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

glendam

natilie81

Happy Birthday.:beer:

Glenda

rozeepozee

nykmedia wrote: »

Brief update - sorry to keep harping on and on about post 1 but the handy links section has the link for soapnuts that has an offer of some freebies for trial. Not sure if running handy links helps anyone as nobody seems to use it, so I may just do away with it rather than waste time updating it.

I've used it nyk! Need to revisit. Maybe at the start of next month, once I've ticked off all the Frigal good intentions I had at the start of January, I'll add in a few other things. Quite like the sound of making my own washing liquids and soapnuts!

NualaBuala wrote: »

Well I for one don't expect anything from you - I don't expect you to read my posts and if I really needed to ask you something I'd find a way to get noticed without you having to make the effort to "notice". I think we can all tell how busy you are with life in frugaldom!

I love hearing about your lifestyle, it's so inspiring to me even though I'm far from your level of frugality. So I really hope you continue to share tidbits about what you're up to whenever you have time. I do like your blog but I tend to have MSE open all the time and I like the friendly group that has formed on this thread - and we have you to thank for bringing us like-minded folk together. So three cheers for Nyk - hip hip, hooray! :T:T:T

I second that!

rozeepozee

rictus123 wrote: »

Is everyone watching soaps that they are not on here?

No, I was watching the end of Slumdog Millionaire with my OH. So glad it didn't have a sad ending. My pregnancy hormones would have had me blubbing!

Erme

Right I'm fully aware it's 4 in the morning and I need more sleep

Here are my revised calculations for what I can aim for this year (baring in mind one month has already passed according to my 'giro')

5774 inc full rent & Council Tax 0 mob& no cigs (112 per week)

2210 0 mob but 0 rnt (rent)
& ct (council tax) & 0 cigs (42.5 a week)
3250 0 mob but 0 rnt
&ct + cigs (62.5 a week)

This doesn't count for tithe which if I was on basic welfare I would pay substantially less of and it doesn't take into account debts that I'm already paying off. It leaves money spare for sos and won't count that but not money for expensive treats (don't know how much I blew at the bookshop yesterday in the sale. Bang goes my wonderful budget for this week...but we'll see. If I can get food this week down to £10 maybe not?). Like this month I have to pay £70 for a new sewing machine cable because I binned mine by accident in a clear out (not a wise move). I don't pay prescriptions and if I did they would be minimal because my eyes are fine, (my teeth aren't but anyhow - they'd be a lot right now) and my psychiatric prescription I could possibly get cheaper privately (it's an old drug. Cost pennies but like keeps me well and makes signing upto this sort of thing possible) and my other psychiatric drug is done by IM injection @ the clinic so I don't think I'd be paying for that somehow (again is not the most expensive drug on the market).

Also like if I was on basic welfare I'd get extra help due to my £60 a month elec bill so sure that'd auto go down. My aim is like 'worse case scenario in the UK currently' (i.e basic welfare)...could I survive? Because I have so many friends on less/same money than me that say even on a little more than basic welfare or basic welfare itself they can't survive and I want to prove them wrong.

So my budget on a week by week basis for the rest of the month is as follows

TRY AND GET GROCERY SHOPPING FOR THIS WEEK FOR £10.

Cigs = £20 (in recovery but I'm thinking of quitting in the spring)


Wk 2 = Orange Mobile (can't get out of the contract just yet) - 23.54
Internet £10
(book bill from xmas) = £16
Elec = £30-60 (will NEED to be paid)

Wk 3 = Budget (i.e. food and cigs) = £30 (down from £50)
(sewing machine/savings) = £70

Wk 4 = Budget = £30
Phone (land line) £30.5 (it's part of a payment plan. Ought when I have time to seek about reducing that)
Water rates (last month of this fiscal year - will go down to £20 over 10/11 mths in April/May) = £24

Excluding sewing this works out @ 249.82 which is 83.28 weekly which is way too high but it WILL come down.

I can end my mobile contract in a few weeks. I've paid for this month.

If I can't live without my mobile I'm going to get the contract down to £10 a month without fail. This is going to be the MAX I'm prepared to pay for mobile this next year. I'm up for this challenge. I already don't have a tv. (I'm just over 6 months without that - praise God) and that was done going from in 6 months with something like a £30-40 a month sky package (with phone and internet) plus tv license to nothing. Got a refund on the tv license and bought a dab radio (and still had stuff to spare) - sorted. I'm a text addict which just HAS to stop. Who do I really need to text alot? Ma and one other (maybe 2 other) friends. The rest can be texted once a week. Ma is just once a day and can be kept to a page or two. So I need to check online and see how many sms I've used this month and revise. The rest of the time mobile is just sos. H I can email/fb in a crisis/phone on landline (I need to stay on the same package. It's more cost effective believe it or not. But I do need to see if paying quarterly or by direct debit or something is cheaper than the current situ). So yeah....

