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

taka

Well done Shaz! Good luck for tomorrow too...

Pauper1

Hi,
I've only just joined these forums, otherwise I would definately have started this in January.
I've done my sums as it says in the first post, and it's actually really worried me how small the difference is between my income and the essentials!
Would it be ok for me to start at the half a year mark?

cw18

Congrats Shaz :T



I'm another who will be a day or three late with the end-of-month accounts -- 'cos I want to wait for an App Foods order to arrive first, and I only ordered on Saturday !!



Have had a quick look over my figures though, and am still quietly confident I can manage the year on (or not too much above) my budget - just have a couple of potential "hiccups" for later in the year.

Whilst my "anything else" is still under target (by an average of £8/month), I can see me having a couple of large expenses here later in the year which will totally wipe the whole thing out and more - so may have to rely on my petrol underspend to balance things out

The shoes I have (bought late last year, so about 6 months old now) are doing well, but I need to allow for having to replace them at some point - and they were £85 :eek:

And my waterproof coat needs replacing too..... I've never spent a lot on these before (£45 for a combined fleece and waterproof has probably been my top spend), but now I walk round the shops etc a lot more (and do a lot more dog walking) I think a really good quality one may be a good investment. The one I have now leaks, and several seams have 'worn out' so that the coat has disappeared either side of them - so no chance of repairing it even if it would be financially viable!! Absolutely no idea what I'm looking for as a 'good quality' one either, though I can find a couple of "names" by checking DH's old ones (he spent a lot on these as he did a lot of hill-walking, hence able to justify the almost £200 I seem to remember him spending on his last one!!!)


Bought a few books this last month (out of my "anything else"!) - all food gardening ones, including the updated "Square Foot Gardening" one. Had been looking for some useful reading, and having narrowed down to three I tried our libraries - but they don't have a single copy of any of them anywhere in the Borough (not even out on loan!). So I bit the bullet and bought them without having a chance to have a quick read first (no really good bookshops I can get to locally in the hope of a "flick" either). The other two arrived middle of last week, and look promising. SFG arrived on Saturday (when I was out), and I didn't get a chance to start on it until this afternoon. Have only read the introduction and started on the list of changes from the original scheme/book, but finding it really easy going and logical... certainly nowhere near as scarey as the other books and magazines I own The only concern I have is that he lists "peat moss" as one of the essential ingredients for the perfect soil, but I thought peat anything was an environmental no-no

Grocery budget is a lot closer to the 'target to date' figure this month than I like (if everything from App Foods arrives I've got a "spare" £6.64), having overspent by £5.11 in May due to a combination of Mr M vouchers (2 used) and the temporary lack of local Whoopsies. I'll probably also spend more this month than I should due to having 4 of the Mr M vouchers to use - but I'm hoping to minimise the damage by continuing to shop for DD at the same time (so need a combined till total of £30, rather than having to stock up that much myself), and will almost certainly grab a few more large bags of loo rolls at the same time....... different budget, and 3 more bags - along with the one I got last week, plus the rolls I already had in - should see me through to the end of they year





Wow! That was some ramble -- sorry folks

cw18

Pauper1 wrote: »

Hi,
I've only just joined these forums, otherwise I would definately have started this in January.
I've done my sums as it says in the first post, and it's actually really worried me how small the difference is between my income and the essentials!
Would it be ok for me to start at the half a year mark?

Feel free to jump in as soon as you're ready Laura - the more the merrier, and the more hint and tips around for us to share :T

ETA: I was going to suggest the grocery challenge as another one that's logical to run alongside this one - but I see you've already found it and signed up

Pauper1

cw18 wrote: »

ETA: I was going to suggest the grocery challenge as another one that's logical to run alongside this one - but I see you've already found it and signed up

I think I've signed up to too many in one day! They aren't the crazy ones at the moment though - just settling in!
Updated my siggy now with all of them, so no more confusion
Lets see how I do..

Frugaldom

Pauper1 wrote: »

Hi,
I've only just joined these forums, otherwise I would definately have started this in January.
I've done my sums as it says in the first post, and it's actually really worried me how small the difference is between my income and the essentials!
Would it be ok for me to start at the half a year mark?

Everyone is welcome here as it isn't so much about the £4,000 figure, it's more about personal affordability and how your lifestyle affects your finances. So, if you have your budget at the ready and are prepared to look 'debt-freeness' and savings-in-the-bank square in the face then hop on board this wagon. Use this challenge however best suits you and, rest assured, there's usually someone around most times to hear you out or offer suggestions. We are all here to learn more about frugalising, so share every moneysaving tip you use during your journey to frugaldom and beyond.

Have fun

patchwork_cat

Well the spookiest thing has just happened. My daughter's Mizz magazine suggested a new website Kittenwar. She asked me to check out if it was OK for her to go on. I did breed a couple of litters of kittens and what should I see, but under winningest kitten, my bedroom and 1 of my kittens! I didn't know that the prospective owners had put his photo on. http://kittenwar.com/kittens/winners/

Frugaldom

Good morning, hope the sun is shining wherever you are. We still have the mini-heatwave, so washing is just about to go out onto the line to bake dry, as there's no breeze.

Nice surprise for you, Patchwork, seeing your little kitten. It looks really cute.

Watering and pottering today plus more accounts, as I still haven't completed my tax return.

Have a good day, everyone.

lyndasharp

I did my sums last night and I went a bit over budget for May, due to the holiday and £175 for the wedding licence! Still, I only went over by the cost of the licence, so I'm pleased that I managed to keep the rest fo the 'normal' spends within budget. Am slightly annoyed as my council tax direct debit hasn't gone this month - there seems to have been some dd's lost during my account switch as O2 haven't appeared on my new account either. I'd better ring the council later today and pay them something...

Congratulations Shaz! Hope the other results go well. Congrats to patchwork cat as well for her famous kitten!

Welcome Pauper1 :-) Enjoy the challenge!

MrDT

Overbudget in May, thanks to buying a sofa. Had to laugh when I realised the money I've spent on this challenge so far this year some people I know wouldn't think twice about spending on a sofa alone :rotfl:

£1594.39 spent so far this year (excluding rent, council tax, water, transport), which leaves £2405.61 for the rest of the year - about 60%. We're five months (~40%) into the year, so looks ok, 60% of the budget left for 60% of the year. Summer and Christmas will be a bit spendier than early on in the year, but the 'extra earnings' buffer should see me through Mobile internet dongle should arrive soon, hopefully I'll manage to increase the extra income with some matched betting once that gets here!

The weather is still fantastic here. If it sticks I think we're gonna go away for the weekend, not got anywhere specific in mind, so long as there's a nice beach nearby I'm happy. Will probably just take a tent, bbq, case of beer and enjoy lazing in the sun (so, expect rain this weekend! :rolleyes:)