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

thriftylass

Skint_Lynne wrote: »

Thrifty,

Do you have the same first language as me, 'Glesga'?:p

SL x

Nae, German but influenced by 'Glesga' BF over the years

mumzyof2

I lost my post and it was a long one too.

I just basically said thanks to nyk for the tv licence information
The fair is on where i live this weekend going on sunday afternoon but nothing else planned this weekend
Have to go jobcentre today to get my bus money paid back to me next month (college bus)

lyndasharp

Sophiesmum, well done on the £2 pot! I haven't had a £2 coin for ages, now I know where they all are.

My Kaupthing transfer arrived this morning so I have some money again, phew. I did have to buy petrol already but I put it on the credit card. Asda hadn't reduced the price to 99.9p in my area, it was still 102.9 but I didn't get a full tank in the hope that it goes down in price again next week.

lilac_lady

I've been shopping and have bought new bedroom curtains (half price in sale), small food processor (£10 off) and a new bathroom blind (half price in closing down sale). Justification as follows:

Needed thicker bedroom curtains.
Never had a food processor want to cook more from scratch.
Old blind marked and is going to be a lining for my car boot.

BUT......... the best justification is that I'm buying them now before joining the 2009 challenge!!!

Frugaldom

Good morning frugays and frugals,

Before I forget - MARRU - do not respond to anyone calling about not being able to deliver parcels unless you know for sure you are expecting one. There have been several emails going about warning about scams doing a similar thing. One is to check and make sure you are away from the house for a set time, the other is to try to get you to call a peak rate phone number that could cost you a fortune. I believe one scam actually leaves a card through your door telling you to call a number (probably 0906 or similar).

I've just done my 2 scratchcards and am now £1.10 up on my total for the week. I'm almost finished this morning's work and then this afternoon is going to be about pricing stuff for the new house. I've also posted a couple of wanted ads to see if I can get anything secondhand. :cool:

Sun shining at the moment, am tempted to go do a load of towels in the hope it isn't raining by the time they are done. I also need to remember to get something out the freezer for dinner! Going now, before I get distracted and forget.

the_cat

lilac_lady wrote: »

BUT......... the best justification is that I'm buying them now before joining the 2009 challenge!!!

I'm glad you posted this!

I have been practising for next years challenge and have a bit of a dilemma. My grocery budget is going well atm (mainly due to lots of great whoopsies that I have been lucky enough to get). Would I be cheating if I use a bit of my excess to stock up on stuff in advance? I was thinking of toiletries, tins etc, nothing that would have a short shelf life.

If not, I could use it to overpay my mortgage (no other debts luckily) which is my motivation for the challenge next year. I will be attempting to run both this and the Pay your Mortgage Off Challenge together for the year .

So girls (and guys!) which should I do?:D

Frugaldom

Personally, I'd reduce the mortgage and then ask everyone to buy you toiletries etc for Christmas, even if you don't celebrate the occasion
Another way of looking at it - Kill the debt, there's always someone giving away toiletry or cosmetics samples

trex170104

I'd also pay it off the mortgage because the sooner they are paid off the better and things like toiletries etc are always on offers throughout the year which will keep your budget down next year.

the_cat

Yes, I guess you are right. I only buy value stuff TBH which doesn't get put on offer but even so I know it is more sensible to hit the mortgage.:o

I guess I'm just getting impatient - I can't wait to get started on this challenge!!!

OOOH! Nyk's post has just given me a thought.
Mini challenge alert - I am going to try and bag as many freebies as possible in advance of the challenge and also start up the competition entering again. At least I will feel that I have started preparing properly, which will hopefully keep me out of the shops:beer: :j

tryingtodobetter

Had a NSD as I'm waiting for a delivery (xmas pressie for DS2) I managed to get DS1 a jumper from verbaudet for £0 using a voucher code they had sent for £10 plus free P+P.

I'm finding it quite hard to be motivated at the moment as I don't really feel I have anything to aim for. I'm really tired and feel really rundown at the moment as well, spending 3 days at Uni in the city is not good for soul . Should have spent today reading for Uni but I've just wasted the day on the internet (I'm my own worst enemy :mad:)

Hope everyone else is having a better day than me.