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

jtb2412

Yep LA . Moved down here Oct 07 (hubby relocated with work - best thing that we ever did because where he used to work before has now shut down due to the recession :eek:) His job is safe here so we're counting our blessings :A .

We must have crossed paths in woolies because we went in there too .... I was gobsmacked, they were even selling off the fixtures and fittings ! I'm not sure when ours is closing, I might pop down tomorrow and see if it's still open.

Having 'iffits' here for lunch (bits and bobs left over) - not going shopping until 3rd January as we're off to see both sets of parents for New Year (we get fed so don't have to spend any money until we get back ) - i'm not daft :rotfl: .

I'm going to read my gas/elec meters on 1st January too so I know how much i'm using - I need to find out when my next bill is arriving too, i'm sure I was due for one at the beginning of Dec .

3 DAYS TO GO (not that i'm counting down or anything ).

Frugaldom

Hi guys, I'm counting down the last 3 days of 2008 because I'm trying not to spend anything else between now and then. :rotfl:

I'll post my 2008 results on Hogmanay (new year's eve for all the non-Scots ) and then change my signature to begin 2009 afresh. My interest beater challenge runs over a tax year, so it will stay with me until 5th April 2009. This is to compare how much I accrue in tax free income (free bingo wins, premium bonds, free scratchcards etc) when comparing it to how much interest I'd have gained from the bank/building society if I had been able to leave my £4000 cost of living in there.

No sales near me, as far as I know, but we will soon have the new Ald! store opening about 5 miles from here. :j I hope it's as good as it's hyped up to be.

Dry day here, so I have another washing hanging out, but it is still freezing and white with frost. Plenty of birdlife in the garden, though. (One of my frugal hobbies, MrsMC, so I understand about your rough legged hawk. We have Buzzards here most days.)

Good luck with your budget for 2009, Macwah, it's looking good.

Anyone getting to the stage of wondering what to have for dinner between now and new year? I ended up using some spag bol from freezer last night and haven't a clue what to do for tonight! :rotfl: Meal planning will never be my forte.

angelatgraceland

Just using up fridge contents to make pizzas. Emptying breadbin of whoopsied rolls for hotdogs but no great plans mealwise. I should feel ashamed on that front because if anyone saw the food in my cupboard theyd thing I have a "storecupboard" obsession. OCD on stocking up here I'm afraid! Its gonna have to stop due to lack of space but I do rather fancy a new kitchen(budget got in one swoop)
Now if Id not bought so many cleaning products over the last 3 years Id have an extra shelf for my gadgets!
Read my meters last night and fed readings into i-measure. Will I be brave and read them again tonight? Just gone to grill the sos in george forman type grill and yukk-it needs cleaning. Oh well-here goes!

macwah97

Thanks NYK -

Went to Mr T and got school clothes at 70% off - happy. Just to get the school jumper and cardi - but these are embroidered so will drive by school shop and see if they have sale on later in week.

Frugalism must be paying off here - DH just put his jumper and hat on rather than turn on the electric heater in conservatory :j - you'd think with him being a 1/2 Scot he'd have caught onto this by now :rotfl: and the amount of time he has spent over there throughout his working life - No Disrespect to anyone North of the Border I might add - FINLAW will kill me if he reads this

Food for dinner?? Last night Bacon, potatoes and turnip, nuked and finished off in the frying pan - mmmmmmmm - yummy. Tonite - good old Turkey & Ham again. The next time this will be eaten is New Years Night - then it will be random use after that.

