Live on £4000 for a year - part 4 (Oct - Dec 2008)

fitzal

Hi, I was wondering if someone could post the link for the place where they put their elec & gas meter readings, I saw it on here quite a few pages back but can't find it now?
Thanks!

cw18

a number of us are recording on imeasure

there is also a thread where we compare results here

whitewing

mumzyof2 wrote: »

Sophiesmum - I was wondering if next time you come visit..if we could sit down and do a budget for this challenge for next year? Hope your ok x

Ahhh. That's such a cosy image that I now have of the two of you sitting down at the table with your new lamps and all your papers spread out.

Marru

Good morning all,

Redglass not to worry about the mix up. I actually bought the car almost nine years ago but last few years it has been in my ex's name and now finally I got it officially back from him. Huge relief!

Nyk! I am joining with the applauses with the others re the signing of the contract! :j :T :j

Re the petrol prices: I have spotted only one station here that has 94.9 p and that is on my way to the college. Every time I drive I am looking at the petrol gauge (sp?) wondering if it will last me till Monday when I go there next time as the pile of books I took with me yesterday should last me for the whole week. Might need to go and see how much Mr S charges and just bite the bullet and top up.

Better start with prioritised to do list for today and tomorrow, have a great day everybody!

Marru

skintwellie

Hi all,
I'm afraid that I will have FAILED my challenge of living on £5,000 for 2008. I have already spent a whopping £7,000 and still have Christmas to pay for.

The good news is that without this thread I would be soooooooooooooo much more overspent. I have also learn't a great deal and am determined to stick to a budget of £5,000 next year. So please nyk can you put me down for £5,000 again (and I promise to try harder!!). I have to start paying or my new car next May but have included these payments in ESSENTIALS as I need my car to get to work. We are very rural - 4 buses a day!

I have cashed in my vouchers, etc towards Christmas and was surprised to get an extra £10.00 from the Post Office. I put £10.00 on their Gift Card back in early summer in order to enter a competition and was going to spend it in Argos. Yesterday I got a letter to say that they are adding another £10.00 to the card on 1st November!

Also got a free TV from taking out Life Insurance which I needed to cover funeral expenses if I don't make it to retirement.

I was wondering if anyone knew how to put an item on Amazon (not a book) if it is not already in their catalalogue. I've got a Professional chocolate making kit which I want a set price for (don't want to put it on ebay as costs getting prohibitive).

Have a great day everyone and keep warm.
xxxx

redglass_2

Marru wrote: »

Redglass not to worry about the mix up. I actually bought the car almost nine years ago but last few years it has been in my ex's name and now finally I got it officially back from him.


Thanks, Marru. What really worries me is that I did read that original post...my brain's like a sieve these days.

Skint_Lynne

Good morning,

I kept my spending diary yesterday via the notebook I bought. It makes interesting reading, I did not get anything in particular yesterday, but spent £12.39. Breakdown: 2.00 carpark, 5.48 Marks and spencer for 2 tins of salmon and a packet of crisps, 4.91 in Tesco, for pasta, blistex and wrapping paper. I am shocked:eek: :eek: .

This was really on nothing, so just shows how the cash can go. I'm keeping it for a good while so that I can see exactly where it all goes to, and if it is sensibe spending or just on rubbish.

Will check in later,

SL x

whitewing

SL, don't worry, we'll soon have you trained so that crisps are a special treat to be celebrated.

Redglass, now what was I going to say to you? Oh yes, sieve brain is a common affliction here. My philosophy is that it is necessary for us to have sieve brains as a frugal measure so that we are able to read the same books over and over again and still be surprised at the ending.

SW, I'm probably overbudget too on the challenge items, but I too have spent much more sensibly than I would have done normally.

For anyone feeling guilty out there, I HAVEN'T even attempted to work out next year's budget yet. (And probably won't do so until a few days before Xmas).

thriftylass

Skint_Lynne wrote: »

Good morning,

I kept my spending diary yesterday via the notebook I bought. It makes interesting reading, I did not get anything in particular yesterday, but spent £12.39. Breakdown: 2.00 carpark, 5.48 Marks and spencer for 2 tins of salmon and a packet of crisps, 4.91 in Tesco, for pasta, blistex and wrapping paper. I am shocked:eek: :eek: .

This was really on nothing, so just shows how the cash can go. I'm keeping it for a good while so that I can see exactly where it all goes to, and if it is sensibe spending or just on rubbish.

Will check in later,

SL x

That sounds very similar to my experience over the last three weeks. Out of the ~£500 I spent ~£170 :eek: was actually rubbish or things I didn't need.
It's good, as you do it already, to write it down very detailed, like £X in M&S went to tinned food (essential) and crisps (not necessarily ess.) and so on. I made the mistake initially of just writing it down by shop and then couldn't tell on what it was spent.

Frugaldom

Good morning to all.

I have a load of post to sort through and then I'll be number crunching for the housemove and next year's budget. I've made the final decision to transfer money into Premium Bonds because, to be honest, if interest rates drop to 3.5% (as predicted by many) then an extra £28 (after tax) for lending them my money for 12 months just isn't worth the hassle of risking not being able to withdraw it exactly when I need it. This way, I have the chance of winning anything from £50 up to £1million plus I can cash in the month before DD's wedding and make the most of any cash discounts. I'll get that done this week so we're included in the December draw. It means that I'll be working off one pot for everything next year but will still be keeping a breakdown of what my aims are for each 'department' within the cashpot.

Back soon to catch up with the other posts