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

bails

Glad you're feeling better Redglass, sleep is a wonderful healer.
Amazing savings Sophiesmum, fantastic! I love how inspiring your story is, having gone from debts to such a staggering sum is brilliant :T I don't have 'debt debt' IYSWIM but I do have a mortgage (sort of - one that I feel responsible for at least) and a student loan from my PGCE still; OH has over 20k of student loan debt now :eek: What I love about MSE and this thread especially is that there are so many stories of hope in spite of all the hardship; people are turning their lives around and it's amazing to be part of that!
My personal story is I came here looking for help to deal with suddenly finding myself on benefits and with a massive drop in income; I have found so much more than I could ever have expected :j I feel we have a very good standard of living, which is quite an achievement with all the limitations and I know that anything is possible; you can't get much better than that! Thankyou everyone for being here and helping turn a negative situation into such a positive one :iloveyou:

slowlyfading

Bails, I didn't know you were a teacher? I'm trying to write my personal statement to apply to do a PGCE and I'm stuck! lol

Skint_Lynne

Hi folks,

I've just found this on another thread and I've signed up to it. Go to www.qype.co.uk register as a user and do 50 reviews of places you know/have been to. Do this before 30th November and you will receive an amazon voucher worth £50. I'll buy DH's birthday prezzie with it. Act quickly, the first 500 people are being accepted.

I luv this site!!!!

SL x

the_cat

Thanks for the link Bails - very interesting! Like Sophiesmum we work out at a high figure (71%). I'm glad that this discussion has taken place because I have always been naturally frugal and choose to live this way even though I have enough income to fritter away more. I have always felt a bit of a fraud on these boards. I felt maybe I would be judged in an 'it's ok for you' sort of way (not on this thread, but def some of the other board are scary!!!) It's great that on here everyone is respected for their different circumstances and that we can enjoy sharing our common way of life.

Even though OH has a well paid job, he works long hours, has a 3 hour daily commute and hates his job with a passion. By living like this, I aim to pay off the mortgage completely(with luck in the next year or so). Then he can either choose to leave his job for something that will make him happier or put up with it for a bit longer and retire early.

So thanks all of you!!
Cat

whitewing

Lol, I love you all, even the rich ones of you!

SL - thank you for that amazon voucher info. I have just signed up so I'm excited about that.

Skint_Lynne

the_cat wrote: »

Thanks for the link Bails - very interesting! Like Sophiesmum we work out at a high figure (71%). I'm glad that this discussion has taken place because I have always been naturally frugal and choose to live this way even though I have enough income to fritter away more. I have always felt a bit of a fraud on these boards. I felt maybe I would be judged in an 'it's ok for you' sort of way (not on this thread, but def some of the other board are scary!!!) It's great that on here everyone is respected for their different circumstances and that we can enjoy sharing our common way of life.

Even though OH has a well paid job, he works long hours, has a 3 hour daily commute and hates his job with a passion. By living like this, I aim to pay off the mortgage completely(with luck in the next year or so). Then he can either choose to leave his job for something that will make him happier or put up with it for a bit longer and retire early.

So thanks all of you!!
Cat

Hi Cat,

You should not feel like a fraud. As you have pointed out, everyone has different circumstances and I think that's why we all get on with giving each other tips etc. For example, you are not in debt, but I am. Why is that? For me, it is because of my business and perhaps because of my lifestyle as well. For you, you have savings because you handle your money differently. Someone like you can really help someone like me understand how to have a different 'relationship' with money. You have every right to be here and you can contribute a lot to a person like me. So don't say that about yourself

SL x

Marru

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

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

Would you like a lodger? Can I please pay my rent by mucking out? I have pleanty of experience

I have been extremely bad mother today so you are welcome to call the social services. I locked myself at early hours in DD's room and slept and didn't come out until about an hour ago :eek:. Bless DD, she had helped herself for yoghurts and has now been fed properly.

About the income talk, when I came to UK eight years ago I was on £35k salary, paying high rent, a lot for commuting to Central London and an extraordinary sum for lunches!!! So in the end of the month there wasn't really that much left. Now I am struggling to earn £6k that would (with housing benefit and tax credits) be just enought to keep us going and I have to say that I am happier especially as there truly is light in the end of the tunnel when I graduate for new career. Thanks to this thread I am more concious where the money goes and also better at shopping and planning meals.

I have only one task (on top of doing washing) for today's list and that is to pack about thousand books in boxes so perhaps another cup of tea while I place one bet (to get a free tenner) and then just get packing.

Have a great day everybody!!

Marru

sophiesmum_2

whitewing wrote: »

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.

Don't worry:D we have already calculated broadband access into the equation (and even costed it on our last holiday;) ). I could be the foreign division of the frugal thread.

Brighton_belle

the_cat wrote: »

I'm glad that this discussion has taken place because I have always been naturally frugal and choose to live this way even though I have enough income to fritter away more. I have always felt a bit of a fraud on these boards. I felt maybe I would be judged in an 'it's ok for you' sort of way (not on this thread, but def some of the other board are scary!!!) It's great that on here everyone is respected for their different circumstances and that we can enjoy sharing our common way of life.

I'm glad this has come up then thecat, so that yourself, and maybe others can feel more comfortable about that:T : we are all in are different circs for different reasons and I don't mind in the slightest how much any of you earn, becasue I know you appreciate the value of what you have. I also think this challenge gives me back a certain amount of power over my financial circs, and I get great joy out of frugaling so I can make better use of what I am able to earn. I mightn't have much money but last xmas I could barely walk and we didn't know if I would be able to again and it made the life I have now, albeit with restrictions & a low income seem a fantastic dream.

Even though OH has a well paid job, he works long hours, has a 3 hour daily commute and hates his job with a passion. By living like this, I aim to pay off the mortgage completely(with luck in the next year or so). Then he can either choose to leave his job for something that will make him happier or put up with it for a bit longer and retire early. Exactly cat, he works very hard. It must be awful to hate your job. I love hearing about plan like this, really exciting:T

Just made a huge sponge cake direct in the remoska that I can freeze in portions for OH luches over next few weeks. Bought a gorgeous blouse at the charity shop for £3.49. Spent ages weighing up if I really needed it:D . A £2.50 spend in the butcher and a can of cider for tomorrows wild rabbit stew. Does anyone know if you can freeze cider ok (It might work out cheaper in the future to buy a big bottle & freeze portions). 'We' are know going to tackle the shelving we got on freecycle so must dash and wipe OH's brow and make him tea.
Oh, and OH got an unexpected cheque from IR this morning for £700 for overpaid tax 04/05 when he was made redundant:j :j

the_cat

Don't know about freezing cider - I would imagine that it would lose it's fizz.

One solution is a little device called a 'fizz-keeper' It's a sort of bottle top which you pump to repressurize the bottle and keep the fizz. Got one for OH last year for about £2.50 as a stocking filler if that helps (from memory I think it might have been Hawkins Bazaar)