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

cw18

Pips_Mum wrote: »

Booked in for a sweep later so fingers crossed everyone.

Worked for me with my youngest

bails

Caught up to page 19 but just want to say I'm so sorry to hear about your uncle and cat Janey xxx I'm so glad the tree missed everything and more than anything, I can't wait for 2009 to start for you - you deserve a much better year than this last one. Hugs xxx

Bowski_1011

I'm thinking of joining in with this challenge. Not sure if I'm organised enough though!! There's only me and DD who is 10 so it should be alot easier for me than those with more children and an OH. I've got my notepad here and I'm going to spend a few hours trying to work it all out.

If I don't end up doing it properly on here I will still be doing my own little effort on my own in practice for next year! I'll still be reading either way, keeping up with everyones progress and I find it so inspiring.

Good Luck to everyone, All the best for 2009 :beer:

wornoutmumoftwo

I'm already on the list as I joined up last year (and failed miserably).

I never quite seemed able to stay below budget but this year's explanation of the £4 is much simpler and less confusing.

My budget for this year is: 5726.40 (and don't forget the 40p)

This is the £4K and two children's benefits (at the new rate).

Included is;

Groceries, toiletries and cleaning products
Internet/telephone/TV
TV licence
Clothing
Mobiles (payg)
Gifts
House and Contents Insurance
Daily Electric usuage

I'm going to start this from now while I am in a highly optimistic frame of mind, I am going to buy myself a big diary so I can keep all my figures in one place.

And, it feels good to be back.

jtb2412

Oh my word ! I just got my elec and gas bills in (bit late, they were due on 1st Dec but they run from 1st Sept to 23rd Dec) ..... and they're nearly £500 :eek: (for the both) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm just glad that this bill is not coming out of the 2009 challenge ....... otherwise i'd be pooped before I started

Boy do I need to cut down ! I've turned the heating off and we're now sitting here with a jumper on lol. However, we do have a big house (5-bed) and a flat roof extension so I guess that's where a lot of the heat has gone. My bills are very low in the summer however so I suppose it will even out over the year.

I did work out that I have spent about £15 per week on gas and £15 on elec over the last few months. This is actually less than last year (when we moved in there were pre-payment meters and I was feeding at least £20 each a week during the winter months). So, all in all, what with the price rises and me changing from pre-pay to standard meter, we are in fact better off (now I feel a bit better lol).

So, tonight, i'm off to read the carbon challenge thingy (can't remember the exact name ) to see what we can do to bring costs down :T

Frugaldom

sophiesmum wrote: »

... ex batts are usully in a terrible state until they start getting looked after properly...

Hi to all, I just had to comment on this, sorry SM, it is not any sort of criticism, nor am I condoning battery farming in any way, but, if you visit any battery farms, the hens do not all look scruffy and bald, nor is it caused by intentional cruelty. Even pet hens could end up like that. The scruffy battery hens are in a full moult when they get to that stage, and it doesn't help that hens can be cannibalistic and pull out each other's feathers. That's why they need to trim the beaksof many poultry & game birds, as they pick on their weaker counter-parts (hence the term 'hen pecked'). The feathers should all grow back in over a period of weeks, it's just that their moult is much more severe because they have been kept in controlled environments to keep them laying (or growing) to their full potential. As soon as moulting starts, egg production drops accordingly, so makes the birds economically non-viable to the intensive rearers. Free range birds living to natural daylight hours moult much more slowly and don't lay quite as many eggs, so we hardly notice. One little cautious note, you can't just put these rescued hens straight outside after their having spent a year inside. They need to be fully acclimatized first.

Again, there's absolutely no criticism meant here but, as an ex-poultry and game worker (and trained as a veterinary nurse) I have never mis-treated any birds, nor have I seen them being mis-treated and we had 48,000 to look after. You'd be surprised how many people who work in food production & animal related industries do like animals - I have given new homes to many, many ex-battery hens in the past (and ducks, geese, pheasants, guinea fowl, rabbits, cats, dogs, horses, ponies, donkeys etc, etc, etc... :rotfl: ).

Anyway, good luck to all the new chicken keepers among us, I'm hoping to get back to that in Spring 2009, which isn't long from now. In fact, HS is outside just now un-flat-packing the quail run and housing and I'm sitting here, supposed to be calculating how much space we have as I want to move the greenhouse to the furthest corner of the garden and build a shed where the greenhouse currently stands. It's freezing here, though, so I may kindle the fire first.

2ndtimerounder, there are a couple of other males of the species who do frequent the challenge as well as MrDT, so don't panic, you are safe enough for now. Paaaaaaaul... where are you? :rotfl:

Candygirl, we don't have central heating and I don't use a tumble drier, although I do have storage heaters that I can sit the airer next to. I have a clothes line and whirlygig outside, plus ceiling hanging airer (pulley) and an ordinary upright airer, plus I invested in a dehumidifier that is really economical to use. These are all fine as long as you aren't expecting clothes dried the same day they get washed when weather is really miserable, though. At best, it's overnight.

Must dash, will catch up with everyone as soon as I've finished some work, kindled the fire and done whatever I decide to do in the garden

Marru

Marru wrote: »

OMG!!! Look what you have done to me! I wasn't going to sign up for the i-measure as I have enough things on my plate but somehow I just registered and submitted my first meater reading and I can tell that I am hooked already as I can't wait for my first results... Off to have a cup of tea to soften the shock...:rotfl:

Now I really am in shock. I took another readings today and according to the results I have used in two days £45.- worth of gas and £1.08 worth of electricity. :eek: Please tell me that I misread my gas meter two days ago. I even calculated the gas manually and got to the same result as imeasure. No more hot baths for me as I have allocated £50 for gas and electricity for MONTH not for two days...

Sorry, panic over. I did have made mistake in the readings. The correct numbers are: £4.38 for gas and £1.08 for electricity. I think I need to go lie down...

redglass_2

Thank, dND! :T

PasturesNew, this really is a flexible challenge - you can set your own limit and you can have 'luxuries' without having to count them in. If it will motivate you at all, I'd say 'Go for it'. You don't have to do the same as anybody else. I have fewer commitments than lots of other people on the thread and should in theory be able to live on less, but while I'm constantly amazed at what others achieve, I'm aiming at something that's workable and motivating for me and the way I run my life.

Phew...I'll be glad when the old thread closes, keeping up with both is a challenge in itself!

cw18

jtb2412 wrote: »

Oh my word ! I just got my elec and gas bills in (bit late, they were due on 1st Dec but they run from 1st Sept to 23rd Dec) ..... and they're nearly £500 :eek: (for the both) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ouch!

I thought ours was bad (4-bed detached, but modern - built 2002 - so pretty well insulated). From 29th Aug to 15th Dec (so much the same period as yours) my bills totalled £222.55

2NDTIMEROUNDER

nykmedia wrote: »

2ndtimerounder, there are a couple of other males of the species who do frequent the challenge as well as MrDT, so don't panic, you are safe enough for now. Paaaaaaaul... where are you? :rotfl:

Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaul show up mate. She has said (for now)!!! ONLY FOR NOW!!! Paaaaaaaul???? :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: