Live on £4,000 for a year - 2009, Part 3

Frugaldom

Mrs_Tradition wrote: »

...Also I have a 30th to buy for (OH) so need some ideas for someone who is very hard to buy for - plus I need to budget for this....as always.

Hello again I remember my OH's 30th birthday and we were a tad skint, as always, so I threw him a surprise party in the house with home made cake. Just the usual cold buffet on a budget, plenty music and friends that bring a bottle and some nibbles. If his birthday happens to fall on a Wednesday, then you could have taken him to the cinema first using 0range Wednesdays offer, for example. If it's a weekend, perhaps an autumn picnic some place free and nearby. A really memorable day doesn't need to cost a fortune. :beer: Glad you are feeling positive about the challenge and we will welcome you with open arms for the 2010 one. Get all the practice in that you can and I'll add your name to the challenger list in preparation. Most of us, I think, do the grocery challenge and the meter watching, earning extra free cash, bargain hunting and spreading important shopping, like Christmas, throughout the year depending on what offers are available.

On the offers front, I am absolutely astounded by the pricing for SM and my Thursday extravaganza when we venture across the sea to Ireland! I checked Naional Express for return fares to the harbour by coach - the website quoted £50 return each! :eek: On the Stena website, a day return foot passenger to Belfast costs £50 per person plus £5 booking fee for using a credit card. That would make our day trip £105 per person! :eek:

However, when I checked via the Stena special offers, there was a sightseeing package that included return sailings and a hop on, hop off guided tour of Belfast city in the famous open top buses - total cost each INCLUDING return ferry crossing and tour - £23! Better still, no booking fee when you pay by debit card. (Same at airports if you use Maestro) I contacted local bus depot to use the service bus and tickets are £5.35 return, so we'll use the service bus! So... girls' day out in the city, taking packed lunch & tea, for under £30 and it's got 4 hours of cruising on the newly refurbished high speed seacat with absolutely everything on board! How exciting is that?! :j:T:j:T

shaz_mum_of__2

Nyk

Day out sounds great and will certainly blow away any cobwebs and a bargain too..

Just been looking at hols in america my step kids live there nr Atlanta and hubby wants to go over next year bit shocked at the cost so far 2 weeks stay in a mountain resort £3000 MIL is paying but still..............flights are about 700 each too even for the 8yo ................back to the drawing board me thinks

Shaz

sophiesmum_2

Well done Nyk on getting us a bargain day trip:T I'm really looking forward to it,I'm in definate need of a pick me up. Wonder if uk gift cards and boots points etc are valid in Northern Ireland? Just in case we get time for shopping;) I must find out.

In an attempt to get back in control of things in my life I have just updated my budget and now have £1104.58 left to last until the end of the challenge, this is after allowing £48 we have recently spent on a new hedge trimmer,£7 for a spare quilt,£26 on books:o,and £6 for a basic kettle, but I used the money for these from the food budget as this is currently at just under £850 spent so a bit of leeway there.

cw18

Well, having spent the last few days reducing my grocery budget by £141, it appears it was just in time !!!

Bigger dog isn't well Started to have probs passing water today, so is currently at the vets undergoing £120 (or thereabouts) of tests, and will need treatment after that. The vet says the 'most likely' problem has one cure, which is thankfully guaranteed to work - so I could have to find the cost for 'having him done' as well :eek: :eek: :eek: If it's not that, then treatment may be hit & miss and/or further tests may be required !!!!!!!!!!

Frugaldom

Wow, Shaz! What a price for flights! I am so glad that my DS will be paying his own hols from now on. Don't forget to complete your ESTA online for each person travelling, all the info is here - I was reading it 2 nights ago 'just in case' but don't tell anyone. :rotfl:

CW, does it happen to be your Dalmatian that has the problem? Just wondering, as I remember being told that they are prone to certain conditions. Hope he is OK and doesn't cost an arm and a leg but at least it is fixable.

SM, you can use vouchers and points and £s in Belfast, but we are doing the sightseeing tour, which doesn't allow for baggage, so we can't carry a load of shopping back with us, I'm afraid - not this time, anyway. I'm just going to enjoy the views and suss out where I'll visit next time.
Think I'll need to reboil my hedgerow jelly as it isn't setting very well. That'll be a job for this evening, I guess.

sophiesmum_2

Oh well I will just have to take a large packed lunch going and buy butty box sized souvenirs :rolleyes: apparently there are about 5 branches of b00ts around Belfast - might be able to pick up a couple of meal deals using my points which would do for munching on ferry home.I have about £70 worth of points and my xmas shopping is done.

