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

sophiesmum_2

Forgot to say my new food processor parcel arrived today:j , but have been feeling a bit lurgified and haven't had the energy to open it and mooch yet:eek: . Even took paracetamols earlier nd went to bed for four hours, feel slightly better now. Can't afford to get ill until after xmas eve have too much on with oldies till then:rolleyes: .

Posted this once but it disappeared

Skint_Lynne

I still have not finished this housework. I've hoovered the landing, but I am knackered. I should have come straight home but decided to go and get my hair done (first time since February, it was nearly down to my ankles:p ).

I might just go to bed just now and get up early and do it. That works sometimes, as I woke early this morning and wrote my Christmas cards.

Speak tomorrow,

nite nite xx

sophiesmum_2

Got a second wind after my nap erlier so decided to get ahead with weekend cleaning so cleaned out fridge and cleaned bathroom.Made me think about what cleaning stuff i will need for the year.
Worked out I get through about 1 bottle stardrops every 3 months, same of starclens, one bottle hob brite a year, and 3 litre bottle bleach about every 6 months. On top of that use about 6 packs of lidl dishwasher tablets over the year (use 1/2 a time- they are brill- "which" best buy,) and soda crystals - 2 bags year.Already have enough washing tablets and wash balls.;) and a huge bag of bicarb soda from costco which will prob last next 5 years:)and enough microfibre cloths to last to next millenium.

So this weekend I will be buying:

4 bottles stardrops £2.80
4 bottles starclens £2.80
2 x 3 litre bottles bleach £2.00
5 x dishwasher tablets £9.10
2 x soda crystals £1.08

total cost should be in region of £18 - £19 for year, still got money in budget so will be stocking up.:D

skint_chick

nyk -thanks for that i've ordered a free sample of soapnuts.
sophiesmum - was going to order a washing ball but a couple of reviews mentioned skin problems and OH has very bad excema so i'm gonna give the soap nuts a try first. he is still suffering from a reaction to the bed sheets on holiday in sept!

can't sleep because i'm getting a chest infection and have an annoying cough. but have sorted through sheets and towels and tidied under sink. I should have enough cleaning products to get through next year - apart from laundry/dishwasher - and enough toiletries apart from toothpaste/soap/doedorant and shaving stuff for OH - so I'm off to the cheapie chemist/poundshop today to see if I can stock up for the year. My paypal earnings from ebay are in the bank £156 towards next year's holiday and my ex called me to say he finally sold the car I paid for (in 2003!!) so he owes me £2500 and can I collect the cash tomorrow? So I can pay off more of my debt - :j:j:j

cw18

skint_chick : My DH started up with really bad eczema a few years back, and washing powder did appear to be one of the main problems. I discovered the only one guaranteed not to cause a flare up was the Ec0ver - but as stores started to bring out their own 'green' powders (Mr T being the main one I could get locally, and later C00p) I tried those as they were cheaper, and they were great too.

But I got a huuuuge bag of soapnuts a few months back, and if I were doing the washing that's what got used (DH still did a lot of his own, but didn't trust them so insisted on using the powder I still had in ) -- and he never had a reaction to anything done with them. When I tried swapping powders in the past it only took a couple of wash loads before he flared up -- so I'm pretty confident your OH should be fine with the soapnuts too

skint_chick

cw18 - thanks i really hope this sorts out his excema and saves some money too!
we're going to really struggle when my sick pay runs out so I've been looking for less stressful jobs but I can't leave mine until the sick pay runs out because it's so well paid - I'm trapped in limbo! I want to do this challenge so I can go back to university full time in September with most of my debt paid and knowing that OH can manage the mortgage and bills.

