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

andan

Hey guys, just popping in to let you know i am still with you!! Challenge is going well and have only spent £800 so far out of my budget so am rather pleased.

So far i have made £600 free money but i think i am going to keep this seperate from this challenge, certainly for the time being, otherwise i will think i am doing super well and tr less!!

I have been working a bit on my garden recently and now have some seeds sown which are growing, so my veg patch for the year is looking hopeful. Now the weather is getting a bit warmer, i am intending on getting my bike out and starting to cycle soon, which should help with petrol costs. I have also swapped from drinking cheap pop, to drinking water. A water meter isn't really an option for us and we would need the landlord's permission, so figure i might as well drink the free water than have to pay more for drinks.

My OH has been away most of the past month though, so it will be interesting to see how the budget is affected now he is back!!

taka

Breathe in... breathe out... breathe in... breathe out... :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: ...

Ermmmmmm I have just had a meeting with my boss... where I just told him (asked him?? ??) about something ... maybe doing a PhD :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: It may mean a very scary drop in salary to about 60% of my current take home pay :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: (depends whether part time or full time). EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!! Finantially it would really be quite tight - this challenge would be a neccessity rather than a choice but as long as my flat doesn't need extensive repairs it could be ok... I do have savings (more than I have paid in repairs in the last 6yrs) but I would also need to allow time to write up at the end - essentially several months of no pay with a mortgage etc to pay.:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Mind you I might not get in at all... Its a bit late in the academic year and I think it would in many ways be difficult making the transition from my current job to this especially in the same department I have worked in for years ... :eek: :eek: :rotfl:

I must be mad... :rolleyes: :rotfl:

cw18

taka -- I don't think you're mad at all. If it's something you want to do, you think you can afford it, and really want to do it (I assume it would mean more money after you finish it), then I say "go for it" :T

Frugaldom

Taka, I'm with CW on this one, go for it! You are already managing well budgetting, saving and sticking to your own 'rules of play', so this is just another step in the direction you want to go. At the end of it, we'll need to call you Dr Taka and that, in itself, must be worthy of serious consideration. I don't think it's madness, I love the idea! Well done on broaching the subject with work, too. :beer:

Redglass, I wish you every success with your new job and know that you'll still be living the 4k ways, even when you could have 10 times that. We'll miss your regular input but you are following dreams that have become realities - no amount of money can pay for that. :T

SF, enjoy the camping, watch out for camels and sandstorms and PLEASE take some pictures to share with us all when you get back. It all sounds so exciting! :j

It's been another sunny day here, so work was done in a hurry before heading into town for bread, milk & fruit and then we went to the farm that had hens for rehoming. Umm... guess what I now have in the back garden? It's not quite what I was expecting to have and neither the hen house nor the duck house are in use yet... we now have 2 broody hens each with about 2 dozen eggs! :rotfl: I've got one hen in each hutch either end of the little 6' run! :j I was expecting little old hens looking for nice retirement homes whilst laying us a few eggs over the summer months, but these are both young but went broody shortly after starting to lay! Not much good for egg production but saves having to run incubators for eggs if they want to play at being mummy hens.

Ald! also offered up another bonus for me today, by way of a couple more apple trees and some cheap potting compost. :j That's me up to 9 trees now, so I don't think there's space for any more. One's already planted, the other is still soaking until I decide where it's going. I'm thinking it would be nice to have in near the broodies so there's some extra shelter for the coops & run. Happy bunny now, I just hope the ladies settle into their new homes without too much fuss.

sophiesmum_2

:j :j Aw chickens , Nyk I am soooooo jealous - but in a good way:D

sophiesmum_2

Redglass - Good luck with the new job,:beer: keep popping in to see us:D
Taka - Go for it ! If you can afford it I would do it:j :j

Brighton_belle

Nyk - how fab and out of the blue (or am I behind the times)
Taka - either Nyk & cw18 have psychic abilities or I've missed a previous post: but I'm with them all the way - this sounds exciting. Just another big tick on your list of achievements this last year:T .
Nothing much to report: still playing nurse. Requests today for me to wear the uniform imply patient is feeling a bit better:D

Got new water bill for the next financial year and I pleased to say my estimate of % increase was pretty spot on: it's up about £3 a month from last year. Just waiting for the C Tax bill now.

cw18

Brighton_belle wrote: »

Taka - either Nyk & cw18 have psychic abilities or I've missed a previous post

hop back to the post taka just made and highlight it -- the 'floating' smilies were a big away that there was more text in the post than 'met the naked eye'


Nyk - loving the sound of the way your small-holding is coming together :T

taka

Thanks - its all a bit complicated!
There are 2 options (if its possible in the 1st place... lol). I currently work for an Uni doing research :rolleyes:

Full time - Scary drop in money (but what I get would be tax free), no council tax to pay - 3 yrs funding - 3 years + probably several (3-6?) months with no salary writing up up. My boss has no idea if there is or might be funding at the mo for this but said he would find out. May need to wait till the next academic year. Finantially it would be scary but do-able.

Part-time - I have funding till summer 2011 (~ 2.3 yrs) in my current post but would need 6yrs worth to complete it part time plus write up time. There is no guarrantee (sp?) we could get more funding. Salary would be my current salary but I would have to pay some fees which would be ~£1600 per year. It could mean a possible clash between what I need to do for my job and what I need to do for my potential PhD but that might not be a problem at all as my job IS doing research. My dept head is rather against part time students but there has been one in the past so it is possible. Finantially I'd only be a £70/month worse off as we get an incriment pay increase in Aug wich would cover half the fees.

Either route I would have a salary increase upon getting a job after competion although this would not be huge it would allow me more career options in academia than not doing a PhD.

I understand what would be involved (possibly a bit too well for my own good ... lol) and think I could do it, certainly the practical/technical aspects anyway. The presenting/writing/talking side of things scares me and I have avoided it to date but I want to find out if I can do it... and the way to find out is to actually do it... :rolleyes: :rotfl: :eek: I just need the confidence to show I can do it and convince other of this!!

PS. BB highlight my previous post... I wrote in white... sorry... Its just a bit overwhealming and scary to "say" out loud... lol. I've skirted around it/avoided facing up to it for years!!

PPS Nyk - yeah chickens:j :T but 1 question... how many are you aiming for? 2 dozen eggs to hatch sounds scary + the 3 you already have!

Brighton_belle

cw18 wrote: »

hop back to the post taka just made and highlight it -- the 'floating' smilies were a big away that there was more text in the post than 'met the naked eye'

thanks Cw - sometimes I am denser than a dense thing - I've been told about this proceedure before but never pick up on it.
Taka - no need to apologise... a great first step when saying the scarily unsayable
I think you said before that your line of work may have a sell by date with funding? So this sounds an excellent way to increase your future earning potential.