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

thriftylass

Re the Nyk/Bails etc situation: People in this thread come in all sorts. And we shouldn't judge, also unfortunately, written words, unintentionally, can come across the wrong way or can be miss-read:o . For what ever reasons we joined this thread and whatever circumstances we're in, we're here to support each other :T no matter if one's on benefits or earns 28 grand, we all have a different reason (compulsory or voluntary financial restriction) to take part in this challenge.

Re why we're here: Fortunately, I'm not in debt (BF owns flat I moved into) but I just started working and have no rainy day fund:( . Another incentive for me is to save towards my share of a deposit for the place we buy together at some point. So I voluntarily try to live off less while still having holidays (a week once a year, or long weekends) and putting away loads for the deposit.

Skint_Lynne

thriftylass wrote: »

Re the Nyk/Bails etc situation: People in this thread come in all sorts. And we shouldn't judge, also unfortunately, written words, unintentionally, can come across the wrong way or can be miss-read:o . For what ever reasons we joined this thread and whatever circumstances we're in, we're here to support each other :T no matter if one's on benefits or earns 28 grand, we all have a different reason (compulsory or voluntary financial restriction) to take part in this challenge.

Re why we're here: Fortunately, I'm not in debt (BF owns flat I moved into) but I just started working and have no rainy day fund:( . Another incentive for me is to save towards my share of a deposit for the place we buy together at some point. So I voluntarily try to live off less while still having holidays (a week once a year, or long weekends) and putting away loads for the deposit.

Well put thriftylass!!!! We are all here to support each other.xx

Frugaldom

trex170104 wrote: »

Hiya All
I've been using Martin's Budget Planner to try and work out our 2009 budget but I'm coming in way over £4000 can anyone offer any tips. We don't have any debt but we want to move when our fixed term ends in 2010 so I just want to save save save like mad now to have more of a deposit for our next house.

2009 Budget for 2 adults and a toddler

Buildings and Contents Insurance: £227 (possible £120 cashback available)
Gas: £348
Electricity: £600
Home phone, virgin media and broadband: £432 (can it be less, even by £100? Make it a mini challenge.)
TV Licence: £143.40
Two mobiles on contract: £240
Life Insurance: £136.80 (extras - involves a £6 mini challenge)
Food shopping: £1200
DS Trust Fund: £180 (extras covered by child benefit)
Baby extras: £360 (extras covered by child benefit)
Dentistry: £48
Contact lenses: £250.80
New clothes: £360 (can you half to £180?)
Christmas: £300
Holidays: £300 (extras)
Birthdays: £300
Money to take DS out in the week: £480 (can you make it £437.60?)
Money for family days out: £480 (extras)
Cash for any extras/treats: £1680 (extras)
Total: £8066
I wanted to be able to do £4000, plus child benefit [£977.60] = £4977.60, therefore I'm £3088.40 overbudget - am I trying to be too unrealistic?

The only things I haven't accounted for are our mortgage, council tax and water.

Hi TRex

If I deduct everything that I would class as 'extras', these amount to £4196.80 This means your actual cost of living could be £8066 - £4196.80 = £3869.20, which is only £6 short of your insurance policy. (Your first mini challenge - earn £6 of free money, vouchers or discounts)

Plus you have £977.60 child benefit to cover
£180 DS Trust Fund,
£360 baby extras
£437.60 for something like family days out
£977.60

I break down my costs to absolute essentials and then set mini challenges to make the extra needed to cover all the other costs. It's fairly easy to raise an extra £1000 over a year just from cashback, clicks, vouchers and winnings if you are completely obsessed by moneysaving

Hope this helps, but I'm an absolute and utter addict

cw18

nykmedia wrote: »

Plus you have £977.60 child benefit to cover
£180 DS Trust Fund,
£360 baby extras
£437.60 for something like family days out
£977.60

Nyk -- Sorry, but I just had to say it.......

for someone with an OCD about numbers in your own budget, I'm amazed that you have the nerve to suggest someone sets a budge that isn't a nice round pound (or fiver, or -- even better -- tenner) :rotfl:

mumzyof2

Just popped in to read this afternoons posts..have to dash swimming to go to. Have fun all.

cw18

My 2009 budget (at the moment) looks something like this.....

2009 Budget for 2 adults, 17 year-old son and 2 dogs

Mortgage shortfall : £1535
** This is what we'd have had to find over and above what we'd have received if on income based benefits before the base rate cut by the Bank of England. If (big if!) the building society always change the rate in line with base rate changes, then this should hold pretty constant -- so that's the best guess I can make !!!! **

Life Insurance (all linked to mortage) : £1410

Buildings and Contents Insurance : £385
** guesstimate based on last years. due for renewal in December, so this really is a stab in the dark as won't be paid until Dec 2009! **

Water : £350 (included as we'd still have to pay this if in receipt of means tested benefits)

Central Heating breakdown cover : £200
** essential due to DS being asthmatic when younger and still prone to chesty coughs -- also due to DHs health. No way we can afford to be without heating because we can't afford to pay someone to fix it **

Gas and Electricity : £870
** this may come down by £50-£60, as I'm looking at replacing the chest freezer having seen how much electricity it's using! It's almost 17 years old, and last week used 20 of the 75kWhs we used for the entire house!!! **

