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

Buffythedebtslayer

So far, I have sorted out pictures on computer to make space for e bay pic on camera, set up my bank to pay me my 333 each month and figured out the rest of the money to over pay etc. I emptied two savings accounts I forgot I had:eek: to pay towards the car insurance disaster

and i cancelled my magazine subs,:o should have done it ages ago but hey ho done now.

I won't be able to do overpayments this month cos of the insurance and Christmas but I am still ok. well I have 80 spending money till Feb 2nd! but you know what I don't have any real expenses till Feb any way!

off to take pictures for Ebay and eat lunch am Starving

xxxx

candygirl

Off to get more baby things with DD today:D TBH I have bought most of it so i'll let her spend today, it's sooooo exciting though:j :j
Not spending on food today, so anything I but will be a luxury, but i'll try to stay strong;)

Janey51

Well done Cw. Clearing a debt makes you feel brill :j

Somebody mentioned a Slabrador....can't find the post again. Please would someone put me out of my mental agaony and tell me what kind of a dog that is????

Friend has been here chain sawing a tree for me so have acquired a few bags of logs.
Unfortunately, he informs me that the tree that was blown down last week is a larch and therefore no use to burn as it spits all over the place :mad:
And another tree I discovered lying around looking lost was rotten when he started to chop it up :rolleyes:

My visitors are about to leave (except for son and DIL). I am hoping they will forget about the uncooked chickens in the fridge and the luxury ice cream in the freezer And there is bread and milk and fruit and cakes.
I feel as if I have won the lottery
But I think I will need all the extra food to offset the cost of the oil, logs and electric they have used.

LollopyBear

cw18 wrote: »

:T I've just paid off the third of four credit card debts :T

Well done CW18 that is fantastic! :j :T

barole

Hello and Happy New Year to you all!!
I tried the challenge last year, and did really well in the first quarter then just took my eye off the ball, have all sorts of excuses which I won't bore you with, but it has foced me to examine what I actually spend rather than budget on spending, and there is quite a difference.
Although not officially joining the challenge, will be watching closely following tips and encouragement and encouraging others.
My tips would be (sorry if this is just repeating what others have said)

1 review all spending monthly.
2 review the previous year, monthly, to see where and when the money actually goes, eg school holidays, ebay bargains, vets bills etc.and what can be reduced/controlled.
3 plan ahead!

Sorry if this is stating the obvious to all you successful budgeters, but it might help people like me who think they live frugally, then splash out rediculously in a particular area.

Heaps of luck to everyone and best wishes for the whole of 2009!

Sorting_Out

Janey51 wrote: »

Well done Cw. Clearing a debt makes you feel brill :j

Somebody mentioned a Slabrador....can't find the post again. Please would someone put me out of my mental agaony and tell me what kind of a dog that is????

Hi Janey51,
It was me....

A Slabrador is a perfectly normal friendly labrador that has been shamelessly mooching for scraps under the kitchen table or making doe eyes at guests all christmas and new year, and now thinks his name is "Oh how sweet, a puppy" (he's a year and a half and called Macaroon-Mac for short)
The innocent or naive guest then hunts about the person for a biscuit, or some other treat in the mistaken belief that the labrador is a poor starving creature that needs sustinance.......and the natural follow on from that senario being repeated too often is a labrador that has gained a pound or two over Christmas and New Year, and is now a roley poley slab of a dog rather than the svelte creature he was before. Hense Slabrador.

jtb2412

Hello everyone and HAPPY NEW YEAR ! :beer:

Have not long been back from visiting Mum and Dad for the last few days, so just having a brief cuppa (and catching up a bit ) while hubby's picking the dog up from the kennels.

Had a NSD yesterday (nothing open lol) but have had to pay kennel fees today and I think I need some potatoes for tea. I do need to do a bit of shopping this weekend (mainly packed lunch stuff for kids) but think I've got enough food to last a good 2 weeks ! :T Fingers crossed, I should come in under budget for food this month .

It's great hearing how keen everyone is, it keeps me motivated :money: .

Have sorted out some carrier bags for the recycling (I had loads !) and will now slowly start to declutter the house a bit. Hoping to get in the greenhouse this weekend/next week to sort that ready for the new season .

CW - well done on the CC ! You should be very proud xx

That's it for now folks ...... I need to go and unpack and tidy up ...... will be on later updating sig and catching up (you all talk so much ! lol) :rotfl:

savingfortravel

Taka and Sarah147-Wow great cinema deals.. I loved Australia..gorgeous Hugh and did go when it was cheaper but not free. Slumdog Millionaire looks brilliant but not sure if I can afford to go to cinema again so soon..have to pay full price this time.. could you tell me where you get cinema deals??

Just been to Tesco. No Branston beans (4 tins for £1) so OH and I got raincheck vouchers (with no date limit-yipee!) for 16 cans (need to get 78 more to cover year). Luckily (or not in some ways) we live very close to store so will pop in again.
Did get 10 bags of Flahavans Irish Porridge 500g for 39p each which is half price and an excellent deal. Should last OH the year. He's still got 5 boxes of Bran flakes to finish from last years stock piling.

OH has ordered leek, spinach and cauliflower seeds from Suttons online.

Love your blog Nykmedia .. spent a lovely hour last night reading about your garden from last year.. especially the birds...love them with a passion!!

Now going to catch up with rest of the posts!!

SFT

cw18

Sorting_Out wrote: »

and now thinks his name is "Oh how sweet, a puppy" (he's a year and a half)

My "puppy" is a Dalmatian who'll be 6 in March -- so yours has a looooong time to outgrow the puppy status yet :rotfl:



Just phoned CB. The notice about my award arrived this morning, and it appears they've totally ignored the letter I included with a form at the start of December (which they must have received to have processed the application, as it was all the college details for DS) asking to be paid weekly instead of 4 weekly due to the death of my DH. Explained to that chap I'd requested this as I believed I was entitled, possibly due to being unemployed (though unclear as not on means tested benefits) but definitely due to being a single parent.

He's sorted that out immediately, so next payment will be next week rather than 27th Jan it would have been due on !!!!

He's also changed the bank account details, as I'm now trying to get all income into one -- and then I'll feed across what's needed for Direct Debits on a monthly basis. ATM the CB is going into my "bills" account, which makes it more tricky working out when it's available to cover DDs so that I move enough over (in the past I've often ended up in credit by a full 4-weekly CB payment, as it's arrived too late for the last DD going out!)

So that one's now all sorted to my satisfaction too, and I'm really starting to feel as if I'm getting a grip on my finances for this year :T


Will hopefully hear about the Widowed Parents Allowance in the next 10-14 days, so just the IHT forms and probate court to tackle now !!! In some respects I'm glad I've let these slide a bit, as it does mean I've had the energy to tackle all the others -- there's just been tooooo many places I've had to be in regular contact with over the last 6-7 weeks

cw18

Just seen a post on another thread that Mr A are expected to bring a lot / some prices down to a flat £1

Just done a Google to see what I could find about Mr A and prices, and turned up this

Off for a read myself now......