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

lingojingo

CW same happened to me in April, despite DD having been 18 since the previous October and council tax people knowing she was in full time education, having the form from college, and me still receiving child benefit and family tax credits for her. Suddenly they decided not only to charge full rate for this year but also to claim it back for the whole of last year - even though she wasn't 18 for half of it. She had to get another form signed at college and then it took nearly 2 months for it to be sorted. Consequently I paid more than double in April and nothing at all in May! Now we're back to normal, but she will be off to uni in September - wonder how long it will take them to sort that out (shouldn't change how much I pay, as still only one adult here, but I'm not confident that they'll get it right).

Hope you get yours sorted quickly, it was a huge shock for me.

Nyk my station isn't at all busy, and the trains that run on that line only have one or two carriages. We're supposed to be getting trams on it next year, as an extension of the Sheffield tram service, but nothing seems to be happening so far

savingfortravel

Bails-Glad the walk with your puppy helped.
I totally agree that there is often a silver lining at the end of this kind of disappointment.
Don't know if you remember, it was last year and we were over on the Grocery Challenge and you posted a picture of a rainbow billed toucan. Well because of our GC savings we were due to go to Costa Rica and then our trip was cancelled...the company gave us compenstation to keep our business and we were then able to afford a much longer trip which takes in 5 countries including Costa Rica
Our trip has finally arrived and we check in at Heathrow on Saturday at 4.20am. :eek:.
So we'll be away when you say your goodbyes
But Mr SFT is taking a very small laptop so we may get wireless in hotels and be able to pop in from time to time.

sft

Savvy_sewing

Hugs from me too Bails.

mama67

patchwork_cat wrote: »

I am off to do the last Primary school pick up soon! ( Just a leaving buffet tomorrow lunch, but not normal pick up time tomorrow) I have been going up for the last 12 years and never thought that I would be feeling sentimental, but I am. My baby is leaving primary. I feel rather emotional, both my children are starting at new institutions in September and it is making me feel very old. I am probably going to have a hysterectomy and was just reading about Kate Garroway who is the same age as me and just having a baby and feeling well that isn't going to be me ( although I know that, as my DH had the snip a while ago) it is a shock to know that I will no longer be fertile.

Probably all mixed up with my health issues and the kids growing up in such a definite way Sixth Form and Secondary school.

Emotional moment finished!!! ( well for the computer though)

Hugs to Kittikins ( and your mum!) and Lynda ( and your Grandma!)

I did this on Friday as well DS2 will be starting secondary in Sept. DS1 will be startimng his GCSEs.

skint_chick

Bails - I really hope something gets sorted for your trip, I've got my fingers crossed a last minute opportunity comes up for you and Mr Bails

SFT- I'm very jealous of you going to South America and will expect lots of pics and info when you get back - and the roof is well worth getting properly sorted now so you don't have to think about it again.

I've been busy DIYing - painted door from living room into kitchen from orangey pine colour to match the walls - neutral yellowy creamy colour and got a funky new brushed steel doorhandle. Going to reclamation yard at the weekend to see if I can get 5 original doors for the rest of the house :T Also organised OH's DVD collection into boxes and put books onto bookshelf -instead of little piles all round the house:o

I've been a bit naughty and haven't done anything towards my 101 challenge or updated my blog so I'm going to focus on it over the weekend.

Taka- I'm also morbidly obese -although I'm healthy otherwise - no high BP, cholesterol, or diabeted. But I am re-starting my diet tomorrow and am really pleased you've managed to lose 11 pounds so far. It's a really difficult thing to do when you're overweight and have been trying and struggling for years so :j for you.

bails

Evening all, I'm just popping on while OH is out collecting a wardrobe we asked for on Freecycle less than 5 minutes ago :T Something went right today!

I've been focusing on the positives during what has been a hard day. Thanks Skintchick and Mooloo. I've just emailed our contact so will await his response, and apart from that we're up to our eyes in preparations for the trip. I can't wait til we get there and can relax for a bit :rotfl:

I do remember SFT, but missed the news your trip was cancelled :eek: Really glad you got a much better trip as compensation :T I too look forward to hearing all about it and maybe even seeing the photos one day when you/I come to visit Hope you're getting excited!

