Live on £4000 for a Year, 2009 Challenge, part 2

enjoyfinancialchallenges

Skint Lynne just put your rescued pepper seeds on a piece of kitchen paper to dry off and leave on a plate/saucer or anything to keep them safe then next year just plant them, I don't keep them in the dark or anywhere special. They will keep OK, mine are still on the saucer I used last year and have germinated well this year. I do this every year with any fleshy seeds I save, pumpkin, tomato, peppers and squash. Flower seeds that are ripe just go into a paper bag and I tie a piece of string on them and leave a loop so I can hang them up somewhere...never a plastic bag or the seeds will rot. Oh! and don't forget to write on the bag the contents and date, most important because dried seeds are not always easy to identify and you may well forget by next year what they were.

I'm going to try to keep more records in the second half of the challenge as Ive not done so well up to now, I just know there is more money about than previously.

I would love to show you my little veg patch but I dont have a digital camera, so sorry I cant but it is doing well and I'm picking pak choi, rocket, radishes and lettuce and one of my strawberries in the greenhouse is nearly ripe.

Blairweech its not to late to plant spring onions and radishes either as well lettuce and pick and come again salad leaves.

sophiesmum_2

Skint_Lynne wrote: »

Welcome back sophiesmum,

How was your holiday?

Hi SL:D Hope your arm is healing well,
Holiday was lovely and very hot, enjoyed spending time with our Maltese friends too. Bit of bad timing with sorting out stuff at the new house but it had been arranged ages ago so just had to get on with it, gave me lots of time for planning my garden etc anyway;)


I really need to work out how I am going to incorporate the new place into the budget, perhaps I will withdraw from posting figures until the 2010 challenge when I will have a clearer picture of my budget and will have dealt with moving costs/decorating/etc.I will still read the thread though and post.:D

Frugaldom

Good morning

Loopy, feel free to lurk, join in, post, do whatever it takes to keep in touch with us all as there are no hard and fast rules about how to participate. It's about lifestyles and how we spend what we have in an attempt to become/stay debt free, so don't worry if you can't log your spending. Just don't overspend into debt

Welcome back, SM I've had 2 housemoves since starting the challenge on here but costs associated with the actual relocating were not counted as part of the cost of living. You're safe enough - you can stay on the challenge and I'll just yell at you if I spot any extravagances being sneaked in your front door! :rotfl:

Wet and grey here today with a steady drizzle, so not much gardening going to be done. Guess it's back to the tax return, paperwork and housework - bleugh! :rotfl:

Edited in: SM, SFT and anyone else moving house - don't forget to register at moveme.com for both old and new addresses to receive your freebie welcome pack. They really are excellent. Plus, you can get piggy points for registering. There's an online planner that has loads of things I'd have forgotten to do when moving had I not been using it. Haven't checked to see if there's cash back, I think I just took the 20 piggy points.

shaz_mum_of__2

Dead chuffed with myself

Buildings and contents renewal has arrived £380 !

gone through TCB and got it for £175 and£80 cashback which has already tracked...........plus £2 cashback for the comparison search too

Car inurance is due soon as well and have got a quote for £50 cheaper including the breakdown insurance which costs us about £100 and £40 cashback

It really does pay to shop around

Been meaning to ask does everyone realise that TAB scratchcards are now paid as bonus credits not cash i had £7.55 winnings and the minimum withdraw is a tenner .........gutted


Shaz

sophiesmum_2

Shaz - if you deposit some extra cash you should then be able to withdraw all your accumulated winnings and your extra cash too.
eg deposit £5 and then withdraw £12.55 used to work on the bingo sites.

[Deleted User]

nykmedia wrote: »

Good morning

Loopy, feel free to lurk, join in, post, do whatever it takes to keep in touch with us all as there are no hard and fast rules about how to participate. It's about lifestyles and how we spend what we have in an attempt to become/stay debt free, so don't worry if you can't log your spending. Just don't overspend into debt

QUOTE]

Okay.... maybe I'll carry on but think I'll have to properly add up the spends at the end of the year! :eek: Not really going to have time otherwise.... I suppose it will keep me more focused being part of the 'frugal gang!'

I'm just trying not to spend AT ALL. x

patchwork_cat

Loppy has made me think that I am not logging my spends on here as I am too disorganised and unfortunatley couldn't manage on £4000 as there are 4 of us and far too many pets!, but being involved helps me to keep on the straight and narrow which is to live within our means and clear our debt and not to continue to take out extra mortgage every time it is up for renewal like we have for the past 7 years! Our budget is £6500 after monthly bills, is that alright?

Blairweech - does your work have allotments? Have wondered about allotment, would love one, but I know we wouldn't have dedication to do it, can barely keep on top of the garden!

cha97michelle

Morning gang.

I've had to take DS2 for some jabs this morning. I then dropped the kids off at nursery, went to work and marked a set of books, got bored and came home via the petrol station. I need to do some more school work this afternoon as there are a few deadlines coming up next week, but i thought i should do some house work too as the washing baskets are full again and toys everywhere. Where does all my time go?

I too am finding it hard to keep track of the spends all the time as i have been having less time now i am back at work. I'm still trying though, and pleased i haven't lost it as bad as i thought. I'm not going anywhere though. I need to be here or i would be saying, stuff it, i need these clothes, i need this takeaway as i'm tired. I know what i can be like.

I know i spend more than some of you, but as long as i am doing ok for me that is all i can ask.

Today is not pleasant here weather wise. Very windy and drizzly showers. Saves me watering the veggies though.

Michelle x

cw18

rain, rain, rain and more rain here today too

decided against fighting with the courtesy bus to Mr M (forgot to phone yesterday to check I'd be OK with my trolley), so bobbed up to the local Mr T. No signs to say they were honouring the Mr M vouchers, so I went and asked at Customer Services -- result, 'cos they are.

Not so good in that I'd gone with a £31 shopping list (based on their web prices last night) and a £5 fall back - only to find they didn't have almost £13 worth of what I wanted :eek: Managed to subsitute a couple of items, but then added a few more bits not on my list to my trolley, doubled up on a couple of other bits, and picked up my back up item.

Scraped in just over the £30 (and just under £7 of that was for DD), so used my Mr M voucher. Then offered up a £10 gift card I got from a survey site last week - only to be told there's nothing on it :mad: So I've just fired an email off to them !!!!


Have started number crunching my spreadsheet for the end of the week - and am even more 'concerned' by how much I'm "in credit by" than I was last month!! May be a different story at the end of June though, as I need to stock up on dog food again next month (meaning that budget will be back on an overspend for quite some time)

shaz_mum_of__2

Rainy and windy here managed a bit of cardmaking a spot of gardening between showers and to cook a curry for tea ..................not much else though

Hoping for a nice day at a local country park tomorrow so i can stretch my legs and wear the youngest out ...fingers crossed

Shaz