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

slowlyfading

:hello: everyone! I'll post my March update in the old thread, so it doesn't get confusing

Skint_Lynne

Nice new thread has been found and I will report for duty tomorrow. xx

HH62

Hi everyone,

I'm still here although not managing the challenge. So, I thought about how the first 3 months of 2009 have gone and decided enough is enough. It's the first day of a new month and I'm back and I'm sticking with it.

I use spending diary so I know how much I'm spending but does anyone know how I can keep a runnng total of how much I have left? Would Excel do this? So if I put in my total budget figure for the month, then every time I spend money I note it down and it automatically tells me how much I have left for the month?
Help please

kindofagilr

There is a way to do that with formulas, if you click on help in Excel and ask for help on formulas it will tell you how to do it

It can work it all out for you

shaz_mum_of__2

Not posting figures as such but i had £200 left on pay day and that was after paying fot the potting shed so would have been £650 left we had roughly that much left at the end of feb too so i for one am really happy with the way the challenge is going

I feel like the garden i costing a lot at the minute but know it willl pay back later on especially if i can sell some of the spare plants on

The free loft insulation and warmer weather have lowered my gas usage this week and the free cavity wall insulation goes in in 2 weeks too hubby still can't believe it's free and waiting for the catch!!

Its my mums birthday todayand normally i would spend around £20 i have a giftset from the boot 75% off sale whch cost £2.50 and an outdoor planted arrangement i made which cost less than a fiver she will love it and she will think i have spent more than usual.........i love frugalitis

Shaz

HH62

Thanks for the tip re Excel. I haven't used it for years so I'll have a play with it later.

Been to do my food shop for the week and it's cost me £5.80. If only it was that low each week:rotfl:
I went to M & S, I know that's not very MSE but I decided to return some trousers that I don't think I'll wear. I had a feeling I had some vouchers for M & S, so I found them. I had £29 worth altogether so that's why my food shop cost so little. I really want to make this shop last almost a week, till next Tuesday.
It's a nice warm sunny day here and I'm ready to start eating less of the winter type food. But I always spend more on food in the summer - salads get pricey when compared to things like carrots and potatoes and onions.
I think I'll try to grow my own rocket or some salad leaves.

I hope everyone is ok.

taka

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

Its my mums birthday todayand normally i would spend around £20 i have a giftset from the boot 75% off sale whch cost £2.50 and an outdoor planted arrangement i made which cost less than a fiver she will love it and she will think i have spent more than usual.........i love frugalitis

I know what you mean - my Mum's mothers day pressie should have cost ~£25 for all the bits but actually cost ~£6.50 as I bought most of the stuff in the sales or when on special offer :j

blueberrypie

Right, so it's the first day of this challenge for me. I've been out this morning to an appointment with my three-year-old, but we're back now and I don't intend to go out again today, so unless I take the headstaggers and go ebaying, I won't be spending any money at all today. It's very likely, though, that OH will be going to pick up groceries tonight, so I'll be doing a frugal mealplan and grocery-list for him this afternoon, and then hoping he sticks to it!

But so far: £700 budget - £0 spent = £700 left :-D

Frugaldom

Hello everyone and welcome on board, blueberrypie, I have now added your name to the list of challengers. Your budget is your own, the 4k is just what I try to live on, everything else is for having a fun life, albeit a frugally fun one.

Sun is shining here today, again, work is almost up to date and the rest can wait until after sundown. I'm off to collect some free wood and then going to [STRIKE]play[/STRIKE] work in the garden this afternoon. Will try my best not to spend if I past the garden centre.

Old thread/part 1 should be closing soon, so don't leave it too long if you want anything else listed there.

HH62

Good luck blueberrypie!!

I've just totalled up the spend for today and it's :eek:
The first of the month is a right shock when I check my bank statement online...
So I spent £5.80 at M & S.
Petrol was £29.44. I must be the only person in the country who didn't know it was going up yesterday and should have filled up then :rolleyes:

My direct debits....
BT £121 :eek: I don't know what's happened there so I will have to phone them to find out what's going on. I'm sure my DD is normally £37.00....

Council Tax £111.00


Areas where I can cut back are my food bill and impulse buys, which is the real biggie for me. I don't tend to go out and think 'oh I'll get a new TV' or something - it's not the big buys that are my downfall, it's the little things that add up each day.