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

angelatgraceland

Hi All-not deserted-just been busy this month and not had time to read posts/post.
Still getting to the gym 4 times a week so Im pleased with that. Not lost any weight though so Im gonna stop worrying on that one! Trying not to cook too much as Ive still got a full freezer.
Got some nice bread on offer in Mr M the other dday at 59p per loaf-800g fresh loaves.
Had a lovely evening out on 15th to see Russell Watson in concert with dd23. Had a pub meal first-2 meals for £6!
Concert tickets bought previously so not in this budget ;+)
So-Ive not been sitting at the pc so much but have been OUT Im glad to say!
Still trying to declutter and have sold a couple of books on Amazon-only made pennies on those but they do turn into pounds and its stuff I no longer wanted.
Went to a bootsale last week but wasnt buying-just handing out leaflets promoting my Freecycle group so a lovely walk in the sunshine-2 hours chatting to all and sundry and not spent anything. Most unusual.
Plants in conservatory and garden are coming up a treat and we now have some bees for our hive which I collected yesterday. Hope they don't swarm this year! Beekeeping is an expensive hobby when you lose them!

sophiesmum_2

Went to garden centre earlier and spent £8 on two gooseberry bushes and £8.99 on a bird feeder stand, I could have spent a fortune but I was very good and stuck with the few things I really wanted. Don't feel so bad about this as now have the £52 extra income flying this way anyday so it won't impact on my budget.:D

The gooseberry bushes will be staying in their pots until we know which garden they may be able to go in.;)

Blairweech

Hello all!

Just been to the tip to take the DVD player and old washing line, and discovered they re-sell things there. Yay! Looked for a hoover, but no joy.

Anyway, in other news...I have a holiday booked :j A real, abroad holiday My half brother is getting married in Sri Lanka in Feb, so my Mum and I will be going for 10 days (if we do not get diverted cause of all the rebels). I need to get together £1500 by then :eek: I will set up a DD for £150/month I think.

Also went and bought fuel and some bits for packed lunches today, so that should be me set up for the next week.

cw18

Sri Lanka !! You lucky thing you!! Any chance there might be room in your case for a stow-away?


Declutter hasn't gone too badly today - apart from the fact I can only just get from the living room door to the settee (and need the room ready for my GDs by 7:30 tomorrow morning!) and the bathroom is a mass of boxes (DS has had to come down and use the cloakroom all day - much to his annoyance )

Three washloads done, hung outside, and most of it already brought in - we didn't get the rain today which was good news, but if I'd known this morning we weren't going to I could have got even more done :rolleyes2

Dustbin is now full, a laaaarge carrier has been brought into play as a second paper recycling bag (not due for collection until a week tomorrow!), another trip has been made to storage, and 108 9-20lb nappies (don't ask - forgot I had them when GD stopped having as many sleepovers!) have been freecycled and collected.

So I now need to wash the pots from the last few days, make and eat tea, then return the bathroom and living room back to 'functioning' rooms...... at which point I rather suspect I'm going to be having an early night, as I'm back to helping out at pre-school tomorrow after 3 weeks off !!!!!!

On the plus side, it's definitely keeping me out of the shops :T


Took another look at my accounts spreadsheet while I had lunch. I'm paranoid I've gone wrong somewhere, 'cos it just looks waaaaaaaay too healthy!

But I've spotted my one major under-spend (about £100) on an item I'd expect to be paying out for on a monthly basis is my petrol..... So while out I checked the log book in the car (not missed putting a fill-up into my spreadsheet) and my mileage. I started the year with a full tank (filled up New Years Eve), then again on 28th Jan and 13th March. I've not filled up since then, and still have around 100 miles of fuel in the tank - so probably won't need to fill up again for around 12 days either. At that point I'll have to, as it's one of my crafting weekends - so a 30-ish mile round trip on the Sunday that I'll need enough fuel for.

Paulgonnabedebtfree

cw18 wrote: »

But I've spotted my one major under-spend (about £100) on an item I'd expect to be paying out for on a monthly basis is my petrol..... So while out I checked the log book in the car (not missed putting a fill-up into my spreadsheet) and my mileage. I started the year with a full tank (filled up New Years Eve), then again on 28th Jan and 13th March. I've not filled up since then, and still have around 100 miles of fuel in the tank - so probably won't need to fill up again for around 12 days either. At that point I'll have to, as it's one of my crafting weekends - so a 30-ish mile round trip on the Sunday that I'll need enough fuel for.

