FRUGAL LIVING CHALLENGE 2010, part 1. (Living on £4,000 a year)

LilacPixie

Mumof four Glad your dad is ok.

AEB so sorry for the loss of your husband. I knew you had 6 kids but didn't realise the history or that you were alone so to speak.

Had a nightmare of a day. Had mortgage broker meeting to start to get ball rolling on selling and buying bigger and basically it is possibly but it all depends on how much equity we have in this place and getting our debt to as low as possible. We have seen several houses we like so broker is approaching some lenders with our circumstances ( income and debt levels) to see if they will lend us anywhere near the required mortgage amount.

I would love a big victorian/edwardian 5 bed detatched house with a huge garden. I want to have a big veg garden, have 1-2 dogs that would enjoy the space. I want to adopt a retired greyhound I also want a 'sausage dog'. My cats had to be PTS at different times last year, They were 19 and 20 so it was time I would love another cat or 7. Not fussed if a kitten or young cat so we would adopt from a shelter. I am very very pro adoption whenever possible and anti back street breeding. As a child i lived semi rurally and i want the same for my kids. I like the convenience of citys and town but couldn't live in the centre of one.

I have started to survey this place with a view to what needs done to make it more sellable. Trying to get a balance between sellability and cost. Firstly the walls and ceiling in our bedroom (huge room 18'3 x 15'11) are a right mess. it is literally the only room we have not touched. WHen I moved in years ago the walls and ceiling were covered in badley hung superfresco type dimpled wallpaper and all painted dark green. I slapped over cream emulsion and that was that. I have since replaced windows as well so some damage was caused doing that. I partially stripped a wall this evening and the plaster is bashed and cracked holes in some parts almost an inch thick. I dread to think what i will find under the rest of it. I am hopeless at papering and don't actially know anyone that is decent. I guess the amount of paper required will be alot as the room also has highish ceilings. I do however have an ace up my sleeve. My uncle is a plasterer, he retired last year so he has kindly agreed to come give it a skim if i supply materials, coffee and lunch I have also managed to get 10litres of emulsion is a 'pale lilac shade' that i will be collecting tomorrow. That means bedroom has cost very little so far. currently the flooring is badly laid laminate that bounces as you walk. Skirtings and door surrounds need to come off for the skimming so I need to factor in possible replacments as the current ones have years of gloss paint on them and one in particular keeps falling off as we walk past due to laminate floor movement. I am seriously considering getting a carpet as well. I might go searching for quotes this weekend.

Hallway is okish, It is long and narrow with no windows. 2 under 3 mean dirty finger marks everywhere. It is currently painted with a suede effect coffee colours paint with a cream carpet. These are 5 years old. Paintwork (walls and gloss) look grubby. I hope a good wash down will improve it but possible I may need to put another coat on. Need to search loft to see if we have excess paint for that room and what condition it is in. Does paint go off?? Carpet I will borrow parents VAX and see what i can do.

Livingroom pretty much ok. walls a creamy colour, similar grubby marks at kid height but its washable endurance paint so no issue there. cream carpet as per hallway needs a clean.

Kitchen less than 2 years old. gloss white units and shiney worktops. |Needs decluttered and worksurfaces cleared. Slainless steel appliances streaky looking and should be buffed up. I need to get into this habit. Kitchen has no door. when I bought it it had a dodgy bead curtain that i ripped off. survy then did recomend fitting a door but i have never gotten around to it (typical). Kitchen is a gally sort so if door opens in the way then we would be blocking some cupboards. Opening the door outwards is possible but with hall being narrow it would block the passageway. I need to investigate a solution. Possible a sliding door or folding door maybe.

Bathroom recently fitted. floor to ceiling white tiles with small boarder. Need to not buy any more toiletries and reduce current stocks as shelves look cluttered.

Kids room - cream carpet is in better condition than rest of house but could also benefit from a clean. need to ensure toys look neater and possibly put some in loft in short term. they seem to play with a few things constantly for weeks then get bored and move on so possible toy rotation possible. Their room was decorated early 2009 so just a wipe of the woodwork needed.

It sounds bizzare but we have nothing hanging on the walls in any of the rooms here. we have the od picture sitting on window sills etc but nothing major. I feel I need to dress this place for sale as a home which it just isn't at the moment.