TV Licence: £145 (ours is as the price increases early in the year, so setting to new price)

Home phone - line rental : £130
Home phone - calls : £50
Internet : £240
** I'm going to shop around for these three as individual and combined items in January, but my b/band is on minimum contract until then. We can't have cable (not laid to our estate) and I refuse to deal with Sky (had issues with them about 10 years ago at our last house) **

Food shopping: £1750
Dog food for 2 dogs : £230
Frontline/Drontal/Annual Boosters for 2 dogs : £140 (F/line & Drontal already at on-line prices)

Car (insurance, mot, servicing, b/down cover and petrol) : £1200
** doesn't allow for cashback on the insurance, but at my last renewal time the cashback offset the extra premium for dropping from a £250 excess to a zero excess -- so possibly will be trying the same thing again **

Window Cleaner : £100
** non-negotiable. we don't have long ladders, and no-one in the house is fit enough (or brave enough) to go up them if we did! **

Mobile phone contract : £325 (minimum term expires in August. will then change to PAYG)
PAYG mobiles (2) : £60 (£10 every 3 months on each phone, one runs 5 months only)
** essentials so that DH can get hold of me if he has problems while I'm out, or (as has happened before) he has problems while he's out! **

No council tax, as we should be allowed that "over and above" as it would be paid for us if we were in receipt of means tested benefits (the same for prescription/dental/optician charges).

So I'm looking at a whopping budget of £9120 ( :eek: ) which includes the £977.60 child benefit we should be getting re-instated as DS has gone back to college on what I think is a qualifying course -- so call it £8145 + £975 child benefit.

If I'm being really fussy about where the money comes from, then I could have it as £4630 + 975 Child Ben + £3515 DLA (which is what DH gives me from that!) -- so I'm a lot closer to the £4k than I thought possible


It doesn't include the minimum payments on my other (non-mortgage) debts :eek: :eek: :eek:

Any birthday/christmas presents will have to be made, or really cheap and bought from anything I get in the way of cashback (or the odds and sods left over 'cos I rounded all my figures up to the nearest fiver!) There's also nothing left for shoes (and I need a pair in the next couple of weeks to replace a pair I've walked to death in 8 months -- so I'm bound to need at least 1 and probably 2 pairs next year!) or clothes. Heaven knows what we'll do if the car (or house) needs any repairs !!!

Frugaldom

cw, if you can talk the Government into increasing Child Benefit to £1000 for the year then that would ba ACE!

I've been studying market trends, usually pretty boring work-related stuff, but today has been interesting. It timed in well with the start of my search for new, economical leather boots. I can usually pick up a pair for, at most, £30, but was horrified to discover that previous haunts had almost doubled some of their prices. However, this would fit with the other figures I have been looking at today. Here are a few very sketchy, not too accurate results:

Beef - increased 33%
Pork - increased 26%
Lamb - increased 50%
Milk - increased 50%
Wheat - after practically doubling, has now fallen 25%
Cocoa - Up by over 60% but currently looks to be falling quickly
Sugar - won't drive you to distraction with this one :eek:

The moral of the story is - I haven't got a clue! Oh yes, we need to search even harder for bargains, but they are still out there in some form or another! We live in a giant machine where each cog affects the next, so I think we are best making the most of what we have whilst trying to avoid clogging up the machine. Once any debt has gone, things are actually looking OK for ardent frugalers. My quest for the self-sufficientish lifestyle continues (even if I have to pay over £30 for a pair of leather boots.)

redglass_2

[quote=nykmedia;15045961

Wheat - after practically doubling, has now fallen 25%]

Despite the rubbish weather, there has been a record EU wheat crop this year - more than they know what to do with. So it should be down by more than that.. especially as it's 25% of the inflated price, not the old one.

Look away now if you are squeamish: the casseroled hearts were quite nice, actually. My gran always used to have hearts with her Sunday dinner. I was the only other person in the family who'd eat them, but it's so long since then, I wasn't sure how I'd react this time.....

Off to do a bit of lotty digging before it gets too dark.

Frugaldom

Hi Redglass, yes, the overall drop compared to this time last year is closer to 45% so there shouldn't really be any panic on pasta prices, which is good to know, considering we practically live on the stuff here

cw18

nykmedia wrote: »

cw, if you can talk the Government into increasing Child Benefit to £1000 for the year then that would ba ACE!

Well, I was reading yesterday that the inflation figure they use to set the increase on benefits the following April is the one from September -- and that was 5% (but the press were speculating that the government may refuse/withhold some of the increases this would give us :mad: )

If they do give us the full 5%, then child benefit for one child will rise by £48.88, from £977.60 a year to £1026.48 -- a figure we could round DOWN to £1025 (or £1000 just for you :rotfl: )

If they applied it to ALL benefits, it would give me an extra £18[STRIKE].14[/STRIKE] a week / £945[STRIKE].97[/STRIKE] a year to spend...... but as it would only apply for 9 months of 2009 that's an extra £709 (plus a few pennies) which I could probably squeeze up to £710 without worrying about them penalising me for an 'overspend' just for you