Off to check on my 'Black Bun' being made for my Inlaws - never had this or tried baking it before. :eek:

By the way - freezing over here at minute. Temp = 5 but feels like -5 :eek:

1274

I've had a computer crisis in the last week, which has meant I've lost all of my financial data for 2008 :eek:. After getting over the loss, I'm trying to make the best of this position, so I'm opting for a zero based budget. Basically, this is an American thing, which means I'll transfer £880 into my current account and £120 to savings on the last day of each month, and spend it until it reaches zero, hopefully not before the end of the next month! The remaining £4,000 of my £16K budget is allocated to a big purchase and any money I earn over £1K net will go to pay off my mortgage.
The £1000 covers:
Fixed costs:mortgage (£444), council tax (£102),water (£18) Total fixed costs: £564
Variable necessaries:gas and electric (£45),groceries (£90),travel (£90), phone and internet (£45) Total variable necessaries £270
Variable luxuries:savings for clothes (£18),savings for holiday and house repairs (£90),savings for gifts (£12),entertainment and going out (£46) Total variable luxuries £166

Now, there's nothing in the budget for new purchases, of which I've treated myself to quite a few this year. And I need to budget for a new computer next year but not sure where the spare money will come from

blondemuppet

Hello all,

I'm still number crunching on the budget front but have realised that my major downfall is spending lots of money due to being so disorganised. I cant count the number of times Ive replaced things I thought Id lost only to find them again and bought/done things so last minute Ive not had time to shop around and later realised I payed way more than I needed to. I have never taken a list into a supermarket and when I mentioned to my housemate that I wanted to start planning meals she didn't stop laughing for about five minutes. So on that note have decided to spend the last few days of 2008 trying to restore some kind of order to the house - in particular the kitchen - and sort out things to ebay and freecycle. Will also be brave and decide what the budget for 2009 will be!

macwah97

Hi all, have just revised my budget again!!

Forgot that DS goes to seconday school in September so had to change school meal figure and also included another minor weekly payment. Have not included bus travel for DS as he will more than likely get a bus pass - fingers crossed!!

So new budget below - does not leave as much for holiday/emergencies but we will wait and see - am picking up new tips here all the time and I already do surveys for extra cash.

car petrol 2600 50 per week
oil 1248 24
electric 780 15
coal 260 5
school dinners 448.5 8.63
food 2600 50
school uniforms & shoes 312 6
general clothes 182 3.5
gifts 520 10
other payment 468 9

Total 9418.5 181.13 per week

All out of the following income:

maintenance 4755.96
child benefit 1726.4
wftc 533
allowance 3000

Total 10015.36

Surplus: 596.86

OK:- be prepared this may not be the last!!!!. Have to check cookery books and raid cupboards yet for some menu planning

BYe this time

savingfortravel

Hi Everyone!! Very excited about this challenge
We have a higher overall budget but for our £4k challenge we will include:
Electricity/Gas, Water, Telephone and Internet, TV, House Insurance, Groceries/Household Cleaning, Budgie, Haircuts, Dental Costs and Gifts.
We hope to be able to save to pay off mortgage gradually through our ISAs and continue to save for our 2010 trip.
And if my other half gets a job that would be wonderful!!
Very much looking forward to being part of a like minded community.
SFT

nickynoo08

Hiya everyone,
It's taken me a while but i've finally gotten round to sorting my budget for this challenge.
Right here goes....
Once i've paid my hh bills (i've included overpayments, putting small amount aside each month for xmas, emergencies, tv, sky, mobile etc..) we've got a grand total of...
£171.70 left - this is for all of our food, clothing, baby stuff, treats (not v likely!). That works out at £2060.40 for the year.
When i first looked at this figure i nearly cried, thinking how on earth can we managed on that. Thankfully i'm quite organised and i've got quite a decent stockpile of nappies,wipes and enough clothes for my little un to last him this year (providing he dosent have too many growth spurts!), and i realised that i've not used any cc or catalogue to pay for anything for the last 5months so we can't be that bad at making money stretch.
I wasnt sure what to do about overtime. Both me and my OH occasionally get an extra few hrs - normally it would of been frittered away but i think if we get any o/t from the 1st i'll add it to my overpayments towards my cc.
Does this sound OK? Is there anything that i've missed or may have forgotten about?

coldstreamalways

I'm going to try £1000 til April. Fingers crossed. We have no birthdays etc but OH Commutes 45miles each way and diesel is our biggest weekly expense. I'll just be getting on my bike!!!