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

moo2moo

I use a chest harness. The instant she pulls I lift upwards and her front paws dangle in mid-air, not the easiest thing to do as shes huge and weighs 30kg but its worked far better than anything else I've tried.

jtb2412

Well done Marru ........ really pleased for you !!! xx :j :j :T :T :j :j

Brighton_belle

Marru, that's wonderful news:T :T .

Frankie - my tuppence worth picks up on someone elses idea: I have a master list but pick about 4-5 thing for 'today's list'. So if I manage 2-3 of them I feel I have really achieved something.
Thanks for the sausage info SM.
Lynne - hope you get some sucess on the job front soon.

mumzyof2

WELL DONE MARRU!!!

lingojingo

Congratulations Maru!
sending you a virtual yellow mug, until you can get your own :beer:

andromache_2

Go marru!!!

I'm supposed to be at choir but I'm feeling really tired so I'm going to spend the evening in... shhh Have to drag myself out to return some library books later though... I've allowed myself a £10 budget for 'fines' but I don't want to have to use it!

Just one thing, angelatgraceland, you said you'd taken some money out of the bank today so as to have some cash at home. Now if it's just so that you have some spending money readily accessible then I totally understand that and please ignore me, but if it's any kind of significant sum I just want to make sure that you know what the risks are... the worst-case scenario if you have your money in cash at home is that if your home is burgled or burns down then you will lose the money as your insurance most likely won't cover you for having large amounts of cash in the house. But the worst-case scenario if you have it in the bank is that you won't be able to access it for a few months while you wait for the compensation to come through. So as long as you spread your money across a few banks (and obviously under £50k in each) and have a spare current account to use if anything happens to your main one then that won't be a problem (and it seems pretty unlikely that the government would let a high street bank fold altogether - with RBS and so on they're trading as normal and you can still access your money). Sorry to be a busybody but I've heard quite a few people wonder if their savings would be safer under the mattress and it makes me a bit :eek:

Some great advice on the thread today :T especially regarding motivation etc.

Masomnia

Congratulations, Maru!!!

Andromache, thank you so much for reminding me to sort out my own library books! Dodged a few quid in fines there Except one I couldn't renew but I'm not going out tonight. I'd rather pay the fine than go out in the cold tonight, and getting the bus would just defeat the point!

Sadly I'm over my monthly planned spend now. And I have to get my sister a present for her 18th on Saturday, going home for that and buying her her first [legal] drink will all add up but it'll be worth it! No idea what to buy her though, shall probably go into town tomorrow to see what I can find.

February will have to be especially frugal I think. I may rebudget totally, £60 er week for everything but rent, so bills etc. plus food, entertainment and so on, is proving pretty difficult. And it means I have £50pw when I'm at home which is just unnecessary.

And now I'll catch up properly with the day's posts!

andromache_2

Mmm, I find it's quite hard to follow a consistent budget, too, masomnia... I have loads of socialising spends at the beginning of term when we're all catching up, then it fluctuates massively during term-time depending on what's happening, then the holidays go quiet again (but involve lots of train tickets as I can't just cycle everywhere!), then I turn into a total hermit in exam term and never spend money at all, then there's a massive blowout in the last week... hmmm... well that's my excuse for being so over-budget so far, anyway The NSD challenges are helping me to keep my weekly spends low - would that help you?

OK, I really am off to the library now!! The later I leave it, the colder it gets outside and the cosier I am in here It's only a 5-minute cycle as well! Glad I was able to remind you about yours, masomnia. I got a fine last year because I had a dream in which I renewed the books so when I brought them back 2 weeks late, thinking that they had been renewed, I was surprised to be charged

Blairweech

CONGRATULATIONS MARRU!!!

Well, as you will see from my sig, I am over the monthly average. However, this does include a £30 DD fee. Considering I stayed at my parents for a week and only spent about £50 in total, it's not looking good though.

However. My rent is due out on the 2nd, and usually around this time of the month (between my last paycheck and the rent), I am scrabbling around transferring money from savings to cover the rent. This month I will have £175 left in my account *after* the rent has gone out, which is EXCELLENT. Okay, so the TV licence has to come out as well, and I should probably pay some council tax, but generally, it's pretty good.

My £5 from Time has tracked - they have sent me an email saying I will be getting a whole year's worth of issues...but I only applied for 4 trial issues Did not give them any CC details, so....will wait and see I guess.
Also got £22.45 cashback into my bank account (put into savings) from when I bought my uber-expensive bed. Plus I transferred £18.13 into savings, as extra wages (I try and live on £200/week, anything I earn over this goes straight into savings).

In_Search_Of_Me

phew caught up at last...lol re the ikea comment! Have to say its not my fave place but may get the shelves as part of my sort and declutter...trying to remember 4 pages worth so forgive forgetting! Sophiesmum hang in there for an allotment...I kept ringing until they realisedI would keep ringing until I got one - not in a hasstley way but got one after four months and thankfully now have someone to share the load! Frist allotment summit on sunday with lunch!!
Hugs going back to work janey...skint chick please get some legal advce from union or cab...if their own occ health and your go have sad you shouldnt be in work and are signed off sick then there could be a case to answer in terms of summary dismissal - ie that they left you little choice due to their actions.
Have done my sums and still "behind" but do tend to do a oo I have money, lets shop and then slow down end of month - my month is 20-20 and I had to have a hair cut ans got a fair amount of cat food/litter. GB still the main area of concern!
jtb and shaz hello! Weezl is ready to pop soon...am very excited!!