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

lingojingo

Paulgonnabedebtfree wrote: »

An excercise cycle in the living room linked up to powering the electricity?

:rotfl: :T :rotfl: :T :rotfl: :T :rotfl: :T
Wow! Frugal enery and exercis at the same time.

The bad winter was 1962/3, my little sister was born in Nov 62 and apparently the snow didn't go till after my birthday the following March! And that was in Wiltshire, so goodness knows what it was like in the north.

All the children in our street played with seaside buckets and spades in the snow, we dug a huge trench across the road, then the coal lorry came and got it's wheels stuck in the hole :eek: I don't remember doing the digging (I was 3) but can vividly remember all the Dads pushing the coal lorry.

The next time I experienced that amount of snow was the first winter i n Yorkshire, 1990, when DD was a tiny baby, DS was 2, and we were almost snowed in. Hasn't been all that much snow since then.

dND

lingojingo wrote: »

:rotfl: :T :rotfl: :T :rotfl: :T :rotfl: :T
Wow! Frugal enery and exercis at the same time.

The bad winter was 1962/3, my little sister was born in Nov 62 and apparently the snow didn't go till after my birthday the following March! And that was in Wiltshire, so goodness knows what it was like in the north.

All the children in our street played with seaside buckets and spades in the snow, we dug a huge trench across the road, then the coal lorry came and got it's wheels stuck in the hole :eek: I don't remember doing the digging (I was 3) but can vividly remember all the Dads pushing the coal lorry.

The next time I experienced that amount of snow was the first winter i n Yorkshire, 1990, when DD was a tiny baby, DS was 2, and we were almost snowed in. Hasn't been all that much snow since then.

I remember that winter too, it was so cold that the river froze and the small town I lived in, Sturminster Newton, roast a side of beef on the river. Everyone turned out and we were able to walk under the road bridge on the ice on the river. There are some photo's around in the 'bygone days' books and I'm one of the children at the front of the group!

Being a child and not long back from living in Pakistan I don't remember the cold, just the snow.

cw18

I don't remember that winter -- but that's probably 'cos I wasn't even a twinkle in my parents eyes at that point :rotfl:

The only time I remember snow so deep that people couldn't get to work/school was the winter of 81/82 (think it was actually early 82). And the only reason I remember when it was is because I can remember which lad I was "dating" at the time, and that was across my 16th birthday

Marru

Blairweech wrote: »

Marru - 'Fraid I'm Gemini

Taurus is

"Your beliefs will undergo a slow but sizeable change in 2009. A lunar eclipse on 6 August could bring about more money for you, but learning to live within your means in 2009 will help you emerge stronger and happier"

:eek: that is spooky!!! Thank you for that!

I come from cold country but we always had warm houses and I really suffer from the cold now - indoors, not outdoors. I have to say that I rather live on potatoes and beans than to give up on being warm. I salute all you hardies. Luckily the house I live in is pretty economical and this year should be cheaper than last as now I am full time in college instead of working from home so heating is not on as much and I am more mindful of heating the water only once or twice a week. Well, that is the plan anyway...

dND

Procrastination over, I have a budget :j


Electricity 610
Oil - for heating and tractor 1300
Logs 300
Paraffin 100
Groceries (Foodstuff) 2200
Groceries (Toiletries, cleaning & laundry products) 100
Cat food 400
Entertainment 400
Gifts - not family 100
Diesel - work and pleasure 1350
Everything Else 1040

TOTAL € 7900


I've been trying to make sense of what to add and what not too as living here is a bit different to the UK. Shopping around for Internet/phone/utility suppliers has been possible for the last year but you do it at your own risk. For example it's not unknown to change from France Telecom to another Internet supplier and suddenly find your Internet line disappears. Rumour has it that there are not enough Internet lines to go round so FT re-allocates them to their own customers:eek:

So having had phone and Internet in there I removed them as they really are fixed costs that I try changing at my peril.

The heating oil is another difficulty as it's used for heating and the tractor but with luck I can trim a bit off the heating side.

