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

Blairweech

Well, so far I have:

- Signed up to imeasure to input my electric
- Bought a 2009 diary (which fits in my bag), to use as a spending diary/notebook
- Changed my signature so that I have to update it whether I spend money or not
- Made a mean plan for January which maximises leftovers
- Transferred the £160 that I got for Christmas into savings - now the challenge is to make the money in my purse s-t-r-e-t-c-h for as long as possible
- Bought a few presents for the year from the Lakeland sale

I have a £10 Marks voucher which I was given - had a look in their sale but could not find anything (well, I did, but not enough to make up the value of the voucher and they don't give change :mad:) so will probably wait for Dine for £10 to be on again

I got an oil filled radiator for Christmas, hopefully this will be more efficient than storage heaters and will bring my electric bill down.

How do you all go about shopping at a cash and carry? I thought you had to be a business to shop there, and show them proof.

Penny2myName

Thinking about getting a Personal Organiser to help me become more organised and stay within my budget for the 2009 challenge. Anyone know where I can get one at an economical price? Looking at these two so far, as they are cheaper than the filofax ones.
http://ukofficedirect.opnet.co.uk/ProductComparison.aspx?ProductID=1933442&&prids=1933442,1933449&SID=6c56bffb0bd74d6fbcb999151ca84d07

I would like an actual leather one, but want to keep my costs as low as possible.

candygirl

Did well today:DGot a few yellow stickered veggie quiches for 29p each , some dip 9p and a veggie nut roast £1 from Morrisons today, and bunged it in the freezer:j :j
Freezer n cupboards are full and all I will need is bread and fruit this month if I stay strong:D
For all the people who hang their washing out in this weather, does it dry?:eek: :eek: I thought it would freeze on the line:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

macwah97

Blairweech

M&S Dine in for £10 is on until New Years Eve - but it is only 3 x party food and bottle of wine. If you fancy this go ahead!!! Otherwise hold off until the next one with the BIG chickens - goes a long way !!!!

Annie

Frugaldom

candygirl wrote: »

For all the people who hang their washing out in this weather, does it dry?:eek: :eek: I thought it would freeze on the line:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

As long as there's a breeze, the light weight stuff like sheets and duvet covers are almost dry by the time they come in, so they just need hung over a door overnight to dry them off completely. Everything else comes in slightly drier than when it went out, so dries quicker and causes less condensation. Dehumidifier helps as well. In saying all of that, the washing does start to freeze if it's left out after the sun goes down.

andan

Hi guys, seems like you lot have been busy. I haven't really been doing much towards this challenge, but have been reading your posts which has helped keep me motivated.

My freezer is full to the brim, which is great for this challenge, although i didn't plan it, its just always full

I have signed up to boots tester thing, so will hopefully get more products to test and have resigned back up to buzz agents so hoping for some tester products from them too.

I am being sent some shower gel to test at the beginning of the year and so every little helps.

I have also checked out my cleaning cupboard, to encourage me to use up whats in there instead of buying more.

Like others, i also plan to grow some of my own fruit and veg this year, had hoped to do last year but didn't have time. Luckily i have lot of pots and bags of compost from last year, so they can be put to good use.

Can't believe we will be starting soon!

angelatgraceland

Penny2myName wrote: »

Thinking about getting a Personal Organiser to help me become more organised and stay within my budget for the 2009 challenge. Anyone know where I can get one at an economical price? Looking at these two so far, as they are cheaper than the filofax ones.
http://ukofficedirect.opnet.co.uk/ProductComparison.aspx?ProductID=1933442&&prids=1933442,1933449&SID=6c56bffb0bd74d6fbcb999151ca84d07

I would like an actual leather one, but want to keep my costs as low as possible.

Well I used a filofax years ago which was a pressie-still got it but a big diary does me-cheaper and easy to use. Some of the personal organisers on the site you linked to look nice but the "pages" are expensive to buy.
Can't find the actual product you looked at though. My own experience is that I tend to scribble lots of calculations in my diary and I'd run out of space in anything smaller. Well Im more inclined to spend £3.50 or even 35p on an exercise book personally. Looking fancy won't help you save money!
Get a big day by day full page diary and decorate it yourself? Or get a nice leatherlook one? Just a big hardback notebook will do where you write the date in yourself otherewise-no wasted pages on all thos NSDs?
Not a critisism of you by the way but please do think before buying something with the intention of saving money.
The best advice on saving money is in not spending it in the first place.

I used to do things like that-I hold my hands up! No more though as they don't "work" any better. Maybe a few exercise books? One for grocery-one for bills etc? I just have the one myself for my grocery challenge-and 2 purses-one for grocery and one for other. For the "bills" Ive got my direct debits and a simple spreadsheet will do at no cost at all. For anyone who doesnt have a spreadsheet-you don't need to invest in Excel! There are plenty of free ones online-open office for one.:money:

You remind me-I must see what I can find in the house for 2009 without buying one as I know its a tight budget I have planned!

redglass_2

Hiya
cash and carry - costco will let you join if you work in particular sectors, eg education. You don't have to be a business. I put a post up about this in the last thread giving all the details and can't find it now (cos I'm useless at searching posts) but you definitely don't have to be a business as far as that particular wholesaler is concerned.

Personal organisers: I guess this is partly down to personal taste but I got mine from Office World many years ago and I love it. It was a lot cheaper than a filof*x and has a zip all round so nothing can drop out (as sometimes happens with the classic filof*x design). W H Sm*ths do refills that are also cheaper than filof*x and the last time i looked on their site (to order a refill) they were doing free delivery.

skint_chick

Penny I agree with angelatgraceland about spending money to save money - mostly because I've done this before and never used my filofax and ended up leaving it on a train! Now I use a regular diary I have one that goes in my handbag so I don't forget plans etc - I keep receipts in it while I'm out and about - and another one thats A5 has a page for each day and lines to write spending into. I'm a big fan of spreadsheets and I upload it to my gmail document storage too along with all my photos and word docs so I can add to it or access from anywhere.

I asked for my diaries from Santa - if you've got any vouchers/cashback you could use them.

sophiesmum_2

One of my oldies bought me a pink filofax for xmas,not had a good look at it yet and not sure if i will use it much, mostly use my diary then transfer info to spreadsheets.
I'm thinking of making my post on here into a daily account for myself including what I have spent/ meal plan for the day etc, as this is the one place I guarantee to visit daily:D