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

cw18

fayjmck wrote: »

Without being a pain, how are the fuel costs mounting up?

I've not worked out how my budgeting fits into the £4k yet (looking at trying to join in next year), but I'm currently paying £72.50/month for gas and electricity -- after asking my supplier to leave the payments where they were after they informed me they were dropping them to £58.50.

I changed to fixed price at the same time, for which I pay an extra £6.50/month - so I expected them to want to set the payment at £65, but they were happy to still leave it at £58.50 :eek: I could see me getting to my next annual review (early July 2009) and being seriously in debt, so insisted they left it at the higher rate for now, and I shall review it in December with a view to dropping it slightly from January.

Skint_Lynne

Hiya,

Not long in, I didn't get to costco tonight but went to the next town to me to look in their Mr T and Mr A. Again, the whoopsie guerillas were around and couldn't get in to see very well, but good prices to be had, there was fish at 10p a pack, you can't beat that. I didn't feel comfy in those shops though, I prefer my usual haunts:p .

I will need to get my head round cleaning this house and starting a stockpile of other things I need like paper goods, tins, tea and coffee etc as I want to be all organised for DH coming home on 19th Dec:heartpuls.

I am becoming obsessed with groceries and I don't really eat in here when he is away, that's what I get for hanging about with you lot:D .

It is nice to get a bargain, but i'll need to train hard in order to become a hardened whoopsie queen.

I have done something good in the sense that I have been saving in the Tesco christmas savers club this year. I have 45.00 roughly in clubcard points and £130.00 in money, so that's 175.00 aside for the festive season. It's better than stamps cause I would use them if I was skint, this way I can't get to them.

Talking of Christmas, I will really need to dig out the Christmas cards and presents I already have and look at what I still need to get in.

Speak later,

SL x

Frugaldom

Lynda, I am sorry there are a few problem items that have been thrown up in the survey - umm... roof not attached properly and you're worrying about the loft hatch? Just stand the beggars outside in a high wind and see what they get! Look at it this way, at worst, it could be a get-out clause rather than face having to partially rebuild if the roof shifted.

We got word today that we hadn't got the house we were hoping for, so we've been really annoyed, for want of another word, about that. Once again, we didn't even get as far as references being checked! Back to square one from tomorrow morning, but we are trying to arrange a second viewing of the only other one available that's remotely suitable.

Hope everyone is feeling better tomorrow and back on track for tackling this final quarter. It's going to be tough but, hopefully, it'll be worth it.

Oil prices - we had oil central heating in a previous house but the price per litre made me scared to switch it on most of the time. I'm sure Janey has already had a shock with the price hike. I'm really hoping to find a house with an open fire and then it'll be homemade paper bricks and collecting fallen branches to bulk out the logs. I'd love to light the fires here but LL can't guarantee safety of the chimneys and when I tried a downstairs one, the story is on these forums somewhere recalling exactly what happened. :rotfl:

Pippilongstocking

Ok we are using wood from the garden and a trickle of left over coal, I could get better at this, only been in the house a couple months (if that) - so I know I can get better than this, but two wee fires in two shut off rooms - not much of a help.

Electricity thus far is about 80 a month - watching it like a hawk
Oil thinking about 2000-2500 ltrs for the year- 59ppl - scary - the alternative?? not sure, its a cold house on a windy island which means we have generally heating on for at least 25% year more than other folks (I read this!! so it must be true!! sorry oil is my favourite moan) possibly spend about 1.5-2k in a year

Still thinking about this for next year - thinking cap on its very appealling would shift my dfd up loads.......

Frugaldom

fayjmck wrote: »

Ok we are using wood from the garden and a trickle of left over coal, I could get better at this, only been in the house a couple months (if that) - so I know I can get better than this, but two wee fires in two shut off rooms - not much of a help.

