feels fantastic. Hoping to get lots of sorting and clearing done & paint the kitchen. I need to chill out & rest, but I don't want to waste the time either.