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

Frugaldom

Congratulations on getting the new job, Mr BB Nothing wrong with minimum wage, it's creeping up at such a rate that it'll soon be more than my basic in the best paying job I've ever had! :eek:

MrDT

1274 wrote: »

Re unfit, I can't run for 10minutes at the moment so I have a lot of work to do

A good article to get you started here: http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/news/article.asp?UAN=67

There's some good stuff on the runners world site. I never felt the need to subscribe, there's enough content available for free so long as you're not a die hard runner

Good luck!

sophiesmum_2

Great news BB, will be good for his self esteem too:T :T , very happy for you both.

The pictures of the books made me feel really sad, I love books and hate to see them treated like that

Still no sign of my qype voucher

Just returned from tea out with my oldies, the redec of the scheme has really been getting everyone down so they decided to go out for tea to a local restaurant using their funds and I was invited along too:D , I did end up taking three and a wheelchair in my car but that wasn't a problem, and it saved ordering another minibus.

Didn't post yesterday as was having a bit of a glum day(lots of things getting me down) but feel much better today.Didn't spend anything though so still within budget for this month:D
General frugal aims for today;

• storecupboard lunch
• tea out with oldies
• reduce, reuse,recycle one item- got given some seed trays and plant pots for my veggie growing
• do something nice for me -tea out with oldies
• do something nice for someone else- let painters finish early for poets day (plus we wanted them to bog off as all fed up with them being there:rolleyes: )
• fitter not fatter - treadmill

Todays frugal meals;

• poached egg,mushrooms
• hi bran crackers with pate,
• fillet steak,stilton sauce,onions, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes,asparagus,

Fruit and veg portions;
0 fruit, 0 pulses,5veggies,

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)

Skint_Lynne

Hi everyone,

Well, I got my first wage today. It was only for 3weeks but it was a welcome lift. I'll try and hang onto it as long as I can. I did spend some of it tonight though, I bought my mum some shopping. She is not coping with having just a bit of money per week at all. I don't get it, I think she really should be into the swing of it but she's not. Some people can't budget I guess.

I bought a lot of staples, like pasta, potatoes, (these were whoopsied, £1 for 7.5kg), cheese, some tins of meat, peas, some veg, fabric softner, olive oil, milk, butter, cold meats etc. I spent £56 but got lots for my money. She'll just need to buy some bits and bobs. Now, if she stopped buying carp, like crisps and buscuits etc, then she would get on a lot better methinks. Even from the stuff I bought, I can see lots of meals: baked potatoes, macaroni cheese, potato bake, pasta bake, spaghetti carbonara, special fried rice and that's without thinking about it. In fact, I might just request baked potatoes for dinner tomorrow, as we now have 2 big sacks of them. I bought the same one as was whoopsied last week for £2, it was reduced from £3, now they are back to £3, but I got it whoopsied tonight.:D

I'm defo going to have a go at making pizza soon, my brother likes pepperoni, and I saw big packs of smartprice pepperoni at Asda for £1.

I eat there a lot anyway, so am just putting my contribution in. It's nice to be nice as well.:beer:

Hope you are feeling beter tonight sophiesmum, I was wondering where you were last night.

I was on the phone to my friend for ages last night, we had a good laugh. She grows her own veg, has a wonderful garden. She is always telling me that I should write a book because of all the stories I tell. I get told on a regular basis that I am quite entertaining, so I should really think about it. It would be nice to keep a record for myself even. I did want to do that this year, but havent gotten round to it.:o It's never too late though!!!

Speak later xx

HH62

Hi everyone. I'm still here and I'm still struggling but I will be starting anew on Sunday, the 1st of March. I've lost track of my spending this month so I'll start again on Sunday and do it properly like I did at first.

On a positive note, I've now been in my new home for 4 months and the first quarter utility bills have come in, so I've got a good idea about my winter outgoings for gas, elec and my water which is metered. All were based on actual meter readings so I can incorporate those figures into my budget plan more effectively. I seem to use a lot of electric, so I got a monitor thingy from Lidl the other day. Just need to work out how to use it now!!

Got a busy day tomorrow and it will not be a NSD. So I'll try to be careful and not go too silly!

sophiesmum_2

Thanks SL:A , just one of those days when lots of things conspired to make me feel a bit miserable and not like "talking" in real life or virtually. Luckily I am naturally laid back so things don't get me down for long, feel okay again now xxx

Brighton_belle

glad to hear that SM - you are such a lovely presence to have on this challenge and a great support to so many.
Thanks to all for the kind comments re OH. You're right SM - very good for his flagging self esteem and perhaps the most important aspect of it all.

Right, I am declaring my Feb budget as I won't be spending tomorrow:
I've made a few changes - I needed to increase my phone calls budget - I need to refocus on making more calls when they are free at the weekend, but some relationships are too precious to hang for (like elderly parents or friendships that need a call at that moment).So I've upped the budget from £5 to £10 but will keep working to keep it as low as poss.

I've taken the money from my food budget as I seem to have done quite well so far and there is definitely more cuts I think I can make there in time. Looking at how I am doing so far, I hope to make more cuts in the overall budget over the year: this is the first year of it so it should be no suprise that I will beable to spend less in some areas than I planned for. All practice for next year

Skint_Lynne

Well done to mr BB on the job, I decided to take my job as it will be beneficial in the long run, and decided to keep it as they are a really nice crowd of people. I'll bet he will love it, (and you will love him being away out all day):p . Good luck anyway. xx

angelatgraceland

Well done Mr BB! I saw a job advertised tonight so I got the form and had it handed in within 2 hours. Pharmacy work which Ive done before. It would be just right for me-25 hrs per week and lighter than the job Im doing now-wouldnt affect my hands the same.
Had a lot of bargains tonight in Co-op too. Lots of reduced chicken breasts-from £8.99 to £3.99 so I got 2 packs-its the big packet of willow farm ones. Got some bacon also-2 for £4 so that will go nice with the chicken breasts-stuffed with sundried tomatoes. Also got half a duck for £2.99. My dds licke this-not so keen myself. Need to tot up totals with last minute splurge but I had more left than I realised as Id taken some cash out of my purse so I didnt carry it around. Nice surprise. I will be able to start march with my "monthly allowance" from my annual budget with a clean slate and not needing much.

lingojingo

Congrats to Mr BB from me too. :j
As long as you can manage on the low wage, a job he enjoys will be worth so much more than mere money.

Just caught up on all yesterday's posts and can't remember what anyone said, so please all consider yourselves thanked, hugged or whatever you need :rotfl:

Just about to go shopping,although tecnically it will be eaten in March, I've still got nearly £30 left in February's grocery budget, so will use that. DD going to Valencia for a week with college on Monday, so the food should last much longer too.