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

Frugaldom

Well, what an awful, freezing day this has been. It looked quite bright this morning, although very frosty and the the road was like an ice rink! DS has just arrived home from work and informed us that BOTH the gritters slid off the main road this morning, one landed on its side across from our road end (police were there when DS was going out to work this morning) and the other landed down the main drainage ditch and, he says, looked like they'd need heavy machinery to get it back out of there. To put you in the picture, the council 'upgraded' part of the main road to widen it and drain it, but they did this by giving it an undulating, but smooth surface flanked on both sides by very wide, very deep drainage ditches separating forest from road. Hmm.. sounds like there could be fun on that stretch this winter!

We drove into our new 'nearest main town', and I popped into the Mr T Metro store. I was imagining mini-Mr T, so only took a small troley. Hmm... Metro is somewhat larger than I expected, so I ended up spending almost £35 on groceries, £16 on stores for next year and £10 on gift items for making up my baskets/hampers. There's also a Farmfoods opposite and a Lidl's not far from there, but I'd filled the boot of the car by the time we left Mr T's! :rotfl: Total spend for the day amounted to £61.87 including travel, lunch fo 2 and some winter wooly socks for DS & OH, plus I used another £15 of vouchers in Woolies getting gifts, some odds & ends for the new house (washing line, polyfilla), wrapping paper and Christmas crackers. Quite a productive day, despite the atrocious weather and repeated soakings.

We had rain, hail, sleat and snow then, momentarily, sunshine and double rainbows! :rolleyes: The frost has not melted at all and the birdbath is still frozen solid, but there has been plenty of activity around the bird table. Icy paths will be sorted with a sprinkling of the huge back of salt I just bought! Didn't know whether to count that as groceries or 'everything else'. Hmm... it doesn't really come under groceries when it's for the garden, does it?

Happy Birthday Penny :beer:

Janey, sorry about Mr Red Squirrel and Robin. I think our Mr Fox has, sadly, been shot by hunters who were out 2 nights ago! I was most annoyed, as they didn't even take him away, they just left him lying in the field!

thriftylass

Grrgh, for the third quarter in a row I haven't received my Mr T vouchers (10 quid). They should be here by now. The last couple of times I had to call them up and every time they claimed sth was wrong with my details. Will call them up tomorrow.
On the bright side I noticed that all my cashback has now tracked (65 quid :T) and will be paid in January. Even got the 20 from G@l@ although I wasn't able to deposit straight away and only did it a week after signing up.

Frugaldom

Hi Mumzy, welcome back. The new challenge starts on 1st January 2009 and I'll be starting a new thread in a couple of weeks so it's kept separate from this one. I hope things haven't been too bad for you and that you've managed to get your finances under control. Next year is 'get fitter, not fatter' year for me, and I'm still saving the ciggie money every day. Did you open your sealed pot?

Thrifty, good news on the bingo cashback! I'm still amazed that my insurance tracked and is payng me more in cashback than the policy cost!

cw18

Welcome back Janey --- great to "see" you, but I know exactly what you mean......

((hugs)) for all of those that need them, as it sounds like a few peeps are still having a "Bumpy" time

sophiesmum_2

Welcome back janey:D , sorry about the squirrel, hope he isn't going to end up in the freezer;)

Lynda- great news that the ice save money arrived:j

mumzy - wondered where you had got to, hope you 're all okay:D

Spent all afternoon putting together gift bskets and wrapping them , and making marmalade ,ready for oldies xmas fayre tomorrow afternoon. Just got cakes to make in morning then we are done. Doing absolutely nothing tonight as I am knackered:p

Frugaldom

Forgot to say - I got my candy canes, a big jar of instant hot chocolate and some bags of marshmallows for making up the 'Sophiesmum gift mugs'. I may even try something silly... but still thinking about it for now. I need to go back and look for the photos of the mugs first.

Edited in: Also got 25 x cone shaped cellophane bags with ties for making everyone an extra pressie at Christmas. Some will get 'snowman soup' packs and some will get bath sets. I had to pay £3.50 inc P&P for the bags but that's still only 14p per person for the packaging, as I already have the ribbons and I'll print personalised labels. These will work out at about 50p each, at a rough guess! EXCELLENT VALUE!

mumzyof2

NYK - I didnt really have a sealed pot as had to keep opening it when ex left me early this year as had no money.
Sophiesmum - We are all good here. Hope everything is good your end.

whitewing

Jaaaannnnneeeeeyyyy! Good to have you back; we've missed you.

Some copy and pasting from MSE Wendy's post dated 18th July entitled Free Tax advice available for those on a low income (I can't do links)
Which organisations offer free help?

• TaxAid: A charity that provides free advice on your rights and responsibilities under the UK tax system and can help with any aspect of tax, not just your self assessment. Help is available for anyone on a low income - whether employed, self-employed, retired or on benefits - who cannot afford to pay for professional advice. Link: TaxAid

• TaxHelp for Older People (TOP): An independent free tax advice service for anyone over pension age with taxable household income of less than £15k. It has around 550 volunteers able to provide free home visits in many locations, otherwise by telephone or post. Link: TOP

• Citizens Advice Bureau: Most advisers can help with basic tax queries but may also be able to help find a local tax adviser. Link: Citizens Advice or visit your local bureau (find nearest)

• HM Revenue & Customs: The tax office is able to help with tax queries at its enquiry centres or by phone on 0161 931 9070. Link: HMRC
  
  UPDATE 28 JULY 08 - As mentioned in the dicussion below, thanks to MoneySaver chapperz for the top spot, there are also FREE tax workshops around the country for employers (inc. 'Paying your employees' and 'Paying expenses and giving benefits to your employees') and the self employed ('Becoming self employed' and 'Self assessment for self employed people'). Link: HMRC Workshops

• Low Incomes Tax Reform Group: A service by the Chartered Institute of Taxation to provide general guidance on tax and related benefits for those who want to do their own tax affairs. Link: LITRG

Related Articles: Taxing Times1, Taxing Times2, Taxing Times3, Taxing Times4, Taxing Times5, Taxing Times6.

sophiesmum_2

Been invited to go and see mumzy's DS in his school xmas play next week. He is only 4. I used to love all the plays and concerts when mine were little, they are so enthusiastic at that age, it's all new to them.
Really looking forward to it:D

cw18

I'm busy with nativities next week.....

11am Wednesday is younger GD at pre-school, followed by a dash to the nursery she goes to on Thur/Fri by 2pm for a 2:15pm show. I've then got to bring her back here, and hold on to her while DD goes to watch elder GD at school at 6:30pm.

I get to watch elder GD on Thursday afternoon.......



And I've just made arrangements to meet an ex-colleague/team-mate (who took voluntary redundancy) for a coffee (at a coffee shop, so not very frugal) at 10:30am this Friday. He's then meeting other ex-colleagues at a pub for lunch, while I go shoe hunting, then in the afternoon I'm going into the office to return passes (and try and get contact details from a few other people).