Live on £4000 for a year - Part 3

BlueFleur

I spent the day with my parents, and I think I may have found out where I picked up my spending habits :rolleyes: It was a free day however, which is always good. Definitely going to keep working on the budget, I'm sure I'll be able to cut back in some areas.

Well done on winning the auction nyk! Your spending in February was amazing :eek:

Frugaldom

Whilst living on the 4k budget, I have not been going without. To be honest, when I look back over the past few months and see what else I've actually had out of doing this, it's great! So... I made a list of what I'm grateful for, and here it is:

Paid for from 4k budget
2 x oil-filled radiators
DVD film
Electric handheld blender
Cake icing set
Electric timer switch
2-ring cooker
Dress for wearing to the party
5 x Demi-johns for winemaking
Skirt & top
Umbrella
Measuring jug
Iron
Kettle
Toaster
1L flask
Whisk
Membership to National Trust (paid for 12 months, got 18 months)
2 x cardigans
Electric 3-tier steamer
Gifts & cards for all family birthdays, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, anniversaries and quite a few Christmas gifts already bought.

From £2 savings
Plastic greenhouse
Garden planters, plants & seeds

From Interest beater challenge
10 year savings bond with life assurance

From cashback fund
DGD's & SiL2B's engagement party buffet for 100+

From vouchers
Christmas gifts

From Freecycle
Barbie bicycle for DGD
Wooden log box/tool chest
Plant pots & herbs
Bathroom suite for new frugal house

Frugal entertainment has included a day cruise to Isle of Man (also paid from cashback), several trips to NTS castles & country parks, picnics, beach trips and BBQs.

As well as all of the above, I have been banking £1.35 per day, which is the equivalent of the amount I would be smoking had I not stopped. I plan to maintain this savings regime and also to 'Phil the Pig' in my avatar with 'spare change'.
In my humble opinion, not bad for a budget of 4k, but I couldn't have done it all without the help and support of everyone on here. Thanks you guys! :T

JAMIEDODGER

wow! thats definately a reason for doing this challenge!

have just looked at all the figures and its gonna be a real tough challenge (insert sad face here as similies not working)

i think if i can do xmas money neutral and never ever go out again i might just do it lol!

one of the real problems is clothing. it costs quite a bit to clothe me and 4 kids throughout the year and lets not even get started on the costs of school uniform...arghhhh even if i spend only 100 on each of us per year on normal clothing (this includes everything) and £80 on each of the children for school uniform that totals over £800!!!!!! that is a huge chunk of my budget!!

this requires a serious rethink!!

BlueFleur

nyk that is an impressive haul- especially compared to the meagre bits that show for my credit card/overdraft/student loan! :eek:

jamiedodger I really feel for all parents out there with school uniforms/shoes. The horror stories I hear from mums at work are shocking. With the 'everyday' clothes, could you maybe call on grandparents/uncles/aunts? When I was little, I'd get clothes for Christmas/birthdays and so on. It could help ease it a bit.

Out of curiosity, how many people live off the 4k is all your homes? My bf and I split everything 50/50 so my 4k only really covers myself. If you guys stretch this to include partners/kids then I should definitely improve my numbers!

lingojingo

nykmedia wrote: »

Speaking of shopping - I just won my auction and paid the £10 (including P&P) for a brand new, 3-tier electric steamer. I've updated my signature to reflect my recent spending spree.

Nyk you'll love it! I can't imagine being without mine and DD has already stated that she NEEDS one to take to uni next year!

System

Hellloooo frunchkins!

i went to the huuuge car boot sale today, as there were no jumbles to be found on sat!

it was really exciting cos at the end the stall i was standing next to gave everything away for free, got lots of wine glasses, a few tops, some mens hats for BF and brother, a jewellery stand, anchor necklace and bottlecap earrings for freeeeeeee

i have also hatched a cunning plot to become Miss Jumble-Bee 2-phones, as I have an orange PAYG which still has a magic 5 free texts a day on it (anyone else get that yeaaaars ago, when you bought a thingy for £15, got £5 credit and 5 free texts a day for life? mine is still going strong!)

anyhoo i am thinking i should only use that phone for the 5 texts, then switch to a second phone (whatever the new cheapest PAYG is)

that should annoy my friends

edited in oooh forgot to say that i took a risk and ordered a 'mystery' winter coat on ebay - it was going for a lot cheaper than other nice winter coats, it is my size, from dorothy perkins and in good condition - but it had no photo! so that will be a (hopefully nice) surprise when it comes...

Marru

BlueFleur wrote: »

Out of curiosity, how many people live off the 4k is all your homes? My bf and I split everything 50/50 so my 4k only really covers myself. If you guys stretch this to include partners/kids then I should definitely improve my numbers!

In here it is me, almost 4 year old DD, dog, 3 guinea pigs and 3 rats.

I have spent an afternoon in kids birthday party and trying to rake my brain where I can hold my DD's when she hits 4 at November. Me being me I would like it to be somewhere where the kids can interact with animals, also I would like there to be guided games during when parents can sit down for a while, enjoy some sandwiches and cake and cup of tea. And of course it needs be as frugal as possible. This year the money has to come from my budget but next year I hope I will be able to sell DD's old buggies and this money would then go towards her presents and birthday party.

I am in the middle of sorting out my spreadsheets. For next year I will allocate different source income to different outgoings so I need to tweak my spreadsheet to take this into account. I will keep nursery fees outside my "all in" as I should get 80% paid by tax credits and the rest by adult learning grant.

These are going to be my rough categories for all in:

Rent+water+CTax
Car
Courses
£4k challenge including: electricity, gas, mobile, everything household, clothes, shoes, hair cuts, animals, other (for example membership fees)

Then separate budgets for:
Nursery (see above)
Business costs (mainly broadband and landline, some direct costs like postage costs and costs relating to mystery shopping are covered by the income in question)

I should get everything college related refunded by adult learning grant but I want to do more courses in the alternative therapy that I did recently so I need to find a source of income to pay for this.

And to make it tougher I need to find:

£1.2 by 31st of October every year for CTF (I whish I had 1.2k to put on 31/10 and another 1/11 and then every year on 1/11 and I would be HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY!!)
Full allowance to put into ISA every year preferably in the beginning of period if possible.

Soooo, I am off now to sort out my August and September and then starting to work on the numbers for above catagories and pondering where the heck I am going to get the money from to cover it all. Back later...

Marru

Ooops: forgot my DMP payments... I think I need to rob a bank...

sophiesmum_2

Hi Everyone,

Just to let you know that my brother died this morning. He was surrounded by the people who loved him and slipped peacefully away, and that was all that we were hoping for. We are just happy that we could make a difference to his last days, and relieved that he is not suffering any longer.

JAMIEDODGER

sophiesmum, im so sorry for your loss. hugs to you and your family xx

Marru

Sophiesmum - I don't know what to say! You have all been brilliant to be there to support him and to make his life the best possible including these last moments. Thinking of you!!!

Those of us who have chosen the hardest life are here to teach the others about love and those very special people are here normally for just for a short time as they already know all about there is to know as they are here just to help the rest of us on our journey. I am sure your brother was one of these special people and he was so lucky to find your family.