Frugal Living 2010 -The Cost of Living Challenge, INTRO

huston_kw

cuddlymarm wrote: »

I need to know how to make my letters coloured. I can manage to make them bigger and deeper black but that it is I'm afraid.

Any help would be much appreciated
Cuddles

cuddlymarm

There you go!!!! As taka said it's a drop down from the A section!!!

cuddlymarm

Hi

WOW Thanks to both of you for showing me how to type in colour.

CUDDLES:rotfl:

Aril

Hello Nyk and all other frugallers:j:j
Please can I keep my position as No 1 Frufan so that I can continue to support you all from the sidelines.
Thank you!!
Aril

cw18

katholicos wrote: »

This page is only three pages in but i already feel inspired both by your personal stories and also to join. My personal/financial situation has recently changed dramatically for the worse but i am hoping to embrace the challenge of living on a very much reduced income. I was feeling quite despondent about my situation (the feelings made worse by my health problems, no doubt) but after reading through this thread thus far, I am beginning to think that living on a small income quite possibly isn't such a gloomy prospect as i have been dreading.

Definitely a good reason for joining in - it's the reason I joined, and it's certainly worked for me :T

3.5 years ago the 'bring home' money to this household (from all sources) was what I now see was a ridiculously high amount -- and we still had practically nothing left at the end of the month and no emergency fund to speak of :eek:

I then had a prolonged abscence from work (due to back problems) during which I got 6 months full pay (but none of the out-of-hours or overtime that always boosted my income considerably, so a bit of an ouch!), 6 months half-pay (which was a big ouch!!), and 4 months Incapacity Benefit (really painful ouch!!!).

While I was on my 6 months full pay DH was made redundant, and (just a few weeks later) diagnosed with very aggressive cancer. So while I was on IB our income dropped to less than 50% of our previous income (including his IB and DLA, and some help with the mortgage through the benefits system). I managed to keep us afloat (just), but it was a real struggle and the constant juggling of finances was starting to wear me down big time

I returned to work in Feb of last year, but was made redundant in November - which co-incided with the loss of my DH. Since then (due to a company pension scheme and having a child at college who still qualifies me for Child Benefit) my income has been a shade over 35% of what it was mid-2006 - so a huuuuge drop given the 'more month than money' situation we used to be in, even allowing for the fact there's one less person in the household and the fact some bills have disappeared But with the help of (and friendships gained during) this challenge I haven't once felt I've struggled financially in the last year :beer:

Most of this income will disappear when DS leaves college at the end of the current academic year, and the pension I'll be left with is about £7/month less than JSA/IS/ESA for a single adult..... which, in the past, would almost certainly have meant I'd have had to sell the house as I wouldn't be able to afford the running costs of it.

However, throughout 2009, this challenge has made me prioritise my spending, and really made think in advance about where all my money is going and look more carefully at where I can make savings - and I had become much more confident about my future even on a further reduced income, and more optomistic about managing to hold on to the house for longer (due to not needing the capital to live on 'within weeks' which was how I was feeling once I suspected I was going to made redundant).

Being part of the 'community' in this challenge has also helped me mentally, and I applied for a couple of jobs as I realised I wasn't as "useless" as I felt in low moments. Due to my back problems I didn't expect to be successful (they were in retail), but the latest application I made ended up with me being offered a position - and I've just completed week 3 (even working extra hours last Friday, yesterday and today) :j

While the pay from this only replaces just over half of what I'll lose next September, it does give me extra to 'play' with - and my intention is to save as much of this (and the WTC that I now qualify for, but another thing I lose next September as I'm working under 30 hours), so that the savings plus salary from September 2010 onwards will effectively mean my income doesn't reduce until Aug/Sep 2011 (and even later if the extra hours keep rolling in)

If I can then 'hang on in' until March 2012 (which I'm now convinced I can with the help of this challenge over the next few years) I should be pretty much home and dry, as I have an endowment (no longer required for mortgage repayment) that matures then - so the proceeds from that (even though forecast at a lot less than when the policy was taken out) would eke out my other income for around another 3 years.... hence meaning I have until mid-2015 to get extra hours at work to make up any extra I still feel I need at that point in time. But with the help of this challenge I'm also convinced I can last a lot longer due to the monitoring of my expenses and looking for places/ways to make further savings - and I "only" need to get to the start of 2026 before the first of my company pensions starts paying out to cover any 'shortfall'




Oh wow!! Just realised how much I've waffled !!!! Really considered not posting this, or seriously chopping it down in size - but have decided to leave it in the hope it encourages others to come on board if they're concerned about how to manage on a vastly reduced income

katholicos

cw18, your post is inspiring, there are a couple of similarities between my own situation and yours. Illness, loss of a loved one, kids to raise etc. Thanks for sharing your story, i really appreciate it.

