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

mama67

nykmedia wrote: »

Hi fruguys and gals, not sure what the weather's like where you all are but it is HORRIBLE here - rain, gales, mud, flood, tie everything down, stay indoors and sit it out time. Fortunately, the internet connection and electricity supply are both still with us, though stupid digital TV signal hasn't got a hope of reaching us in this! :rolleyes:

Blairweech, you're welcome to join me in anything frugal, it's what I do for a living, I reckon.

Mooloo, I'm guessing you must just get to the stage of wondering 'WHY?' So here's my answer - it's because you can make it look like you cope so admirably with it all and give strength to others in similar situations. It's about families, they're what makes the world go round and I guess we sometimes forget about that and get distracted by other 'stuff'. Have you considered getting a houseshare to help alleviate the pressure of making the rent and bills on your own each month? Or could you get some sort of attendance allowance to help cover the travelling expenses associated with visiting your DDs? Could DS do more to help at home by way of getting involved in something locally, even if it's just chopping wood for a share of it? We have a local LETS member who 'hires out' their son to do odd jobs.

I think I forgot to come back and post yesterday, I got too distracted looking for bargains, discount codes and cashback. Well done Bails, your boots sound a real bargain!

Hi Loopylou, nice to see you popping back on, guessing your hands are full with Daisy these days.

Next year's challenge will begin with a bew list of challengees as there are so many on the current list that have disappeared. But I;ll wait until closer to New Year before getting the names in order.

We have sheets blowing horizontal held on by storm pegs and then some, but it is dry at least.
Had a fantastic orange sky this morning at 6.30 so will wait to see what else that brings in.

mama67

We had some HM meatballs on Tuesday night and I always cook them in a roasting tin with some water; anyways the resulting stock/drippings were in the pan, so I added some boiling water to melt the drippings, then strained and scooped off the dripping to put into the fridge.

The remaining stock was used yesterday in the slow cooker beef casserole, which had leeks, swede, carrots, mushrooms, red pepper, orange lentils and some oats, add in a splosh of gravy browning leave on low all day serve with mash, lovely warming wintry food.

There was enough for the 4 of us and a portion for the freezer for dh for work next week.
I will have the last little scrapes with some bread for my lunch today.

bails

Hi Whitewing, I'm sure you are more interesting than you think, we just like hearing from you! How's the pregnancy going?

Don't forget me on the list Nyk (as if you could! ) I won't be starting til mid-April but will sort my budget accordingly. How many people who started on the 1st January 2008 are still around?

Just requested lots of stamps from Mum from Morrisons for the invites...every little helps eh?

grandma247

Hi Just a quick visit on here again. It is very blowy here so have some washing on the line dripping. Our washer broke down so I am washing by hand for this week. I can't afford to get someone to look at it till next week as I don't want to blow the budget. This wind works in my favour in getting most of the water out so I can either hang it or tumble dry it.
I am definately going to put some money by to get a spin drier. It will be useful when we have washer problems again and it will save money on tumble drying when I do it.
Mooloo getting odd bits of shopping is where I could overspend so big shops are a good idea along with a meal plan.
I got most of the cooking done the other day and still want to do some more this weekend so I have enough main meals till end of december.
I have a curry in the slow cooker today. I used a jar of blackeye beans and a jar of chick peas I canned a few weeks ago plus a jar of 4p curry sauce,a tin of chicken casserole that did not get eaten because nobody liked it (its amazing what you can hide in a curry) some veggies and a jar of ratatouille and a bit of curry paste. Its a bit of a mix up but it smells good and I will have a taste later when its cooked a bit.

Savvy_sewing

Mooloo, I'm guessing you must just get to the stage of wondering 'WHY?' So here's my answer - it's because you can make it look like you cope so admirably with it all and give strength to others in similar situations. It's about families, they're what makes the world go round and I guess we sometimes forget about that and get distracted by other 'stuff'. Have you considered getting a houseshare to help alleviate the pressure of making the rent and bills on your own each month? Or could you get some sort of attendance allowance to help cover the travelling expenses associated with visiting your DDs? Could DS do more to help at home by way of getting involved in something locally, even if it's just chopping wood for a share of it? We have a local LETS member who 'hires out' their son to do odd jobs.

:T:TThankyou for these lovely words Nyk. I have copied them and printed them off. Sticking them on the board in the kitchen. Just to remind me.

Savvy_sewing

Right time to move before I seize up. Did some basic housework, but was too sore to do any deepcleaning style stuff. I have had to light the log fire, as I was freezing. Must just be when I am in pain, as I dont think that its really that cold. Just blustery winds!.
The shower has decided to go on the blink. IT was FREEZING, then when I fiddled with the dial, it got hotter and hotter, and would have burned my skin off if I had stayed under it. It is either one thing of the other. Dont know why, as its been on the same dial position since we set it when we moved in here.! Will get my DS to see if he gets the same problem, and if he does its back to the landlord.!

FrankieM

Just for the record..I have signed up for this challenge each time its been started and wimped out each time. It really asks you to focus on your spending and think of different ways of doing things.
I have finally come back, though very late in the day, because I recognised that I was happily spending anything and everything we earned. I wasn't saving for emergencies or for anything so I have bought a campervan that is on a 0% credit card and I'm 'fixing up' another campervan on the same card. I still have a loan that I wanted to pay off early and I'm now in the position where I would like to finish the work on my house but I have no money and I'd like to sell it but DH doesn't want to sell if we can't pay off all our outstanding debt with the proceeds.
I recognise that if I'd just stuck with the challenge in the very first place I would be in a very different financial place right now and so I can't keep on doing things as I have done.
It's taken a while for me to get there though.

FrankieM

I have managed to do nothing this morning, othr than read up on decluttering, simplifying and money stuff.
Making DH's lunch and then I've got to crack on with my paid work....

bails

Sometimes it just takes a while Frankie, the important thing is you are here and preparing to focus for next year. Over time it really is incredible how the little things can really add up - my sig is proof of that

the_cat

Frankie, I know what you mean about wimping out! I've also been in at the start of the other challenges but by mid March I seem to lose the will to keep track of it all. I sort of keep up with the general principles and have always kept up with reading the thread but because I am not tracking my spending it is much easier to slide.

This year I have decided to try a bit of a variation. I am going for an all-in target ( I think of about £16,000:eek: although in my defence that is absolutely everything for a family of 4) I got to the point of being unable to decide what should and shouldn't be included in the £4K challenge and am hoping that this way I can keep track more easily.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a downloadable spreadsheet or similar for tracking all this? CW in particular seems an absolute marvel with the figures - any tips gratefully received