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

jtb2412

Afternoon guys n gals ...... I'm still here (I think !)

Had a lovely weekend with Mum, Dad, Sis and neice staying and we got down to the beach a couple of times which was great. No gardening or housework done, mainly just chilled, ate and drank a bit (well quite a bit actually) of wine .

Back into the old routine today though. Weather is great here and I'm just about to go out and hang a 2nd lot of washing on the line (first lot went out at 7am and it's almost dry :T ).

Have popped my figures into I-Meausre and we're still reducing energy consumption here so things looking good - just hope this next cold snap that's coming won't be too cold so I can keep my costs down :rolleyes: .

I was a bit bored at work today (shhhhhhh !) so I've done a whole month's meal plan and a shopping list to go with it. Happy to say the list isn't too long and I'm hoping to be well under budget this month for my GC.

I've also managed to find a local farmer (his wife works with me) who is getting me a price on 1/2 a pig and she's pretty sure it will be cheaper than the butcher :j . They also have chickens and lambs from time to time so I could be getting my meat even fresher and from someone I know too - pleased as punch about this :j :T .

Gardening wise, most of my seedlings have appeared (although we had to use the heat mat for the chillis/peppers) so I'm going to spend my day off tomorrow sowing some more things.

We've got FIL and MIL coming to stay this weekend so a couple of extra mouths to feed but I'm sure they'll earn their keep and help us down the allotment if the weather is good enough ! She's also bringing me another couple of rhubarb crowns :T

Right off to sort the washing ........ will catch up on everyone else's antics later .

TTFN xx

nickynoo08

Afternoon all, hope you all had a lovely weekend. Popped to town this morning to withdraw my weekly spends - hopefully i wont get myself confused this month:o - sorted out my library card too (eventually).
Really pleased, majority of my dd's have come out of my bank now, only ntl left to pay and i've still got money in the bank, i'm normally in minus figures by now:D .

LollopyBear

thriftylass wrote: »

Sarah and LollopyBear, don't take this wrong but I'm a bit glad it's not just me not quite making last month's budget (sounds odd but it gives me some consolation and motivation not to give up), although I guess I was the most over so far :eek: :eek:

I agree Thrifty - it doesn't make me feel like a failure when other people are over too, just a reminder that we are all going to go forwards and backwards on this journey

Also, remember that different people are counting different things. I can't remember why you were over, but I am not counting mortgage/heating/electricity/broadband etc. because I just give DH a fixed amount each month (£700) that covers all the bills. This is just my personal spending

I do think I'm improving though. I went to see Chicago last week with my sister on her work's trip (she was treating me the ticket and it included dinner!) and I saw a fab top in the souvenirs. It was very similar to one that I bought at Dirty Dancing and absolutely adore and I was very tempted, but I resisted the £17.50 and felt very proud of myself. I didn't even buy a programme this time, which is unheard of for me! I have massive bags full of programmes going back years and I didn't want to add any more to that.

shaz_mum_of__2

Oh i missed the programme what channel was it on i could check for repeats / downloads

Sold another 2 books some foreign currency and withdrew another £10 scratchcard money this free money thing is addictive , i actually like that money better than the "earned"stuff

My reference books seem to be in demand and it was so easy will be having a good clear out i think

Having a homemade lamb pie with roasties and veg for tea had a hectic day at uni and i am ravenous(skipped lunch)

Lynne not sure about the techie side but could you do a blog type shop and accept payments by paypal or cheque instead of a proper website for the shop not sure what you sell(is it gifts canles etc) the other way round the lease would be to change the shop for a different type? i would open a poundshop i think :rotfl::rotfl:but then thats my comfort zone!!

Shaz

FrankieM

Hi everyone,
Sorry I've not been around for ages. I'd love to say its cause I've been busy but really its cause I've been slacking off!!
After a couple of heavy spending months I've decided to draw a line under it all and start afresh this month with a budget total that is for the next 10 months.
I know what I'm working with per month and I've got a loose plan so I'm counting on success!

I hope you are all well and are managing to keep on top of things....

FrankieM

OK, I've updated my signature...I've paid for mobile phone bill and my DH is going to a boys weekend 40th birthday next weekend so I've transfered some money to his account for that...I ordered groceries and put fuel in the car too but I'll add those when they hit my account so I don't get confused.

bails

Hi everyone, sorry I haven't been around recently, just been very busy! Hope you're all well, I'll be catching up on the thread soon. All's good here, just busy enjoying life The puppy is keeping me busy too, especially as she is into the cats unfortunately - I think she wants to make friends more than anything but her overexcitement is stressing them out. We've got an appointment with a behaviourist on Wed so that will help hopefully. Apart from that she's progressing really well, her confidence is growing all the time. She gets her jab on Thursday so we'll finally be able to take her for walks which will take the pressure off the situation too:T
Placement hunting is going well, the only snag is....I found a near-perfect back to work job this afternoon :rolleyes: I tick almost all the boxes they're looking for, it's very part time, it's just along the road...any-hoo, I might apply for it if I think it's workable moneywise and if I get an interview we'll go from there. It's possible we could rearrange our travel plans so we'll see. I'm not worried about the job itself but I'll be bricking it if I get an interview :eek::rotfl:

boring_beige

Sophies mum, wow, that is a lot of stuff on your bed.
nykmedia, it's not the 5th yet but any news on the eggs?

Not been a bad month really. spent £73.85 my target is £1200 excluding keep
£39.92 was on food
£5 mobile top up.
£22.27 mum's birthday
£4.50 sewing magazine (it contains a lot of pattern, so i figure it's cheaper than being individual patterns. Not getting march's one, not enought different styles I like to make it worth while)
£2.16 at the library for request and the first late fee i've ever had!

March's total will be a lot higher. i will most likely get a new mobile £30 orange top up and get a free phone. i've got mothers day, which i think is on the 23rd. Tthe quarterly phone bill is due so i will be giving my mum £30 for three months broadband.

thriftylass

LollopyBear wrote: »

I agree Thrifty - it doesn't make me feel like a failure when other people are over too, just a reminder that we are all going to go forwards and backwards on this journey

Also, remember that different people are counting different things. I can't remember why you were over, but I am not counting mortgage/heating/electricity/broadband etc. because I just give DH a fixed amount each month (£700) that covers all the bills. This is just my personal spending

We're charing bills in a similar way, I give OH 500 for mortgage, insurance etc (which I don't include in challenge) but I pay goceries, some smaller bills (leccy for instance) and personal stuff (the latter is where I massively overspent).

savingfortravel

Hi Everyone!
Another viewing today..went well I hope.
Finally done figures but don't have a wonderful coloured chart so I hope this is ok.

My chart didn't work so I'll have to go back to it tomorrow.. Oh well

Catch up with the posts later.