meltdown_point

cw18 wrote: »

Definitely a good reason for joining in - it's the reason I joined, and it's certainly worked for me :T

3.5 years ago the 'bring home' money to this household (from all sources) was what I now see was a ridiculously high amount -- and we still had practically nothing left at the end of the month and no emergency fund to speak of :eek:

I then had a prolonged abscence from work (due to back problems) during which I got 6 months full pay (but none of the out-of-hours or overtime that always boosted my income considerably, so a bit of an ouch!), 6 months half-pay (which was a big ouch!!), and 4 months Incapacity Benefit (really painful ouch!!!).

While I was on my 6 months full pay DH was made redundant, and (just a few weeks later) diagnosed with very aggressive cancer. So while I was on IB our income dropped to less than 50% of our previous income (including his IB and DLA, and some help with the mortgage through the benefits system). I managed to keep us afloat (just), but it was a real struggle and the constant juggling of finances was starting to wear me down big time

I returned to work in Feb of last year, but was made redundant in November - which co-incided with the loss of my DH. Since then (due to a company pension scheme and having a child at college who still qualifies me for Child Benefit) my income has been a shade over 35% of what it was mid-2006 - so a huuuuge drop given the 'more month than money' situation we used to be in, even allowing for the fact there's one less person in the household and the fact some bills have disappeared But with the help of (and friendships gained during) this challenge I haven't once felt I've struggled financially in the last year :beer:

Most of this income will disappear when DS leaves college at the end of the current academic year, and the pension I'll be left with is about £7/month less than JSA/IS/ESA for a single adult..... which, in the past, would almost certainly have meant I'd have had to sell the house as I wouldn't be able to afford the running costs of it.

However, throughout 2009, this challenge has made me prioritise my spending, and really made think in advance about where all my money is going and look more carefully at where I can make savings - and I had become much more confident about my future even on a further reduced income, and more optomistic about managing to hold on to the house for longer (due to not needing the capital to live on 'within weeks' which was how I was feeling once I suspected I was going to made redundant).

Being part of the 'community' in this challenge has also helped me mentally, and I applied for a couple of jobs as I realised I wasn't as "useless" as I felt in low moments. Due to my back problems I didn't expect to be successful (they were in retail), but the latest application I made ended up with me being offered a position - and I've just completed week 3 (even working extra hours last Friday, yesterday and today) :j

While the pay from this only replaces just over half of what I'll lose next September, it does give me extra to 'play' with - and my intention is to save as much of this (and the WTC that I now qualify for, but another thing I lose next September as I'm working under 30 hours), so that the savings plus salary from September 2010 onwards will effectively mean my income doesn't reduce until Aug/Sep 2011 (and even later if the extra hours keep rolling in)

If I can then 'hang on in' until March 2012 (which I'm now convinced I can with the help of this challenge over the next few years) I should be pretty much home and dry, as I have an endowment (no longer required for mortgage repayment) that matures then - so the proceeds from that (even though forecast at a lot less than when the policy was taken out) would eke out my other income for around another 3 years.... hence meaning I have until mid-2015 to get extra hours at work to make up any extra I still feel I need at that point in time. But with the help of this challenge I'm also convinced I can last a lot longer due to the monitoring of my expenses and looking for places/ways to make further savings - and I "only" need to get to the start of 2026 before the first of my company pensions starts paying out to cover any 'shortfall'




Oh wow!! Just realised how much I've waffled !!!! Really considered not posting this, or seriously chopping it down in size - but have decided to leave it in the hope it encourages others to come on board if they're concerned about how to manage on a vastly reduced income

You are inspirational:A
It makes me grateful for what I have......thank youxxxx

cranbornekat

CRANBORNEKAT

Can I join in too please?

whitewing

Lovely post, cw. Startling to see it all in black and white, when we've been with you thro much of it as you went along. You take care x

JayJay14

I would like to join you if I may - I will probably need until the New Year to work out what my budget will be but that will give me time to think it through properly and that way it will be more realistic.

I have even invested in a new organiser to keep all the details in one place:D

So please add JayJay14 to the list.

ellemm

Can I join please ? ellemm- will make a start on a budget. Planning on retiring in 18 months time and will only have state pension (both OH and I) and some savings. Only 12 months to go until the mortgage is paid :T which will be a great help.
Thanks to the Grocery Challenge and other threads on here, I already find myself being far more frugal than I have ever been and am looking forward to being part of this challenge.