Live on £4000 for a Year, 2009 Challenge, part 1

Frugaldom

Just popping in to welcome ThriftyScotsLass (what region are you frugalising?) and also to point out that there is a handy links section in post one, not sure why people arent's seeing it, so here's a copy:

HANDY LINKS

Hundreds of recipes - thanks to Rosieben.
Nutrition and diet info, an excellent thread - thanks to Weezl74.
Remoska discussion - everything you need to know about Remoska ovens
Electricity & gas savings - monitor your electricity & gas with the MoneySaving Carbon Club
Start a cottage industry - the official MSE discussion
Free crafts ideas - papier mache banks etc
Selling on eBid - decluttering and recycling for cash with no listing fees
Spending Diary - excellent free resource for recording your spends
Approved Food - amazing bargains if you don't mind short dates
Freecycle (UK) - don't bin it, rehome it.
Grocery bargains - Supermarket price reduction times
Soapnuts - The frugal, eco-friendly alternative to soap powder or detergents

andan

nykmedia wrote: »

Hi Andan, money neutral is about generating free cash to pay back into the budget to neutralise the spending. Things like freebies, cash prizes, cash back, vouchers, cash gifts or cash generated from selling surplus to requirement belongings on eBid or eBay or at carboot sales etc. If you grow veggies and/or keep chickens, you might decide to sell the excess to friends and neighbours to help counteract the overall costs, or it could even just be a case of handmaking gifts and cards, minimising that part of your budget. Every penny saved is like a penny earned, meaning it can go into paying off debts or savings or back into the budget, whichever you choose. Some of us play free bingo and free scratchcards whenever we get the chance, which has just reminded me that I forgot all about collecting my free tickets from G@l@ yesterday! :rolleyes:

Hi Nyk, thanks for your response, i thought it was something like that. I make a lot of free cash, so will think about how i am going to run the challenge for me personally. Quite like your idea from the first post, about starting with £4k and finishing with £4k!!:D But seeing as this is my first try i will just see how i get on and not be too ambitious.

Am planning to grow some fruit and veg this year though which should be interesting and am also looking out for a bike so that i can cycle to work instead of driving, which should have a big impact on my budget hopefully.

Thanks for a great challenge!

JAMIEDODGER

was hoping to spend some of my savings this year on a green house. does anyone have any recommendations??

Frugaldom

JAMIEDODGER wrote: »

was hoping to spend some of my savings this year on a green house. does anyone have any recommendations??

I used some of my £2 coins savings and bought a 10' x 6' plastic greenhouse off 'flea'bay - it cost less than half the price of a shop bought one and it was really easy to build. Can't say we got much sun last year but I certainly grew loads of green tomatoes at my last address. Hoping to do better in 2009

Greenhouse now relocated to what will become part of our garden in 2009
(honest, this will become a garden and it will produce food - won't it? )

We haven't got a shed yet, so the 'greenhouse' is acting as a store for all sorts of stuff at the moment. Assuming it withstands a Scottish winter in a very windy location, I'll be starting planting seeds just as soon as everything inside it finds a new home. It's mainly kindling and garden tools, so my Christmas wish list item numbers 1 & 2 (log store and garden tool store) should help with that very soon. Item 3 - a potting stand - will be needed very soon, too.:rotfl: And wait 'til you see what I got with some of my 2008 cashback savings! :j Frugal living really does pay off in the long run. :T

mah_jong

I shall be updating the old thread as my attempt at living on 3500 comes to a close.

2009 will see me, at one point, in a very new place. I shall become mortgage free! Indeed I could be now but I would incur costs, so will continue paying it off monthly (according to MSmoney , the interest on what is left is less than a tenner month, decreasing steadily!!)

Bliss, watch out for my post on 'mortgage free'.

If I can do it, anyone can!

I think i may need this thread to keep me sane so that I do not overnight become a spender! However that said there are many areas that I do need to spend money on regarding the house, as becoming mortgage free was paramount. I will be saving the same amount and price/quote things that need to get done. No loans required here! (if the banks would give me one!!)

mah_jong

nykmedia wrote: »

I used some of my £2 coins savings and bought a 10' x 6' plastic greenhouse off 'flea'bay - it cost less than half the price of a shop bought one and it was really easy to build.

Good luck with your plastic green house, I bought cold frames once and living in windy NW Scotland they did not survive one winter! However I think I live further north than you!!!

candygirl

NYK thanks for putting so much time and effort into this thread:T :T I am only starting my 4k countdown on 1st jan 2009, as am still in a bit of a muddle benefit wise, and all should be clearer by then:D

Frugaldom

YEAH! WELL DONE, MAH JONG! Almost mortgage free must be so exciting, especially knowing that you could be completely free of it if you wanted to be! That certainly deserves celebrations, how exciting! Delighted to hear your progress and will eagerly await the final declaration, hopefully during 2009. And yes, you are much further north than me, I'm in the southwest, which is quite temperate compared to other regions, I just happen to live in a rather exposed part with nothing to break the north wind when it decides to howl. However, it does mean that the back of the house (south facing) gets all the available sunshine.

Candygirl, I love doing the challenge threads. Up until I brought the challenge onto MSE, most people thought I was OTT for living the way I do but on here, we all share similar goals, so we can help and support one another without feeling like we are going against the grain of society. Mind you, I've never really been caught up in the society thing, but never having lived in the city probably explains that

fizzel81

afternoon all

thanks for the messages earlier meant alot, came as such a shock for both and 2 in under a week is hard to deal with

im trying to 'mock' up a typical weekly shopping list so i stick to my £35 weekly with rising costs its going to be more of a challenge than ever before

can anyone recommed a book/site that can help me overhall my garden?(landlady promised to sort it when i moved but alas its still in a bad state as no work has been done) its just a mess of grass, weeds blackberry bushs that go wild no chance of being able to grow anything with its currant state, lots of digging and pulling up needs to be done and i havent a clue how (im not very green fingered) but id love to just even grow some basics (the other point im worried about is rodents as ive recently had what the pest control call rodent activerty in my shed they have either died or gone but wont know fully untill the new year) would growing veg encourage things into my garden.

i plan to spend some of my savings part way through 2009 on a chest freezer i only have a small 3 draws half and half by buying more freezer space i can batch cook better, im also getting a remoska in the new year this will be from vouchers being given for xmas and money from my dad towards it

11 days from the 2009 start wow 2008 is closeing in now

Frugaldom

Fizz, before spending anything at all on researching or starting your gardening projects, take a look at the Greenfingered Moneysaving board here. I'll add a handy link to post one of the new challenge so it's easy to find in future I'm the same as you, having to start from scratch for 2009 after moving house. Should be fun, though. I have already planted lettuce/salad leaves and garlic in pots. The lettuce seeds have sprouted within 3 weeks.