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

sophiesmum_2

Checked all my oldies and everyone present and correct although still one or two lingering hang overs from the new years eve party:eek: , off to asda in a minute to buy the stuff for another party night tomorrow for them - last of xmas ones - buffet this time so easy peasy catering;)
cw - are you up for another, very informal buffet party 6pm sat.?????

Will have a look out for any bargains in asda as still have card with about £30 to use up and have completely forgotten about my car tax being due so the no spend day is scuppered and big chunk of 09 budget on it's way out:eek: , can't decide whether to get full 12 months or do 6 months, then 12 months in June so it is not due again around xmas time mmmm ..... think I will just do the 12 months now while I still feel like I have a lot of leeway with budget.:rolleyes:

cw18

sophiesmum wrote: »

cw - are you up for another, very informal buffet party 6pm sat.?????

Why not

Will have to be at least semi-human when I leave though, as I have an early start for a scrapbooking 'crop' on Sunday..... Just means I'll have to print photos today and pack my bags tomorrow (after taking DD to Mr A)

fallen_angel_shelley

cw18- thanks for the advice, I forgot about using Qu!dco :beer:

Sorting_Out

Hello,
I joined this challenge last week, although I spent a few weeks mulling it over. I live in Scotland, there are six of us in the family plus a Slabrador and two ferrets. DD1 is at uni so appears at weekends, or when on placement, or at holidays, so she is an intermittant expense.
I'm budgeting £4000 for the year as we live in a tied house and have our electric and gas paid for us.
I am still trying to get my head round drawing up a budget. I've started shopping at Asda online, but I'm gettinig in a fankle with buying things such as loo roll or shampoo or (my personal weakness) slabs of tinned plum tomatoes that last for several weeks rather than just the one. This weeks was 3 chickens for £7.50. Well, we're not eating three chickens in a week, so what do I do with my budget? Freeze two and if I take one out of the freezer deduct its price from that weeks budget? Not quite sure how to aggregate it all.
Still, I am drawing up spreadsheets and would welcome any suggestions about effective strategys there.
I am also looking at our back yard which is very damp and shaded but has sunny bits to it. Its all concrete, but last year I managed to grow lots of herbs, and peas out of tubs. my tomatoes, in an outside poly frame thing, were a disaster, as were the cougettes. Not sure what went wrong there.
My weakness is the impulse buy, knitting wool, and my cookbooks. Oh dear oh dear!

cw18

Sorting_Out wrote: »

This weeks was 3 chickens for £7.50. Well, we're not eating three chickens in a week, so what do I do with my budget? Freeze two and if I take one out of the freezer deduct its price from that weeks budget? Not quite sure how to aggregate it all.

For this challenge I'd deduct what I actually spent, so the whole £7.50 now, and two "free" chickens in future weeks.

But for the Grocery Challenge thread I do things differently -- on there I charge for a whole box of cereal or container of milk when opened (no control over how much DS used each day), but things like rice, pasta and mince I cost the amount I use when cooking

cw18

sophiesmum wrote: »

and have completely forgotten about my car tax being due so the no spend day is scuppered and big chunk of 09 budget on it's way out:eek: , can't decide whether to get full 12 months or do 6 months, then 12 months in June so it is not due again around xmas time mmmm ..... think I will just do the 12 months now while I still feel like I have a lot of leeway with budget.:rolleyes:

Mine's due at the end of January, and I moved it to being then during 2008..... It either comes in now (alongside breakdown on 23rd), or end July (alongside service, MOT and insurance). Decided I preferred it this way, especially as it means I can do it on-line (the MOT and insurance span the month end, so I don't need to find the certificates -- doing it on-line seems to be impossible when the new ones start on 1st Aug, which is the date the road tax is needed by!!)

SiannieLaz

Morning All & Happy New Year to everyone!!
I've been in bed with flu for the last 3 days, so have just spent ages trying to catch up!!!
Got some great news this morning, I've managed to get an allotment after 6 months of waiting! Going to go down there tomorrow to have a look, so better get on freecycle today and see if I can get some tools! Although it will be a few months, hopefully by the end of the summer, I should be saving a fortune on veg. I'm on a restrictive diet and can't eat lots of the cheaper food (potato, pasta, tomato, the list is endless) so it's quite hard to keep food costs down, the allotment should make a huge difference!
Also need to start job hunting like crazy next week as my temp contract is up the first week of March. My OH works full time but doesn't earn as much as me, so if I was out of work for a while, we would really struggle. I don't think his wages would cover all the monthly expenses so there would be nothing left at all to live on. Another reason for being as frugal as possible for the next few months.
Anyhoo, off to update my CV - good luck all :T

dND

cw18 wrote: »

I've not built in lessons for my son either, but as they're not a year-on-year cost I made a decision not to. They (like my crafting) will come out of the income I have above my £8k budget, as they're things that could/would be stopped if income dropped any lower. Mine doesn't actually seem that bothered about learning -- he'd had a couple of free lessons (he was registered with Connexions from Jan-Aug '08, and they paid for his provisional licence as well :T), but can't see the point in learning while he can't afford a car -- and I certainly can't afford to put him on my insurance :eek:

Is that £30 for an hour? They're not that much here (thinks DD's latest quote was around £22), but one of our neighbours is a fairly newly qualified instructor and has said we'll get a 'family and neighbours' discount if we go with him I guess it's to his advantage though, as no dead driving at the start/end of a lesson if DS is his first or last of the day -- plus if neighbour gets a cancellation he can easily check if DS is around to change a lesson and fit in......

Just a few thoughts - feel free to shoot down:D

• It's easier learning while you're young plus you generally have more time if you are still at home
• Lesson prices will only go up so the discount offer might be a real good deal
• Not sure on this one but don't insurance companies ask how long you've had a licence? If so it might help with reducing insurance premiums in the future
• And lastly should something happen to you so you couldn't drive - (broken arm or leg) it's far easier to get someone on the insurance than pass the test in a hurry

cw18

All very valid point dND -- but HE doesn't see it that way!! He'd much rather be spending time on his RPGs than out in a car. He's also worried about losing confidence/forgetting things if he passes and then doesn't drive for a few years -- which I have to give him credit for thinking about, though I did point out it wouldn't cost a fortune for a couple of 'refresher' lessons at that point

dND

Ah RPG's, they do rather eat up the time don't they:D I have one son who lived for them but he realised that he was spending far too much time playing them - so he's now training to write them instead :rotfl: