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

angelatgraceland

ilovetea wrote: »

cW18 "pulling money":eek:
At my age I have trouble pulling my socks up!

ilovetea x

I was gonna say "can I have some pulling money too"? Sounds good to me!
Not sure what I'd pull though? A cherub?

FireAngel_2

Hi, I'm another newbie looking to pay off my debts now I've finally had my LBM! My biggest downfall is spending money without paying attention to how much I'm spending, particularly on things I don't really need!

So can I be included in this year's challenge please? Hopefully with a target to stick to, I'll make more effort to not waste money, and I will make the effort to shop around for cheaper insurance & phone and to cancel all the Sky TV channels I hardly ever watch anymore!

This budget should save me approx £500 on what I spent in 2008 for gas, electricity, phone, TV and house insurance. I hate to think what I spent on 2008 on groceries, toiletries & make-up and clothes let alone all my other random and usually unnecessary spending.

I'm aiming for:
Groceries/toiletries/cleaning products £1,000
Gas & Electricity £1,000
House Insurance £350
Sky TV £240
TV licence £140
BT £180
Mobile £180
Broadband £180
Misc (gifts, nights out, non essential shoes/clothing, etc) £730

I'm excluding mortgage, council tax, debt repayments, car expenses/petrol, work related costs and any essential shoes & clothing. I'm also excluding any home & garden improvements which will be paid out of my annual bonus (if I get one!).

I'll be hoping to pick up lots of tips for saving money - I've already copied down the egg fried rice recipe!

One day, I will get all my debts paid off!

MRSMCAWBER

Evening everyone

Hope we are all well ....and excited about the new year

I have managed to keep out of the sales so far...finally made myself see that its only a bargain if I wanted it in the 1st place ....

I have been busily crafting away again today ...x-stitching mums xmas pressie and then onto some knitting in the evening -as a bonus... Shaz was looking for some oddments of DK wool for a blanky she wants to do -in exchange for some eyelash wool that she can't get on with -so for the price of a bit of postage -that means I can make 3 more scarves for xmas and it was the kind of wool I was just about to order (and beautiful colours to boot):j -ohhh Im easily excited :rotfl:
I need to think of more ways to put my bead collection to use ... I can't be bothered with the faff of selling via ebay from out here... so Im thinking decorated candles, handbag charms etc so far.....

As planned we had the egg fried rice and chinese pork strips for dinner ..and I have made a casserole in the remoska earlier -using 1 kilo of diced venison and Kangaroo, lots of carrots and onions -I now have enough for dinner tomorrow in the fridge and 2 lots in the freezer We had never tried Kangaroo before -but its fine ..and rather good at €3.99 a kilo -plus its low fat and cholesterol too :rolleyes: I have another pack in the freezer -and was toying with fetching some more in the morning - then I talked myself out of it as we have enough for 5 meals in the freezer ..so I will save my pennies :A :rotfl:
Right I will get off..ooooh its nearly time

[Deleted User]

Welcome FireAngel - I must warn you that this challenge gets very addictive!! I only 'practiced' for a couple of months this year but am joining properly this year. Everyone is very friendly and you get lots of good ideas.

Hi Paul - Was interesting to read your thoughts and reasons for taking part in the challenge (I am very nosey and like to know about everyone! ) I agree that everyone is very supportive and you dont feel like your on your own.

Me & DH had to go to a family get-together today, luckily only happens once a year! But saw my cousin on the way home and they gave me 3 big black bags of baby clothes/toys/blankets AND a pushchair!! So I'm very lucky - has saved me lots of money. 10 weeks to go!!

Cant wait to start the challenge properly.... Not long now!!

xx

the_cat

Hi everyone

Hope everyone is well and getting geared up for the start of the challenge in just 2 days - yippee!!:T

I feel like I've been planning for this for ages and have already got into some good habits by reading the old threads. Have managed to get an EXTREMELY large number of whoopsies to go with my storecupboard stockpile and now have enough food for main meals until at least mid February. Ditto sandwich fillings for lunches and most breakfast stuff too. Should therefore only need to buy fruit, veg and milk in January. In keeping with my new food shop plan though I will time a quick pop into the supermarkets once or twice a week at reducing time to get these and hopefully pick up stuff for Feb/March to stick in the freezer. Until recently I would never have thought of shopping like this. I did a list and bought what I needed for a week - this way for me at least seems to save more money - so thanks guys! (although I am getting a bit obsessive about whoopsies, is it a good or a bad sign?:D )

Have resisted the sales stuff mostly - did pick up a nice pressie for my mum for £5 in Boots and some clothes bits for DS1 from Matalan. The rest of the sales stuff just didn't seem that great

Have dithered about whether to try growing stuff in pots this year but I only have a very small, shady garden. Over the last 3 months I have managed to get almost all of my fruit and veg at whoopsie prices, 10p or 20p mostly. I have no guarantee of this continuing obviously but would probably spend as much in compost, pots and seeds etc if I continue to be lucky. Maybe I will wait and see how the next 3 months go and if whoopsies are still available I will stick with those

Hmm, I'm rambling again.
Speak soon
Cat

cw18

Have been checking just how much dog food I have in the house this afternoon -- and my younger DS has now seen what I've got for the Dalmatian all in one place, and asked "Why?" When I told him I still need more he looked at me as if I were totally nuts :rolleyes2

I currently have enough for both dogs for the rest of this month, and then (give or take a day) until 30th June for the Yorkie. Hers comes in 15kg sacks, and as I buy two flavours at a time (to give her some variety) that means I buy enough for 8 months at a time -- something my son doesn't have an issue with.

