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

cw18

I used to have a couple of 'dry clean only' suits for work (during the 90's!), but as I'd got them from charity shops it would have cost more for a single clean than I'd paid for them :eek:

So I took a gamble and put them throught the washing machine (the one I had then had a 'freshen up' setting which I used - though I never quite figured out what the difference was between that and a cool wash, possibly shorter/less water too?) and they did just fine.

Have only ever used a dry cleaner twice -- once for a dress I'd bought and worn for my 21st (and which got covered in booze at my friends 21st 3 months later), and then for the curtains when we moved out of a rental (we'd had a cat with us, so had to get this done and the carpets professionally cleaned - with receipts as proof - to get our 'damages deposit' back)

redglass_2

andromache wrote: »

I'm so sorry to hear about the bf being a let-down, redglass - I second previous comments that it is better to know now and that it isn't worth compromising in the long run. You seem admirably stoic about it but have some *hugs* if you need them. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the big meeting/interview taking place soon.

Thanks, Sweetie. TBH when you've lived alone as long as I have, it isn't exactly terrifying, but I did think a change might be nice....I've let everything get out of control though so I now need to get back on top of the spending (d*mn him, that's the worst bit - he distracted me!)

SL, as regards 'the cape', I would just check for linings and bindings. I was told by a shop assistant that it's often these things that cause the problem rather than the main fabric - you wash the garment and maybe the wool is fine but the edges of collars etc start to ruckle up.

Skint chick, I'm sorry to hear about your knee but fascinated by your diet.

'I sprayed deep heat spray on it and found out I'm allergic to it:eek: It was delicious but not low GI

Did you lick it off your knee or just spray it straight down your throat? :rotfl:

Sophiesmum, you do regular exercise and your meals are so healthy, you must be losing tons of weight, surely?

((((Hugs)))) to all that need them. Or deserve them. Lots of frugal triumphs lately and lots of human interest too!

sophiesmum_2

redglass wrote: »

Sophiesmum, you do regular exercise and your meals are so healthy, you must be losing tons of weight, surely?

Unfortunately I have insulin resistance so have to work really hard to shift the weight but it is heading in the right direction at a steady rate:D The swiming helps a lot. Had recent health check and although I am overweight my blood pressure and cholesterol levels were all spot on, and I have a good exercise recovery rate:D .I have stacks of energy and have built up now to 40 lengths of pool almost daily. Today OH has set his treadmill up in our bedroom so will start having a go at that too.I'm aiming to shift my weight over the next year,eat a healthy diet and exercise well and do it all as frugally as possible, although I pay £32 for my gym membership it's not bad really as works out about £1 a visit - very rarely miss a day - so I reckon £1 for a swim, sauna, jacuzzi, shower, hairdryer etc isn't bad:rolleyes: and it is counted in my £4000 challenge budget.

smiler34

Sarah147 wrote: »

The chippy on our estate has changed hands and re-opened under another name. To celebrate they were offering free chips for all. Went and waited patiently in the queue and despite them trying to flog me extras like sause and pop, I remained strong walking away with a lovely tray full of chips! They were absolutely delicious! And even more so for the fact they were free :T

jammy bu**er lol:D

smiler34

Think I'm in trouble

1. Income - £19920
2. Rent - £5400
3. Water and Ct - £1296
4. Work petrol - £1200
5. Loan and credit cards - £2020

Total = £4388

At the moment I am spending the following:

Groceries - £2880 inc nappies, toiletries, cleaning products for family of four
Electric - £600
Internet - £60
Mobiles - £360 (6 month left on one, 2 years on other)
Phone - £168 (6 months left)
Tv licence - £144
Sky - £240

Total = £4432

hmmmm not good as I don't even have anything for birthdays yet!!:eek:

shaz_mum_of__2

Had a very productive day

sold 3 books for £14 on @m@zon (i only registered and listed last night?)
sold 5 mobile phones to Envir0fone for £55 plus about £5 cashback
finally reached the £10 withdraw on tab bingo
withdrew £5 am@zon voucher from LMP cashback site and bought hubby a book on beekeeping for his birthday
And have a bid on my first ever eb@y item (some old foreign currency)

