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

Skint_Lynne

I have taken the plunge and written all the debts down, it is not pretty.:eek:

I was quite accurate with my rough guess in my head, so even though it was scary to look at, I had a good idea of what it would be. I will reveal all when I get it down a good bit anyway.

I feel calm inside about it, which is strange, there's nothing I can do except get on with paying it off. I think it will take about 4 or 5 years, so I'll knuckle down and make it my hobby for now.

I think I'm going to start a payment a day system with some of the lesser ones, then I can whittle it down without noticing so much. A fiver a day soon mounts up.

I have come a long way since I have joined this thread, that's why I can finally face up to things.

Onwards and upwards, as they say. xx

cw18

Well done on finding the courage to write them down SL -- I know I had a terrible shock when I did the same thing 18 months ago :eek:

DdraigGoch

Well done, SL - it takes a lot of nerve but, as you said, once it's done it's just another thing to get on with. Well done.

and as for well dones ....



HUGE CONGRATULATIONS AND WELL DONE TO LOOPY-LOU

cha97michelle

Congratulations Loupylou - i would call a girl Daisy. I won't be able to use it now though as DH's cousin called there new baby girl that too. I bet it is high on the top girls name list this year. Good weight. I hope she is being a good girl and letting you get some rest.

I haven't been able to be around much today as DS1 appears to have a gastro bug. Luckily only 3 nasty nappies so far, but it concerns me as he had viral gastroenteritis this time last year for 3 weeks and meant loads of time off work before my maternity leave started. I am hoping if i keep the boys off nursery tomorrow he will recover quickly as i am back at work a week on Monday and can't afford any time off. Hopefully DS2's penchant for eating strange things off the floor (usually cat food) means his stomach is a bit resilient to such things. Not much i can do more than i have.

I'm competely exhausted after our gardening yesterday and looking after the boys today, so i think bed for me, and hoping the boys won't be up between 4 and 5 like they have done every other night this week.

Michelle, x

grandma247

congratulations loopy-lou.

Had my op monday and all went ok except the local was not that effective as i could still feel pinprick feeling even after 2 injections but just said do it anyway and it was over quick. Still some bruising but will heal in a few more days.

I just realised I have not put my Feb spends on and its nearly end of march. I will have to do it tomorrow.

Going to be very busy next few weeks as Aussie friends are coming end of April or beginning of May. I need to do some decorating and changing rooms around so they have somewhere to sleep and will give up the loft room so they can use it as a sitting room . I will try to keep up reading the posts but probably will not post much.

Frugaldom

CONGRATULATIONS LOOPYLOU! Glad to hear all is well and that mr stork brought you a precious little Daisy. :T Hope you are recovering quickly and that everyone is well.

Still frugalling away like mad here, trying to fit in work, house and garden projects with garden taking precedence over everything else as soon as the sun shines. :rotfl: My garden isn't getting done to plan, it has taken on a whole life od it's own and is evolving, which means having to make changes and adapt to those changes practically every day! :rolleyes: However, I now have a greenhouse, a raised patio, my square foot garden, 2 raised veggie beds, mini-orchard and umm.... 5 poultry runs in the making.

I agree with all who are commenting on the price increases, they just keep piling on more!! Our new Aldi has already increased some of its prices, although MILK HAS FALLEN IN PRICE! Why? It's now 43p per litre. I'm making the most of it while it lasts but as someone just mentioned, I think I'll do another stock up on pasta and rice, just to be on the safe side. I alreard do mini-challenges within my grocery challenge, milk, bread, fresh fruit & veg is about all I buy outside of the bulk top-ups. :rotfl:

I'm not that far off budget, slightly over by about £25 just now and probably closer to £100 by end of the month as I want to stock up on coal before price increase and will do a bulk shopping. My miscellaneous spending, which I'm aiming to make cash neutral over the year, is topsy turvy at the moment. I've only recouped £408 of £660 spent so far and this will need rectifying over the next month or two so it doesn't adversely affect my short term savings challenge.

DD's wedding is now less than 6 months away. She designed her wedding invites and we made a mock-up to see how they'll look. (They'll look great! ) and I was also able to make a bit of a saving on the favours, as I found a 5% discount code for the online store. There're very pretty. We ordered the matching table confetti and little buts to finish off the invites. DD has now been sent off to purchase the discounted stamps from $uperdrug (as seen in MSE newsletter) so we can save a few more pounds. :T

I have read everything and think I'm up to date. Glad the op went well, Grandma. Hope DS improves soon Cha, nice to see you back, Bails, looking forward to seeing the puppy pics soon. CW, good luck with the decluttering, storage unit and prospect of getting the garden started. Sophiesmum, JTB and all the other gardeners, I hope the sun shines for you all and makes gardening as productive as possible. SF, let me know what the film's like, I thought the trailer ads for that on TV looked quite funny. SL don't worry too much about seeing the scary numbers; £5 per day mounts up very quickly, I even noticed it at £1.35 per day into my quit smoking account, so keep battling!

Apologies for not mentioning everything, I need to get back to work now. Catch up again very soon! Remember - THEY MAY TAKE OUR MONEY, BUT THEY'LL NEVER TAKE OUR FRUGALDOM!

BigMummaF

Daisy :rolleyes:....mmm...I like it...actually we already know a Daisy. Isn't it good to see some of the traditional names coming back into vogue. Congratulations to you, & indeed all celebratorees here & commiserations to the woe-be-gones in equal measure.
I'm still following along & keeping a note of all the spends I have any control over, so I'll be set for next year. It looks as though No2 offspring may be facing spinal surgery so I won't know when or if there will be an increase to the household treasury until after the referral has been set up. TBH, I'm more concerned there will be a vast improvement health-wise & stuff the bills!
I would like to ask your opinion please. We don't have a fire or stove so I haven't taken much notice of how paper logs are made or used :whistle:but yesterday I had a :idea: If we shred our bank statements & things, then stuff them into loo roll tubes, would they work as lighters for the BBQ? Or would it be better to make the papier mache type like the bricks? Thanks.

lyndasharp

Congratulations loopylou and Daisy!

Bad news - the engine in my car is as broken as I thought it would be (i.e. totally). Good news - we should be able to do the engine swap and only use about £15 of parts, plus maybe the same again for oil changing etc. I've also had my work expenses claim paid for Jan and Feb, so thats £650 back in the bank. My mileage profit should cover all the expenses for the cars this year, plus a bit extra!

My gas and electric bill arrived yesterday - £111 for 6 weeks. I'd been fairly generous in my budget and allocated £100 a month, so at least it's lower than I thought, even though it does still seem like a lot of money! This does include the week we were snowed in and had the heating on all the time, so it should be lower next time.

SmlSave

Congratulations Loopylou and Welcome to Daisy!

angela110660

Nappy Days Loopylou and Daisy - best wishes to you both.