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

bails

Ooh, just watched a 'turn a delapidated farmhouse into a gorgeous home' programme and I SOOOOO WANT TO DO THAT!! (with a cob extension ). Must increase the Dream Pot, must increase the Dream Pot... OH knows about it now, and was very pleased with me We're almost up to £1000 now, which was my target before we went away and I never thought I'd manage it :T I'm hoping when we get back we can both afford to put an extra lump of money in each month.

Looking forward to seeing your cottage when you can get the pics up SFT.

Mooloo, great advice from everyone - saying No is hard but worth it for your pocket, your health and your dreams. Hope you can find a cheaper way of getting around.

Just been speaking to one of my dog trainers about living on a boat (which they do at the mo) - it's one of the things we've thought about doing for a while (we've been looking for a boat to rent) but she listed a lot of down sides! Still, it may be something we do for a while and keep the house to come back to when we've had enough!

Savvy_sewing

I have already agreed to a trip tomorrow. But when I go, I will be definitely spelling it out about the costs etc. I will be getting the calculator out and updating my spreadsheet that I just started. I will also start to monitor my mileage and see what I am actually doing!
Now its time for bed. Night all.

aeb_2

Hello, I'm still here but having early nights so I've not been posting.
Don't do it bails - not without twice as much money in your pot as you think you will need. I don't think my house will ever look as finished as these programmes. I will never be in a position to get it all looking new at the same time. Good look anyway, also to Sft too

The plasterer is coming next week to plaster the ensuites and skim the walls. I've decided on carpet rather than hard surface as it will be warmer and kinder to the children when they play on the floor.

My little helpers picked two lots of 3 1/2 lbs of strawberries - and trod on another 1 lb but they did well really. We ate some, gave some, jammed some and froze some. Now the good bit! I offered some to a neighbour who passed. She said the previous owner used to sell produce from the door years ago. So I put some in plastic boxes made a quick label and sat in the front whilst the children road their bikes round. (there is a gate) They all sold in 90 mins and I made £4.50:j which pays for Sundays rubber chicken. The neighbour returned and asked if I would have raspberries next month So, the start of my smallholding:rotfl::rotfl:

cw18

Fab news on the fruit income Aeb -- and I'm not surprised you need early nights on a regular basis!! (though I see you didn't get one last night :eek: )



DD definitely took on board what I said about my income and options on Saturday...... Said last night (when she phoned for something else) that if I sort the house sufficiently she and my GDs would move in and pay their way (means giving up my craft room -- and would give her an 'on-tap' baby-sitter/taxi driver which is what primarily puts me off the idea). At least she didn't really expect me to take her up on that (could tell by the tone of her voice).

But she then said she thinks I should move to Scotland (or a similar location) for a fresh start, especially if I take over/start up a business that has enough scope for me to employ her to work in it too -- live and work with her :eek:

Frugaldom

BB, you're doing really well with everything that you've set out to do. I had a quick look at your blog, too . Your 101 list includes, "5.Take My Lovely Chap to see a 4*Severn Bore" but I wasn't sure what that was - is it like a bore tide (we have one here) or is it a really dreary friend from that area? :rotfl:

Mooloo, £60 a week on a car and it isn't for work-related purposes? :eek: WOW! OUCH! Do any of your kids have driving licenses? You could offer the car to one of them at a reduced price and then it's their problem working out how to afford all their running around. There will be a bus service from your place if you are near a main road. You should be able to see the name of the company on the buses when you're driving past them, just phone the company and ask for a timetable or try your nearest library. You're very lucky to be within a delivery zone of a major supermarket - I certainly wouldn't be travelling miles and miles every week for groceries if I thought I could get them delivered.

Bails, I have never even heard of 'Kyrzgystan', so your trip sounds extremely far flung and exciting, especially with one way tickets!

I watched the house programme last night, too, what a beautiful place. The 7000 grape vines must have cost a fortune, never mind the actual renovations. I missed the start, how did they afford the half million plus the 100k, or whatever, to complete the project?

Vixstar, you should give the list a go - I used to always have one listing everything I wanted to do by a certain age. I've never completed one, yet, so I gave it all up, but at least I could see what my goals/hopes/aims/ambitions were. Things have changed now, so my previous lists have all become obsolete. Do your list, do as many things as you possibly can (without incurring debts) and make the most of every single opportunity, because circumstances can change at the drop of a hat and alter everything. I should really begin again and just adapt the list to fit in with my current lifestyle but why upset the apple cart?

Can't wait to see the photos of country cottage, SFT

SL, congratulations on getting started on your garden & veggie patch! Yeah! Maybe you can join us with the home grown veggies for next year. Once you've been here and seen the chaos that is Frugaldom garden, you'll be desperate to get started

Aeb, glad to see you still with us and well done with the selling.

CW - Wow! It doesn't seem any time since you were saying there was no way DD would be moving in with you, never mind wanting to relocate and work with you as well. I seriously do not envy you the task of deciding what's for the best there.

