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

BigMummaF

:jI am once again a fully paid up, CASH CARD carrying member of the Universe! You've probably forgotten the troubles I've had since the bank decided to stop my--then current--debit card before I'd used the new one "they have posted". Only six weeks to get it sorted :mad:
The fire extinguisher service was only £24:50 so not as bad as I'd thought. At the mo, I set up a new spreadsheet each month & put all my catagories on that, but I'm toying with changing it to one sheet per department so I can see any changes around price/weight. Then again, if I continue with the first option it might be easy enough to copy & paste into the second option every week or so.....:think:....think I'll give that a go. I just want to be sure I can sustain a system once I go 'live' on this Challenge in January.

cheerfulness4

I'm also toying with how to record it all when I go 'live' in Jan. I'm a pen and paper sort of girl usually but love the professional look of peoples spreadsheets. Just know I might update quicker on paper and get in a mess on the pc. :rolleyes:

Got a few weeks left to finalise my way, and then I'll probably adapt it as I get ideas from others.

Now need to stop playing at my store cupboard challenge I set myself and REALLY do it! If we really have to borrow off credit card (hiss!!) then I'm determined that it will be a very short 'loan.'

Nothing worse than paying a paultry but satisfying little chunk off it only to have to borrow it back within a few weeks. :mad:

2NDTIMEROUNDER

Goodmorning everyone! Whats up? I am back after some months although I keep following you guys on a daily basis,ok ok perhaps every couple of days.:rolleyes: Sad to hear of people losing loved ones, having had sick family members and life throwing up nasty surprises all the time but we can only plod along, there is no other option unfortunately. But of course births as well! A proper little community this is. The good times along with the bad, the ups and the downs plus the flat plateaus which is life. Hard, most of the time, but sweet none the less.;)

I have not fallen off the frugal wagon, the weight loss (now standing at 4 stone!:eek: -I have even surprised myself with this but very pleased) has stabilised and my health problem which has been plaguing me since my mid-20s is finally finally beginning to recede for the first time. What a big difference a proper medical practitioner makes instead of someone that only cares about money money money...:mad:

Over the last few months I had set myself the challence of learning how to cook. I am no michellin level chef but I can feed myself with meals I cook from scratch :eek:, even desserts AND homemade bread. There is nothing that can not be learned when you open a book or two in this life, ok perhaps medicine is one good exception. lol

I wish to particularly thank nykmedia and cw18 for the exceptionally warm welcome they had given me the last time I posted way back in June. Also many thanks to you ladies - and the other amazing members - for the constant inspiration and your unfaltering commitment to this challenge and way of life.:T

Take care and be good. I will try posting more often in the run up towards Christmas. Where on Earth has this year gone to?? Days are very long but years are very short indeed.:eek:

grandma247

2NDTIMEROUNDER Wow well done on the weight loss, how long has it taken you? Well done with the learning to cook too. :T:T:T:T
That is one thing I feel strongly about,that all my kids can cook. Teaching them to read was also my top priority because once you can read the whole world is open to you.

2NDTIMEROUNDER

Goodmorning grandma247. Thank you so much. I started my attempt back in January 2009 so basically 9.5 months. It seems like a lot of weight but if you look at it on a weekly basis I managed to do it in a healthy way. I sold the car, bought a bike, cut out the soft drinks and ate small meals several times a day. First two steps, I admit, were a bit drastic but it worked.:rotfl:

I never ate a lot of red meat or unhealthy stuff - apart from the huge quantities of the soft drinks -, it was my not exercising or working enough due to my work that did the damage. I did struggle a lot during the first two months mostly with the fizzy drinks but now I have to remind myself to eat.:o

As for education and cooking (among other skills) you are so right. Education is the only valuable gift a parent or grandparent can bestow on a child. Money comes and goes, but a good education lasts a lifetime.

Frugaldom

Good morning frugal friends

SF, I'm glad your first placement day went well, even if you're shattered. Just don't over do things as travelling time needs to be accounted for, too. Keep up the good work on the no spending, too, you're doing great! Well done

And who said lard was old fashioned? I use it all the time, mainly because it's one of the things that the supermarkets haven't priced out of existance but also because I like to add a bit to bread and pastry on accounts of the fact that real butter is just too expensive to fit into my challenge budget this year. Then again, I'm an old-fashioned type of a gal. :rotfl:

Grandma, glad you got the cashcard problem sorted out, I remember all the hassle of them sending cards back & forth and your trying to sort out which one you really could use - nightmare, I'm glad it's all past for you.

