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

lingojingo

redglass wrote: »

. All additional cardholders will expire at the same time as the Primary cardholder.

:eek: :eek::eek: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

sophiesmum_2

Sophiesmum - when the time comes for you to go to Malta, will it be really, really difficult to 'let go' and spend those savings? Won't it be a bit :eek: losing the safety net? (Apologies if I've forgotten and you do have your own house to come back to eventually.)

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Nyk, the svings will be the safety net - we aren't going to buy property - at least that isn't the plan as yet - we will rent. We are planning to not work,OH has an income of around £25,000 a year, which we will live off and the savings will be for any shortfalls/emergencies etc and to provide for me if anything happens to him- he is older than me.
No we don't have a house to come back to but I do have a lovely mum/dad with four spare bedrooms who would put us up until we got sorted if we came home and needed to get sorted out:D
I KNOW we can live happily on quite a small income so shouldn't be a problem. We could go now really except for DD and wanting to have a little more cash in the bank. The aim is to save £100,000 before we go.;)

Skint_Lynne

Sophiesmum,

That's some impressive amount of savings. Has it taken a lot of years to get that together? How did you achieve this? Have you always watched the pennies?

I would also like to know if you have ever been in debt. If you have, it just shows that you can turn things around by changing your ways and watching everything.

Sorry for being nosy,

SL x

sophiesmum_2

Hi SL

We haven't topped the £100,000 savings just yet but another year should see us sorted:D .
When i joined MSE i had £3,000 credit card debts which I had racked up after leaving my ex just surviving day to day and setting up a new home. Paid them off within 12 months out of a £12,000 income and got the dfw moneysaving bug although I hve always been quite organised and good at household management- now just can't see the point in wasting money when we can live happily and well on a much smaller amount:D Got my OH into the same mindframe - hence the savings (mostly from his income though as it is much highere than mine )- proportionately though we each save about the same percentage of our incomes which we feel is fair.
All respect to Nyk and others who have to live frugally to survive:T for us it is a lifestyle choice, but we love the challenge and it is a very satisfying way to live once you get into the swing of it.

Skint_Lynne

Good for you,

I just hope that I can get into the swing of it, because it just shows that it can be done. I'm still keeping the spending diary and the next thing to tackle is the direct debits - make sure I am getting the best deals for gas, leccy and phone. The phone bill will go down dramatically once DH is back in the UK, but I haven't been calling him much, so the DD for the phone should go down after this month.

The spending diary is amazing, who would have thought exactly where the money goes, it's a real eyeopener. This thread is a lifesaver and I'm going to have a real go at living within the 4K. Even if I am a bit over, it means that I'll still be dramatically cutting down my spending. The money neutral presents challenge is brilliant as well, and I'll be going for that big time. Who knows what I'll have achieved by this time next year!!

thriftylass

Good morning,

sophiesmum, your savings amount sounds amazing, well done. I'm sure you'll reach your target soon.

Got cracking this morning, "Only" 16 tasks out of 32 left. Started making paper (for labels etc.) and soap this morning for the xmas hampers. Could take me all day though because I only got two frames/moulds for each. Maybe start making candles while the first batch dries/cools too.

whitewing

sophiesmum, you really are incredible. You must ensure that you have internet access to keep in touch with us. You will actually need more than £100K as you need to throw us a farewell party, lol!

redglass, glad you're feeling better.

redglass_2

whitewing wrote: »

you need to throw us a farewell party, lol! .

Would that be a virtual party? Like
:beer::rotfl::EasterBun:bdaycake::kisses::dance::j:beer: _party_
followed by
:coffee:

JAMIEDODGER

wow sophiesmum, thats some savings!!!

shaz_mum_of__2

I guess everyone reasons for doing this are different

I like sophiesmum had debts (from a business) then a bankruptcy and found this site whilst looking for support and ideas for living on half the income .............i found both in buckets

Now we live on 1 salary ,child benefit and my student grant/ loan we did all the moneysaving things and live just as well as before but it is definitely about attitude ,i see moneysaving as a challenge rather than a hardship it helps that hubby is on same page

we have managed to save a few thousand too this year and probably a bit more than that next year

My savings are so we can buy a field put on a log cabin type mobile home on it keep animals and be self sufficient and not work might take a few years but you need a focus

Shaz