Oh and i have managed to kill my spreadsheet from cheryl. Not sure wha i have actually done to it. I am such a technophobe

I will be funding this on extra income earned for quidco/clicks/MS etc so will not effect my budget as such other than possibly a small increase in cleaning supplies to account for carpet shampoo etc.

cw18

LilacPixie wrote: »

I am hopeless at papering and don't actually know anyone that is decent.

Is half-way-decent good enough?

I guess the amount of paper required will be alot as the room also has highish ceilings. I do however have an ace up my sleeve. My uncle is a plasterer, he retired last year so he has kindly agreed to come give it a skim if i supply materials, coffee and lunch

if it's newly skimmed then it should solve the issue of needing to paper - and in some respects I think a viewer is likely to appreciate (though they may not realise it at time) the sight of decent platerwork, rather than loads of paper than could be hiding a multitude of sins :rolleyes2
would still recommend one 'feature' wall with paper as something to be considered though - doing this made a huge difference to DD's bedroom. Or, which I did when we moved in 8 years ago (and haven't yet felt the need to re-do), paint the walls a pale colour (mine are all "builder magnolia") and put a border right around the room. I put this a lot higher than most people would (when splitting paint from paper or two papers), but I'm really pleased with how it worked out

Carpet I will borrow parents VAX and see what i can do.

I'm always amazed by what my Bisse!! pulls up when used....... My carpets are that bad ATM (also mainly 'cream') that I can't just do where we have a spillage

Oh and i have managed to kill my spreadsheet from cheryl. Not sure wha i have actually done to it. I am such a technophobe

if you can attach it to an email, send it me back and I'll see if I can rescue it for you

rozeepozee

aeb wrote: »

The bits in green are my dream come true, except to change 'swim school' to B&B. Let me explain.

We saved up. DH took early retirement and I left my job. We bought our dream house on the edge of a largish village in the South West. Although a bit run down it is structurally sound, sits in a bit more than an acre, has an annexe, a huge roof space, about six double bedrooms (depending how they are used) and a swimming pool complex to die for (wave machine, steam room, sauna, hot tub, etc)

We had just unpacked and settled in when DH suddenly passed away and I was left with three pre school children. The saving grace was that we had no mortgage but because moving had cost more than we thought and we were impatient to get the B&B going we took out a £12,000 loan. The first in our lives as we had no saving left.

I though I was feeling rubbish because of all this but then found I was expecting - big shock! - even bigger shock to find it was three! All went really well so here I am living in my dream house with 6 under 6 and loving it! Things could be better of course if DH was here but life must go on etc etc...

I tried to do a bit before the babies were born but then I thought well I have to be sensible as there is nobody else for them. They have only one uncle in NZ and my mum who couldn't cope with 6. Friends have been really good. An ex neighbour, a real Jack of all trades, came with his family. They went out for days whilst we did load of semi structural stuff such as putting in wires and pipes for plumbing and stud walls for en-suites. I then found a really good plasterer. So although I have no skirting, architrave, windows, floorboards (holes), sanitary fittings or light fittings/switches in most rooms everything is ready for when I'm able to move on with out too much disruption, just needs connecting up.

But, hey, on the bright side I have my bedroom and bathroom and a carpet that nearly fits which are warmed from the wood burner in the kitchen below. DS1&2 and DD1 sleep in together. There room is nice as we brought the furniture with us. The kitchen units DH and I bought from ebay for £75 and although not quite fitted to professional standards I did my best with real nails and no nails and they do the job. We brought down a huge pine table which we literally live around.

Outside we have a hen house although only 3 hens until I can cope with more. I've a big veg garden which I planted but then I couldn't harvest so the little aeb's did their best and can't wait for next year to begin.

The pool is full of water but for the time being it is my dream. Far too costly and dangerous. It is double locked!! It has to be kept full of water to prevent damage I am told. Someone suggested keeping fish in it to catch and eat - hmmm?

So that is part of my story, don't wait for your dream or it may be too late.

