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

sophiesmum_2

mama67 wrote: »

Sm, I found a quote a few years back by tracey Ullman

"My Mother only served up leftovers no-one knew what the original meal was"

:rotfl: :rotfl:

skint_chick

Happy New Year everyone and hopefully 2009 will be a good year for us all!

I'm doing pretty well so far- I stocked up on basic toiletries like BOGOF toothpaste, soap, and cotton buds so I shouldn't need to buy anything else -apart from deodorant as soon as it's 3 for 2. I have tons of other stuff like cleanser, moisturiser, make up etc and have organised it all so I'm only using one of each and keeping the spares in a really pretty box I had lying around so I can easily keep track of everything. I travel a lot so I always keep samples and trial sizes and have finally sorted out the ones I'll use and what I have. Also have enough BOGOF d/w tablets, bin liners, and cleaning products for the majority of the year.

Bought some new pyjama bottoms because the old ones are falling apart and some electric but apart from that have been very good. Stayed in NYE and went out last night instead - OH paid for special movie screening of the new Che films, and we took our own drinks and sweets- part of regular weekly groceries.

Have tons of frozen stuff so had turkey & veg soup for lunch and don't need to go to supermarket for at least a week - just need milk for my cereal. Loving this challenge and can't wait to get my loan paid and my mortgage reduced.

andan

cw18 wrote: »

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

I have to agree with your son on this point. I am twenty five and started learning to drive at 21 because other people were doing it. If i had waited until i actually wanted to learn to drive i wouldn't have wasted so much money.

At 21, i was glad when each lesson came to an end as i wasn't enjoying them, i would take huge breaks during school holidays(worked in a school at the time). I didn't put any real energy into it and as a result it took me a lot longer to learn. At 24 i decided i wanted to learn to drive and put so much more into it, reading free forums for helpful advice and then getting my own cheap car and driving everywhere. For me, it made a huge difference.

I have spoken to several other people who have felt the same as me, they wished they'd learnt when they had wanted to rather than just doing it because someone wanted them to. The majority gave up within a few months, or passed their test and didn't drive for ages and then had lessons later to refresh them, but they ended up having lots more lessons because their hearts weren't in it.

Your son has obviously thought about this and has made the decision that feels right for him, i think its great thats hes not been swayed by social pressures.

cw18

andan wrote: »

Your son has obviously thought about this and has made the decision that feels right for him, i think its great thats hes not been swayed by social pressures.

Thanks for the input Andan

I'm not going to push him if he's not ready, but I am going to let him know the money's there if he wants to.

Of my three, he's the most sensible with money -- and the one who's been most concerned since the loss of my DH and job (in the space of 8 days) that I'm going to be able to cope financially. Some people make comments like "well he's the only one at home, so it's only him it's going to hit if you have problems" -- but I know full well he'd be the same even if he'd moved out.

dND

[quote=andan;17227231

Your son has obviously thought about this and has made the decision that feels right for him, i think its great thats hes not been swayed by social pressures.[/quote]

That's a really valid point andan, I was thinking more about my boys who occasionally needed to be prodded to do anything. They would have sat back and just not got round to it rather than deciding that they weren't ready.

dND

Well today has been a NSD, the only bill I've had is for the mobile which I'm not counting as I feel it's a necessity when I'm out in the fields. I'm off to some friends later so I've made some gifts to take.

One of the friends is dairy and wheat intolerant so chocolate is out so I decided on marzipan dates. For her OH I've decanted some cherry vodka I've made - I think vodka is wheat based but don't know if it causes the same intolerance problems.

Having strained the vodka off I was left with lots of vodka soaked cherries :j so I've added a little pot or those along with some chocolate coated ones.

Does anyone else make chocolate coated things? I had a lot of problems getting the chocolate liquid enough to coat, tried white chocolate, and patisserie chocolate before settling on ordinary milk chocolate and even that went hard with the moisture/vodka from the cherries.

Also had some really good news, I had 2 of my alpacas tested for blue tongue after the death of an alpaca and both tests came back negative :T

candygirl

Just been to B&M Bargains and ALDI and spent £21.99 on nieces bday pressy and doormat, oven glove, socks and groceries from ALDI:D Got Niece a singing musical microphone to bug my bro, and an oops a daisy wooden toy for £6 altogether, where i'd usually spend at least £20 :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
I know I said I wasn't shopping for food but........

LollopyBear

I'm back from Mr Ts. I spent £7 on groceries, which included stockcubes and three different dried spices as I am making my first ever vegetable soup tonight to use up the leftover parsnips, potatoes and carrots (I've also got bread baking in the breadmaker ). I cannot believe how expensive butter is. I'm shocked every time I have to get it! £2.09 for Kerrygold :eek: (we're big "real" butter eaters and it is either Kerrygold or Countrylife depending on which is cheaper).

I then spent a further £6.96 on tobacco, rizla and two disposable lighters I will quit again soon! (The lighters are also needed for lighting the gas oven).

This brings my grand total of spending today to £34.40 . I forgot what an eye-opener this challenge is!

JennyBee_2

dND wrote: »

Does anyone else make chocolate coated things? I had a lot of problems getting the chocolate liquid enough to coat, tried white chocolate, and patisserie chocolate before settling on ordinary milk chocolate and even that went hard with the moisture/vodka from the cherries.

I did bags of chocolate coated stem ginger for Christmas presents but that was crystallized ginger so didn't have a problem with it being too wet. For that I just used Mr T chocolate cake covering rather than the proper stuff. Tasted absolutely lovely and was cheaper too!

JennyBee_2

Well we had a little trip today to spend some vouchers Spent £54.58 on baby stuff (bedding, nappies, wipes etc) but had £50 of vouchers that were given to me when I left work. So only £4.58 spent and that was taken from the cash we had already withdrawn and which is already included in my total. So, nothing to add on here! Although I have added it to my spending diary as it's always cash which seems to go mysteriously missing!!!

ps - whoever mentioned the spending diary website - I LOVE it! I mean, you get pie charts and everything!!!

By the way, is it sad that I got excited about receiving the priority booking form for the Sun holidays today?