Car bills are always a pain and I sympathise with those being faced with larger than normal bills. I haven't owned a car since moving back to Scotland in 2004 but HS has one I can borrow. He's had a few hefty bills recently - full set of tyres, MOT, brakes etc but I have succeeded in getting him into MSE mode and into the swing of frugal budgets - his £70 cash back just tracked for annual insurance and he has my name on his policy. Not quite the 96p bargain on Martin's newsletter this week but it works out at about £1.10 per week for fully comp. I feel that what I help him save more than pays for the odd occasion I borrow his car. I always replace the petrol on trips but have only been away in it twice this year so far. Despite that, I'm trying to talk him into getting a cheap tax one that does about 70+ miles to the gallon. :rotfl:

Thanks for the lovely mention 2ndtimerounder and well done with the weight loss! Most impressed by that and hope I can follow suit! I love these frugal challenges, they inspire me to keep following the path to financial freedom and are gradually showing me that I don't NEED to own a house or have a high flying exec job that stresses me out, I can do everything just as well from a rented house on a miniscule income, despite having had 12 moves in 9 years plus the arrival of my first grandchild, DD's engagement and then her wedding all within the past 5. Apart from that, I'd never have found such a great neighbour in Sophiesmum - can't wait 'til she's here frugalling fulltime so I can be that 'loony skinflint with the chickens & ducks that lives next door'. :rotfl: I hope that BrightonBelle and Ddraigogh both find such great tenants, lodgers or neighbours as we'll soon have here. However, if I'd had to move elsewhere, I may have considered Wales!

Have a good day everyone, [STRIKE]make hay[/STRIKE] dry washing while the sun shines.

Frugaldom

2NDTIMEROUNDER wrote: »

Education is the only valuable gift a parent or grandparent can bestow on a child. Money comes and goes, but a good education lasts a lifetime.

I love this quote! :T

sophiesmum_2

Well done 2ndtimerounder , great that you have sorted out your health issues, and fantastic results with the weightloss :T:T.


Hi to "the loony skinflint with the chickens and ducks who lives next door" :hello: hmm.... you seem quite normal to me, wonder what that says about the residents of frugaldom overall lol:rotfl:

My new kefir grains have arrived this morning so about to stick a batch in fridge, DD used my account to sell some bits and pieces on e bay a while ago (as I still haven't plucked up courage to start:o) and left some money in there so they didn't really cost me anything
Once resident in frugaldom I may cajole Nyk to introducing me to the joys of e -bid/e bay selling. I have bought stuff from e bay but never sold anything, it seems much scarier than amazon,where I have sold books. I wouldn't know where to start.:o

cw18

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

Ouch .....the thing is sometimes you get past the point of no return, do I buy a new car that costs thousands and may go wrong at any minute or do I stick with this one that has loads of new parts and works ? :rolleyes:

I had my last car from August 1993 until June 2006 (when the garage announced they couldn't fix the problem). For the last couple of years of owning it, it seemed to need a repair every couple of months - some pretty minor, but also a few 'major' ones around the £200 mark.

DH started to give me major grief about spending on that one instead of replacing it, but I pointed out to him.....

1. unless we bought brand new, we'd have no guarantee we wouldn't be paying for repairs shortly after getting a replacement (something he reluctantly conceded)

2. neither of us really did enough mileage to justify having 2 cars any more, and we'd already agreed that when one went we'd get rid of the other and club together on one vehicle (he didn't like large cars, and I struggled with tiny cars - I had an estate, he had a 106 - so finding a middle ground was going to be tough)

3. regardless of whether we bought new or second hand (not more than 3 years old), we'd need finance - which he'd have to chip in against, and wasn't happy about losing beer money The monthly repayments would also come in at more than I was spending on repairs - which all came out of my money !!! In fact, they worked out at more than my repairs plus the (one set of) insurance, road tax, mot, servicing we'd save by dropping to a one-car household........


So he "allowed" me to continue to drive (and repair) the car until it finally had to go to the big graveyard for vehicles

shaz_mum_of__2

great to have you back second time arounder and well done on the weightloss:T:Tand learning to cook

well done big mumma on getting the card thing sorted ..........finally

sophiesmum can you explain how the kefir thing works or point to a website ............................i too am scared of selling on e bay although have now bought quite a few bits of crafty stuff in fact the wax has arrived today that i ordered ages ago to have a go at container candles i plan to use pretty teacups from charity shops to make mine in
like this http://www.designspongeonline.com/2008/11/diy-project-kates-teacup-candles.html




Cheryl .....common sense prevailed in the end then!