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

FrankieM

Morning Everyone,
I woke up up 7 hrs after I went to bed. My body seems to have got into a routine.
I've spent this morning sorting out cars. Campervan to the shop, rang mechanic about the Beetle and emptied the escort so I can get the scrappy to pick it up next week.
Children out doing various things today. It's quite nice when they get a bit older and can fend for themselves a bit.

I'm going to do some baking today and freeze it for lunches this week. Veggie lasagne for tea tonight. Did Sweetcorn Chilli for tea last night.

Also thought I might get out into the garden but the ground looks a bit frozen so maybe not

Hope you all have a good day.

Hardup_Hester

Morning all
We're very excited here as hubby got the job he went for, we're just praying it all works out ok this time. I'm still going to stick to the buget as much as possible, though adjustment will need to be made to allow for extra petrol to get him to the station & his train fares. It is a great weight of my mind as before the budget was us living on my wage & there was no leeway whatsoever, now the budget will allow for car repairs etc.
I have a blog, it's mostly about money or the lack of in my case, the link is on my profile.
Hester

knithappens

Fishcake_Random - so gad about the tax crdits at least now you have a little bit more wiggle room, and hubby plans for the baby room, sounds good to me.


I got a letter from inland revenue today with an update tax code to take into account my union subs, hopefully at the endof the tax year i will get a nice little cheque. something to look forward to.

Also I got a cheque for 217 from Npower but it was in my married name so asked them to re issue it in my single name, sio waiting for that to arrive, and some musique magpie cheques so i can pay more off my Credit card debt in feb.

Munchkin is enjoying her birthday so far, we are off into town so she can spend her birthday money, told people no more than 10 pound but so far my 2 brthers have given her 25 each, which i thought was too much, but they said they dont mind as they know she appreciates it.

so the three girls, me , munchkin and bubba are off shopping for a couple of hours, then it is face masks and romantic dvd's tonight, and lots of Goodies, reduced or on offer of course lol

chika

Morning all.

Today is another spend day here. Was doing a good deed for mum by driving her from Manchester to Huddersfield and my fan belt fell off my car on the motorway. Dizzy me though oooh what's that noise, then it just stopped so I drove on carefree. Realised that all the warning lights were on when I got to Huddersfield, fortunatly only 1/4 of a mile from my tried and trusty garage so I didn't have to pay tow charges etc I'm going to have to have a serious think about how much money I'm spending on it and if it is worth it soon. Fingers crossed it will be an easy and not too expensive fix. My best mate just told me that the local college do a saturday course in basic car maintenence. I'm considering enrolling - It will cost obviously but hopefully I'll be able to recoup the amount by saving on silly little repairs (this girl had to have the AA out to change a wheel last year.) I also won't be dependent on anyone else - a step to being self sufficientish maybe?!

Congratulations to Mr Hester!
Knithappens I hope you and your dd have a great day, there are still lots of good goodies in the shops at good prices - I had a sneaky trip into Manchester yesterday and lots of shops have 70% off signs up.

knithappens

Hardup_Hester wrote: »

Morning all
We're very excited here as hubby got the job he went for, we're just praying it all works out ok this time. I'm still going to stick to the buget as much as possible, though adjustment will need to be made to allow for extra petrol to get him to the station & his train fares. It is a great weight of my mind as before the budget was us living on my wage & there was no leeway whatsoever, now the budget will allow for car repairs etc.
I have a blog, it's mostly about money or the lack of in my case, the link is on my profile.
Hester

(congrats on hubby getting the job so happy for you :T:T

( I am now a follower of your blog)

knithappens

chika wrote: »

Morning all.

Today is another spend day here. Was doing a good deed for mum by driving her from Manchester to Huddersfield and my fan belt fell off my car on the motorway. Dizzy me though oooh what's that noise, then it just stopped so I drove on carefree. Realised that all the warning lights were on when I got to Huddersfield, fortunatly only 1/4 of a mile from my tried and trusty garage so I didn't have to pay tow charges etc I'm going to have to have a serious think about how much money I'm spending on it and if it is worth it soon. Fingers crossed it will be an easy and not too expensive fix. My best mate just told me that the local college do a saturday course in basic car maintenence. I'm considering enrolling - It will cost obviously but hopefully I'll be able to recoup the amount by saving on silly little repairs (this girl had to have the AA out to change a wheel last year.) I also won't be dependent on anyone else - a step to being self sufficientish maybe?!