Mil bought me some herbs and seeds an bought us all lunch for helping her move etc

Have finally changed the bed and cleaned the bathroom !! my cleaner is on holiday and i physically stuggle due to bad neck/shoulder/arm

Smiler if you join the grocery challenge you may get the grocery bill down

Have you considered reusable nappys do you use a boots card for disposables nappies etc they often do special deals

also you haven't mentioned utilities ?


Stick with us its not always the winning sometimes just taking part helps

Shaz



Hubby planted the hedge too

Skint_Lynne

smiler34 wrote: »

Think I'm in trouble

1. Income - £19920
2. Rent - £5400
3. Water and Ct - £1296
4. Work petrol - £1200
5. Loan and credit cards - £2020

Total = £4388

At the moment I am spending the following:

Groceries - £2880 inc nappies, toiletries, cleaning products for family of four
Electric - £600
Internet - £60
Mobiles - £360 (6 month left on one, 2 years on other)
Phone - £168 (6 months left)
Tv licence - £144
Sky - £240

Total = £4432

hmmmm not good as I don't even have anything for birthdays yet!!:eek:

Hi Smiler,

There are some great people on this thread for advice, I'll try and help, but there are more 'brains' out there than me.:D

The more you can make from scratch foodwise the better. Bulk buying is good as well, this has helped me a lot. What about whoopsies? It's amazing what you can find in the reduced section. Try your supermarket and see what's available. I bought a big bucket of soap powder from costco and I've hardly made a dent in it since I got it in October. it cost around 12.00 but was a great investment. With regards to nappies, toiletries etc, can you 'downgrade' on the nappies? I know some people can't due to the wee ones skin etc. It would be good if you bought them from boots perhaps, cause you could save the points in there. Some people can actually make money from these, there is a boots thread or our own sophiesmum is brilliant at making these go a long way. Cleaning products can be whittled down to one or 2 products. How about stardrops and bleach? This is enough to keep the whole house clean.

What about making some extra cash? Have you got anything lying around that you don't use and you could sell? How aboout ebay or car boot sales?

There will be loads of other things to get the totals down, but remember that you can add your child benefit to the 4k in the challenge to compensate for the little ones being included.

The challenge is about having a good quality of life for as little cash as possible, and not about depriving yourself of anything.

Good Luck. xx

Frugaldom

Hello to all, special welcoming to Smiler; should I add your name to the list of challengers or are you doing a trial run first? Instant solution is aim to knock a couple of pounds per week off the grocery shopping and get up to speed on using cashback sites, free scratchcards and decluttering via eBid/eBay/Gumtree etc. That should cover the immediate deficit and allow you time to prioritise your other spends, like insurance, clothes, gifts and any other costs you have still to meet. Then it'll be easier to see where the budget needs altered. Priority would be paying off the debts, so how about a mini-challenge to earn extra online for that? You're welcome to join us in the Earn £1000 in 100 days thread, too.

[strike]Dog[/strike] duck house progressing quicker than curtains here We've now salvaged enough wood to repair all the rotten parts, build the platform, construct a new wooden slatted floor, wire mesh the base (to prevent unwelcome visits from the likes of Mr Weasel) and all that's cost 'real' money was the new felt for the roof. Just need the ramp, door and nesting boxes fitted now and it's complete. Time, then, to dig the new mini-pond.

Fellow Freecycler called in on way past today and brought me a bagful of lovely empty jars with brass coloured lids. Very grateful for them as they'll be great for doing the quail eggs in aspic and storing the bean pate (once I learn how to make that).

