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

slm6002

Happy New Year to you all. In an effort to start as i mean to go on, today i shall be listing all food in freezers and cupboards in preperation for meal planning and non food shopping. I will also be making 1 or 2 loaves banana bread depending how far the brown bananas will stretch! I will stick within my budget and have money left over to clear debts. Good luck to you all on this challenge and new way of life.

JayJay14

Thanks Nyk for starting the thread, I just hope I am up to the challenge, but with the help of all the people on here I will at least be going in the right direction.

Off out for the day but will try to resist the sales if I can:rotfl:

[Deleted User]

Please count me in : )

BUDGETEER

Puddleglum

Happy New Year Everyone!

We have just finished doing a stocktake for DH's business so buoyed up with success I will do a food in house stocktake after dinner.

Hope the hangovers are all under control.

sophiesmum_2

Good morning frunchkins
Today will be spent baking to use up the last of my bargain bananas, making a loaf, using up yesterday's hot pot leftovers for dinner tonight, trying to sort and store some of my approved food order, working on my 2010 budget,menu planning the next week or so, and clearing at least one of the raised beds ready for adding fertiliser/compost.
Coffee with the neighbour will be in there somewhere too got to find time for the little stuff

slowlyfading

Morning! Happy new year and here's to 2010! :j

candygirl

Happy New Year fellow frugalites:j:j:j

in_spired2

My budget is £6,766.20. 4 of us - youngest is 16 and still a dependent. other 2 are non-dependent sons - 1 not working (hope that changes soon) and one a student living on £30 a week adult learner grant. Hoping I will finish on less than that though. Biggest expenses for me are groceries and leccie/gas - will try hard to lower them.

Aim to pay off credit card by the summer. Then maybe put by for an emergency fund, and then start regular saving.

We have plenty of clothes and "stuff". It would be nice if we can get away without buying any more clothes and stuff this year (but son NEEDS a new coat, and will probably need a few tshirts and bottoms in the summer, and we'll both probably want new underwear, so have set a £100 (generous I think) budget for clothing)

Will start a spending diary, and watch my energy consumption closely, to see that I stay on track week to week, month to month, and will try to get a little more money in from selling online and clicks etc. Fingers crossed too that I will get a job asap

I'll report in each month as to how well I'm managing to stick to the budget. :T

budget: £
gas/leccie .. 1212
water ........ 500 (exact cost to be confirmed)
groceries .... 2600
tv licence ....142.50
satellite ...... 222 (may cancel this)
broadband .. 293.40 (will try to get a cheaper deal when contract ends this year)
phone ........ 210
son lunch ... 202.50
clothes ...... 100
fares .......... 358.80 (unlikely to be this much but only reflects 1 or 2 bus journeys each week - job interviews etc)
xmas/bdays .. 400.00
CC ............. 525
total: £6766.20

will adjust the figures if/when things like water, tv licence change price.

ceridwen

rozeepozee wrote: »

I do like your thoreau quote, Ceridwen.

RP x

Thanks...well I'll write it down here - in case I change my signature later - as I'm prone to do:

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away."

I'm a bit non-conformist so that and the tale of the Ugly Duckling (who turned out to be a swan) resonates with me:D

Thinking of my attitude to money - its probably the less common one as well. Guess theres two basic attitudes to money:
1. how much have I got coming in and how can I make it cover everything it has to cover - and hopefully some for me as well:D
or
2. how much do I need to live on at whatever-standard-I-have-decided (ie a pretty "simple living" one in my case) and how does that match the income I am due for? From which - if its not enough (it often hasnt been:mad:) - then what am I going to do about it to get some more income.

Both ways of thinking are valid - I just think the second way myself and have managed to find a variety of ways to get a bit extra. Thankfully I dont have to any more - yay!:D:j

Just had a late Christmas present - bit more money - yay!:D:T

shaz_mum_of__2

Happy new year and good luck with the years challenges

Shaz