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

shorelines

I now know what Nyk means about January being hard...it's difficult when you're in a bad mood and having a bad day. "Oh I'll just go and buy something to cheer myself up!" Then I have to remember that I can't actually afford it until payday.

I did go to selfridges to do a mystery shop and ended up buying £2.30 worth of 5p coloured paper and cards. I depleted my craft box for christmas so I'm on a mission to fill it up for cheap.

My friend has lost his job at zavvi which means I won't be getting my £240 back anytime soon. I've always been trying to tell him to live within his means and start saving. Until I met my OH, I didn't save :eek: (I know! I know!) - actually I did start saving and then wanted to go on holiday.... Now I save and thanks to this site, have found lots of ways to make my money go further. Realising I wanted a future with my OH gave me the incentive to start saving, I just wish I could make my friend realise how important it is.

xnatalie81x wrote: »

I do the virtual spend thing but usually on sale/cheap items then i get to checkout, realise i have to pay for delivery and think stuff it lol

I keep doing this! The delivery charges always make me stop at the last second.

skint_chick

NSD yesterday and today as I'm collecting tiles and ceramics I advertised for on freecycle and catching up with the flylady thread as I've been really lazy/busy the last few days.

Paid another £200 off family loan and £17 off my mortgage. Will be paying more at the end of the month once all my direct debits are paid. Unfortunately need to get my leaky old guttering replaced and some repointing done. Need to get damp specialist in to look at my bedroom too - I got double glazing when I moved in and thought this would solve the damp coming through the walls but I have the horrible feeling it's the wrong kind of plaster been used by previous owners and will need taken off and redone as living room did :mad: and that made such a mess with dust everywhere. But I need to get it done and have been putting it off!

bails

Morning all, hugs to those that are struggling, either with money, weight loss or other things. Don't forget it's the Most Depressing Day of the year coming up I think so you're all just practising for that - as soon as it's out of the way you'll be back on top of the world

Yesterday was a mixed day. My friend asked if we could meet at her house instead of the coffee shop so I saved money there and had a lovely free lunch :T Work went well, had a yummy Indian with OH and went to cinema. During all this though I had some very worrying texts from a friend who is severely depressed and so was trying to help him out - in the end I had to get another friend involved as my phone was about to run out and I was nowhere near home but I think we've averted that for now. Anyone else feel helpless sometimes?

For anyone who's feeling a bit fed up with their situation at the mo, can I prescribe a good dose of Daniel Craig in Defiance - I defy anyone to come out of that film and not feel incredibly lucky.

Talking of Daniel (if only we were on first name terms :rolleyes:), I'm off to meet Bond today - Mr Bond at my tutee's school. We've been joking so much about it I don't know if I'll be able to keep a straight face :rotfl:
Have a fab day everyone x

candygirl

Am waiting in for my Approved Foods order today, as it arrived at our local depot this morning, so fingers crossed cos i'm not waiting in tomoz:D
Had a rubbish nights sleep, tbh I haven't slept right since Dad died 3 months ago, and feel v exhausted at the mo even though i'm not working:o
Anyway good news is nothings gone out of my bank today, and I doubt i'll spend much, but might pop to NETTO later for change of scene, and a bargain hunt
Think i'm doing quite well up to now on this challenge:D

Marru

Uh, oh, Bails you are saying that the most depressing day is coming! I thought it was yesterday :eek:. Anyway I am on better mood today and have been busy getting my to do list in the lovely thread here with even lovelier host.

And WOOHOO!! The solar powered light that I got from 1po1nts just arrived, I took it to DD's windowsill to charge and lets hope that she accepts that as her night light.

Ummm, I have decided that while I am looking for a job but not actually working I will sort out my books and to do that, Bails look away, I will need bookshelves and instead of struggling in getting them from freecycle I will go to Ik*a and get some and those can then host my books when I have sold all the others. Off I go now to find out how much they are and if I have the money to get them today or tomorrow. Bails you can look back now.

So wishing everybody a great day!

Marru

xnatalie81x

Have just rung work and i will be going on contract from April term which means wages will go from 13.70hr to 15 summit wahooooo - and i get my free gold gym membership and free swimming for all my family, so will be able to be busy busy busy. I also get 1/2 price creche will will mean i can do more daytime teching as kids can go in the creche and it will still be worth my while working!

