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

cw18

Phone Tax Credits ASAP, as they'll have to send you out a form to complete. When I had to change from joint to single claim in November it took 3 or 4 weeks to get it processed (and my return envelope and form were marked as a priority case - presumably due to it being because of a bereavement).

I think the form only asks for your income from last tax year (2007/08), but as soon as it's processed give them a call and give them an estimate for this year (2008/09) which I assume will be lower - especially as they allow you to discount the first £100 of at least one type of Maternity Pay (you need to declare the income having deducted this yourself). They will then increase your award immediately unless you're already on the maximum. Come April they'll start your new award off using this tax years, but (if appropriate) you can phone with a lower estimated income for the 2009/10 tax year -- and they'll then recalculate using that. (I need to do this as my award will drop £30pw in April, but should actually go up by a tenner due to no salary coming in any more!!!)




I still need to total up my spends for this month, but I'm feeling pretty confident -- despite the fact I've paid my car breakdown and 12 months road tax (which reminds me, I must get that out and put it in, as I need use the car early tomorrow!!!) and a major food shop at Costco......

skint_chick

Had a productive day today - went to Ikea for a few kitchen bits so I can do more cooking/baking at home and only spent £8 but came home with a whole bag of goodies - and OH got a 45p hot dog so he was happy:rolleyes:

I made space in my kitchen cupboard for the slow cooker and reorganised my store cupboard - it's only small but very easy to run!

Lots of beans for Feb :rotfl: :rotfl:

Also did a stocktake of toiletries and embarassed to admit I have 11 bottles of shampoo and 7 of conditioner plus enough samples of every product possible to have every weekend away for the rest of my life. It's all neatly arranged now too so I can see [strike]when[/strike] if I'm ever running low on anything.

I got a sewing machine from Freecycle I'm collecting it tomorrow and I'm very pleased I'm going to make myself a bag big enough to fit a library book, an umbrella, and my lunchbox so I don't look like a bag lady anymore!

mumzyof2

need to add to sig again as just got DS birthdaypresents off play.com for his bday in july. He is obsessed with charlottes web dvd. so got that and also got a power ranger canvas poster for £2.99 sould of been £12.99.
I even paid my rent today 7 days early lol.
Need to paycapital one balance off on monday when they open and my other 2 debts

redglass_2

Dear Frugalists
I have been ill...it was only the same virus everyone else has had and the worst of it seems to be over now but I am completely listless and have done NOTHING that i planned for today. In a minute I'm going to bed and it's not yet half nine. (This is an 'owl' [strike]screeching [/strike] speaking - it's nothing for me to stay up till the wee small hours.) I've also given up trying to read all the posts, so some people get thanked and others don't...sorry about that, and since I'm half asleep I'm also sorry if I miss essential news items.

I'm over budget for the first 4 weeks but there's been lots of stockpiling, some unexpected house repairs and a birthday, plus my log man cashed his cheque very late so it's only just come out of my account instead of coming out last December. :mad:

Marru congratulations! Great news.

jtb don't worry about your dog. I cried when my dog was done because I thought it would be so painful for him, but the dog himself hardly seemed to notice and two days later he was trying to have s.e.x. with a lady friend :eek: :rotfl:so it really can't have hurt that much.

Off to put another duvet on the bed....

In_Search_Of_Me

Just catching up...spends today but some stuff to go back so will upate when I've done that on mon. Also need a new tyre..noticed today...
janey...7 months is not that long in terms of greiving such a massive loss...be gentle with yourself...

Frugaldom

Bails, I never got around to the Qype thing either, another of my failed attempts at achieving an extra voucher, but my heart's just not in it and my mind has stalled in 'but I can live without it' gear. :rolleyes: I really should attempt a full [strike]month[/strike] [strike]week[/strike] day without resorting to using word like, 'although', 'but', or 'however' in mid-sentence. :rotfl:

Thanks everyone for being brave and posting your spends. It's always difficult working out what should and what shouldn't be included, which is why I count everything except rent, council tax and major items/events paid outright from savings. This year I hope to fit everything into my revolving £4k budget, including DD's wedding, mainly because my income has dropped, I lost about £1000 on useless shares and I can't afford to add to my savings at the moment. :rotfl:

Skint_chic you are settling in so well as a fellow frugalite, you should be proud! :T :j Well done! :beer:

Pip's Mum, maybe now would be a good time to take on a new job - as a professional housekeeper. Everything we do around the home is worthy of payment whether it be cooking to cleaning, gardening, laundry, decorating, budgeting, buying, kitchen stock control and then, above all else, there's still the childcare. If you had to pay someone to do all the hours you spend doing all of these things, even at the UK minimum wage, how much would you earn after tax and NI? For many people, this is a career move that can work out better in the long run both financially and with regards to a less stressful lifestyle. Women are natural born multi-taskers and every working man should have one. (I wonder if that line would work in a pub? :rotfl: ) Sorry, this is meant as a joke, please don't anyone take offence at my wacky humour

Ilovetea, I am grateful to the last recession. Everything happened in the 80s for me - got married then, bought first house, (then interest rates hit 15%+), learned fast how to bake bread and cook from scratch, set up business, had kids, rates abolished and they skinned us alive for poll tax, ceased business, lost house, got involved in bartering, learned how to make a pound stretch even further and realised that walking everywhere was a healthy option, as were most of the 'alternative' routes that we chose when compared to those that we could or would have taken had finances allowed. :cool: Probably just as well that life isn't all flat lines and narrow paths, eh? It's a learning curve no matter what way we look at it.