Savingfortravel - Did you ask about water and sewage at (hopeful) new property? Rural houses don't normally rely on mains water or main sewers, they normally rely on wells/gravity fed water tanks and septic tanks. Just something else to factor into your equation. (My friend is in process of buying another logburner to have in the barn to help prevent the pump on her well freezing up again!) We're gravity fed from a tank here, only difference is a drop in pressure when anyone anywhere else in the other 4 houses in our area turns on their taps - and I guess there's the possibility of getting a tadpole in your tea, but I'm sure that's an old wives' tale. :rotfl: If you have no mains connections then you don't pay water rates or sewage part of Council Tax and, instead, just need to get the septic tank emptied now and again. Not sure how far out into the country your dreamhome is, it might even be within reach of mains on everything.

Back again later - has Bails got the puppy yet?

MrDT - thanks for the costs analysis. You can alter the chicken costs to zero if you make the stock from carcase but, for sheer convenience, I'd side with your opinion that tinned, at 12p each, is cheaper. I got the Campbells mushroom and use it for making up pie fillings

[Deleted User]

Hello all

Had a good day so far.... had to pop into town to get some cheap flooring for bathroom (house stuff not included in challenge figures paying for out of savings) have got horrible old carpet in there at the minute and want it to be clean before baby arrives, got that for £25 (have got v.small bathroom) and then saw a vanity unit with sink on top for £15!!!! :j So HAD to get that! So could be doing the bathroom up on a very teeny budget! Yay!!

Lets just hope its done before baby arrives (2 weeks to go) otherwise I'll have to stay at my mums for abit. :rolleyes:

Going to MIL's for tea tonight, saving lots of pennies being at home. Very good news too, currently on fixed rate for mortgage well the deals ends 1st March and we're going to go onto the standard variable rate - £200 a month CHEAPER!!!! So we're going to overpay by £100 a month, so if things are still okay with DH's job I could end up being a SAHM OR afford to go back to work 2 days a week.

Just wanted to share the good news. Hope everyone else is okay xx

sophiesmum_2

Good afternoon frunchkins:D
Today is my lovely dad's birthday (66), as you know he has termnal cancer and today is proof that doctors aren't always right, he may be very poorly but my dad is still here despite being told he wouldn't be:D So the morning was spent together with the family spoiling him rotten - we are just so happy to still have him for a while longer.

Didn't go to town today but did nip to Boots this afternoon to pick up a pressie for my friend's birthday - one of the half price electric nail care sets just under £15, also had two £5 vouchers to use up, and mum wanted me to pick her a nail set up too for a pressie. Contemplated best use of vouchers etc for a while and eventually split into two lots, put one nail set and one eye cream £6.84 through on each purchase, used £5 off voucher with each, and also got a free £31 gift bag thingy with each, and further £5 off voucher and £5 nO 7 voucher:D also used extra points vouchers so lots more free points there too.
Spent less than £19 (after mum paid hers) and ended up with electric nail care set, 2 x eye cream £6.84 each and 2 x free gift bags worth £31 each + £24 in money off vouchers:j Money will be coming out of my extra eaarned money pot so no impact on budget:D
Will update my signature totals once I check exact amounts on receipt.

Hope everyone is okay,
Janey, whitewing, chamichelle, Marru :hello: :hello: :hello: :hello: missing you all xx

General frugal aims for today;

• storecupboard lunch
• invited out for tea with my friend
• reduce, reuse,recycle one item- pile of stuff to recycle banks
• do something nice for me - spend time with family and my dad, tea and catch up with friend.
• do something nice for someone else- lots of surprises for my lovely dad
• fitter not fatter - treadmill

Todays frugal meals;

• poached egg and tomatoes
• sprouted seeds, pepper strips, black olives and tuna
• OH turkey curry/wholemeal rice - me- rump steak, stilton and peppercorn sauce, salad, and grilled tomato

Fruit and veg portions;
0 fruit, 0 pulses,6/7veggies,

Expenditure or additional income

Spent just under £19 at boots but out of extra money budget

Remaining target cash for first 6 months food spends - £246.34 left from budget of £400 for first six months.


Extra income generated £152.43 /spent £33 / left £119.43