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

grandma247

aeb congratulations and well done.
Had a power cut for 2 hours late last night so did not see the post until now ( can't sleep).
I am so glad I had a stock of candles. I will be adding to them if I get to Ike@ again.
Cheryl I hope that you will be able to find a way around the food expense for your dog.

cw18

aeb wrote: »

The babies birthday is 8th September. All is well, we came home this afternoon.

Two girls and a boy, born naturally so no c-section. No time for details but all over 4lbs 14oz - go me!

My mum is staying a while until they get the hang of this breastfeeding lark.

Thanks for all the good wishes

Many, MANY, Congratulations to aeb and family :j:j:j:j
What fantastic weights for a three-some :T
And how absolutely wonderful that it wasn't a c-section

cw18 wrote: »

.......so it needs to be 2 girls and a boy to even up the numbers :rolleyes2

Woo Hoo...... I was right :T

nykmedia wrote: »

but, whoever has the book, can I have a fiver on 3 girls, please, so they can out number the boys 2 to 1. :rotfl:

and Nyk was wrong

cw18

grandma247 wrote: »

Cheryl I hope that you will be able to find a way around the food expense for your dog.

It's gonna be a tough one !!!

'Spoke' to some friends on another forum last night, and then did some G00gling....
Looks like (if I order food on-line to 'save' money) the new stuff will work out at £57+pennies/month or £688/year - or 8.6% of my £8k budget :eek:
At the moment he's on food that works out at £10+pennies/month or £121/year!
For the rest of this year I'm going to have to find over £200 instead of the anticipated £30

Will still need £30/year for the little dog (not moving her onto the mega expensive one, which means I'm going to have to seperate the dogs at feed time to ensure the Dalmatian doesn't get hers!)


In fact, I've just figured out that my original grocery budget meant I had £657 for just me for a full year - so the big dog is going to be on a higher budget (by £31) :rolleyes2
And my new grocery budget gives me just £602+pennies/year per full-time adult

shaz_mum_of__2

Morning all

cheryl hope doggy is ok

EFC i really must look into doing something similair where do you sell? and how do you package etc

AEB congratulations and:eek:at breastfeeding 3 babies.................at least its free!! Your babies share a birthday with my DS:D

Whitewing - nice to see you and good to hear all is well hope everything goes ok re citizenship it's a minefield isn't it

Off out this morning visiting then out for frugal lunch at local pub -£3.50 for all you can eat carvery but my dad will not let me pay anyway going meet some relatives my dad has found in researching the family tree .....might be interesting there has been lots of dirt uncovered so far they were all a bit naughty

ther has been bigamy illegitamacy and murder and a whole side of the family no one knew existed

whitewing

aeb, how absolutely lovely, and doesn't time fly? It only seems a minute since you found out about the triplets.

shaz, my (great uncle or something) got jailed for bigamy in New Zealand.

Frugaldom

CONGRATULATIONS AND WELCOME BACK, AEB! :T:j:beer:

2 girls and a boy - I was two thirds right I still can't believe that one of us on here has just had triplets and seems to be the calmest about it, I think it's absolutely amazing, and a natural birth and all over 4lb! It's a multiple mini miracle. :T

CW - if anyone can resolve those little money problems, you can. I can't remember how you allocated your redundancy money, but is there any chance you have enough left to cover the full vet's fee and allocate a lump sum for future feeding & treatment without incorporating it into your annual cost of living budget?

BEWARE - LONG & BORING NUMBER CRUNCHING SESSION AHEAD

My Year to Date - 2009

I eventually got around to having a good look at my own annual budget and finances. Surprisingly, the numbers weren't as scary as I first anticipated, although I have spent a lot of money on various 'things' that wouldn't normally be bought.

So far, on day 258 of year 2009, I have spent £2,778.38 of my 4k annual housekeeping budget, but have managed to slip in a few extras like my ticket to Belfast and some stuff for DD's wedding. On top of this, I have also spent £2,101.04 on other things, but these are being offset by any extra free cash I may get - gifts, winnings, eBid/eBay sales etc. To date, I have recouped £1,686.52, so £418.48 is all that shows on balance. This is further helped by the fact that £135 of this is a savings bond that includes life assurance. The extra spending breaks down into three categories:

1) Pets, Vets & Livestock £948.44,
2) Garden £612.29,
3) Miscellaneous £540.31 - includes our National Trust membership, the savings policy and home decorating. My biggests 'non-cost of living expenses' were incurred by setting up and running my mini poultry farm.

Most of these costs have been initial 'start up' costs for fencing, coops & runs. The bulk of the garden costs were incurred by having the new greenhouse & patio installed, fencing, wood, compost, pots and plants. We still have 107 days to go and I'd love to make all of this cash neutral by year end.

On the challenge, I began with my £4k, which averages out at approximately £10.95 per day for everything over the year. This is day 258, so law of averages says I should have spent £2,827.37, leaving me a balance of £1,172.63

This is day 258, I have spent £2,778.38, leaving me a balance of £1,221.62

I am £48.99 ahead of schedule but have only £142.29 left of my initial grocery budget to see me through to New Year - never gonna happen!