Congratulations to Mr Hester!
Knithappens I hope you and your dd have a great day, there are still lots of good goodies in the shops at good prices - I had a sneaky trip into Manchester yesterday and lots of shops have 70% off signs up.

the course sounds like a great idea,
i want to do this at my local college and basic DIY, i am good at most DIY jobs just not using a drill, bu will have to wait until bubba is a little older


ohh and thanks for the tip, hopefully she will find something she likes

ifonlyitwaseasier

Fishcake_random - it'll still be amazing on telly and you won't need to wear the silly 3-d glasses!!

am going to make my gloop up today and then tomorrow give it a go!!

think i might stay home today and just be warm and relaxed

xnatalie81x

Saturday

Ordered my ink. Did lots of searching for cheap suppliers and these were best (found through TCB and you get some from them too!)

www.internet-ink.co.uk

Have printed all my newsletters and re-booking forms and off to work in a mo (my own swim school)

Pup is very very sick. Took to vets yesterday who gave us glucose solution and some high energy food to syringe feed her. She needs 150ml fluid every 24hrs and if she cannot keep that down she will need to be on IV. We don't have insurance for her yet so the thought of £800 is very daunting and i am giving her 1.5ml -2ml every 10mins and keeping records. OH is in charge when i go to work (rolling eyes smiley) - cost of vets came from owner to be so no effect on budget.

Just hope she can pull through! She looks like a ferrett right now! Only 8 weeks old so very fragile.

lynzpower

Morning frugallers :wave: Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.
Hugs to those that need them and well done to Hesters OH with the job- keep everything crossed for you it goes the way you guys need.

Ive been up since six-ish and have maanged to do the following:
*DW on using some of the finish DW powder I got for free. I know we would have had to have bought tabs a few times since- saving :beer:
*Have popped to Mr ms to get some oxo cubes and a few bits of veg ( pots 30p, apples 30p, carrots 30p) and cheese and some baking parchment. Spent all in 8.06
*put last nights chilli and rice into the new bargain tupperware containers I got in ikea the other day and froze
*put beef, vetg, guinness in the slow cooker for a pie for tea
*Have cleaned down the kitchen in its entirety ( aside from the floors, Im going to do baking so no point in doing them yet)
*caught up with my toluna questions and consumerpulse surveys. Once I actually get some vouchers out of these they will go towards Household/ clothing/gifts/ budgets and reduce these to maximise cash.

Tasks for the rest of the day:
*Go up onot the roof and assess the leaks and photgraph them for building owner and see if we can siphon any spare water out ( we have a leak into the loo- flat roof)
*Empty all the pots of old soil and brush and sweep area down.
*Draw out a planof what will be best where using the RHS site. The grow your own veg site has a wonderful forum thats really lively! I have been tryingnot to get to involved in reading instead of doing
*Lots of batch cooking to be done today: Im going to do a butterneut squash soup, ginger cake and probably a "concrete" cormflake pie with these random "amaranth" gillian mckieth flakes I bought the other day. it hasnt convinced me to grow any amaranths in pots They were cheap though!
*Cant start planting anything yet though as its still far too cold for us with no central heating, so hoping to wait for the end of feb earliest unless I can lay my hands on some greenhouse heating items ( am going to look for some as its something I know nothing about -yet)

Later this afternoon OH and I are going to sit down with the figures and really thrash out our budget for the year. I know im dragging the heels on this one, but it just seems so complicated- mainly because we "haven't really thought about it" for over a year, and just spent what we wanted.

We also are working on "the empire" selling items on e-bay- will definitely do a lot better with this this weekend.

Hope everyone has a really penny pinching & frugal weekend.

cw18

knithappens wrote: »

I got a letter from inland revenue today with an update tax code to take into account my union subs, hopefully at the endof the tax year i will get a nice little cheque. something to look forward to.

Assuming you still have income from an employer, and will receive another payslip before Tax Year End (which I seem to remember from your posts you do/will), then it will all be adjusted/refunded through your payslips - you'll simply pay a little less tax between now and 5th April.

Hardup_Hester wrote: »

We're very excited here as hubby got the job he went for

Fantastic news :T

chika wrote: »

My best mate just told me that the local college do a saturday course in basic car maintenence. I'm considering enrolling - It will cost obviously but hopefully I'll be able to recoup the amount by saving on silly little repairs (this girl had to have the AA out to change a wheel last year.)

My Dad paid for me (and my Mum) to attend a 'Car Maintainance for Beginners' course at night school just after I passed my test (course started Sept 1985).

We learned to change a wheel (though the recommendation is still to call a breakdown service if it's an off-side wheel and you're on a motor-way/very busy road, and I always have to ask garages not to tighten the wheel nuts with the air hose otherwise I don't have the strength to undo them), top up all the 'essentials' (petrol, oil, brake fluid, windscreen wash, radiator levels etc), and change plugs and points. The last of these is now totally defunct for the majority of cars, and hasn't been something I could do myself (due to engine developments) since my second car (which was registered in 1986)