But for the Dalmatian I "only" have enough until 11th May -- so need another 7 weeks worth (24.5kg!) to get to the same mid-year point. I've even worked out how much I have of each of each of the 3 flavours his comes in, so I know what I'm looking out for. But I actually have more than I need of the Beef, so his feeds won't be quite as balanced in terms of variety as I'd have gone for if I found it easy to track down. (Found another branch of the store I need today that I hadn't actually spotted before -- on an out of town complex I use for our closest large Mr T every couple of months )


So assuming I get another 11 of the 2.25kg bags (which is the largest size I seem to tbe able to get the Chicken and the Original in) this means that 6 months dog food will get charged against my budget at

for Yorkie
1st Jan - 30th June incl = 181 days @ 125g/day = 22.625kg
current batch cost £12 for 30kg (voucher for one free sack, for which they deducted £12 as they were on 2 for £24) plus the cost of the voucher from eb@y (£3.95) -- so a total of £15.95
so 22.625kg = £12.03

for Dalmatian
1st Jan - 30th June incl = 181 days @ 500g/day = 90.5kg
made up of
30kg bought as 6x5kg sacks @ £3.49 each = £20.94
and 60.5kg from 2.25kg bags @ £1.99 each = £53.51
total for Dalmatian = £74.45

total for both dogs = £86.48
budget for year = £440
so budget for 181 days = £218.19

so a saving over 6 months of £131.71 :T

I don't expect to do quite as well for the second half of the year, as I very much doubt I'll get another voucher for the Yorkies food And it also depends on still being able to find the brand I'm now buying for the Dalmatian

blondemuppet

Hello all,

I hope nobody minds me posting my workings out in full like this but its just that Ive never posted a SOA before so thought it would be useful to see if anyone thinks there is anything that stands out as being really high. So here goes based on my 2008 spending:

Morgage - 8475
Council tax - 852
Water - 156
House Insurance - 170
Minimum combined CC repyments - 1940

Gas - 480
Elec - 312
Mobile - 240
Internet, landline & TV - 360
TV licence - 145
Car tax - 45
Breakdown - 30
Car Insurance - 200
MOT & servicing - 155
Petrol - 1200

When I take all that away from my income from work plus the money from my lodger Im left with near enough £2000. So I think what Ive worked out is that as my work pay towards my car and my lodger pays towards utility bills etc I think I'll find it too confusing if I try and include those things in my challenge budget so ...I'm going to give myself the challenge of £2000 which will be broken up as £1200 - food, toiletries & cleaning stuff and £800 for everything else. If I can keep to that I will not be spending more than I earn which will be a big change for me. What ever else I can earn eg extra shifts, frenzied ebay selling will go straight off my debts. Does this sound ok?

One thing I find difficult is that making changes in the house costs is kind of tricky with having a lodger. For example I wouldnt have the virgin tv channels if she wasnt here but because I sit in the lounge with her whilst she watches things I feel that I should contribute to the cost as I end up watching it by proxy. She also likes the house to be really warm and it seems really petty to split the bills anything other than 50/50. If she moved out Id be absolutely stuffed so am working on the idea that its better to pay a few extra quid here and there than loose a big chunk of income. Does anyone else have this situation? Apologies for the lengthy post! Any suggestions, helpfull criticism gratefully recieved.

Bonaventure_babes

candygirl wrote: »

Yay!!I'm a fellow veggie vodkakakak lover:j :j :j :j
Got my mortgage dilemma sorted today and things are looking better as they have let me go interest only:T :T
Have been ringing Hotpoint all day to get dryer fixed but no answer:mad: :mad: Had to do drying at Mums;) Can't wait till NYD to start this challenge properly

Hi everyone...
Candy i feel like this too...really need to get started on this budget tho:o

cw18

blondemuppet wrote: »

Internet, landline & TV - 360

One thing I find difficult is that making changes in the house costs is kind of tricky with having a lodger. For example I wouldnt have the virgin tv channels if she wasnt here but because I sit in the lounge with her whilst she watches things I feel that I should contribute to the cost as I end up watching it by proxy.

Was going to say the one entry looked higher than necessary, but your comment explains that I think.....

I'm just changing my landline rental and b/band, and my new deal will cost me £156 over the first year. On top of that I'll have calls, but don't currently expect them to come in at more than £60 over the year (depends on what I decide on workwise around the summer). So a total of £220 tops.

However, I only have freeview. I wouldn't have a dish on my house if they paid me (major problems with them at a previous property) and I can't get cable unless I pay them to run it from the main road, past the front of 2 houses, along the side of the second of those, and then up to the front of my property --- and there's no way I'm even starting up negotiations on that :eek:

blondemuppet

Thanks for your comment cw18, its really nice to have found somewhere with like minded people who are friendly and want to share ideas. I think the best way forward is to try and get my lodger to join the challenge as well!!