I've got plans for my garden too - at the moment it's overgrown and full of weeds but I'm going to use my free time to create a vegetable garden so I can have organic veggies, my dad does a lot of growing his own so I'm gonna enlist his help. I've been eating really badly this year so it's about time I got healthy, lost some weight and starting thinking about the future.

carolbee

can I pick your collective brains please? I know there is no hard and fast rule, and we can choose what to do, but would appreciate your thoughts

we have just had a couple of 'refunds' one a cheque for a cashback when we bought a camera and a supermarket gift card as a compensation for something. As I am continually refining the 2009 budget, if this occured next year would you:

add it back into the total to make you a bit richer for the year
use for a treat
'swop' it for something, ie use giftcard for ordinary food and massage the budget accordingly.

I love this thread, the humour, practical suggestions, support and sheer compassion that shines through from the posts to those who have obviously suffered bereavments and bad times this year.

If you could bottle if it would be a best seller, I wonder if Martin realises that he started something more than money saving when the site started.

ramble over, a peaceful Christmas to those to whom it would not be appropriate to wish a Merry one to and a frugal new year to all

cw18

carolbee wrote: »

can I pick your collective brains please? I know there is no hard and fast rule, and we can choose what to do, but would appreciate your thoughts

we have just had a couple of 'refunds' one a cheque for a cashback when we bought a camera and a supermarket gift card as a compensation for something. As I am continually refining the 2009 budget, if this occured next year would you:

add it back into the total to make you a bit richer for the year
use for a treat
'swop' it for something, ie use giftcard for ordinary food and massage the budget accordingly.

My personal "rules" for 2009 state

[FONT=&quot]I’ve decided that anything I earn from websites -- such as free scratch-cards, no-spend cash-back or survey payouts -- or receive in the form of loyalty card vouchers will be added to my "anything else" budget. If I use vouchers for something from a different category (eg. C00p “share of the profit” vouchers will be used for groceries), then I'll move the equivalent amount over into the “anything else”. [/FONT]

Any cash-back I get on purchases that come out of a specific category (eg. on insurance or presents) will be knocked off the cost of that item.

bails

Morning all, thanks for the links peeps.
Just a quickie as I'm exhausted because OH slept v badly and kept me awake all night :rolleyes: It does me in so much, such a pain. Great that the wahing conversation has popped back up - I've stopped using the soapnuts for a while as the cat hairs didn't come off and were driving me round the bend! We're on Ecover liquid at mo as it was on offer but may go back to the balls (may investigate the Lakeland ones, thanks SM). Need to think about all this once lessons and Christmas wrapping out of way. I'm planning to try PitRok this year too - OH already uses it and I've borrowed his sometimes so think it'll be fine. Really want to get started on making proper plans!!

Anyhoo, off to catch up with new thread then lesson planning and dropping a form off in town to get my benefits reduced, let's hope the results aren't a massive shock:eek:
Have a great day everyone!

sophiesmum_2

bails wrote: »

Morning all, thanks for the links peeps.
Just a quickie as I'm exhausted because OH slept v badly and kept me awake all night :rolleyes: It does me in so much, such a pain. Great that the wahing conversation has popped back up - I've stopped using the soapnuts for a while as the cat hairs didn't come off and were driving me round the bend! We're on Ecover liquid at mo as it was on offer but may go back to the balls (may investigate the Lakeland ones, thanks SM). Need to think about all this once lessons and Christmas wrapping out of way. I'm planning to try PitRok this year too - OH already uses it and I've borrowed his sometimes so think it'll be fine. Really want to get started on making proper plans!!

Anyhoo, off to catch up with new thread then lesson planning and dropping a form off in town to get my benefits reduced, let's hope the results aren't a massive shock:eek:
Have a great day everyone!

I keep meaning to try out the pitrock as it is one area I could make a little saving that hasn't been reduced up to now. Think I will make 2009 the year to give it a try.
Re the wash it balls - DD has athsma and eczema and doesn't have any reaction to the "wash it" balls although she did with the other type of balls that lakeland sells - think they were called eco balls or something like that, I tried soapnuts but they made my whites grey looking, although they did get stuff clean.Suppose it is trial and error till you find what works best for your family.:D