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

weezl74

cha97michelle wrote: »

Not so good news is that DH has a problem with his tax coding dating back to 2008 and despite our best efforts to sort it, we are having a lot of difficulty and we owe them about £700 i wasn't expecting to have to pay this month, which will have to come from savings. The silver cloud to this is we know the tax code is wrong, and his pay has been short since Sep 08, so when they finally do sort this out we should be owed a refund plus some from each months wage packet that has been short since then.

oh dear michelle are you submitting a self-assessment for him this year at all? Just wondered if you could reduce the payment on account to allow for the money they will owe you, and thereby not have to find the £700 by Jan 31st?

Weezl xxx

2NDTIMEROUNDER

Goodmorning everybody! First of all let me wish you all a very late HEALTHY AND HAPPY NEW YEAR. I hope that this year will see all your aspirations fullfiled to the max.:) Very pleased to see that the group has so many new members this year.:) A very warm welcome and good luck with the challenge to each and every one of you guys. Any more men by any chance??:D Its evident I have not had the time to read since last November so apologies people.

NYK can you please add me to this years list? I will give it another try. Last year it was only due to health related expenses that I was off budget but I have learned new tricks and skills - the majority by the excellent bunch of people I have met in here.:T
I have had the absolute worst Xmas of my entire life to date this year. Being in Intensive Care for most of the day seeing people die puts things in perspective though, I must admit.
My life will be completely different this year due Mother's health problems.She is still in Intensive Care, paralysed and wired and tubed up. I asked for some time off from work to help out and support her but unfortunately they said no, therefore I have resigned and will be Mother's full-time carer as nobody else from my lovely family would help out. They just wanted to send her to a Nursing Home and be done with her once she is out of the hospital. I knew it would finish her off so I have decided not to continue with my life as if nothing has happened to her. Wish me luck people, I will need it....:eek: To be honest I am scared of what the future holds for me financially since I dont have massive savings to sustain me in the months or possibly years while Mother rehabilitates herself but hey....money will come and go but had I not stepped forward for my own Mother at her neediest what would I do with money...

Have a good one today people.

lynzpower

bails wrote: »

Okay, I'm still not completely caught up but had to comment before I forget everything! Fishcake, I love that elephant, it's great! :T I've loved reading the thread this morning, lots of really useful info and links for things that are relevant for my near future so thanks as ever :T I've got lots of pages on the go and save useful tips under each category.

The cottage has a large garden out the back - I say that, it's actually a steep and unkempt woodland (sadly not trees to keep, more jungle) which would make an awesome garden with a lot of work. OH is keen as it would involve using a mini digger :rotfl: and I am daydreaming of orchards It would need a separate challenge to raise the funds to do it though so I'd probably dig up the front garden in the short term. That's IF we move there of course :whistle: :rotfl: Oh, and OH says if we do move there, he make a pond and we can have ducks :j:j
*goes off smiling dreamily*

Garden sounds fab. If you are chopping down a tree or have a fallen one, make sure you do mushrooms with it, it seems absolutely fab to use a rotting stump/log for mushroom growing. Realseeds I posted back there was brimming with interesting stuff as on the RHS.

cw18

2ndTimeRounder - Sending you the biggest ((hugs)) I can. Well done you for having the confidence to follow your heart, and I wish you all the best through the times ahead.

JayJay14

Hi all.

2ndtimerounder - good luck to you and your mum, just make sure you get as much info as you can about carers allowances and such, don't leave it until later or you could miss out on things you are entitled to.

A pretty good week in the Jay household, grocery spending has been kept in check (tempted by the M&S offers but the freezers are full and may need the cash for essentials later)

Off to B&Q to look at mixer showers this morning. Need a new cubicle really but will have to make do for now. The everything else budget has been rocked this week by OH buying a new bluetooth for the car (he needs it cos he has to be in touch in case a job comes up) however the shower should be fairly money neutral as I have sold my old iphone for £100.

Oh's job finishes in 2 weeks and there isn't much on the horizon, he's starting to panic a bit but I think I'll save that for later, no use in loosing sleep over it unil it happens.

By the way -went to asda last night to pick up DD1 from work and spent the grand total of ........ 24p. two loaves of bread, so toast and I think I'll freeze bags of breadcrumbs for future use.

grandma247

2TR Good to see you back. What a wonderful son you are. I hope you get all the help you need and wish you all the best for the future whatever it may hold.

rozeepozee

All the talk of gardening is making me think we need to do some planning. I don't know how much realistically we're going to get done this year what with a campervan arriving in March (which will tempt us away from garden maintenance in the Summer) and the twins arriving in April...?

Think we're gonna use the baths (we have seven or eight commandeered from a hotel that was being gutted to be turned into apartments) on a concrete bit of the garden this year freeing up a bed for something else. DH wants to grow onions there but I think they're so cheap to buy, is it worth it? I'm sure there must be something more economically sensible to grow! Courgettes? Squash? Anyone any suggestions? The garden is lovely but even though it's not small, it's set out in such a way that there's no obvious space for a veggie patch and we've had to clear one of the flower beds. Think we may clear another this year.

We'll do salads and strawbs in the baths and tomatoes in containers, cucumber in grow bags (we had loads of cucumbers from 6 bags in two grow bags last year). They are high maintenance though, so time is definately going to be the defining factor.

loopychriss

Fishcake_Random wrote: »

Well I finally got round to it, whoop whoop

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26183176@N03/4276673141/ Pic 1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26183176@N03/4276672319/in/photostream/ pic 2

What do guys think?
xx x x

awwwww, how cute is he?!!! he's gorgeous... well done! is that for the baby?

jtb2412

2nd TR ...... if my son turns out to be half the man you are then I'd be a very happy mummy indeed.

I wish you all the best and admire your loyalty and family values - no amount of money can EVER make up for those. Do pop on for a 'natter' if you can though, we've all got big ears and happy to listen if you need a moan at any time.

Had some good news yesterday that I kind of forgot to mention , DH is getting a bonus this year and we've decided to put it straight into the ISA towards decorating the house, rather than spend it on a foreign holiday (like we did 2 years ago). Not a clue of how much it will be yet but it's a percentage and rumours are that it is 4% which is a nice little sum :j

bails

2TR, sending you hugs and wishing you the best with your mum. It's a wonderful thing you're doing, something our society sometimes doesn't do so well. Really hope you can find a way to manage moneywise and don't forget to take time for yourself too xx