Nice to hear the low spending is doing alright.
You may be aware of it but running a petrol tank too low can (rarely) result in garbage being sucked up from the bottom of the tank. No point risking a blocked fuel pipe or carburettor.
I envy your fuel low usage. I get through about 85 litres of diesel per two weeks. Most of it is for business though so not too much of it comes out of my 4 grand allowace.
I do need to update my sheets more regularly. It's easy to get it wrong if it's left too long.

lilmissmup

Evening all,

I am not a member but Mumzyof2 has asked me to post for her as she cannot get onto MSE as she is having a problem with her registered email.

She would like me to say that shes thinking of you all and congrats to people still in the challenge, that her little ones are ok and that she is also 9 weeks pregnant with a new baby

I am more than happy to pass messages back to her too.

Good luck from me too

cw18

Paulgonnabedebtfree wrote: »

You may be aware of it but running a petrol tank too low can (rarely) result in garbage being sucked up from the bottom of the tank. No point risking a blocked fuel pipe or carburettor.

I was told about this when I took my previous car (a diesel estate) for a service with a very low fuel tank. But they said that as long as I do this with every tank of fuel it's extremely unlikely to cause problems - and in fact by topping up when a reasonable amount remains I'd be more likely to have 'gunk' accumulate, and over time would have to leave more and more to be sure of not sucking it in I've always run tanks down to the warning light (and then some) in my 24 years of owning cars, and never had a problem with any of them yet !!

ETA: When I had the diesel estate I had 18 months of commuting 90+ miles a day - so I was getting through a 50 litre tank a week easily !!! We then moved to within 13 miles of work, so I started to get the bus most of the time - but since being laid off last November it's pleasure (and shopping and babysitting!) use only

Paulgonnabedebtfree

cw18 wrote: »

I was told about this when I took my previous car (a diesel estate) for a service with a very low fuel tank. But they said that as long as I do this with every tank of fuel it's extremely unlikely to cause problems - and in fact by topping up when a reasonable amount remains I'd be more likely to have 'gunk' accumulate, and over time would have to leave more and more to be sure of not sucking it in I've always run tanks down to the warning light (and then some) in my 24 years of owning cars, and never had a problem with any of them yet !!

ETA: When I had the diesel estate I had 18 months of commuting 90+ miles a day - so I was getting through a 50 litre tank a week easily !!! We then moved to within 13 miles of work, so I started to get the bus most of the time - but since being laid off last November it's pleasure (and shopping and babysitting!) use only

That's a new one on me but hey, I'm no mechanic. Funnily enough, it was a mechanic who told me not to run it very low so god only knows which one to believe . Certainly with diesel I won't run it for long if I get a warning light because if it is misjudged, it can be a lot more hassle restarting a diesel from empty.

Skint_Lynne

Hi guys,

Not too much to report, just done some cooking today and spent most of the day indoors. Went to Farmyf00ds for milk and bread (quite cheap in there), and then went to mums as the wee guy was there. He is dead funny, he's just discovered how to say no and he keeps saying it over and over again........

I'm in the shop tomorrow so I'm going to iron my stuff in a minute. I've decided to sell it, or at least see what I can get for it. I've had enough of it now, it's just getting worse. I'm going to keep my private jewellery parties going as these have been really good and I've got someone who will still supply me with stock.

Then I can just get on with my life, I'll try and get a better paying job and after that, I'll be quite happy.

Mumzy, glad you are okay and congratulations on the wee one.
Sophiesmum, good luck for tomorrow, although I think you will be just fine, no need to worry too much methinks!!
Candygirl, congratulations on the birth of layla.

That's all for now, will check in later. xx

[Deleted User]

Congratulations Candygirl on the birth of Layla!
And also congratulations to Mumzy!

I have good news too.... DH went to see someone yesterday about a few weeks sub contracting work. Well he got it!! And it'll be about £400 a month more :eek::j:j:j and they've offered him about 12 weeks work!!!

So we can save the extra and possibly use it as a pot for when he hasnt got work and possibly make my return to work delayed!

Hope everyone else is ok xx