Live on £4000 for a year - Part 3

whitewing

Mumzy - we love you posting. Great to hear you so chirpy. (You will need to keep an eye on that budget though!)

Everyone - thanks for your support. We are learning from earlier in the year, so are trying to resolve the funeral issues together.

Everything else is a nightmare today, but I had a lovely chill out day yesterday, and have got a nice tan from sitting in the garden, so I shall focus on the positives, whilst dealing with the negatives.

Frugaldom

warwickroadroad23 wrote: »

They want you to use clubcards so they find out what stuff you buy and when so they can work out every little last detail about your life. Like Big Brother really, snooping on what you buy and when.

I never use one.

They must be really bored by mine, then. :rotfl: Personally, I don't really care if they want to know my every move, I have nothing to hide and what I buy, when and where could be useful information as it reflects a frugal lifestyle. If they bump up prices, then we stop buying; if they offer extra points, we increase our buying - I'm sure that must show up in their analysed tables of numbers and help them decide what needs to go on offer next.

Mumzy - have fun but make it careful and frugal! And please try, at least, to keep the budget within control, we don't want you finding yourself on the money-helter-skelter in a downward spiral, even if you have got cute guy in tow.

Marru - Glad you sound resolved about the 'ex' situation and [STRIKE]good[/STRIKE] better luck with the mb. (read the other thread).

Brekkie included 2/5 of our 5-a-day but that's us onto the second carton of fresh orange and this is only day 2. DS is not co-operating on the 150ml per day recommendation and he has no interest in keeping to a budget. It's complete and utter laziness on his part, from what I can see, as it's easier to drink half a carton of orange than make a mug of tea or mix up diluting juice. Just like it's easier to make sandwiches or toast (sometimes 8 slices a day) than be home in time for dinner and eat what I have made. He then eats his dinner reheated at supper time! :mad: OK, off to calm down now. There really is no point in worrying about money, although I need to ask one question: Does anyone else question their reasons for living on such a rigid budget when it is clear that those around them don't give a stuff about it, so long as they get to do what they want?

Marru

Morning all,

Yes the mistake in the MB was all mine and as I said don't attempt doing MB when you have "Sister Kangaroo" bouncing on your lap. All in all doing well.

For me being on this budget has been great as I don't worry as much having to earn more because I know I can survive and survive well with less and I can see the healthy bank balance, which is fantastic. I am sure I am not the only one who is valuing other things more and being able to take The Dog for two to three walks per day instead of sitting in the office in the job that I wouldn't like sums it up for me. Being part of this challenge have brought me amongst a great community and a support network. It has given laughs and tears (sometimes at the same time thanks to Nyk's Jaffa Cake). And it has allowed me to question how I spend my money and how I want to use my time. Also it enables me finally to start chasing my dreams and actually make them happen.

Need to go and get DD from school. She turned into "Sister Horse" this morning (I was Baby Horse and The Dog was Mummy Horse).

Have a great day all,

Marru

bails

nykmedia wrote: »

Does anyone else question their reasons for living on such a rigid budget when it is clear that those around them don't give a stuff about it, so long as they get to do what they want?

Oh yes, indeedy! :rolleyes: I can find it incredibly frustrating when I seem to be working so hard to save us money and make the best life for us with what we have. Juice is a sore point in our house too; OH has now agreed to buy it for himself as he isn't willing to compromise on how much he drinks.
Whitewing, sorry to hear about H2B's gran and the potential worries associated with it all, great that you are trying to focu on the positives.
Janey, I too would give every last penny. Thinking of you lots and sending you the biggest hugs, please do try and eat xxx
Mumzy, great to hear how happy you are, everyone deserves that. Of course it would be lovely if you stick around here and hopefully that'll help you keep track of things moneywise too.
Well done on the prize JB, that's great stuff! OH won 2 prizes this year, £300 which is a lot of money in our world - I was hoping he would do something special for himself with it but it seems in may just disappear :rolleyes:
I had a lovely time with BB the other day, at one point we were crying with laughter and did get terribly excited about the yoghurt maker I am having a mental couple of days but am hoping to have a go with it later this week.
We got back from Brighton last night and after saying hello to my boy cats I went straight back out to pick up Tilly and Amber from the Home. They have had such a distressing time up there for the last 2 weeks, Tilly had regressed completely to a wild cat and the kittens were hissing at everyone. It was heartbreaking to have to leave 2 of them there in a place where they are so obviously unhappy. Within half an hour of being home, mum and kitten were completely back to normal. I tried to persuade the home to let me take the other two til homes are foudn for them but they're not interested
Today I am very tired but will try to get back up there, then I'm going to Marru's to pick up my pigs and spend the afternoon action planning, with the aid of biscuits! Tomorrow I am off to my old school in the morning (thankfully with Steve to hold my hand as I am pretty nervous about going) and then have a meeting with a ME/CFS specialist to help me work through some plans for the future. I'm desperate to get into my garden and rescue it but I think I'll have to crash for the rest of the week.
Anyway, better go and see my poor kittens and try and give them some cuddles. Have a wonderful day everyone xx

