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

Frugaldom

Good morning to all

I keep reading about mysupermarket and have visited the site for comparison purposes even although I don't live near any of the supermarkets, but I just noticed that you can collect Ipo!nts if you order via that site. 400 points for signing up and then 1 point per £ for spending - does this mean you could be earning Ipo!nts, Tesc0 clubcard points and cashback if you used a cb credit card? I'm wondering if it's worthwhile trying to register with a different delivery address and just doing bulk shops when visiting rellies who live within a delivery area?

Free bingo winnings are off my opportunities list nowadays as I just don't have the Internet connection strength to access the sites. I do keep trying but no luck so far, it just times out before the games load. No more free games.

Have paid another £30 into the electricity meter, I'm putting in £30 per week at the moment and it's practicaly using that, but at least we aren't freezing any longer

Stoozing has now, officially, become defunct for me - notification of interest rate drop on ISA to a pathetic 2.1% and this one is from before the latest catastrophic plunge! One more drop and stoozing COULD be costing people money, which is what I thought would happen when they introduced all their 2% - 3% balance transfer fees! :mad: If only I had enough cash to buy a [STRIKE]house[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]flat[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]studio apartment[/STRIKE] mobile home! :rotfl: Back to the 'wishing book' to make more updates and alterations

The rain has stopped for a bit, so off to get some free wind to dry the washing and then get the windows done (vinegar, not W!ndowlene ).

redglass_2

xnatalie81x wrote: »

from march am going to start saving the left-over in a pot and by the end of the year will have around 700 saved. This i will then use to make some debt payments on top of my standard ones!

Hi Xnat,
You sound to be doing amazingly well - bravo! One suggestion, I wouldn't wait until you have the £700 but would start paying off earlier, to reduce the interest on the debt as soon as poss.

redglass_2

Hi Nyk, just read yours and yes, it's a depressing time for us stoozers.
But if you've paid a one-off fee for a balance transfer (as I did not so long ago) you might as well leave the money on the card at 0% as long as possible and continue to stooze it, right? And then pay back everything on the card at the end of the interest-free period and hang up your stoozing hat from that day onwards. That's what I intend to do, do you see any problems with that?

xnatalie81x

I am on interest frozen and have just opened a tesco esaver account with a whopping 6% interest rate for the first 12 months. Therefore will transfer any additional into there once a month (or pay it in) so i will actually make some money off the interest I am really getting the hang of this money saving malarky lol IT IS GREAT!

Only thing is that everytime i'm on a cashback site and see somewhere i have ordered in the last year and not used a cashback site i just want to kick myself!!!!

Janey51

Good morning and hugs to all in need (and that includes me):D

It's a gorgeous sunny day here after the wind and rain last night.

I am going out for a meal tonight with friends but I will be very careful with my meal selection so I don't blow the budget. As I will be driving, I won't be drinking so that means my resolve should be stronger to resist any extras.
I will combine the night out with a trip to see my Mum and a sortie into Mr A to see if any bargains on offer ....I will try not to do a lilac_lady :rotfl: It all makes good use of fuel :T

I had a NSD yesterday and only ate some of my HM soup and stuff out of the freezer.
I am going to do an inventory of freezer contents before I go out (inspired by Jamiedodger) as I am sure there are things lurking at the bottom which can be converted into many meals

Marru thanks for reminding me about that programme but I will have to record it.

To all who contributed with the cost of Evap..thanks...unfortunately the nearest Sainsbury's is about 100 miles away and mysupermarket.com doesn't do Aldi, Lidl or Netto. I will be pasiing Aldi when I go into town (30 miles away) so I will check prices there.

I got a voucher for £20 off hair colour from the salon I go to :j It's come at a good time as the roots are showing and I am already booked in for next week.
It is nice to be pampered sometimes

jtb2412

I'm still here ! lol Just not much to report really. I hope those of you feeling a bit down are feeling better xx Feeling a bit naff myself this week (PMT:( ) but I know it's only temporary and I think it's exacerbated by the weather too, and my weight (which only I can sort out :mad: !)

Still plodding along nicely for this challenge though, budget is looking good.

Payday for us both tomorrow but i'm doing things on a 1st to 31st basis as I think it will be easier for me in the long run. Had to go shopping last night for work but did pick up a few bits for us while I was in there so have updated sig.

