Live on £4000 for a year - Part 3

Woodyrocks

Welcome BlueFleur! I did exactly the same thing breaking down my expense when I joined last week and found it really useful in the first instance before transferring to an excel sheet or the like. As already mentioned by Jamie you can take water rates and any type of debt including bank fees out so that is another £20 towards your pocket money, if you are any thing like me

Lynda, how exciting! I can't wait till I get to the looking at houses stage just need to remain disciplined and keep saving up that deposit diligently. You have done fantastic with your saving pot for the year and should feel sos chuffed with yourself :T

Lynne, I would much rather have the G+T tbh Have a good rummage but remember a good sale is not excuse to spend lots (unless your name is Woodyrocks of course :rotfl:)

I am also really liking Nyk's idea of starting the challenge cash positive. It would also make me more blo ody minded and intent on not dipping into any extra pot to supplement any overspending!

Anyone else I might have missed out a big Sunday morning allo to you all and hope to catch up with you all later :j Meeting up with friends later for a theatre matinee and lunch afterwards so a no spend day is out of the window but I will try and keep the budget under control without coming across as a cheapskate!

BlueFleur

Thanks for the tips guys! Going to keep working on the budget this afternoon. Bf has lost his glasses and we're off to try and hunt down some new ones. It just shows you the importance of budgeting for these unexpected things :eek: It is a lovely sunny day here- washing on the go!

lyndasharp

Woodyrocks wrote: »

Lynda, how exciting! I can't wait till I get to the looking at houses stage just need to remain disciplined and keep saving up that deposit diligently. You have done fantastic with your saving pot for the year and should feel sos chuffed with yourself :T

My bank has forgotten to remove my student interest free overdraft, and just extended it until next August, so if I include that I'm at the £30k mark I wanted to reach in my sig... :j

Enjoy the theatre trip!

lilac_lady

Although I haven't posted on this thread for some time (feel like an amateur MSE-er compared to you amazing people!) I follow the posts with interest. Nyk's suggestion of having the money upfront and making it last appeals to me as I think it would concentrate my mind on the task. The quarterly £1000 suggestion is a good one too. As the cost of living is rising so fast 2009 will certainly provide a challenge .

redglass_2

Nyk, I must be one of the saddest people on earth but my heart actually speeded up at the idea of just having the £4k and putting everything else into the bank - it's scary/exciting stuff, is that! No safety net! :eek::eek::eek: Add in a stooze pot and you could really have an impressive result. The only thing is, I think I'm going to need some building work done, which will probably wreck all financial plans. :mad: I'm about to PM you. I notice the smileys are turned off again.....

wendywitch

redglass wrote: »

Nyk, I must be one of the saddest people on earth but my heart actually speeded up at the idea of just having the £4k and putting everything else into the bank - it's scary/exciting stuff, is that! No safety net! :eek::eek::eek: Add in a stooze pot and you could really have an impressive result. The only thing is, I think I'm going to need some building work done, which will probably wreck all financial plans. :mad: I'm about to PM you. I notice the smileys are turned off again.....

I'm glad it's not just my smileys that have gone I was worried I'd done something wrong!

Frugaldom

Hello

Got up late this morning and before we could even boil the kettle for a cuppa, the power went off! Checked all the fuses and trip switches, nothing. Went a walk up the street and found workmen cordoning off the broken power cable, which they had hit and pulled down! So... like a true frugalista, I eventually decided to light the BBQ to boil water in the camping kettle. Success! Anyway, time dragged on and by 1pm we needed lunch, so I opened a tin of corned beef and a tin of beans with sausages, which got heated on the BBQ, and called it a cowboy dinner! Boiled another kettle of water for coffee and was just dishing it out when the power was restored! Yet I am still boiling water by the camp-kettleful because I don't want to waste the heat from the charcoal. I've filled both flasks, got a basin of hot water for dishes and if there's still enough heat left, I'll fill basins and hot water bottles until there that charcoal becomes dust! Frugal to the extreme, or what?

So, back to more pressing things - like preparing for winter and next year's challenge. Today's episode has reminded me how gullible we are when we lose electricity. It happens every year, power cuts for one reason or another, and that leaves us with no heat in this house except from the storage heaters, assuming they have been topped up the previous night. But I am now rethinking the stockpile. What foodstuffs can be stores as emergency supplies in the event of power outage? BBQ fuel is essential, but I bulk bought that last year when I spotted an awesome offer on eBid. But what is easy to heat or can be reconstituted with boiling water?

Next year's budget - whether or not I actually have the 4k in advance is neither here nor there, I am going to think and act as though it IS there and that it is all I have. I am not including the cost of private rent, which includes buildings insurance, but I have itemised everything else that I know will need to be paid during 2009:

Council tax & water - 1300
Contents Insurance - 55
TV Licence - 140
Electricity & heat - 1200
Telephone - 240
Internet - 240
Mobiles - 120
Groceries (including toiletries, cleaning & laundry products) - 1200
National Insurance (x2) - 240
Pension / savings bond - 600
Travel - 750
Gifts - 750
NTS membership - 78
Everything else - 350
DD's wedding - 2000
Total = £9,023

Now the offset-financial-processing comes into play and I need to cash-neutralise as much as possible to bring the above within the 4k. Is this what you mean by a challenge?

bank_of_slate

Please watch out for troll deeplyindebt.
ignore, it has been reported!
...Linda xx

shaz_mum_of__2

4 k in advance

if you don't have the money up front how about a credit card on 0% instead

we have been stoozing money this year ,all possible expenses have gone on a card for 9 months (all bills ,council tax, insurance,car tax etc etc)

We have just transferred the debt to a 0% for 15 months card and are making approx £30 month interest on the cash we have put by to pay off bills

Would this help the people who dont have the real money in advance??

I appreciate credit ratings may have a bearing

Shaz

Frugaldom

Hi Shaz - 0% credit cards are great when we can get them. I am a stoozer who has used up all my options for now, but I refuse to pay the excess charged on things like council tax just for paying via credit card. 0% interest CCs aren't always the best way to go when there are people (read that as local council) charging penalties for using them.

If you are paying cash for a major item, always ask for a cash discount. It costs the companies about 2.5% of the total to process a cc payment, so it's always worth asking, even if it's only £15 off a £500 item and even if they say no. You can then resort to paying by CC Oh, and never forget the cashback option should be included in your calculations. If you can get it online with 5% cashback plus 1% cashback on the card plus you know it's costing them 2.5% then ask for at least 8.5% cash discount. I know the arithmetic may be a little bit out but it's much easier adding it up this way.

Must discuss 2009 budget options with HS. I really need him onboard for next year's challenge to work as he'll be OH by then.