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

Skint_Lynne

Well,

I have totalled up the weeks spending, £314.41:eek: :eek: :eek: . Now, some of that won't be in the challenge but I wanted to see what I physically parted with.

Taking out: £158.54 for business related spends, petrol and debt payment. This leaves £155.87. Breakdown as follows: Eating out: £58.00, Presents: £26.99, Supermarket £73.55. I have started stockpiling out of this, but I can clearly see this week that the supermarket and eating out have been a big problem. I will monitor the situation thru November and see how it pans out. No wonder I am always skint!!:mad: :mad: :mad:

Speak tomorrow,

SL x

lingojingo

just got a desk for DD from freecylcle ( well, they are bringing it tomorrow evening). Didn't expect to get one as we don't have transport, but kind lady is going to deliver! :j

It's amazing, DD's been wanting a desk in her room for ages, but we couldn't afford it, and one she found in additions has been out of stock for ages. She's studying for A levels and hates having to do homework on dining table, her room is massive so just needs the desk. Going to bed really happy now

bails

Now that's what Freecycle is all about :T Happy for you Lingo!

This made me laugh this morning - it's old news, but I'd have done the same if my husband had chosen Jodie Marsh of all people over me! Imagine if one of us had spotted the auction!! :eek::j

dND

Whitwing, my sympathies to you,

Tax credits suddenly discovered they'd overpaid me two years running when I left the country even though there was no change in the figures I'd given them when they worked out the payments. I've arranged to pay it off monthly over a year - except that they seem to have got the payments wrong for that too, they're half what they should be so it will take two years. Having made this arrangement with them I still get the semi threatening end of year statments that demand payment :mad: To be honest I don't think they have a clue what they are doing.

Bails, re theatre tickets, when I was in the UK I used this site

http://www.whatsonstage.com/index.php?pg=201

I bought one of their meal deals and combined it with a National Express £1 each way coach trips from Gloucestershire to London. Not a cheap day out but so much cheaper than it could have been. Our meal deal was at Planet Hollywood (I was actually surprised how good it was as I was expecting something like Mac's) so I've not tried any of the restaurants. I hope this helps - there is nothing quite like live theatre.

Right back to lurking and trying and catch up on the threads.:D
Deborah

cha97michelle

Hello everyone,

It's been getting on for a month since i posted on here. I had a very expensive October, and spent far too much, but i have done some christmas shopping, and also attended a wedding several hundred miles away, had DS1's birthday presents and party to sort out, and had relatives visiting us, so every category of spending has been hit hard. I am hoping that the next couple of months are a lot quieter for us.

I am trying now to reign in the budget. I sent DH to the supermarket with a list as he is much better at picking up bargains and sticking to a list than i am, and he still spent £50, but i am going to see how far i can stretch the food budget so i still have some pennies left elsewhere for sorting out my 3x nephews christmas presents.

For starters, today, DS1 and myself will be using up leftover mash and veg from yesterdays roast at lunch time, then I have made a chicken, lentil and veg soup using the carcass from the chicken, so an extra meal there. I also realised i had been relying too much on bought baby purees so i have had a blitzing session this weekend to stockpile some for DS2 to eat. Much healthier for him as well, and stops me feeling guilty as i wouldn't feed DS1 anthing bought while at home.

I have been so much better about thinking about money. I have started thinking about what we spend in a year, and although it isn't pretty it has given me some ideas of how to work it better with what we have. Reading on here as usual gives me fantastic ideas. I am loving the pictures of sophies mums presents, and i have been using NYKs idea of saving the water from the dehumnidifier - i use it to flush the loo, so hopefully it will save some on the bill with the water meter.

Anyway, enough rambling. Keep the good ideas coming at me please. I will learn how to be better with what we have if it kills me.

Michelle, x

cw18

I put my old chest freezer onto Freecycle in the wee small hours (after finally taking the plunge and ordering a larger upright to replace it) -- with a very clear warning that it's not energy efficient and that this is one of the reasons for replacing it.

The ad got cleared onto the board at 9:51am, and I had emails asking for it at 10:08, 10:15, 10:26 and have just had another..... I hope my 'taken' notice gets put up soon :eek:


I also made it clear it's not actually available until 14th -- and the second email says "Can collect ASAP" !!!!!!!!



Heaven help me when I put a fridge/freezer up in January (assuming it still works OK over Christmas, when I'll need the fridge space due to elder DS being home on leave from 12th-30th December) :eek: :eek: :eek:

Haven't actually used the fridge/freezer myself in about 18 months, but the doors are jammed slightly open so it doesn't get that putrid smell

1274

Thought I'd post while hanging on the phone to the water company regarding getting a meter (12 minutes now on my bill - AAARGH)

My all-in budget for a year (£16K) started in Oct and I had £282.59 left at the end of the month (see sig for exact figures). I have paid out the Nov DDs and have £760.25 left for expenses during the month, including a credit card bill of £411 which is more than usual as it includes start-up expenses for my business

The all-in challenge is going well so far. I treated myself to a new coffee machine thinking it would get my coffee spends down but, although it makes lovely coffee, the results don't travel well in a flask, so it may not have the desired result! Does anyone have a thermal cup and if so, do they work?

thriftylass

1274 wrote: »

The all-in challenge is going well so far. I treated myself to a new coffee machine thinking it would get my coffee spends down but, although it makes lovely coffee, the results don't travel well in a flask, so it may not have the desired result! Does anyone have a thermal cup and if so, do they work?

We got thermal cups from T!SO for 3.99 years back and they work ok. You also get them cheap in P!!ndstretcher. They might not work as long as flasks, but friends use them and they're fine on the way to work. What do you mean with the results don't travel well in a flask. Mine does it fine and keeps it hot for ages.

1274

Major frugallists look away now.....

I like a capuccino and have one a day from the coffee shop to take on the train to work :eek:

When I first started the £4K challenge I decided to count my coffee spends in my budget, as it's a "cost of living" thing for me but since I can now make nice coffee from home, the only issue is portability. What I need is a trick to keep the foam from melting into the coffee for 20 minutes or so and keep the coffee hot at the same time. I think flasks don't cut it because the mouth is too narrow for the foam so it all melts into the coffee when you spoon it in. So I was thinking a thermal cup might be better.

OK, the rest of you who don't spend huge sums on hot beverages can look back now! Apologies to NYK and all the other folks on here in advance for my frivolous spending habits.

thriftylass

1274 wrote: »

. I think flasks don't cut it because the mouth is too narrow for the foam so it all melts into the coffee when you spoon it in. So I was thinking a thermal cup might be better.

Yes try thermal cups then, you get ones that have a rather narrow base and a nice wide opening (A!!zon from 2.99), perfect for capuccino. Plus they should at least keep it warm for the time needed (20 min + train journey).

Bit annoyed, ordered sth from C!!rys and !bay through TCB but both times I had to put in a claim because I didn't get the cashback automatically. Hopefully they get through.

Plus spoken to the bank about my missing £20 and they said they call me back after checking the tills.