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

sophiesmum_2

Mumzy started the sealed pot challenge:D Basically just get any container which can't be opened to save in and then throw whatever you like in that is spare cash until december when we are all opening them:j There is a dedicated sealed pot challenge thread on the forum somewhere.:D

Marru

I made a list of all the challenges and it can found as a sticky in DFW forum. Sealed pot challenge should be there as well.

thriftylass

Thanks, found the challenge list. I think I try the money neutral gift challenge next year. I remember my mum always bought things throughout the year when they were cheapest and she had a cupboard full of those and "emergency gifts".

Mollymop5

redglass wrote: »

Mollymop5 wrote: »

Mecca gave me my bonus £10 so have played that this morning.After my initial £10 deposit is put back I am now £8.60 in pocket.so pleased I came out better off.I was prepared to loose my £10 in order to get the quidco cashback but for once I was lucky

Hi Mollymop
Have just re-read your message.
Do you mean you only gambled Mecca's £10 and not your own? When I signed on for the first time, a window flashed up on Quidco saying that if you didn't spend your own £10 you wouldn't qualify for the £30 cashback. Have I misunderstood you?
(Don't think I'll ever make a gambler, either - it's like watching paint dry, except that you don't get a nice painted surface at the end of the process. :rolleyes: Still, I can do a lot with £30! )

I played my £10 last night and my bonus was there today so I played that too and withdrew my funds which was £18.60 which means I got my £10 back and made £8.60 profit

Frugaldom

redglass wrote: »

...I think I must be making a fool of myself by asking this question, but here goes: all you frugalists who started doing this ages ago, please can you tell me why people want to chat with other people who are just watching a load of numbers come up? Am I missing something? I think I must be...

You aren't missing anything - I always turn off the chat option if I can, unless I meet Marru or Bails in Country club on free bingo Thursdays, then we have a quick chat I think maybe there are people who actually LIKE playing bingo and think of it as a social event. I do try to add a few responses if I land somewhere that switching off chat isn't an option, especially when moderators arrive on screen! We had them in our country club room a few weeks ago! :eek:

Thanks for the thumbs up on cooking chocolate for the biscuits, will try this next time.

Welcome RebekahR and Thriftylass, hope you'll both enjoy being 'official' 4k challengers for next year. Cheers for joining us here. :beer:

Sealed pot challenge - my avatar is my sealed pot - that's 'Phil the Pig' and all his friends can be found in the papier mache thread

sophiesmum_2

Nyk
I think your papier mache animals are great:T :T
If you are careful opening Phil the pig you could save him to stuff with sweets and use as a pinata at DGD's next birthday. I paid about £12 for the last one I bought and another couple of quid for a coloured stick to bash it with:eek: May be an idea for a little enterprise:p

lingojingo

Ok. have done all my calculations and my basic life next year will cost £10,300 (all rounded up to nearest pounds). That includes all the things in this challenge, plus mortgage, council tax, water rates, work expenses etc. My actual income will be approx £14, 200 so I'm looking for ways to increase that. This year I've had nearly £190 from cashback and surveys etc., hoping to up that by looking seriously at daily clicks etc. Not got much to declutter, but every litle bit helps as they say, so will see what I can sell.

Would really love to move back south to be nearer to my Mum and the rest of the family once DD is settled at uni, but can't see any way of affording that at the moment. Although house prices are dropping madly the differential remains as big as ever. Also her favoured place at the moment is Edinburgh, so if I somwehow move south it'll be even harder to get to see her, and DS seems set to settle in Manchester. It's not easy.

lilac_lady

Will those of you who've taken part in this year's challenge manage to "do" Christmas and keep within your overall annual budget? Amazing if you can do it!

cw18

lilac_lady, I think the idea is they've had an amount for Christmas built into their budgets. I'm pretty certain I've seen mention of a 'presents' quota, from which some people have been buying things they see on offer (Boots sale at the beginning of the year seems to have been quite heavily hit), while others should have money put aside for the shopping. Same thing for birthdays etc.

lingojingo

I've used vouchers gained from pigsnack and doing surveys to buy birthday presents through the year. DD will be 18 this month, but I already had money set aside for that.

Have bought things towards Christmas throughout the year, still have fair bit to get though. :rolleyes:

Mr. T clubcard vouchers and co-op vouchers saved for extra food shopping over the festive period (although sticking to the grocery challenge means I've got less of these than usual :rotfl:)