Good news about BG reducing gas by 10% - let's hope all the others follow their lead (I'm not with BG, typical :rolleyes: !)

Got a busy weekend coming up, need to dismantle son's cabin bed and re-organise his room. Was hoping to get down the allotment too but not sure what the weather is going to do - if not then I might see if there's any more seeds I can sow .

Think that's it for now, there's probably loads more i'm forgetting but my brain must have shrunk this week because I can't seem to remember anything at the moment :think:

Keep up the good work everyone, I'm loving all the reading and inspiration on here :beer:

andan

Hi guys, i am still continuing with the challenge and trying to keep my spends low. I have been colour co ordinating my spreasheet to identify where i have spent the most money. This has shed some really interesting light on things, especially the amount that i spend on petrol. Food is the next big spend at around £150, i feel this isn't too bad but there is room for improvement so will be looking at stretching more meals etc.

angelatgraceland

Well I have a delicious smell coming from the kitchen as Ive now got the mango chutney cooking. I am guessing it will work out at about half the price of the shops stuff-we shall see!
Got DH to prepare the garlic and ginger and to peel the mangoes and I carried on from there.
Just have to bag up the turkey for the cat which DD prepared from the carcass. She did say to me that its amazing what other people must throw away when she saw what we got form it. This experience will stand her in good stead for being frugal in the future when she has a budget of her own to manage. I do believe in involving the kids(well she is 23 lol)otherwise they find it hard later in life.
Going to do inventory of cupboards tonight when DH is working and hopefully sort out some paperwork as I seem to remember theres a cheque somewhere in my bedroom for approx £30 and I must find it! That is the danger of becoming messy or in a muddle-it costs you money!
Next month we will be a bit tight as we need a full service on my car and mot and a few bits on DH car. Still not sure if he will retire early this year or not. Would be good if I could do a year on this challenge first! However-health comes first and he had cancer 2 years ago so no way am I ever suggesting he carries on working if we can amnage somehow with him leaving at 60. I dont want to depend on my small income either as I think that if I overdo the work my hands will rapidly get worse so its all a case of moderation and considering things longterm. MSE keeps you focused in so many ways but its a bit addictive and we can indeed spend too much time online and not enough time "doing things" if we are not careful!

Re Tesco points and ipoints and mysupermarkeet-yes you can have it all!
You fill your trolley and earn ipoints-it goes to tesco and as long as you have registered your clubcard online with them you will get your clubcard points too!
That is exactly what I do-when I do online shop with them which hasnt been for a while as I find Asda always come out cheapest.

Re the programme tonight-if you miss it you can probably watch it on catchup on your computer. I do indeed theink there is a "true cost" to buying value and so forth and that is why value items are disappearing or have become expensive.

Brighton_belle

Afternoon all.
Work ended for the day so on to few plans:

Thurs 22 Jan frugal/simplifying plans

• Have to go for routine blood test which means I pass the charity shop: want to finally get rid of take 2 bin bags of stuff.(have a tendancy to hang on to them 'just in case').
• Spend an hr on mosaics
• 10 mins blitz on dining room clutter
• put washing on
• order lakeland voucher through pigsback points
• Contact 'bidders' on freecycle to reoffer old round sink and glass worktop
• Put 3 x items on ebay in exchange for purchases yesterday:o

The list could be twice as long, but trying to be realistic. Yesterday fell in love with a red/white polkadot coir mat for kitchen/backdoor for £15. Went through the Nyk routine - 'did I need it, would the money better spent elsewhere' etc. Decided to allow myself to have it if I put 3 more things on ebay today to cover cost. I do love it and it makes me smile a lot:D . Now need to follow through on ebay.

SM & others- hope you feel better soon. Lilo - the waiting is the worst, so hope you get news & dates very soon.
Masomnia -really impressed you not following the crowd and blowing your student loan as 'now you can afford it':T . Always have a laugh at your sig comment.
Accounts up to date but now need to spend time seeing how I am doing vis a vis the chalenge....

the_cat

Just a quickie

Have been going through the quidco deals and found a bingo one that I didn't know about. Mecca games offering £30 back for £10 play. Just spent an hour doing it (and won £10.50:D ) Already tracked/pending at quidco:T

Probably being hardened frugalistas you have all done this already, but I haven't seen it mentioned along with the other ones. Thought I would post just in case ..................