I underestimated on toiletries right from the start, allowing only £50 for everything and forgetting about the £45 - £50 it costs for even the cheapest of cheap toilet rolls! :rolleyes:

If I had been running my challenge as having exactly £4,000 set aside in the bank for absolutley everything for the year, offsetting with extra income, I would have £803.14 left in the bank. I wonder if that's enough to last the rest of the year? I MIGHT have found another challenge. :rotfl:

Sorry if this has bored anyone, you can waken up now and proceed with the rest of the thread. I just thought it was time for number crunching, seeing as we are approaching the final leg of our 2009 epic journey.

PS: Note to SM - I am the world's worst shopping companion, but we can go to Belfast anytime for that, it's exact same shops as any other city. I thought a relaxing sightseeing tour would be a little bit different (and a big bit cheaper) than a straight forward day trip to see shops. Maybe we could 'do Glasgow' one day or else Christmas shopping to Newcastle MetroCentre? There's even a bus going to Stirling from here next week! It's either that or the Englebert Humperdink concert! :rotfl::rotfl:

cw18

nykmedia wrote: »

CW - if anyone can resolve those little money problems, you can. I can't remember how you allocated your redundancy money, but is there any chance you have enough left to cover the full vet's fee and allocate a lump sum for future feeding & treatment without incorporating it into your annual cost of living budget?

It went....... cleared some rather run up plastic !!!

BEWARE - LONG & BORING NUMBER CRUNCHING SESSION AHEAD

no it's not..... it's great to see the nitty gritty of how someone else is managing their budget

Sorry if this has bored anyone....

Not me
Looks like you're doing great overall..... but you must be looking at some significant savings somewhere if your groceries and toiletries are running significantly over-budget whilst still be on target overall :T
(Either that, or - like me - you still have at least one major 'one-off' spend to come later in the year!)

BigMummaF

Aw --why can't someone invent a gubbins so we can have a cuddle with the bubs online. It would make life so much easier for harrassed mums but the poor infants would also get spoiled rotten too wouldn't they especially with us lot. I wish all new arrivals a Lifetime filled with Love, Good Health & Happiness, & Well Done Mum! x

I can totally relate over the doggie problems too. Pup was scratching at his paw & the vet found two grass seeds travelling up the inside of his leg :eek: It's taken an operation & several lots of injections over two weeks, & the Practise sent me confirmation of the final total of just under £400. Fingers are definitely crossed that the insurance company are OK with it all, & we'll be reimbursed the full amount minus the excess.

Still having trouble with the bank--can't remember how much of this I've already told you so apologies if I'm repeating myself. A new hole-in-the-wall card arrived a few days after I'd said the old one wasn't working, so read all the gumph & went to a supermarket ATM to check my balance. Card was kept; I went to the bank & the chappie said "You told us you hadn't got this card!" & it took a while for me to explain that I didn't know this particular card was the one they were talking about, that had been posted the beginning of August. "Why did you try to use it then!" sez he; because I had assumed the card was the replacement as discussed per the visit to the branch the previous week :wall: Is it me being thick or what What is worse is I'm still card-less & frustratingly, getting a massive wake-up call as to how often I actually rely on it being in my purse. Nothing excessive, but silly things like remembering I haven't paid the gas bill at 8:30pm & I can't do anything till the post office next opens :doh:

I am so envious of Cheryl's control & organisation....

cw18

Grrrrrrrr!!!! at the bank :mad:

Surely when you told them you were having problems they should have been able to see on the system that a new one was already on the way to you...... If they'd have told you that you could have just waited on it arriving and been all sorted by now !!!


Give your pooch a hug from me..... hope he's all better now



Control and organisation are sooooooo not words the family would associate with me :rotfl: You can't see the muddle everywhere around the house, nor the regular panics looking for important paperwork that I filed 'somewhere' safe last year/last month/last week/yesterday/this morning :rolleyes2



ETA: My 5th Council Tax bill for this financial year arrived yesterday....... 25% discount now re-instated :T

Frugaldom

Postman just delivered DD's breadmaker for her and friend has also included loads of flour, yeast, Omega3, seeds etc in the package. This is from same friend who has also now posted MY BREADMAKER It's on its way to me and should be here toorrow morning. Postman also brought me a little package containing a jar of homemade plum jam from HS's sister who is now hankering for 'the good life' of frugal living. :j:T Another potential recruit to our lifestyle challenge?

CW, I love number crunching, but I'm sure everyone already knows that.:o :rotfl: Despite being slightly ahead of the game, at the moment, I do have overspends in 2 categories - groceries (food, toiletries & cleaning products) and clothing & footwear. HOWEVER... the latter was caused by my having had to buy the emergency sandals and matching clutch bag for DD's wedding after damaging my ankle, hence rendering original new shoes unwearable. The maddening thing was that, on the morning of the wedding, the swelling in ankle went down enough to allow me to wear the original shoes! :mad: So I spent an extra £36 ish that I ended up not needing to spend in the first place! Still, better safe than sorry and it was for an exceptionally special occasion - the event of my becoming a mother-in-law! :rotfl: At the other end of the spectrum, I am well under on my electricity allowance, having allowed an average of £100 per month for this. It's currently sitting at average £81 per month, so 19% savings so far. I still have my share of the TV license to pay and most of the Christmas shopping to do, but some of the family will be happy with hampers of homemade produce, I hope!

BMF, hope the bank card gets sorted out soon, how infuriating!

Just remembered - that's my contract up for the Internet pricing and I've been in touch with my supplier discussing options, one of which was cancellation to switch elsewhere. Must chase that up and see what further reductions I can get as broadband here is almost non-exitstant.