Am still only doing 2hrs a week teaching but have lots of cover this mth - about 7hrs which is an extra £75 for feb pay. Will pay £50 off my student overdraft with this as that is the debt i need to clear first! and save £25 for emergencies, but as it isn't included in my yearly budget it is additional income

Have also re-contacted another council i used to teach for and asked to go on their cover list for now and try and get some regular teaching hrs with them too.

MIL is coming over soon as she bought some units for the kids' bedroom with her littlewoods agent money so gonna spend today sorting out their bedroom. My mum n mil are stars. They don't bring the kids sweets anymore so yesterday mil bought over a double pack of bacon and a loaf bread (2.50) instead! much better than sweeties.

Got local paper today so will use that to clean windows all around the house.

fizzel81

Good morning

im getting bad at catching up again and its only january (im slipping) boys are keeping me so busy

can i cook cottage pie in the remoska? going to try jam tarts once ive got ds2 from preschool

spent my boots points yesterday (bar all but 600 of them) have got so much for gifts and a few bits for myself, also brothers girflfriend wanted a few bits and is paying for them.

chuffed to find i got the cold weather payment wasnt sure in the end so didnt expect it.

doing ok spends wise but need to update spends, i need to play it carefull for rest of jan but i have enough in, and lots in the paypal account from ebay so ive now got to sort some more to sell, its nice to see a healthy paypal account.

must get ds2 now will play proper catch up later

Frugaldom

Good afternoon

Going to have a quick catch up and will edit post as I go, THEN confess my spends. Signature already updated, January is usually a high spending month for me but it balances out over the year, so I'm not worrying. Would be nice if I was netralising the spends as I went along, however! :rotfl:

JTB - I do the grocery challenge as well, but am now listed with a few others with my annual budget, rather than my £100 per month I have £1200 per year.

purplevamp wrote: »

nyk - I won't be dropping out, I'm in it till the end, thanks to your great thread
I noticed my new Aldi has taken down its wooden boards so it looks like it will be opening soon :j (sad eh?)

Excellent news! Where abouts are you, as they are building a store in a town near me and I can't wait for it to open - signed up to their newsletter as soon as planning department passed their application. :rotfl: (Apologies if you already told me where you are and I forgot.)

Bails wrote:

Anyone else feel helpless sometimes?

Bails, I know exactly what you mean and, sadly, nobody could do anything for any of them I knew. It's why I am so determined to stick with like-minded people who understand and appreciate that they CAN make things better for themselves, not matter how difficult it may seem at times.

Marru wrote:

Ummm, I have decided that while I am looking for a job but not actually working I will sort out my books and to do that, Bails look away, I will need bookshelves and instead of struggling in getting them from freecycle I will go to Ik*a and get some and those can then host my books when I have sold all the others. Off I go now to find out how much they are and if I have the money to get them today or tomorrow. Bails you can look back now.

:eek: :eek: :eek: BILLY CAN ALERT, BILLY CAN ALERT! Marru, noooooooooo..... don't do it, get out your billy can! Becoming debt free will make you feel so much better and then you can buy whatever you want (and can afford, obviously ). You may end up regretting the spend if things get really tough, especially if something like kitchen cupboards needed restocking. I know it's none of my business, but at least assess the full impact of the spend before deciding. Or, just tell me to shut up and mind my own business.

wornoutmumoftwo

Having a quite good day really.

A short while ago I wrote to Tesco's about their sub-standard value gravy as it wa vile, lumpy yet thin. I wasn't after compensation or anything I wrote because it was dire and let down the value range. Anyway, I got a letter back and a £3 money card.

I have also decided to go for the soapnuts and have ordered a 500g bag so this should last me a while. The husband hasn't noticed I'm not using washing powder yet though I would like to use a smelly with it, can anyone recommend a essential oil?

I'm going down to put my son's name down for school this afternoon.

lilac_lady

I'm so envious of you getting your orders from Approved Foods. I'm definitely not a fussy eater but I keep an eye on fresh food and bin it if it's even a day out of date. I just can't eat it. I know this doesn't make sense as the food would be ok but something prevents me from eating out of date food. I do buy yellow stickered food as long as I can either eat it or freeze it the same day.

Has anyone else got a peculiar "habit" that goes against moneysaving ?