Oh, aeb, I am typing through the tears here as I read your post (okay, so I may be a bit hormonal with the twin pregnancy and all that, but your story couldn't fail to touch the hardest of hearts, I'm sure!). I guess you just show how spirit can triumph over adversity. I can't begin to imagine how hard it is to try to lose a partner and father and then try to develop a business and juggle looking after 3 kids, let alone 3 small babies in addition - our life went into suspended animation when we had just our first son, so god only knows what it's going to be like once the twins arrive.

We're also thinking possibly along the lines of buying a B&B, although we would prefer to have holiday lets that are self catering. We are both very debt averse though so would like to do it without extra borrowing, which means buying where it's fairly cheap (?west Wales) letting out our current place and buying anything we do on a smaller scale, which in turn means a smaller potential income from it.... my DP is very keen on the idea of being as self sufficient as possible. I just feel that with 3 children aged 3 and under, I'll have enough on my hands before I start digging furrows etc!

I'm sure you are right about not waiting for your dream. We're waiting a little longer while I "cook" these babies but I hope after that we don't get sucked back into the rat race and decide it's "safer" to stay put in the city. I've often thought the biggest regret about the things I've done is that I didn't do some of them sooner

KazLA

OK, I've given up trying to read this whole thread, or even keep up on a daily basis! I started reading through a few days ago, but it's going far too fast for me!

I've always loved the frugal ideas and think life would be so much simpler with less 'stuff'.

I spend far too long each month trying to sort and organise my money, decided this month the easiest option is to not spend anything (Well, as little as possible anyway!) The less stuff coming into the house, the less tidying and putting away there is and saving money is an excellent bonus!

I discovered this thread after joining the MFIT-part 2 challenge, as I would like to start making over-payments on our mortgage.

I'm not sure about working out a yearly budget (although can you pls remind me who to PM for the spreadsheet!), we do change our gas/electric etc quite regularly, so not too worried about including all that (although think our broadband contract runs out this month, so perhaps had better look into that...).

I'm more concerned with spending less on a week-by-week basis. I'd like to really reduce the amount of my own personal money that I spend and sell some of the existing 'stuff'.

I'd also like to save some joint money on the grocery shopping each week. We have a weekly/monthly budget, but over the last year or so we've gradually increased our weekly amount from around £40 to £60 (2 adults and a 3 year old - No. 2 due in June!), just because we never quite seem to have enough and always seem to be taking it to the limit.

We managed to only spend about £28 last week, which was fantastic, but partly due to left-overs and stocking up for Christmas. We are getting our bathroom re-tiled in a few weeks, so I figure that's instantly £32 to go towards it! :j

I have looked through the freezer and would like one meal this week to be made with something that's been sitting in there for ages!
This includes:
4 x onion and garlic bagels (Whoops ones, bought in 2008, with no intended use - must really try to only buy stuff I need, even if it is a good bargin!)
2 small square portions of cod
1 piece of plaice
4 sausages.

Think the sausages will be the easiest option, might do toad in the hole for tea...

Any suggestions on the rest? (Esp the bagels!)

Could do some fish fingers with the cod (not keen on fish pie etc even though that would probably be a better option).

I've also just eaten a bowl of value muesli from a pack that's been sitting around a while, BB Jul 09.

So, won't promise to keep up with the thread, but would like to try to read a couple of pages a day, to pick up ideas (we were planning to try the snow ice-cream yesterday, but used up last of the vanilla earlier this week and our special trip (on foot!) to Lidl didn't help as they didn't sell it! Might have to read back to see if anyone did actually make it!) and keep me motivated.

Not sure if it's already been said, but someone asked about bulking out a freezer, I once read to fill with empty tupperware/icecream tubs, with the lids on, as then when you open the door, the cold air is trapped, rather than just flowing out...

Looking forward to reading the thread, and being a bit more frugal.

Oh and our name came to the top of the allotment list at the end of last year, so that will be quite a big project this spring!

cw18

KazLA wrote: »

(although can you pls remind me who to PM for the spreadsheet!)

That would be me

There is actually a link in Nyk' list of useful links (at the start of the thread) for downloading it, but I've had a couple of people have problems if they need the version for older copies of Excel/Open Office. So more than happy to send it out directly if needed, but please be sure to let me have your email address so I can do so

rozeepozee

aeb wrote: »

Well we are all snowed in this week!

