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

whitewing

sophiesmum,

I had a look on the website for virgin, and there's not mention of zavvi anyway. As far as I understand, the problem with zavvi was that they used the same distribution as woolies? Or, anyway, their demise was somehow linked to the demise of woolies.

There is sufficient in the cosmetics/toiletries side to make good presents. And Qype were pretty quick with the voucher last time.

Amazon or play.com would have been better suited to DH's needs!

candygirl

Seeing as i'm well on target for this month, I am popping into town with DD n my friend for a girly afternoon:D I've decided that seeing as I have a bit spare, I can afford a tiny treat as a reward for my frugalness:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
Anyway greetings to the newbies, and have a fab day everyone x:A

Skint_Lynne

whitewing wrote: »

sophiesmum,

I had a look on the website for virgin, and there's not mention of zavvi anyway. As far as I understand, the problem with zavvi was that they used the same distribution as woolies? Or, anyway, their demise was somehow linked to the demise of woolies.

There is sufficient in the cosmetics/toiletries side to make good presents. And Qype were pretty quick with the voucher last time.

Amazon or play.com would have been better suited to DH's needs!

I would have preferred amazon as well, but beggars can't be choosers:p . I'll try and make a start on the reviews today, I completed mine in an evening the last time, so when I weighed it up, 50.00 wasn't too bad. I also received my ipod shuffle and other goodies this morning, so am quite pleased with qype. I'm a quick typist, so shouldn't take too long to complete. xx

fizzel81

afternoon all

just a quick one from me untill later, cooked a lush cottage pie in moska yesterday, the crumble i did after was ok

but today ive done a cake and for the first time ever its stuck to my silicone pan any ideas?

nsd today (needed one) ds fell and split his eye brow open yesterday in boots so just been keeping an eye on him today

any why can or are some freecyclers well rude lol, a wanted or a pushchair from birth came up, ive transfered ds3 into a stroller due to his weight so thought id offer them his freestyler, decided to clean it up wash covers/frame etc (it wasnt dirty just me being fussy) to get a reply back no we want something more modern, we know they dont sell these any more

anyway will catch up properly later once ive got the monsters to bed

redglass_2

Phew, the thread seems to be quietening down at last!
Welcome, Silkbeast. :hello:
Skint Chick, I would accept presents without a second thought! If someone wants to give you a gift that's great and not in any way against the spirit of the challenge. We all have different circs anyway. That's the joy of it, it's so flexible.
Fizzel, sorry to hear about your rude Freecycler. It is one of my pet peeves that some FCs seem to think they are in a shop (only most of us wouldn't be that rude in a shop either). Having said that, a lovely lady has just offered me a video I have wanted for ages so I am very pleased with FreeCycle right now! :j

I still haven't found out what my big mystery cheque was (waiting for photocopy from bank), plus my ISA rate has gone down so low that it wasn't worth paying the transfer fee onto a new credit card in order to stooze it. So it looks as though I won't be doing any more stoozing for a while to come, though I suppose the rate could go up during the next few months. I had only just got the hang of it properly, wish I'd got into it years ago!

Frugaldom

Good afternoon to all

Whitewing, glad to see you back on the thread.

JennyBee, hope things are going to plan for you and that our next frugalmite puts in an appearnce on time.

Pipsmum, hope baby Aidan is doing well.

Silkbeast, welcome to the challenge, I have added your name to the challenger list on post one and there are plenty of helpful links at the bottom of post 1 to help save time searching. Good luck and have fun

Just a couple of points to make first: (These are not aimed at anyone in particular.)

1) When working out budgets, £4000 averages out at £333.33 per month or £76.71 per week or £10.95 per day. PLEASE don't ever confuse these average figures with what you actually have for spending every day/week/month as it doesn't work this way. The figures are averages, which take into account all the larger spends you have to make throughout the entire year. If you don't spend the average amount then please don't be tempted into thinking it's because you have extra, it just means you have had a below average day/week/month in budget terms. The remainder should always be saved towards future days/weeks/months that will have extras to cover.

2) If you are doing this challenge to help you become debt free then you should always put any extra money towards paying off debt.

3) If you are doing this challenge to build up your savings then all extras should be paid into savings.

4) If you are doing this challenge to help pay off your mortgage quicker then all extras should be used to overpay your mortgage.

It really is that simple, so good luck to the good ship frugalpop and all who sailing with us through 2009 :beer:

It's cold, it's wet and it's blowing a howling gale here, yet again, so it could be the final straw for my poor greenhouse. I'm certainly not going to rely on homegrown tomatoes this summer and may need to write off my losses or mark it down to the house move. An exposed 'patch' set amidst fields and hills may sound & look picturesque but there's absolutely no comparison with a fenced-in garden in a street. Hanging baskets would be flying baskets, so my roll of tying wire will be put to good use! It also explains why we don't have wheelie bins here. :rotfl:

Redglass, I am thinking the same thing about stoozing, as the top rate I can find without tying in cash is still with ICICI but no guarantees things won't go wrong. I still have a few months before I need to ditch and switch but am budgetting on paying off the lot but holding the best cards in the off chance they come back with a zero transfer fee offer. Even €gg's anniversary offer is looking bad if you're a tax payer. My income dropped late last year so I am now relying on qualifying for a tax rebate, even if it is just the few pounds taken by the banks. 3.5% is only worth 2.8% after tax and I'm averaging 2.75% on balance transfer fees just now.