Electricity thus far is about 80 a month - watching it like a hawk
Oil thinking about 2000-2500 ltrs for the year- 59ppl - scary - the alternative?? not sure, its a cold house on a windy island which means we have generally heating on for at least 25% year more than other folks (I read this!! so it must be true!! sorry oil is my favourite moan) possibly spend about 1.5-2k in a year

Still thinking about this for next year - thinking cap on its very appealling would shift my dfd up loads.......

So long as you aren't on Tiree or some of the other islands that have no trees then it should be possible to cap your oil useage How close are you to the mainland? Can you get a return ferry in one day?
Have you got a logmaker for recycling paper? The biggest problem is drying the logs out once they are made, but they burn for ages. Perhaps look at requesting one for Christmas (as I did) and then stockpile next summer so you are prepared. You could also take a look at the thread about rural moneysaving - I'll go get you the link

OK, here's the link to moneysaving and rural living, hope there's something helpful in there.

Janey51

A very early morning everyone.
Here I am again with more bad news and the first place I turn is Frugalland.
Had a call just after 2am from the Residential Home to say Mum had fallen. THey have sent for an ambulance as it sounds as if she has a fractured neck of femur.
I had only been asleep for a couple of hours and I really don't think I am safe to drive because it will take me an hour to get to the hospital.
So here I sit waiting for news.

Janey51

fayjmck wrote: »

Oil thinking about 2000-2500 ltrs for the year- 59ppl - scary - the alternative?? not sure, its a cold house on a windy island which means we have generally heating on for at least 25% year more than other folks (I read this!! so it must be true!! sorry oil is my favourite moan) possibly spend about 1.5-2k in a year

I am in the same position except I live on the side of a hill in a valley and it gets very windy. I also worry about the oil but it is dropping in price at the moment. My last lot was 61.5p/L in April but I saw it was 49p/L couple of day's ago. I have about 300L left so I'm praying it drops a bit more so I can get a 1000L and take advantage of the lower price for that amount.
I have a log burner and they do use a lot of logs....far more than you would think to keep the heat up. I am lucky in that I live near a lot of wood sources but my problem is chopping them down :rotfl:
I really don't want to add the use of a chainsaw to the list of my talents.
A lumberjack I am not

That's when turning on the "helpless female" look can work

For this reason, I do not include my heating costs in my £4000 and I stated that at the beginning of the challenge. But the frugal lifestyle does help me to pay for the heating.
I definitely fall within the Government's Fuel Poverty figures as my income is about £15000 total and my oil is more than 10% of that and then there is the electric & Calor Gas....I use a portable Calor Gas fire if I get in late and don't want to put the log burner on.

What you want is cats. Minimal upkeep and a real live electric blanket....or 3:rotfl:

looby-loo_2

Janey51 - I hope you have better news about your mother soon.

cats - no! not when they wake you up at 4.05 and you can't get back to sleep. I have four, all neutered but a lively tom who thinks he isn't and who tries to mate with his mother who then makes her feelings known very loudly! (not that I blame her!) BTW he is seeing the vet for his problem.

As I was up early I did the ironing and have made a space in the freezer for any whoops' I see later.

DH's retirement lasted five weeks. He has been asked to return to cover for someone who has had an accident so he is working about three days a week for about six weeks. All plans for autumn digging on hold but the extra money will be nice. Before he retired he reconed he could manage on £10 a week for 'pocket money'. :rotfl: He has now revised this to £30!:o

Mollymop5

Janey hugs to you.I hope you got some news soon and that your mums is ok.

cw18

Janey51 - so sorry to hear about your Mum, but at least the home phoned so you had the choice to head over or not (can understand your not wanting to drive - no point you being in an accident). A friend of mine got a call at 8am one morning to say her parent had been admitted to hospital at 1am, but they "hadn't wanted to bother her at such an unsociable hour for something that wasn't life threatening" :eek: I do know she tore them off a strip or two!!

looby-loo - your DH's employers obviously respect his work to have called him back in like that. I think £30 is still pretty frugal - mine keeps hold of almost £50 a week, and still complains it's not enough to last!!! (He gets it on a Wednesday morning, and is normally skint by Saturday or Sunday evening!)