Start saving because if I can't make a go of it in the next 3 years it will be on the market negative equity or not:rolleyes:

Natalie's suggestion does sound like a solution, aeb

A question about "whoopsies". Am I right in thinking they're simply discounted items? It's just that, I'm never convinced I'm making a "saving" when I buy these things from the supermarket - surely it's just a case of not paying the over inflated price the supermarket claim they could be charging for it?

gilligansyle

morning to all,
have been trying to catch up with thread but it moves quite fast, aeb you sound like a real fighter, hope it all works out for you.

Thinking of dreams, I have to agree with those who say that the romantic ideal is the smallholding in the country, but I've lived in a City for 50 years, and know I couldn't cope without the convenience of buses, shop on the corner etc. There is a village that is about 10 miles away that sort of ticks most boxes as it is near enough to bus routes, but still has that 'village' feel in places, so would like to live there, and have a bit of a garden I can grow stuff in.
Just a bit about me and why I am where I'm at.
I am single with a son of 22, and have always worked full time, recently in a job with a lot of responsibility and a fairly decent salary. House is a 3 bed terraced with a tiny yard and needs lots doing to it.
Until recently had no debts at all and a small mortgage, but met someone and it all went very wrong.
For various reasons, some to do with workplace situations, my job came to an end and I am now surviving on part time earnings and a lump sum payment.
I wish I didn't have to get another job as I am enjoying cooking again, making the most of what I have; but I do need to work, so have now decided to look for the higher paid, but more risky contracting work. I can only do this as have mortgage covered for a few months. Better paid, but short term, so will pay off the last of the debts, and start to pay off the mortgage and get this house into a sellable condition.

Does anyone know if approvedfoods have been shut over Christmas, I ordered some stuff last week and only got an email yesterday saying its been despatched.
Hoping to keep the food spend to around £25 this week. It's actually more than that but I don't count buying soft drinks for DS as he pays for them himself.

Happy frugalling everyone

mumtoomany

Hi all,
Thanks Ceridwen and Cheryl,

M (DS's ex girlfriend) lived with us for 13 months when her parents threw her out in 2008. They don't seem to value education at all (remind me of Matilda's parents in the Roald Dahl book). All her sibblings left, or were sent from, home at 16. She still comes round to ours most days, calls my OH dad and we think of her now as one of our own. So £19 well spent. And when we are old and (more) grey her taxes will pay our pensions.

Mumtoomany.

mooomin

rozeepozee wrote: »

A question about "whoopsies". Am I right in thinking they're simply discounted items? It's just that, I'm never convinced I'm making a "saving" when I buy these things from the supermarket - surely it's just a case of not paying the over inflated price the supermarket claim they could be charging for it?

They tend to be the things that need to be sold before close of business that day. Sometimes you can get some real bargain - my best being a Tesco Finest turkey crown wrapped in parma ham and with some kind of yummy stuffing. Bought for £1.50 on Christmas Eve, sorting dinner out for us Sometimes it's best to go later on as then things will be more heavily discounted. I tend to figure that if I'm getting meat for a decent price it's worth it. My freezer is mainly filled with whoopsied food - a lot of it is organic food I would never normally be able to afford.

cw18

rozeepozee wrote: »

A question about "whoopsies". Am I right in thinking they're simply discounted items? It's just that, I'm never convinced I'm making a "saving" when I buy these things from the supermarket - surely it's just a case of not paying the over inflated price the supermarket claim they could be charging for it?

They're the 'reduced to clear' items - generally perishable goods on the 'sell by date'. I get a very large percentage of my meat this way, then bring it home and sling it into the freezer....... saves me a huuuuuge amount over the year

It's only NOT a saving if it's something that I wouldn't/shouldn't otherwise buy (cream cakes being a prime example), or if the Whoopsied price still isn't much lower than the version of the item I'd normally buy (unless the quality of the Whoopsied one is significantly better). Things like pies and garlic bread fall into this latter category - Whoopsied 'Best' garlic bread generally isn't worth getting, but Whoopsied pies from the deli do get stocked up on as they're soooooo much nicer than the 'value' versions.