Brighton_belle

A mtg info PM winging its way to you nyk

Frugaldom

Brighton_belle wrote: »

A mtg info PM winging its way to you nyk

Excellent info and many thanks for PM'ing. :T I didn't know if self-certified mortgages were still available and was almost convinced that they had all withdrawn. Still sticking with my longterm mortgage free plans but saving enough to buy a house outright on my income seems such a long, long way off... I guess that's why I keep some savings in Premium Bonds even although I know they aren't the best of investments. They are better than my silly penny shares! :rotfl:

Further to the recent 'going to see a house together', we've just heard that we didn't get it, so I'll be housesharing here a while longer - saves digging up all the veggies in one go, I guess. :rolleyes: Landlord here should be pleased, assuming, of course, he isn't selling up completely!

sophiesmum_2

Nyk
My DS is also an OJ snaffler and can drink a carton daily himself. I stopped this by freezing it in portions and only putting them in fridge at night ready to defrost for morning. Just line glass with sandwich bag and freeze extra portions after serving first 3 portions of litre/or hide opened carton in salad drawer they never usually venture in there;)

Just arrived home from an all day manager's meeting and feel "brain tired" from the information overload. Time to rummage in the freezer and find something lovely that I have already prepared I have just been given some fruit to use up by one of oldies going away so 4 bananas, 4 apples, grapes and a galia melon to work into menu plans. Think I will make fruit kebabs for after tea.

catch up with you all later:D

System

Thanks everyone, but looks like I'm stuck with random academic books as my prizes! I have found a couple which will be quite useful to me (relevant to life coaching stuff and one on presentations)

nyk, could you not freeze the juice in 150ml portions (in plastic cups? got any left over from the frugarty?) and leave a cup each out overnight so it defrosts for breakfast

wahaahaa would make it difficult to drink instead of squash

plus could you keep a jug of ready made up squash in the fridge?

Brighton_belle

You're very welcome Nyk. I was casually wondering about the price of housing where you are. You could just about get a 1 bed basement flat in Brighton for £120,000:eek: . It costs about £550pm to rent one.
I am very lucky to have my house but to afford to live here, it does mean me & OH have a bedsittingroom upstairs and the single bed as study/wardrobe/storage. The downstairs 'sitting room' is let as a double room and we share the garden,galley kitchen, bathroom and open plan dining(clothes drying+) room. Works really well though, as I have two lodgers downstairs (their choice to share), so 4 adults over 40 in a small terrace house and we all get on really well, though live as two separate couples.

Had a mishap with my yogurt making overnight - I think the starter yog I bought from Lidls can't had had any bacteria in (OH had used the last of the HM stuff not realising I needed a spoonful of it to restart the next lot.) It just separated into what I assume is curds and whey. Any suggestion on whether I can do anything with them - seems a shame to chuck.

Frugaldom

Brighton_belle wrote: »

You're very welcome Nyk. I was casually wondering about the price of housing where you are. You could just about get a 1 bed basement flat in Brighton for £120,000:eek: . It costs about £550pm to rent one.

Rents here range from about £325 to £1250 pcm depending on how basic you want to live. Mind you, for £1250 you get quite a lot of [STRIKE]house[/STRIKE] castle :rotfl: . House prices are very erratic, with ex-council houses or chalets advertised from around 70k. Along the road is a 3 storey, 5 bedroom terraced fixy up at £105k (currently under offer) or, at the other extreme, you could have a country manor with land & gardens for about 500k, so it really depends on availability of cash or mortgage and the lifestyle you prefer. Not much scope for earning a fortune, of course, and I suspect many of the properties around here are bought for cash by holiday makers or commercial landlords. Decent sized, 3-bedroom and up rentals are few and far between for those on low incomes and council housing is fast approaching non-existant level.