Diesel is another grey area, I live 4 miles from the nearest small town with any shops so the car is essential and is also used for farm stuff. Also when my children and friends are here I can't expect them to stay in the middle of a field for their whole stay so trips out are sort of essential.

Changing insurance companies is another area different to the UK. You have to pay to the end of your contract and you also have to give between 1 and 3 months notice in writing, sent recorded delivery :eek:

I could go on with excuses for ever but if I can stay well within these goals then it will make a marked improvement in my costs.

Just in case you wondering why I'm here after reading the above, the sun is shining today and the temperature's just reached 19°C on the patio :j

Deborah

angelatgraceland

Well Ive done my sums and we need £10,200 per year NOT including the mortgage!
Tried to break it down to a £4k chunk but it really wouldnt make sense as Id have to miss out so many expenses. So-really-I need a 10k challenge. It is, however for 5 of us-4 adults and one 15 yr old. The adult kids are at present without jobs unfortunately and are trying hard to remedy this. So Im going to take out £200 per week and "everything" will have to come out of that. Its important that I manage this as DH is hoping to take early retirement in May when he is 60 because of health issues and we will have to manage on that plus the little I earn. So-Ive probably got until May or June to adjust-unless he stays on longer. I also don't want to carry on working too much longer as my knees are getting too painful and now Ive trouble with my hands-the work I do is making it worse. If I didnt need to work it would mean we cut down to one car and I save money in other ways also by being home. When I am home Im also less tempted to buy anything as I work on the High Street.Therefore 2009 could be a total change for us. I know it can be done-it just needs a little shifting around.
When I assessed this situation last year my budget showed us as needing £14k plus the mortgage which wasnt possible. Somehow or other even with everything rising in price we have managed to chop off about £3k. £1k at least was due to the grocery challenge and we made cutbacks on car journeys,toiletries,booze,general household stuff-it all adds up. For us it will be the difference between "breaking your back" or not so to speak. We would rather take it easy on less than slog it out to waste it. That 3k is the difference between me working part time-or not-as the case may be!

ladyroughneck

Please can i be added to this challenge? i've had a quick look at my finances and think i can do this.
I will need to go away and come up with a budget if thats okay.

Thank you for all the inspirational post.

Anne

shaz_mum_of__2

dND wrote: »

Just in case you wondering why I'm here after reading the above, the sun is shining today and the temperature's just reached 19°C on the patio :j

Deborah

Priceless........................................

*Mari*

Hi

I've been following this thread for a while and have decided to take the plunge!! This is for everthing for 3 adults and 2 teenagers and 2 cats, excluding Mortgage, council tax and water rates

• Groceries 2860.00
• Car 855.00
• Sky/phone/internet (long story) 1379.88 :eek:
• Oil 720.00
• Electric 924.00
• Mobiles x 2 300.00
• TV licence 143.40
• Windows 87.00
• Hair 120.00
• Kids Allowence/clothes 588.00
• School/clubs 756.00
• Gifts 400.00

Total 9133.28

So our goal is to stay under 10K , hopefully pick up lots of tips along the way and learn to live a lot more economically than we do at the moment!!

Right off to do my spreadsheet and start a new spending diary!!

Mari x

fizzel81

welcome to the new peeps

afternoon to all

wish me luck im on a wing and a prayer so to speak just realised the time and the fact i had sorted nothing for dinner
heated the last of yesterdays casserole in the microwave and then bunged in lentils with a jug of boiling water

will we have a diner at 6 tonight who knows

i aim to finish 2008 with some funds left over,

still trying to work out a monthly food shop month to month to stay within budget as this year (i know its more money saving old style) ive been averaging at £45 (but for part of the year i was getting £6 of healthy start vouchers weekly) ive slashed this to £35 to free up more 'leftover anything' money or everything else cash, with my eldest being 5 (the other 2 have soya milk which i dont count in my budget nor there flavoured milk as they have this in place of milk at pre school) im going to now buy full fat milk and add water to get the semi skimmed

i want to be more prepared for 2009 than i was this year, all i can sort of think bout now is this challenge over the comeing year (i feel like a boring person)