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

sophiesmum_2

nykmedia wrote: »

It ain't over until the last bell rings out at midnight...
so I had to insist on getting just one more item ticked off my 2008 list!

My quail run is now in place and just needs the grass to grow through the ground wire, which was essential to help prevent Mr Weasel from getting in there. This is it, my final piccie of 2008 - the extremely frivolous, extravagant, 'got it in the sales', got cashback, had a voucher, it was free delivery, gift to myself using savings accrued during this challenge.
I just hope the bull doesn't decide to jump the fence one day and land on the new 'sheltered housing complex for small game birds'! :rotfl:

It looks tiny in the picture! The run's actually 2m x 1m and I'm hoping to have at least half a dozen mini egg producers in there. I just hope they aren't too bird-brained to realise they need to climb up the ramp at bed time. :rotfl:

Apart from the garden fun, tomorrow's soup is all prepared for slow cooker, the beef joint is ready to go into the oven and I've defrosted some chilli for tonigh. No doubt I'll be back on here before the day is done but to everyone who won't be, have a very happy new year and I'll see you on the new thread. :beer:

Woo Hoo, looks great Nyk,
Can't wait for self sufficiency planning masterclass part two:D
Decided my plan of action with oldies and chickens would be to get them on side one by one before holding a vote. So far first three happy :j - mmm 54 flats and need majority vote so only another 25 to persuade:o :rotfl: .

Will have to log on to see out the new year on this thread asap after seeing off the oldies.:D

Marru

And good evening from here.

I have spent last hours number crunching and the result is that I have overspent over the last ten months £1,396.93. So there really is room for improvement. I think this is mostly due to my household budget that has kept running away from me so I am going to be a lot more mindful come tomorrow.

I will jump to the new thread to explain my new signature.

WELL DONE ALL OF YOU WHO MADE IT IN THE BUDGET!!!

AND HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!

whitewing

Marru,

Well done on the number crunching. I haven't the faintest idea how much I spent. But I did manage to pay £12 944.81 off my mortgage (includes scheduled payments), and get married and have enough left over to pay for next year's challenge from the start.

DH and I pulled everything out of my scrapbooking cupboard and it's the most tremendous mess. Is going to take at least another 2 hours to get straight. I have found so much pergamano (parchment craft) equipment that I didn't know I had. And loads of stuff. So will be making cards tomorrow I think which should be relaxing and help me feel prepared. I'm also going to make MIL a box of special occasion cards for her birthday, so that she always has cards to send to her friends.

I did a similar thing (but with arty bought cards) for my chemo friend for xmas. Bought a beautiful (cheap) wooden box and filled it with cards and a couple of books of stamps. She was so thrilled that she nearly cried, and says that she loves the cards so much that she will only be sending photocopies of them!

Happy New Year folks. DH will be standing by with the torch at midnight for the meter readings! See you on the new thread.

Marru

whitewing wrote: »

DH will be standing by with the torch at midnight for the meter readings! See you on the new thread.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

liuhut

Hello all

Not been on the thread for ages, I kind of bailed in March....I just wanted to say well done to everyone who made it and to thank Nyk for starting it, this thread got me into the right mindset and because of it we have managed to save enough money to take us to Oz in March for hopefully the start of our new lives down there (if we dont like it we are coming back after a year!!)

I've subscribed to the 2009 thread and look forward to reading how everyone is getting on.

Thanks once again and heres to a great 2009 :beer:

grandma247

liuhut

(if we dont like it we are coming back after a year!!)

Give it two years. The first is for settling in. The second year is when you will really know if you can get to like it. This was the best advice we were given when we emigrated to the south of england some years ago.:rotfl:
We came back up here after 10 years for health reasons mainly.

Marru

grandma247 wrote: »

Give it two years. The first is for settling in. The second year is when you will really know if you can get to like it. This was the best advice we were given when we emigrated to the south of england some years ago.:rotfl:
We came back up here after 10 years for health reasons mainly.

I think that advice applies extremey well for this threat as well.

Frugaldom

Is this sad or what?! I just had to have a final check of my accounts, in case anything had sneaked in or out past me and it's as well that I did! There's a payment to the National Trust gone today, which means that the overall balance of my 2008 expenditure, excluding rent and council tax, was £3,709.56

NOW I have a true figure with which to compare in one year's time! :rotfl:

90 minutes to go until it's 'next year'. :beer: :j

whitewing

Marru wrote: »

I think that advice applies extremey well for this threat as well.

I so agree!

Bye, bye 2008 and chaos....

Frugaldom

whitewing wrote: »

...I did a similar thing (but with arty bought cards) for my chemo friend for xmas. Bought a beautiful (cheap) wooden box and filled it with cards and a couple of books of stamps.

Ooh, I LOVE this idea and I have some great boxes that I could decorate - once I finish eating the choccies! BRILLIANT! Can't believe it's almost new year and I'm on here pinching fab, frugal, gift-making ideas! Thanks for that, Whitewing! Just goes to show that it is never too late for us to grab opportunities to learn from one another, Thanks guys and gals, again. :T