Being that this is a frugal forum ,I'm still unsure as to where we are budget wise with the trip now, I guess it'll have to evolve as the plan does! I've got a cash book on the go to take with us though so we'll know what choices we have. We're incredibly lucky to have an emergency fund available to us should we need it but I don't like the idea of starting work 'in debt' so to speak. We'll see what comes though, as this is a trip of a lifetime!

Hope everyone is well and frugaling away - sorry I haven't been on top form for the last 24 hours, will do my best to resume normal service soon

bails

Up worrying about my friend's financial situation :rolleyes: I am handing it back over to her but am not sure she can cope on her own. Will try to persuade her to come to MSE for support but not sure she will.

When does the simple life start in Kathmandu?

Frugaldom

Bails, look at the time! Another 45 minutes and Captain Beaky would have started crowing and then you'd never have got back to sleep. :rotfl: I can't wait for Autumn/winter now, so I can get an early night and a long lie. Hens are brilliant fun but it would be nice to share the getting up early to let them out bit now and again. :rolleyes:

Slightly overcast here, so I can't decided whether to do any washing. It is bound to rain as soon as I get into town to collect DD. It's frugal evening invitation making day today, but I'll make the most of the trip to pick up a few odds & ends that are needed.

Hope everyone has a good day and a better day be had by all those who didn't have good days yesterday, IYSWIM.

Re the pedometer step counting/calorie burning, I'm just trying to get a bit fitter without getting any fatter and then I'll maybe attempt to lose all the weight gained since quitting smoking. If I lose any in the meantime, that's a bonus but, as we don't have scales and we don't have mirrors in this house, I can't check. :rotfl:

cw18

I've a couple more minor adjustments to make to my annual budget.

Just been and booked my car in for a service and MOT (next Monday morning), and asked about the price. I'd budgeted £125 and £50 respectively, but was told £115 and £40.

So I've £20 from those budgets to move elsewhere :T

But I also need to adjust (increase ) my grocery budget due to the length of time elder DS will be home this year. Has been on leave for 46 days already, and is home for 31 days next month. Also expect him home for 13 days over Christmas from this years budget - and don't know if he'll be home again before then I originally allowed for him being home for 28 days in total in the whole year (!!!), but have already adjusted this up to 84 days. So by the end of August he'll have been here for 77, with another 13 taking it up to 90 :eek:

An extra 6 days @ £1.80/day = £10.80, so that's the over half of the £20 saving on the car expenses spoken for :rolleyes2

I also now have the school dates to the end of the year, so need to adjust the costs of having my GDs - particularly the 5 cooked lunches I'll need to provide for the week younger GD is only in school for the mornings. They go back on 2nd Sept, and for the first 3 days she's only in for the afternoons - but DD is keeping her in the nursery where she works until they've had lunch, and I'll bob down and collect her in time to drop her off at school. The following week she's in from 9am until 12:45pm, and it didn't seem worth running her down to nursery (who would have to be specially asked to save her a lunch), only for me to have to collect elder GD at 3:15 and for DD to then have to drag the younger one back up to mine on the bus to collect the elder one



ETA: Just finished number crunching the figures for the girls - and a further £47.80 onto my grocery budget for this. I hadn't actually allowed anything for having them here from September onwards, as I was aware (even at the start of the year) that if DD didn't start to cover the costs incurred by having them here I wouldn't be having them But she's agreed to covering the costs, so they now need adding in...... Decided it's easier to keep to my £8k budget with these costs included and without deducting what she gives me, as the bulk of the money from her is actually towards car expenses and some is towards my gas (for extra running of the heating during the colder months) And how on earth do I work out how much of my water (metered) is down to having the girls? I don't fancy counting toilet flushes and measuring the water they use to wash their hands :rotfl:

lyndasharp

Bails, sorry to hear your news about the placement. Hope the rest of the trip is fab, and I'm sure something will come up.

My Nan had blood clots on her lungs, so is staying in hospital for a while. I saw her Sunday and she was looking well, so just have to wait and see, and hope for some good luck for her too.

I've just received an unexpected £50 cheque, which I presume is for home insurance cashback, though I thought I'd already had that as they sent £35 in gift cards last month, after I'd rung and complained about my lack of cashback. No note with the cheque, just the company headed paper. Very odd...