Sun is shining here, I'm hoping to get a bit more of the garden done and then I must concentrate on web-based work. If that guy on TV can buld a new home in the country off the proceeds of a website then I'm most certainly doing something very, very wrong with mine and need to work out how to remedy that problem. I'd love their vine growing space but I'd have my willow plantation instead. :rotfl:

Paulgonnabedebtfree

Mooloo wrote: »

My people carried is a Volkeswagon Sharon, Carat. Its got a V6 engine, 3.5!!! It adveraged 24 miles to the GALLON!!. It was fine when I was taking all 6 of us out here and there, but now mostly its me going backwards and forewards to the family. I try to do one trip a fortnight the 30odd miles to see my BF for the weekend.!
I fear now I will have to get rid of the car, as it all adds up. Need to find out if there are any buses/ village type buses that come here. I know I can get a bus from the big towns to oxford and Northampton, but thats 7 or 8 miles away, and I am unable to walk/ride a bike due to my ill health.!! Alas.
Meanwhile I think that tomorow I will be telling them all the bad news that I am unable to drive them.
(in an ideal world I would get a smaller car, but of course I dont have the money to do that, and no income thats going to get anywhere near saving for a while!). Ah well. Least if I do have to let the car go, I have the internet and I can get food delivered to the village!!.

About 24 mpg is what I get from my van (diesel). However, it can weigh 2.9 tonnes when fully laden and I need to carry a ladder and roofbars on top so I think that's pretty good consumption considering. The engine is a 1.9 turbo diesel.
Also I get tax relief on most of the cost.

Savvy_sewing

Now I really do feel that I am throwing my money away with the car!. It was bought so I could take the family all out at the same time, when there was 6 of us living together. In those days I lived in the middle of Cowley in Oxford and walked to work. Only used the car occasionally.
Then we moved to Northants to a smaller town, and the use of the car went up as I was no longer out at work. It was taking the twins to here there and everywhere as they had trouble both getting on the small bus with two buggies. Often having to wait hours for the next bus. It only comes through every 2 hours.
But now that they have moved further away, into the hostel and not even living with me, I am driving 7 miles in the other direction to pick them up, before back tracking to thier destination.
Yesterday I said that we should look at shopping in Banbury, if Brackley doesnt have what they need. But now, they are fighting, so I think its also time to say you will have to go by bus.
Twin1 is learning to drive. But not yet done her theory or anything.
Twin2 has no interest in much at all!.
My DS is in the process of getting a moped on the road. (I have just paid out my last savings that was his Child benefit/Child maintenance for the bike). Now he needs his CBT test, which is £100. Grandad has given him a cheque to cover that, just waiting for it to clear. We are also waiting for his father to cough up some promised money to go towards the insurance.
My eldest girl Biggest of Mooloo's has a car. I dont drive her anywhere unless she has a problem with her eyes, and has to go to the hospital. Thats happened about twice.
Unfortunately the car being so big, nobody will insure them on it until they are 25.
Being a gas guzzler I doubt I will get much money for it. (Cant exchange it under the new government scheme becuase of the Bankruptcy in 2007!)
I dont have any more money for buying a smaller car. Hey ho!!!

shaz_mum_of__2

Great to see you posting aeb hope you and bump are well and nice to see you on your way to your first fruit million..lol

Mooloo sounds like getting rid of the car is going to be a neccessity ...........have you checked that you can get online groceries delivered

I know the girls should get help with transport to official meetings etc so don't worry about that aspect and if your shoulder is like mine stopping driving can only help ...............as long as it doesn't mean your isolated and as someone else said taxis and buses often work out cheaper but not necessarily more convenient


can't remember anything anybody else said......sorry



Shaz

Frugaldom

Ooh, my old workplace is on TV just now! Oops, sorry, was about to update and HS yelled, so I'd to go see if anything had changed

The sun continues to shine here, so the washing was out at 7am. At last, I have managed to plant out the artichokes and we've penned them in to keep them safe from chickens.

I have a couple of dozen eggs in the fridge now, despite eating some every day, so I reckon I'll need to do some more baking tonight and somehow fit the extra into the freezer. Flan or quiche would be handy but I need to make pastry cases first. I'm desperate to pick some of the pea pods from the garden but know fine well that I'd just eat them like sweets, so am trying to leave them a while longer to fill out a bit. There are little cherry tomatoes starting to form on the vines, the salad leaves & lettuces are still doing really well and I have packed & frozen another lot of parsley. Mint is growing very quickly now, enough for crushing with chocolate to make choc mint chip ice cream. Lemon balm tea could be in the offing after I bought a cheap jar of coffee from Ald! and don't like it.

Coal and logs are being saved, as I haven't had the fire lit this month at all. Electricity weekly average is slowly dropping and I'm never in the house long enough to use the telephone. Mobiles are switched on but with no signal on one and intermittent signal on the other, I have spent only £10 this year so far. Another saving is definitely with the soap nuts and homemade 'gloop', especially when line drying, which blows the linen soft without the need for fabric softener. (Sometimes I add some vinegar, depending what's being washed.)

Heading back out into the garden again as I can start watering the shaded areas around the walls and hedges. My raspberry bushes in the front garden are not growing, they still look like sticks with dry buds on them. If anyone has any ideas what I could do to make them grow, please let me know. Is is safe to move them if they haven't started growing?

Frugaldom

Hi guys, I'm back again. I just got a reminder that our region's analogue TV signal will be switched off on 24th June (next week) and we'll be switched over to digital, but we don't have any digital equipment. Would anyone agree in thinking that if we have no signal, therefore cannot watch TV, we'd be exempt from having a TV license? I'm certainly not prepared to pay a monthly fee for something like $ky and I'm not prepared to spend money on a digital box or new aerial - how do I know if the TV we have will pick up a signal. None of the websites about it seem to explain it in simple terms. Any of you fruguys out there able to explain it in simple terms? TV tuning, like video tuning, is technical, therefore it's a 'man job' in my little world, just like checking tyre pressure and using power tools.