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

bails

A big welcome to all the new people signing up, great to have you onboard! Pips Mum, I hope the baby comes soon!!

fizzel81

Morning all

well ok on my target of 6412.80 ( 4000 plus child benifit) im aiming for the following assuming calculations are correct

this is for me and my 3 little ones

Food £1820 at £35 a week this seems little but i do stretch things very well, i would love to grow veg but garden seriously needs a overhall first

Mobile £120 this is £10 a month on o2 payg

Sky £252 thats on my package at £21 a month but am going to try and cancel

Utilities £1800 this is high but in jan i am paying the remainder of my gas bill which is just under £240, it also includeds my life insurance which i will not budge on

telephone/internet all with bt am tied for another 9 months with them this is on my avarage £60 a month for all in but im aiming to cut this by makeing people call me more (hehe)

tv licence £150 off top of head guesstimate

if totaled up right i make this £4862.00 which then leaves me £1550.80 for everything and anything else, this will mainly be clothing and shoes for the boys and 2 school uniforms in september (though will see whats suitable for hand me downs iykwim)

i will be using my nationwide account for anything on dd, the food and excess will be sent to my halifax account

no rent is included though i do pay some every month as lha doesnt cover my full rent and have no council tax at present, childminder, water rates and debts are also not included, im not including water as i use more due to the boys skin so this will come out of dla such as will anything i buy thats skin related

as from sig i have money left from this years (very surprised at that!) would it be wrong to stock up for next year or is that cheating

thank you for the 2008 challenge, in the first part of the year is helped having it there when moving, helped my furnish the house in the later part of the year (new beds and bedroom furniture as we never had wardrobes, and my old bed tok up the whole room as it was a super king size) its now helping me since i stopped work and am waiting for benifits to come through and to provide my own deposit for landlord now council bond has expired, without doing the challenge the above would not have happened

by the end of 2009 and into 2010 i aim to be training for the job i really want to do and my savings can be mine (sadly only allowed a certain amount when on benfits but dont think i will save over that) and maybe by 2010 i can have my own car

here is to 2009 and goodluck to all on the coming years challenge

thriftylass

I know I said I'd only be lurking til the new year, but I thought I post this now the new thread has started.
Below is my original budget that I set for 2009 and posted before, but I changed it yet again (numbers in red). The reason being that there is a little frugalmite on his/her way :T and I should probably save a bit more (maybe can convince BF soon too and hit home the benefits of paying off his debt and start saving, especially now). It's quite a drastic change to my previous spending, but I guess I won't be going out much now and it prepares me for reduced maternity pay.

£ 0 telephone/internet/tv (paid by BF)
£ 10 my mobile PAYG £5
£ 40 electricity (paid by me)
£ 7 pet insurance (paid by me)
£ 27 long term storage (only my stuff, includes insurance for it; our house is just too small and there are things I definitely can’t part with)
£150 groceries +hh (paid by me solely; includes food for two and my work lunches, pet food, toiletries, house hold items) £120
£166 going out, clothing, gifts, miscellaneous (this will be the hardest to keep down) £50
£ 50 contingency
£300 per month

£[STRIKE]4800[/STRIKE] 3600 per year [STRIKE](plus £500 contingency for the whole year (emergencies, also to take pressure off a bit in case I run over the budget)[/STRIKE]

Frugaldom

Pips_Mum wrote: »

... Well as Arnie says "I`ll be back!" Whens the latest I could join by?

Hi Pips Mum, hi sixteenthofjune, hi nodebtdiva, welcome to 4k challenge frugaland and thank you for joining us! :T I am about to add all your names to the challenger list at the start of this thread, but don't worry, don't panic and don't be scared; just because you are taking part does not mean you can't live a normal, happy life, it just means that you become more acutely aware of how much it has been costing you. Hopefully, by 2010, you'll be fully frugalised and have something to show for all your dedication to household budgeting.

Congratulations, Thrifty! Just noticed your news about expecting frugalmite! When are you due?

Pip's Mum, Good luck, I hope all goes well for you and that you manage to get your Christmas dinner! Maybe, with all the excitement of the challenge, you could have frugalmite this weekend and be home in time for Christmas

andan

Well, i have set my budget for £4500 including, gas, elec, food, petrol and car maintenance, going out, birthdays, tv licence, broadband and phone. I am not including courses i am going to do as they are important to my future development and career.

Can someone please explain what the money neutral thing is as i am unsure. Thanks in advance.

Frugaldom

andan wrote: »

Well, i have set my budget for £4500 including, gas, elec, food, petrol and car maintenance, going out, birthdays, tv licence, broadband and phone. I am not including courses i am going to do as they are important to my future development and career.

Can someone please explain what the money neutral thing is as i am unsure. Thanks in advance.

Hi Andan, money neutral is about generating free cash to pay back into the budget to neutralise the spending. Things like freebies, cash prizes, cash back, vouchers, cash gifts or cash generated from selling surplus to requirement belongings on eBid or eBay or at carboot sales etc. If you grow veggies and/or keep chickens, you might decide to sell the excess to friends and neighbours to help counteract the overall costs, or it could even just be a case of handmaking gifts and cards, minimising that part of your budget. Every penny saved is like a penny earned, meaning it can go into paying off debts or savings or back into the budget, whichever you choose. Some of us play free bingo and free scratchcards whenever we get the chance, which has just reminded me that I forgot all about collecting my free tickets from G@l@ yesterday! :rolleyes:

shaz_mum_of__2

nykmedia wrote: »

which has just reminded me that I forgot all about collecting my free tickets from G@l@ yesterday! :rolleyes:

Nyk

Is this the buy a ticket get 50p promotion i made £6 from that and T@ke bre@k scratchcards this week i am amazed how easy it is and it all adds up!


Cottage industry ideas wanted



I did win some prizes at local horticultural show last summer for my fruit loaf and jams marmalade and chutneys so seems the easiest option just got to look into hygiene regs ....................i was a caterer till recently but want to check if been any changes


Other than that someone suggested garden ornaments at bootsales



Also thought about buying jute/cotton bags and printing(special printer paper) a logo on for local companies (independant retailers) then selling them to them to sell on or use for purchases







any other ideas welcomed





Shaz

fizzel81

Nyk thank you for being on the ball again this year, you seem mighty organised

thriftylass

nykmedia wrote: »

Congratulations, Thrifty! Just noticed your news about expecting frugalmite! When are you due?

Well it's still early days, I'm only due late July, but obviously need to keep it already in mind for next years budget . Fingers crossed it all goes ok, it's the first, so a bit scary .

Pips_Mum

Congratulations Thrifty, its our 1st baby too so I know what you mean about being scared but I can honestly say i think I am more scared about doing this challenge!!! :rotfl:

You all seem a friendly bunch so sure you will help me out.
I am going to do my sums at the weekend (providing I am not in labour of course!!) and will post my budget soon.

Thanks for your nice messages so far x x :T

P.S - Love that I am expecting a frugalmite!!:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: