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

nickynoo08

Afternoon everyone, not been around for a while, been busy doing loads of overtime. I have gone way over budget this month due to some unexpected but neccasary spends, but my bank balance is in better shape than 2months ago so i dread to think how much i was spending monthly back then! I've also managed to put a bit extra into our savings - we're currently saving for a car - only £650 more to save:rolleyes:. I'm trying a different method with my budget next month too coz i got myself a wee bit confused with all my different pots of money. I ended up borrowing from one pot to make another up and ended up going over my gc budget because of it (although i did manage to stock up on a load of stuff from app food and whoppsies from work;) ) So i'm just having 2 pots next month. One for my gc challenge and the other has to cover everything else. Hopefully i wont get lost with my spends then. I cant belive it's nearly march already!!! How time flies when your having fun:D

Frugaldom

Bails, in TAB b!ngo just log in to your account and at top of page there should be a tab that says 'bank', that lets you select from topping up account, updating details or withdrawing.

Congratulations to everyone with cash left over, I wish I could say same but I work on a sort of revolving budget, so extra left over isn't actually left over, it's because I haven't paid for something that's due later in the year. Or, like the first couple of months of the year, it costs me extra to cover high fuel/electricity costs and up-front payment for annual bills. I've also concentrated a lot of my money into bulk grocery buys so I don't need to go shopping as often furing the better months.

Went into town today and was amazed to find Ald! had milk at 49p per litre!! :eek: Is this normal for the store or is it a special deal just now? My local shop charges £1.07 per litre, so mega savings could be made if I'm able to buy it at 49p. I also picked up some radish and runner bean seeds at 39p per pack but, overall, I'm quite disappointed in Ald! I ended up going to S0merfields, but suspect their store (next door to new Ald!) will be closed very soon, as there were loads and loads of items marked down to half price that weren't included in the weekly newsletter. Needless to say, I have stocked up on half price veggies and got a 5kg bag of King Edward potatoes for £1.09 that I'll leave to chit then plant for summer. I am so glad I only did a £10 shop in Ald!, as it allowed me to make the most of the S0merfield offers. Makes a change for me to get so many bargains.

Off out to plant the radishes now. Catch up again later.

grandma247

Don't forget to sign up for the newsletter for Aldis so you don't miss any good offers.

savingfortravel

Hi Everyone!
Off to cinema soon (Orange Wednesday to see Vicky Christina Barcelona but before we go, 2 bits of news:

• We've got 2 viewings for our bungalow on Friday. OMG tomorrow will be dedicated to tidying up.
• I got my Qype £50 voucher today. Yipee..now do I spend it on us or presents?????

Will catch up with posts later. Take care.
SFT

lingojingo

savingfortravel wrote: »

• I got my Qype £50 voucher today. Yipee..now do I spend it on us or presents?????

was it by recorded delivery? I've got a 'sorry you were out' card, and am not expecting anything else. Can't collect it until Friday though.

sophiesmum_2

Good afternoon frunchkins:D
Another day done at work, the weeks are flying by lately:rolleyes: Got a banging headache but not sure if it is caffeine withdrawal (given up caffeine for lent) or the flipping paint fumes Drink decaf at home so just stopping the drinks at work - have taken down some herbal teas instead.

General frugal aims for today;

• storecupboard lunch and tea
• reduce, reuse,recycle one item- used DD's leftover pancake mix for OH's lunch
• do something nice for me -1/2 hours peace and nice cuppa to catch up on here
• do something nice for someone else-went to town earlier to get some nightwear and stuff for man whose wife is in hospital - he didn't have a clue what to buy.
• fitter not fatter - no swimming tonight unless headache lifts

Todays frugal meals;

• frozen berry smoothie
• last bit of broccoli and stilton soup for me , leftover pancakes for OH ,
• , butterbean and vegetable omelette,

Fruit and veg portions;
2 fruit, 1 pulses,4veggies,

Expenditure or additional income
No spend day


Remaining target cash for first 6 months food spends - £232.96 left from budget of £400 for first six months.


Extra income generated £152.43 /spent £51.35 / left £101.08
(tortilla press/flour £33, boots pressies £18.35)

Frugaldom

grandma247 wrote: »

Don't forget to sign up for the newsletter for Aldis so you don't miss any good offers.

I did this as soon as they applied for planning permission to build in our area, that's how I knew the fruit trees would be there last Thursday when the store officially opened. :rotfl: There were still some fruit trees left - I was sorely tempted to buy more but haven't a clue where I'd plant them! I need a field just for fruit trees and willow cuttings!

SFT - good luck with the house viewings

bails

Sorry to hear about your headache SM, could well be the caffeine. Hope it goes soon.
Hope the house viewings go well SFT and enjoy the film, haven't seen it yet. (By the way, I think we were separated at birth ).

A story to cheer you all up if you're feeling a little low or in need of a laugh! I got stuck in my porch today...for an hour and a half! :rotfl:We have 2 front doors (as the porch was an add-on) and I ALWAYS check I have my keys before closing the first door and I ALWAYS have my phone on me. Not today :rolleyes: The top lock on the outside door broke yesterday so I took my back door keys, thought I'd go out the front and come in through the back. Shut the first door and went to open the outer one, only OH had locked the bottom lock for some reason (we NEVER lock this unless we go on holiday/away for the weekend). I tried everything, using bike tools to pick lock, trying windows (don't open wide enough) etc etc, had to resort to calling out the window til someone was nice enough to stop and help me As if that wasn't bad enough, OH's number, which I know off by heart and ring all the time...couldn't remember it for the life of me! This poor woman thought I was crazy! Anyhoo, after several shenanigans, she mananged to unlock the back door with a key we hide (but which I thought OH had taken away already). She was so sweet, brought me mags and some food from her house (which luckily I didn't need) so I've bought her some flowers from the C00p to say thanks! (theirs last well, BTW). I was in loads of pain at the time so, although I missed my lesson entirely (and the money, ouch) , she really saved the day! :T If only more of my neighbours were like her - I managed to get the attention of a little girl before this and she went to get her mummy...who never bothered coming!! :mad: I think she was the daughter of the guy who badly splashed me in the snow :rolleyes:

Had parsnip soup today with some very sorry looking parsnips which was yummy but not so spicy so need to look out the recipe that was posted on here to see what I need to do. Used up quorn mince last night for a lovely spag bol - we don't ever buy quorn or soya mince normally (it was on offer) but will do again. The dog is already house trained so I'm very pleased with myself about that Still no name for her though so if I ever find the lead for the photo, any suggestions appreciated...
Thanks for the tips about TAB Nyk, I'll have another go. Think I had something else to thank you for too but totally slipped my mind at mo - not the best day for my memory :rotfl:
Really looking forward to the weekend as I'll be updating all my spends for the month - will be interesting to see how things are. I feel like I haven't saved any money in one sense (almost run out in our joint account) but then I have to remember I've been squirrelling it into the Dream Pot :j

cw18

nykmedia wrote: »

Went into town today and was amazed to find Ald! had milk at 49p per litre!! :eek: Is this normal for the store or is it a special deal just now?

Mine has this, but only in semi-skimmed. The skimmed comes in a 2pt container for 86p -- and full fat is 4pts only for £1.49. It's been like that for a few weeks now -- and DS isn't impressed as I'm making him use s/skim and he prefers f/fat. Told him that if he coughs up the difference (plus the extra cost of buying my skimmed in 1pt containers, as I'd never use a full litre of s/skim on my own) then I'll change him back..... no cash has yet been forthcoming :rolleyes2

My first recorded purchase of this is 27th Jan......

Frugaldom

Thanks CW, I never thought to check prices of the others because we normally only use the semi-skimmed. Gave up on whole milke after they homogenised it, rendering it impossible to separate the cream.

Spent some time checking over my spreadsheets and, after spending the ridiculous amount of £566.78 of my £4,000 budget in January, February looks to be shaping up a little better at just £281.48 so far. The bulk of spends to date have been on stockpile groceries, winter fuel, annual insurance and electricity. I would love to be able to say that I'll be bang on target for the end of March but that doesn't look possible as I have already spent over 21% of my annual budget and my money neutral challenge is leaning the wrong way by just over £20.

Bails, sorry about your porch escapades and sorry it made me laugh :rotfl: I know someone else who was good at that but no windows to yell through and no mobile at the time, settled for a 2 hour wait until someone arrived. :rotfl: It's worse when the dog is watching through the glass door panel!