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

cw18

thriftylass wrote: »

Seems like I won't make my budget unless I cheat and use the money I made on the ipod. D*mn, and it looked so close to staying within .

Although I monitor (and report) my position at the end of each month, I don't worry if I'm overspent a bit early in the year - I just aim to make it up/claw it back by the end of December.

For this month (including a couple of payments that haven't yet gone out, but for amounts I know) I'm already 'over budget' for January. I have a target of £657.08, but showing an actual to date of £681.10, with another large vets bill to come in on Monday (will be saying bye to the Yorkie as she's been deteriorating this last week despite the medications she's on) and some groceries still needed (can't avoid getting essentials like milk and probably veg, and bound to find other Whoopsied bits I 'need' ).

January is always going to be a 'high spend' month for me though, as I have car breakdown cover and road tax (both a one-off, so will balance by the end of the year), plus I include Coucil Tax (budgeted over 12 months, but paid over 10 so 'in credit' on my spreadsheet from Feb onwards). I've also had higher than anticipated vets bills already, so am going to have to move some of my 'Contingency' fund into that category after I get my bill on Monday.......

jtb2412

Cheryl, sorry to hear doggie is no better. Sending you a virtual hug xx

I have a few 'overspends' here too, namely cleaning/toiletries (due to stockpiling a few things that were of offer - will claw back later in the year so I'm not worried) and my anything else budget is quite a bit over this month due to having a few unplanned spends (emergency contraception for DD being one of them :eek: - glad she came to me though and they are being sensible, but the sensible bit didn't do it's job one time, suffice to say she's off to the docs on Monday !) I like to think I'm coping well with it, never had a 16 year old daughter before so I'm in unchartered waters .

I've just finished the girlguiding accounts and happy to say they all add up perfectly (did you expect anything else from a frugalite? ! :rotfl:). Just have to do the gift aid claim now (which is a complete nightmare but gets us about £200 for the girls so it's a must do job).

Hoping to get into the garden for an hour tomorrow/sunday to clean up a bit ready for the forthcoming sowing season. I'll get chillis on the go next week as they need a long growing season (window sill in house) but will wait for toms and other things as being in the south we do get a bit of extra help with the weather .

Ebay parcel wrapping is next on the 'to do' list, then my mealplan. It's never-ending !

cw18

jtb - I think the fact your DD came to you speaks volumes about the relationship you have.... and means you've done something right with her My DD would never have come to me at that age !!

rozeepozee

Glad it's not just me that's been "overspending". I have massively underestimated and over estimated a few things though: petrol over and groceries under, for example. I think I'll need to make some adjustments after the first quarter of the year.

What using this thread to help sort out my finances has done is made me look at where there are potential savings. I've cut the gardener down to fortnightly and my OH will mow the lawn now which will be a saving (we have a communal garden, so this expense is shared between the flats). I have broadband on my list of things to get a reduction on when my contract comes to an end in March and it's motivated me to look at where my savings are and I've realised that if I put them in high interest accounts, I'll actually be considerably better off.

For me, this is partly about consuming more thoughtfully and carefully but also being in better control of my finances. I don't have any debt and this has led me to being very lazy about how I use my money. I think I will have clawed back about £5000 this year just by doing that which would otherwise have just disappeared into the ether in lost interest, expensive gardener, staying with the same ISP, buying stuff I don't need, buying from shops that sell products more cheaply, going to Costco less!

Sorry to hear about your doggy Cheryl...

babyboysmommy

jtb, wonderful that your daughter came to you, I hope the fact she felt able to confide in you gave you a proud Mum moment

Been to MrT today & spent £30.37 but saved £8 on offers like 3 for £10 British chickens & 3for2 on Vitamins. Was very good & kept to my shopping list. Now I'm tracking where every penny goes I'm spending less Our freezer is at bursting point thanks to all the £10 meat deals around right now.

Picked up my repaired mobile phone so that was another £44 spent.

Will be doing more baking later, HM cakes really are wonderful & go down a treat with my lot.

We didn't have many shop bought main meals but I've managed to completely switch to HM now.

I've noticed there is a lot less food waste, a mix of making sure I know what's in the house so we don't have food going off & also making portion sizes a bit smaller so no food being left on the plates either.

edaniels1983

jtb- you must be a wonderful mother. i was raised by my grandmother, and i was 21 and married and still scared to tell her i was pregnant!!!


off to father in laws today once my son finishes nursery at 11.15. he has no idea about bills as MIL used to do EVERYTHING!! and i mean everything.

but some good news, they had always rented a tv and video so i phoned up to tell them to collect as i was going to get one of freecycle for him to save on a payment and guess what??? they said we dont want it back. KEEP IT!! for FREE!! makes you wonder if i had phoned up a year earlier they would of said the same thing. it greaves me to think they have been paying for something that the company didnt even want!!

Kiwisaver_2

Sorry to hear of your wee yorkie Cheryl it's heartbreaking watching them suffer and you sound like you are now more at peace in letting her go. Bless!

I spent very little on my main shop of the week and had the egg and chips for dinner tonight. It's the one and only 'veggie' option that is willingly devoured by Mr Kiwi.

Bank stuff all sorted and in my on-line banking today, so I can check the balance every five seconds. Paid off a lump by combining mortgage and savings, which will save me interest in the longer term.

A packet of lettuce seeds fell in my shopping trolley tonight, I've no idea how that happened. My grocery budget can wear it as, I still have plenty in hand and we don't appear to have any less food in the house. :rotfl:

chika

jtb - you must be an amazing mum - I can't even begin to imagine what would have happened at home if I had gone to my mother with that story at 16! Well done.

Edaniels - wow, its cool that your FIL can keep the TV for free. I hope it hasn't cost him too much money altogether.

Just back from home - the mot and repairs were only £127 so a lot less than I thought. My friends laugh because I drive a car that is 16 years old and like a tank but (touch wood) its reliable and easy to look after. I have thought about getting a fancy one on tick but it would only be to keep up appearences and therefore not worth getting into debt over (must keep repeating that to myself!) The savingsd from that can go on the road tax which is due at the end of the month so thats another £185 gone

I had to spend about £20 today on hair producs, I'm not that vain honestly! I have unruly afro hair which takes a whole army of products to keep in shape and looking half decent. The bloke in the shop gave me a 10% discount and lots of mini samples which I'm pleased about. They will do for going away for weekends etc. When I looked at my expenses for last year I really tried to trim this spend down but there is no way I can get the things cheaper which stings.

Have a great frugal day

Kiwisaver_2

edaniels1983 wrote: »

but some good news, they had always rented a tv and video so i phoned up to tell them to collect as i was going to get one of freecycle for him to save on a payment and guess what??? they said we dont want it back. KEEP IT!! for FREE!! makes you wonder if i had phoned up a year earlier they would of said the same thing. it greaves me to think they have been paying for something that the company didnt even want!!

That happened to me many years ago, when we were renting a TV. If you rent the same item over a long period of time, there comes a point when the rental company have recouped their cost many times over and the item is of no value to them. They likely would have to pay to dispose of it and people will be wanting to rent the latest models. Good on you anyway for calling them!!

edaniels1983

well they had been paying 20.00 a month for old style 32inch tv and a video player for years!!

we said yrs ago that we would buy them one but MIL was bought up renting a tv and wouldnt budge. she used to say that its piece of mind incase it broke!!!!

to me any renting is dead money.