Forgot to say - re the highlighting text to read it, I do this most times anyway, it's so I don't miss any small print or pale text

Blairweech

Well, here are my end of month figures...I overspent the monthly average of £333.33 by.....£139.07 :eek: :mad:. Total spend: £472.40. Considering I spent 9 days at my parents and did not have to pay any food, bills, electric etc, that is appalling

I did as someone suggested and highlighted the different categories of my budget, and I truly cannot believe that my main spend is on food. This is GOOD news though, as it is easy to reduce (she says!). Plus, I have bought food for February and I did not stock up last December for Jan, so...

I am very pleased with the petrol spend, as that including a 200 mile round trip to my parents and I still have enough left for another week. I think I forgot to include electric and 'everything else', so my budget is a bit out. I will tinker with it later.

Here are my totals:

Category Budgeted/Actual

Groceries 80/164.31
Petrol 80/51.51
Electric ?/55
Phone 15/15
Internet 14.99/14.65
TV Licence 27.90/27.90
Car Insurance 31.71/31.71
Everything Else ?/112.32

Brighton_belle

Skintchic:Great news on the sewing machine :T . Great little store cupboard - I've been playing the same game today.
Redglass - hope you feel better soon. Not suprised you haven't got anything done today.
Pipsmum - I think you are doing brilliantly with a newborn and new to frugalising. I really hope you can get to stay home longer and that this challenge makes it happen.
bails /Nyk- sounds a good decision on the quype, but then I am bias: I know for me it would be very stressful and is the sort of pressure I have chosen not to get caught up in. The payoff isn't worth it.
Today I sorted my car ins:j and used cashback credit card so will get extra too. Did major asda shop for Feb and discovered why I normally avoid asda on a saturday. Got some woopsied sharon fruit though - a real treat at 8 for £1. Also got a 10kg sack of potaotes for £2:j .

Didn't make it to B&Q or the dump: maybe tomorrow.
But I did get stuck into lots of cleaning in the diningroom (layers of plaster removal dust from kitchen work)and massive reorganisation of storage and put up a shelf (ooh, used drills and jigsaws and everything, get me) in an empty fireplace i have in there to replace decorative stuff and make it a storage area. Photos may follow:D .

cha97michelle

Gosh, just having a total up of my figures for this month, and it is interesting, and scary stuff.

A summary then of how bad i've done, with the aim of sorting myself out and doing better next month.

Total Spend = £2042.93
Challenge spends = £820.42 :eek:

• food = £307.30 (includes costco and app. food stockpiling, and all cupboards now chocka)
• eating out/entertainment = £93.40 (3 meals out, 2 whilst on hols, plus bowling for 6 people on hols)
• life insurance = £10.99
• presents = £67.84
• household needs = £6.38 (2009 diary + new peeler)
• cattery = £137.50 (covers xmas and hols last week)
• window cleaner = £5
• elec = £41.50
• gas = £30
• toiletries = £38.34 (mainly nappies for both kids)
• clothes = £4.58 (for kids)
• tiscali = £26.37 (TV/internet and phone)
• Account fee = £17
• kids stuff = £3.96

Non - budget stuff:

• DH's mobile = £69.03 (2 months worth)
• diesel = £141
• petrol = £25.47 (annoyingly in my dads car when DH borrowed it for 2 days while his was out of action, mine hasn't been filled since early december and still has just under half a tank)
• garden/DIY project/AKA new rveg plot = £23.50
• Mortgage = £378.91
• car budget/repairs = £379.36 (2 x MOTs plus DHs repaired when it broke down - new fuel pump)
• nursery fees for DS1 = £87.50
• Child trust fund payments = £40 (£20 for each of them)
• council tax = £108

That seems really horrific when i look at it, but i know i need to remember that both MOTs are done, and we have had a holiday and visited relatives. Next month we have no real plans to go anywhere, and plan to finish off sorting the veg patch. Spends in most categories should go down as we have a good stockpile of food and toiletries, although i have both my parents and my BIl's birthday this month, but i will try and do it as cheaply as i can.

DH asked me if this was better than normal, and the scarier part is i think it is, although without having kept such detailed records i don't really know. The only way now though is forward and to keep improving at this.

Michelle, x

Skint_Lynne

Hiya,

Just a quick pop in. I've just finished my qype reviews. It is worth it for me as I am a quick typist and in my opinion it is easy money. it gets harder to find places to review, but as I live in the city, there are thousands of places to do within a small radius. It's not worthwhile though if you think it is going to put you under pressure. Each to their own!!

i have a steak pie in my slow, so that wil be dinner tomorrow and will do for another couple of days after that hopefully. I'll need to add up my spends for the month to see how I have gotten on. It is all a learning curve and as Michelle says, it is helpful even to see how much you have spent in black and white. I will be busy tomorrow preparing for my interviews and just pottering about. I'm off to bed now, nite nite. xx