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

Pythagorous

Great thread this. Thanks everyone for their input. 2009 is certainly the year to be spending 'wisely'. Good luck everyone and lets all keep each other motivated! :-)

Buffythedebtslayer

*now is probably not a good to say I thought 2timerounder was a girl!*


Have had a bit of a !!!! up re budget and am really mad. Mum taxed and insured the car, didn't tell me about (yes I know I should know when it is due but it is in her name and last year she told me when it was due etc. I just thought she would do the same again)

The money I had in my savings account must have gone as an extra payment to the CC - I could nt remember why I had it sitting there - assumed it was for the vets and had no outstanding bill for once.

Now I don't have the money. She has been so patronising about it and won't even tell me how much is for. she says it doesn't matter like I am so idiot child who needs to be managed.

I could rant for hours instead I shall go tidy something

xxx

I am furious with her. its always the bloody same.

Zelie

Well I went to ASDA today cos I thought it would be cheaper but was quite surprised that a lot of the basics were more expensive than Sainsbury. I guess cos the latter do a finest range which pays part of the cost of the cheap stuff. I'm going to check out Mr T next week to see what the price difference is there too. I'll be keeping receipts and comparing carefully - I begrudge that 8p extra now.

Still, not a bad start. I spent £26 which will do for at least a week's groceries (including a couple of splurges for this week!) and I have plenty of cleaning supplies etc to last me for a while yet.

Brighton_belle

Right, finally decided it was time to start making the leap from the the 2008 challenge to this one:D . Great to see all the newbies:T including another MAN:rotfl: . Big welcome 2ndtimearound:D .
This is my budget for the coming year:
4k challenge 2009 budget :
Buildings & contents insurance: £150
Tv licence: £145
Elec £25 per month £300 (Can’t have full control of use as have 2 lodgers)
Gas £27.50 per month: £330 (as per elec)
Telephone rental/calls £144 +£48
Broadband £108
PAYG mobile £40
Food for 2: £175 x 12 = £2,100
Toiletries (for me only) £20
Cleaning products/ loo rolls (for 4 adults)£72
Gifts £100 (hoping to reduce this)
Extras/ contingency: £443
(this will include essential house maintenance/goods, non work related buses,)
TOTAL: £4000

Not including
car costs
travel by bus for work
Medical costs/dentist
Hobbies
Hairdressing
Non essential clothes (which will probably cover any purchases)
House decorating
Outings
All of which I will look do as frugally as possible

I learnt so much last year and plenty more to learn. Very excited about the new start.

bails

Yae, I have finally caught up with you all! :j It's so great that there are so many new people and yet I am also looking forward to having just one thread
Nyk darn you, your post about last year's challenge made me blub It was beautifully written and echoes perfectly what we all feel I think. It has been a wonderful year together with some great friendships made and I am really looking forward to being part of it again this year. Are we nearly there yet? :rotfl:

My lovely mum gave me a diary again this year which I'll be using if and when I can't access the spreadsheet Marru's currently putting together for me :A (if I'm staying at others etc, although I may well check out Skint_Chick's gmail - on my list ). I'll also use it for the months we're in India. I've also got a notepad on the go for any good ideas that spring up as I read - and there are MANY - so I can come back to them at my own pace and give them a try.
I'm so excited about starting the new year, I almost don't want to go away for New Year as it's getting in the way of my plans! :eek::rotfl:I'm trying to get plans finalised so I can book trains for us (can't drive now as we're both ill :rolleyes:) but silence from my friends so far... Anyhoo, I shall be taking my little diary with me and counting every penny. We've already got all our supplies in for the trip so they'll be my first 2009 spends to deduct once I've finalised my category totals. Ooh, I can't wait!!:j

Even more excited now to see BB heading over! Glad you made it in one piece Thanks for posting your budget too as it's similar to mine so good to have something to check mine against. [Looking forward to the email when you're ready, haven't done mine yet]. Also, I'm really happy to see SFT over here, I didn't realise you'd joined us :T We can talk travel with Andromache amongst all the frugalising...:D
Off to tinker with my numbers and tend to my ill OH xx

ilovetea

Here goes,Please don't laugh:D

First of all I'm on benefits and live alone,so my figures might seem a bit odd to some people.
£4,490.20 is total income for the year.
Outgoings are :-
£228 electric
£336 telephone and broadband
£135.48 T.V. licence.
£517.92 Balance of rent payments,but this does inc.water rates,heating and hot water.Also use of washing machine and tumble dryer.
Total£ £1,217.40 I'm going to add on 10% for inflation,so, £1339.14.
All paid by D>D.
So quite a bit left over,not sure where it goes,don't run a car or go out much.
Decided to withdraw £150 at the beginning of each month so therefore my total will be £1800 a year .Does that make any sense?
Hope so:o

Ilovetea x

2NDTIMEROUNDER

ilovetea wrote: »

Here goes,Please don't laugh:D

First of all I'm on benefits and live alone,so my figures might seem a bit odd to some people.
So quite a bit left over,not sure where it goes,don't run a car or go out much.
Decided to withdraw £150 at the beginning of each month so therefore my total will be £1800 a year .Does that make any sense?

Hope so:o Ilovetea x

Your sums make perfect sense Ilovetea. :T I wish my finances were as simple as yours.

=======================================================
I have found a website for bartering. Have a look and see if its worthwhile. Any feedback would be cool for all members in the challenge.

http://www.u-exchange.com/barter-uk

cw18

ilovetea wrote: »

Total£ £1,217.40 I'm going to add on 10% for inflation,so, £1339.14.
All paid by D>D.
So quite a bit left over,not sure where it goes,don't run a car or go out much.
Decided to withdraw £150 at the beginning of each month so therefore my total will be £1800 a year .Does that make any sense?

£1340 on DD averages to just under £112/month

Does the extra £38/month really give you enough to cover your food as well as everything else

sophiesmum_2

Nyk, I can only base my opinions on my personal visits to two battery farms and what i saw whilst i was there. I can appreciate that as in all industries there are good and bad producers and perhaps I was just unlucky in visiting two poor ones but it was enough to put me off intensively farmed eggs for life.
You are also lucky to have lived in rural areas where farmers etc have more respect for their /land/animals/birds whereas the ones I visited were practically in industrial zones and animal husbandry was not the driving force.One of the places has since closed down thankfully.
Nice to have a positive opinion and a different viewpoint on the subject though:D

2NDTIMEROUNDER

cw18 wrote: »

£1340 on DD averages to just under £112/month

Does the extra £38/month really give you enough to cover your food as well as everything else

The way I understood the figures:

Yearly income £4,490.20

MINUS

Standard exp. £1339.14

---

3151.06 left over for discretionary expenditure.