That's me basically. And no I'm not going to tell you how much my giro is but like I have lots of debts from Mania (at the time it went untreated for about 6 months) a few years ago then bad debt advice from the bank that I aim to pay off asap...hence I'm on here!

E

Kiwisaver_2

chika wrote: »

I buy bottled water. I'm not that princessy I just hate the taste of the water from the taps here in Manchester. I don't mind it at home in Yorkshire but it tastes chlorine-ish here. Normally I have 2-4 litres a day of Evi4n which comes up to about £10 per week.

Today I've invested a fiver in two nice jugs and a couple of metal bottles and I'm going to be boiling the tap water cooling it and drinking it like that. which is going to save a tenner a week instantly. Ohhh don't you just love it when you get a frugal brainwave!

Hi Chika,

I understand entirely, our water is vile and smells like pure D0mest0s out of the tap.I also do as CW18 Cheryl suggests and put a few drops of Ribena or orange juice in to disguise the taste.

Far be it from me to encourage you to spend further but have you seen the water bottles with an in-built filter. Brita did one called Fill'n'go, but I hear it has been discontinued, although shops here are still selling them. I just did a quick Google and found this at the Eco store:

http://www.myecostore.co.uk/hydropal-water-filter-bottle-p-358.html

I am sure there are others too.

mooomin

nykmedia wrote: »

Thanks guys, but I am still looking for a volunteer to take over the running of this challenge as it's strayed too far from my original, which was about living a simple, minimalist lifestyle. I just don't have the time to keep up with all the posts here. Sorry.

I'll help in any way I can but echo what Nuala said - I don't think we expect you to personally keep up with all of the posts on here! I know that I'm using a vastly different budget to you in wildly different circumstances, but I find this thread a godsend and really enjoy reading the posts from the Rural Frugals as one day in the future I hope I'll be one.

So, back to frugality.....I had a NSD yesterday which was #11 for me for the month, a major step forward from my previous habits :A I charged my phone at work again (I've not charged it at home since December) and managed to ninja-sneak to the heating controls and turn it off two hours before Mr Fresian normally would! Dinner last night was roast chicken, so carcass is in the fridge ready for soup-making and sandwiches. I also sent £61 to my saving-to-pay-off-debts account which I made from Amazon/Ebay this week.

FrankieM

Morning All,

nyk Sorry you're feeling overwhelmed by the thread. I hope you either find someone soon or feel more relaxed about it all. (meant with the best of intentions)

At Uni again today. Soup for dinner tonight. Didn't manage it last night cause I didn't read the instructions on the soup mix from Approved Foods that said it needed soaking overnight. So I did that last night and will do the soup with bread tonight.
Made some flapjack for lunches. I'm generally feeling like I'm keeping on top of everything.
In fact I'm finding the less time I have the more I'm getting done. If that makes sense.

Hope you all have a good day.

babyboysmommy

This is only something small but made me smile anyway. The wheelie bin went out today, it's normally so full the lid doesn't close. This week it's only 1/2 full. I'm really pleased, less waste so good for the enviroment & less money wasted Hope to do even better over the coming weeks.

Savvy_sewing

Trying to catch up but there is just so many posts I give up.
Managed to keep within budget so far. Except not sure about the Electric!. Food wise, we are doing well. Have a freezer full still so wont need to spend anymore this month, except for the Milk that DGD goes through, much more then the Healthy start vouchers come too!
Nyk, I hope you dont disappear, but I understand the loosing the will to live to keep up with the thread!

SavvyStudent_2

Hi guys! Just thought I'd mention as a few of you were talking about frugal shampoo etc - popped into Mr S on my way home from nights and their *entire* shampoo aisle is reduced by 50%, including their own brand stuff - stocked up on 4x coconut shampoos for 20p each... and the bigger own brand bottles were 29p each. That should last me 6 months or so so I'm temped to pop in tomorrow on my way and get another 4 bottles - that'd be about a years worth of shampoo for £1.60... :rotfl: might help some of the toiletries spenders out there..!

Savvy x