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

cw18

lingojingo wrote: »

Well, I've got duel fuel and one of those so much for the first however many units then a second rate for the rest systems, so does that mean my actual cost will be even lower? (can you see me tightly crossing my fingers? :rotfl: )

The dual fuel would bring it down (as does my discount for managing my account on-line), but bills will ALWAYS be higher than i-measure says as they don't include a standing charge, either as an individual item or by building it into the first ?? number of units a billing period.

cw18

Penny2myName wrote: »

Just done my final reading for first monthly rating on the i-measure site, my electric usage is pretty good from what I can tell, the problem and what makes my over all score so bad is the gas

Interestingly, mine are the other way around !! Our gas usage (by person and by household) is low compared to other households using gas and electricity, whether I set it to detached (like us) or all house types, but electricity is high for all the same figures.

Same number of occupants (regardless of fuel type) and detatched house or all housetypes gives me exactly the same results.

All users/all housetypes -- guess what? exactly the same again.

So I'm happy with our gas useage, but getting paranoid about our electricity !!!!

I only have three sets of reading in so far (inital, end of week 1 and end of week 2), so won't get our rating until a week on Tuesday.....

Frugaldom

Hi Lingojingo (and all our meter watchers ), just in case anyone gets confused, here's the link to the thread where we are all comparing notes on our i-measure readings I'm guessing that we are also all eagerly awaiting the results of the £250 cash prize draw that was due on the 30th September - it would be nice if someone from here could win it. (I wouldn't say no if it was me )

lingojingo

Thanks Nyk, that looks interesting, lots to read through.

trex170104

Hiya all

Just wanted to say thanks to penny2myname for mentioning i-measure. I signed up today and I think it will be just what I need to keep being energy efficient.

Thriftylass I agree with noting everything down it does make a big difference to what you spend I've been using the online spending diary and it's great as it does all the work for you!

Janey I too love all of the memories of your mum. I can't imagine how it must feel, but one of my best friends lost her mum to alzeimers [not sure if I spelt that right!] when she was24 and it was horrible for her, having to see her mum deteriorate as she did. I hope you keep managing to deal with the situation - seems like you have alovely support group on here.

In terms of my fugality I definitely am glad that this last quarter is just a practice as it's taking a while to get completely sorted but I am loking forward to the proper challenge in 2009. I have read lots about the remoska - those of you that have them are they worthwhile?

cw18

lingojingo wrote: »

Thanks Nyk, that looks interesting, lots to read through.

Ditto -- 40 posts in so far. Think I'll finish off catching up on that one tomorrow as I'm starting to wilt now but still have a couple of jobs I need to do (scanning some stuff in so I can share some scrapbook LOs with friends who want to see them for inspiration!)

Brighton_belle

trex170104 wrote: »

I have read lots about the remoska - those of you that have them are they worthwhile?

I love mine trex: I haven't switched the oven on since I got it late August. It has also encouraged me to cook more variety, as I was always hesitant to put the oven on just for 2 before. There is a remoska thread where you can read a lot more about people's experience of it:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=14965453&highlight=remoska#post14965453

I would say things take a bit longer to cook in the remoska, but I've not found that a problem and have adjusted my timings very simply. It's taken a while to get to know it and use it to it's full capacity but it is great as far as I'm concerned. I've cooked my best flapjack ever in it and it seems to hold in flavour with food brilliantly. They are an expensive out lay though but I have no regreats. It's used nearly every day. Sometimes several times.
Glad you had a much better day at college Marru.
Really sorry you weren't able to celebrate in the way you wanted at the weekend bails.

Frugaldom

Good evening to all, I have been working on my 2009 budget and have also been wondering about the economics of investing in a Remoska, but I can't seem to find anywhere that sells similar. Are they exclusive to Lakeland?
When we move house, there's not much by way of a 'fitted kitchen' at the new place and no cooker, but I do have my 2-ring hotplate that I use at the moment, plus microwave, slow cooker and steamer. Oops, except I'll not take this off topic, I'll go read the relevant thread So, back to the business of 4k living - this is how next year's budget is looking:

Contents Insurance - £47.50 (Possibly £68 cashback to come for this )
TV Licence - £140
Electricity & heat - £1100 (Smaller house)
Telephone - £180
Internet - £180
Mobiles - £120 (For 2 of us)
Groceries (including toiletries, cleaning & laundry products) - £1200
Gifts - £500 (For twice as many people as this year.)
NTS membership - £39 (got 6 months free carried forward from this year)
Everything else - £365
Contingency money - £128.50
Total - £4,000

My cashback has tracked for the contents insurance even although the policy won't come into force until next month and I may get a small rebate on the incomplete year for this house - fingers crossed!

I am hoping to earn my £1000 in 100 days (now a separate challenge) so I can have the first quarter of my challenge money in advance and then make as much as possible 'money neutral'. I'll be offsetting stuff as I progress through the remainder of this year, hopefully starting with the insurance cashback. In 2009 I'll also be bulk buying, home baking and batch cooking whenever I can, plus sticking with the handmade cards and gifts. As far as the 'free money' is concerned, I'll try my best to have a proper rota for my interest beater (tax free) earnings and a clicks schedule. If there is anything left from this year's budget, it will make up the final addition to my £1000 in 100 days challenge at Hogmanay. :cool:

IF I happen to have a substantial win on the Premium Bonds, please don't worry, I'll STILL be here doing this challenge as frugalitis appears to be a chronic syndrome.

Wouldn't it be something to live as a frugal millionaire?! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

sophiesmum_2

Nyk/Trex - the remoskas are exclusive to lakeland, unless you happen to see a used one on e bay. I am gradually getting the hang of mine more, although at first i was a little disappointed as I had desperately wanted one for so long and it didn't seem to live up to my expectations. It is growing on me though and I am using it regularly, makes lovely flapjacks in no time. One thing I would say is to buy the grand if you need to feed three people.I don't find it big enough for bulk cooking, but I am used to cooking huge amounts for my batch cooking. I would still use the oven for cookies etc too as the amounts I could bake in the remoska would mean I had to do three or four lots whereas i could stick them in the oven in one go. On the plus side it is very quiet, hardly any cooking smells, washes easily and uses less electricity than oven:D i think in a short while I my be as positive about it as BB is about hers;)

redglass_2

nykmedia wrote: »

Oh, that reminds me! Someone mentioned log store from pallets, I forgot to reply! We did this before - pallet flat on the ground, 4 posts - one each corner, pallets on 3 sides and you can stack them 2 high with one as a 'shelf' in between, and then just throw a hap across the top and it works fine - plenty air about them and the worst of the rain kept off by the hap. I think ours was covered with a piece off a lorry tarpaulin that we found attached to a barbed wire fence. :rotfl:

Hi Nyk, it was me that asked about log stores made from pallets. Thanks for this description, it's very useful, but I don't know what a 'hap' is, does it mean a slanty top covering to let the rain run off, or a bit of waterproof cloth, or something? BTW I've only read a few posts and must go to bed now, will catch up in a couple of days, so if I seem to be ignoring somebody's fantastic/terrible news, apologies, it's just bad timing!