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

macwah97

Morning All

Can I please join for 2009?

Haven't a clue how I am going to manage it on 4k possibly toying with 5k - will decide on 1st Jan. Whatever the amount it will be for 2 Adults, 2 Children & 2 dogs and will not include Mortgage, Rates or Petrol for work. It will include internet, sky, mobile, electric, oil and food. My plan is to get some smaller debts reduced and then start on the Mortgage, however this all depends on the job front for both hubby and myself as there is a possibility that we will both be out of work from 31st March 2009, if not before - AAAGh

Janey51

Hi macwah97. Welcome and good luck for next year.
Make sure you are sober on Jan 1 before you decide on your budget :rotfl:

cw18

A lot of families seem to have been running on £4k plus Child Benefit -- so, as that increases on 5th Jan, that would give you £4,000+£1,726.40

Penny2myName

I think with the present climate we may be seeing many more people coming into the fold of the £4k crew. Many peoples incomes are looking unstable for the future and each day we hear about more and more people becoming redundant. This time last year I remember the negative comments that were thrown onto this thread when Nyk first posted it.
THANK YOU THANK YOU AND THANK YOU AGAIN Nyk, I believe for many of us, you have helped us weather the beginning of the credit crunch. You have been an inspiration, and created what I feel has become one of THE most friendly treads on the boards. I for one see Live on £4000 for a year - part 4 as a community and one I am proud to be part of.

cw18

Well said Penny, I couldn't have put it better myself :T

And as a 'newbie in training', I'd like to add a heartfelt thanks for all the welcoming support given to those of us coming in so late in the year

Penny2myName

The more the merrier, and this is one broth pot where all the more cooks means a much richer flavour to our lives with new ideas being brought forth.

lyndasharp

1274 wrote: »

xmas pud and vanilla icecream (for the xmas pud icecream suggested by Shaz)

Just have to make a decision before the 17th or I'll get it all delivered and be spectacularly sick. There's nothing else in my trolley ATM, so if I can't get my behind in gear I may just be eating dessert for 2 weeks (actually that's not a bad plan:rotfl:)

I might do the ice cream this year, as that does sound very tasty.

I remember when I was little saying that as soon as I grew up and was able to cook my own meals I was only going to eat desserts. :rotfl: I've decided not to stick to that, though sometimes it is a very tempting thought...

I forgot to say in my last post, I got a text from washing machine man last Friday inviting me round for a pizza :eek: Luckily I had the 'visiting bf' excuse to get out of that one.

Bf sent me a message last night as I'd been telling him about this challenge. He's had a look at his spreadsheets and reckons he's been living on about £4k this year! I've sent him a link to the thread in case he wants to sign up for 2009, so I'd better not talk about him too much now in case he's reading this (apart from to say how wonderful he is) (:wave: if you're there).

Frugaldom

Good morning frugal friends, frugal neighbours and frugal countrymen.

Macwah, welcome on board, we hope you enjoy your frugal [STRIKE]fright[/STRIKE] flight through 2009. I'd say it was best to start off with the 4k plus child benefit - kids and pets can be very expensive habits. :rotfl:

Thank you, Pennytomyname and everyone else who makes this challenge possible on MSE.I am happy that so many people have joined, making it more of a fun lifestyle than anything else. I sincerely hope that many of you will stick with it for 2009 and begin reaping the benefits very soon, if you haven't already. Cheers to everyone for their continued support and for making this thread my friendly, 'local haunt' whether it be day or night. :beer:

This morning is sunny but it has been very cold and frosty through the night, so everything is still quite 'crunchy' underfoot outside. There's no hope of starting the potato patch but I have decided, for sure, that chickens are a good idea for next year. The garden is large enough for a hen run and the birds will be able to free range through the day, which means they won't be standing around in a pen looking for food. If I only have 3 hens, they will probably consume a maximum of £24 of prepared feeding over the year, when topped up with household scraps and their scratching in the field. IF they lay all spring, summer and into autumn, they could produce 20 dozen eggs each, easily. Friends & family will happily pay £1 per dozen for free range, organic eggs. (I've already budgeted for the cost of chemical free wormers.) My 3 hens should pay for themselves. :j (I say 'should', as we always need to make allowances for any health associated problems that could incur extra costs.) I may need to invest in some extra wire mesh just in case 'Mr Weasly' decides to put in an appearance when we least expect it, but the wire we already have is fox-proof. I'm also counting on getting the hens for (at the very most) next to nothing. (In one of my former lives, I worked with up to 48,500 of our feathered friends on a poultry farm, hence the reason I know that NOT ALL commercial poultry flocks are reared the way they like to depict on sensationalised TV programmes. :rolleyes:)

Off to sort out the slow cooker - I can smell the mince and sausage casserole(ish) meal cooking. :rotfl:

macwah97

Thanks to everyone. I will go for the 4k + child benefit. If I go over - then its not right and we will try again. If I'm under then quids in!!.

Must update/add sig.

Children are still putting money into their 'Dingle' Jar!!! Any 5,2,1 pence pieces that they get in change go into the jar - for a McDonalds - aiming for one before Xmas.

Have a good day - the weather does not know what to do here - rain, sun, blow and FREEZE!!. MOSCOW at work

Bye

DdraigGoch

I'm afraid that there's no way I can see to go with the £4K, never mind the money neutral, but I'll still lurk. It's amazing how much improvement comes just by reading this thread daily, thank you.