Skint Chic - My mum's a bit like that too, she can't see why, in this day and age, it should be necessary to budget so strictly. Even my gran asks if she can pay for anything, which is quite depressing at times because it makes me feel like a charity case. I guess you'll know you and your mum's financial situations better than anyone here, so I'd do what needs to be done in everyones' best interests regardless.

Edit - the gales have just flattened the greenhouse, bird table and birdbath. They look set to take part of the garage roof! Off to prepare for more power cuts, just in case.

Edit again - the quail houses have now had to be rescued and, suffice to say, I'm glad the storms have shown me how right I was to delay getting any birds moved until making the run & hutches fox-proof, weasel proof and, now, storm proof! :eek: Power is flickering off and on, so any non-appearance later is down to the atrocious weather.

jtb2412

Just popping in to catch up

CW, really great news about the CC :j Well done xx

skint_chick - don't look a gift horse in the mouth ! I'm sure your mum wouldn't do it if she didn't want to like you said, likes spoiling you a bit, especially if she doesn't see you that often - go and enjoy it .

fizzel - I've had probs with a few freecyclers too (mainly due to non-collection). It's a bit cheeky to do what they did though :eek: . I sometimes wonder what some people expect for free :rolleyes: . Let's hope next time you'll get someone who WILL appreciate the buggy and be very grateful.

Been a busy day here so far. Took DD1 to the train station (going with her friends to Brighton for the day) and then came back and made leek and potato soup for lunch (made some croutons out of some home-made bread that was going a bit stale - was feeling rather posh when we ate it ! :rotfl: ) It was really delicious though and there's some left so it's gone in the freezer for next weekend.

Managed to do a lot in the greenhouse this afternoon - it's been quite warm here, outside in jumpers instead of thick coats :eek: . Have mopped the floor (don't ask :rolleyes: ) lol ...... tidied up and OH has built some staging for it from an old living room unit that was on it's last legs. Had a bit of a move around too as OH wants to 'commandeer' 1/2 of it for his chilli plants :rolleyes2 (I swear he's addicted to them :eek: ).

I did pop out and buy some more compost as I wanted to get my sweet peas done and also some other flowers that need starting off now. I've also sown my first lettuce seeds of the year so hopefully in a few weeks, we'll have some nice fresh home grown leaves to eat .

Last night I bought DS a new wardrobe in the Mr T's online sale - was reduced to £42 :j . We were going to wait until about March/April to buy this but I don't think I will find another one that cheap so got it now. He's in a cabin bed atm, but growing out of it fast so next weekend we're going to dismantle the cabin bed (going on freecycle) and put him in a single bed (already have one). Wardrobe isn't coming out of the £4K as we're classing it as decorating/furniture which is the main reason for doing this challenge (have to decorate (carpets, furniture, painting, repairing) most of the house this year :rolleyes: ).

Tomorrow will be a NSD and we'll hopefully be getting in the garden again (probably dig over some beds now they've softened up a bit).

My GC figures are looking good still and i'm getting excited about being able to go out and spend some money on a newly started stockpile at the end of the month (yes I know, sad isn't it? :rotfl: ) I never thought I would get excited about food shopping but since starting this challenge my mindset seems to have changed. For instance, I wanted some cream earlier (to go with the soup) and stopped at the farm shop on the way to the garden centre but it was soooooooo expensive ! Ordinarily I would have bought it but not today ! I sent hubby to the corner shop instead where it was much cheaper lol

Right, i've rambled on again (sorry ) so i'm going to go and find something constructive to do (not that this isn't constructive, I just get ants in my pants and can't sit still for very long :rotfl: ).

Have a lovely weekend fellow frugalites :beer:

Guesty6

Did my first mystery shop today so that earnt me £5 plus shaving foam!

Spent £20 on 5 new fish for the tank and a plant so very happy, found a new place that is awesome for fish.

fizzel81

nyk sorry you have lost your green house your birdtable and the bird bath you must have it alot worse than i do her, i lost the birdtable last november, its out there i the garden somewhere.

well fingers crossed for our dinner tonight im hoping it al works in the remoska, i was planning on putting the potatoes on bottom to roast with the chicken legs on the rack veg will be done in the steamer.

salvaging the cake with jam and buttercream, one half came out fine the second is missing some of the bottom when together the boys wont notice, the wanted one covered with icing and sprinkles and the 2nd with melted choc

MrDT

I've been putting off my trip to the shops, I think it's a hurricane out there!

Staying in isn't doing much good either - I'm just sat here wondering if the roof is gonna come flying off :eek:

Hope the greenhouse is fixable nyk!