Blairweech

Hi folks,

Had a nice weekend - spent Saturday chilling out in Tavy, watched the sunset etc. Yesterday we went canoeing down the Tamar, which was really cool. £22 each, but I think it was worth it.

Bought some 15p figs from Lidl to make jam with, plus I have spied lots of apples, OH will help me get them tomorrow, will make them into something. I hope I see some sloes soon

Grandma - I meant to say, thanks for the tip about the frying smell, that could well persuade me to get one now!

Ok, total spends for my second week (this is NOT GOOD)

Total spent on 4k challenge: £211.88
Total spent overall: £860.05 *faints*
Total spent on grocery challenge: £58.04

I don't now how one person manages to spend so much money, It is not like I have bought anything either, apart from some wellies for a fiver and that canoe trip! That does include £225 worth of savings though, plus my rent.

cw18

nykmedia wrote: »

CW, does it happen to be your Dalmatian that has the problem? Just wondering, as I remember being told that they are prone to certain conditions. Hope he is OK and doesn't cost an arm and a leg but at least it is fixable.

Yes, it's my "Spotty Dawg" that's poorly

Not good news either - in terms of the bills :eek:

Today's tests came in at £118.75 - and I originally set my budget for vets bills to £140 (which was upped to £220 after the Yorkie had her fit 'out of hours' in July)

I knew Dalmatian's were prone to stones, so on the advice of many sources - including our vet - he's been on low protein food (with very, very little high protein foods as treats - normally a tiny bit of meat to get his worming tablets down but nothing else)..... so the vet had said that, though possible, this wasn't what he considered to be the most likely cause. But that's what it is, and his prostate is also starting to enlarge to the point we could be looking at problems from that before long (which is the issue that 'getting him seen to' would solve).

So he's back in first thing tomorrow morning until some time on Wednesday. One stone had got jammed in the passage, but they seem to have managed to 'back wash' it for now - and are hoping to get it totally back with the other before they go in to remove them tomorrow. If it remains stuck in the passage - and doesn't shrink in the very short-term future so that it 'passes' - then he'll need another more complex operation to remove that one. The vet is 'throwing in' the other fix while he's under (so the prostate problem shouldn't be an issue later), but I'm still looking at a bill of a further £400-ish on Wednesday :eek: :eek: :eek:

And, once the labs determine what 'type' of stones they are, he'll have to be on a special food - no definite price guide yet, but a definite 'yes' to being expensive. And the most expensive is the one to deal with the 'type' that 60% turn out to be !!! If I don't put him on the special food there's apparently a very high probability he'll get stones again (now he's had them once).

I'm going to have to be very clear with my boys on the long term issues around this - basically if I don't have enough alternative income to cover the food before next September, then I'll have to re-home the dog



Anyhow, looks like my £8k budget is totally shot !!!!

Just added £120 for today and £400 for Wednesday to my 'vets bills' category, and reduced my 'anything else' accordingly. This leaves me just £45.58 unspent until the end of the year in 'anything else', and I'm still looking at needing a new pair of shoes before the worst of the winter (£80+) and a new waterproof coat (probably at least a similar amount for a decent one that will last)

And the £93 left for 'Dog Expenses' (which is where the food comes in) isn't going to cover the new one - especially given the most expensive one we've had him on to date is £44.50 for 15kg, so from today to year end that would cost us £160+


Without shrinking my grocery budget even further (I've got £450 of my already reduced budget available for the rest of the year), I can't recoup ANY of this expense from anywhere else - I've trimmed as much as I can, and also reduced budgets where my utility bills have been recently reduced. The only 'unknown' left is my Bldgs/Contents insurance which doesn't come up for renewal until early December. I can't even shop around for that though, as I've yet to find another company who'll give me even half the cover I need

lyndasharp

Hi Cheryl, sorry to hear your dog is poorly. I hope you can sort something out about his food bill if he does need the mega expensive type.

I really ought to look at my spends, I have lots to add in for ebay - buying and selling! Unfortunately buying currently outweighs the income from selling.... however I listed the spare fridge freezer on the free listing day yesterday and it already has 5 watchers, so I'm hopeful that will sell. I bought it new last year but there's just not room for it in this kitchen, so it's been sat unused in the garage since I moved in (apart from a few weeks of party drinks storage!). I got it ridiculously cheap, which is why I'd been hanging on to it - but if it sells at my listed price I'll be in profit, so thought it was worth a try!

sophiesmum_2

Sorry about the dog's results cheryl, if anyone can find a way around the costs of the food it is you, don't give in just yet. In the meantime hope he is feeling better.