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

Puddleglum

Hi Folks,

It's great to see that we are all doing so well. Thanks for the help with the gloop. I too was following the set like a stone recipe and attempting to dissolve it with boiling water before chucking the bits in with the clothes and hoping.

Here are my results for January.

water 370 £0.00
gas 1404 £117.00
electric 1080 £101.00
phone 350 £0.00
tv licence 145 £0.00
sky 486 £41.00
mobile 120 £9.98
pet food 185 £15.23
vets bills 150 £0.00
cat extras 20 £0.00
groceries 1895 £126.99
toiletries 60 £1.92
dentist 60 £0.00
prescriptions 50 £7.20
alcohol 280 £0.00
haircuts 50 £0.00
clothing 100 £0.00
presents 150 £13.80
anything else 400 £12.49
contingency 400 £0.00

446.61 Spent in total.
Here's looking at you Feb!

Frugaldom

Wow, Puddleglum! :eek: I'm shocked at what it's costing you in gas and electricity, can I be nosey and ask how many are in your household and what size of house that's for? Apologies if you've already posted those details but I have a memory like a sieve. Reason I'm asking is because I really need to get proper figures from my parents, as they live in a stupidly massive house for just the 2 of them and don't heat it properly. I can't imagine them affording £2,500 a year. I worry about them ending up getting hypothermia and also about the house falling down about their ears through dampness. My mother thinks otherwise. Parents, eh?

loopychriss

Bit of a disaster here this morning: got the slow cooker out to put the dinner on, the lid was perched precariously on top, slid off and broke into 3 pieces! So now I have a working slow cooker without a lid..... Wonder if a saucepan lid would work instead?

Luckily I've got a spare slow cooker on top of my fridge that my mum and dad gave me to Freecycle last year. Being me, it's still sitting there, so I may give that a go instead. They gave it to me because they said it didn't work and cooked far too slowly.... will have to experiment and see whether I should keep it or Freecycle it.

Karmacat

Thats a huge amount, isn't it .... my bill for combined gas and leccy is £67 - I'm expecting that to go up to at least £75 or so. Its just me in a 3 bed house, but as I work from home and have clients in, its often on morning till night. And its really inefficient, v old and can't afford to replace (and am moving...) so I have a gas fire on too. Those are *really* high.

BigMummaF

loopychriss wrote: »

Is this for a gas oven? I'm looking for a new one too and one online site I looked at said they wouldn't deliver with a connecting pipe, as all connections now have to be done by a Gas Registered fitter. I saw one in John Lewis that was an ex display model, and their delivery and connection charge was £75. I think that unless you're a registered fitter or know one that would do it for less, you're over a barrel!

Yes Chris, it is gas..unfortunately I've only ever known how to cook with gas, because I think it used to be the cheaper option for many years. I agree with the connection being a pain but at least you know it'll be safe One of the cookers I saw has had mixed reviews on a site I've seen, so I'm not getting too excited until I've done a lot more 'research'. If I'm spending upwards of £500 I want to be sure I've got the best I can for my money!

Aril wrote: »

....If you have a BT account they've just notified us that cheap calls are going to be from 7pm now instead of the traditional 6pm so be warned fellow frugallers:eek: ....I had my friend over yesterday and then my Imbolc ceremony with other friends last night so had all my fun then boo hiss!!:D:D ....Arilx

Oh lordy! S'pose all the others will soon be following suit now beetee have set a base line I wonder about getting a 'bundle' for all the bits, but then if one goes wrong--do they ALL go wrong Another of my generational hang-ups there:rotfl:
I was intrigued by your Imbolc ceremony & had a quick look. It sounds like the kind of thing I follow & all this time, I've never known there was a name for it I don't follow a specific religion, but agree with many aspects of various faiths like Bhuddism, Druid & Christianity & others...bit like my political persuasion too now I think of it--I'm a questionnaire's worst nightmare

ifonlyitwaseasier

nykmedia wrote: »

First of all, IOIWE, don't chuck out the 'gloop' :eek: It will be fine stored as it is and just make up smaller batches as you need it. I have done about 10 or 12 litres of the stuff and that, along with the soapnuts, will last me all year. Likewise with the washing up liquid. I store it in a 6 pint plastic milk container and the laundry gloop in 5 litre plastic screw top tubs - mine originally held whey/power shake, as DS and his gym buddies all use it. (My budget only includes DS in household accounts, as he works fulltime and is, otherwise, independent.)

NYK - no fear on chucking it, trial 2 of laundry gloop is cooling as i type and hopefully first wash will be done tomorrow!!

very frugal today, went to lidl's and took the trundle trolley so i could get 6 freeway cola's (at 39p for 2ltr's it's a massive saving on our fizzies) and some milk and i got hubby some choc snack bars to take to work
have to give crocheting a go today, tried the other night buyt got lost when i wanted to finish the row

tc

ioiwe

loopychriss

BigMummaF wrote: »

Yes Chris, it is gas..unfortunately I've only ever known how to cook with gas, because I think it used to be the cheaper option for many years. I agree with the connection being a pain but at least you know it'll be safe One of the cookers I saw has had mixed reviews on a site I've seen, so I'm not getting too excited until I've done a lot more 'research'. If I'm spending upwards of £500 I want to be sure I've got the best I can for my money!

I couldn't believe how much a new gas oven costs! I saw 2 in John Lewis, both ex-display models, one was £275 the other £295, which would suit me. Hubby was looking at the 'new' new ones.... anything from £495 upwards! Think I'll be putting up with my old one for a bit longer. It's fine for just using the hob but if I want to cook anything in the oven I have to have it on No. 7 or 8 just to get things cooked. There's definitely something wrong with it...

Good luck with your search.

ceridwen

FrankieM wrote: »

As far as the laundry gloop....how do you store it? Would milk bottles be an ok way?

Personally - I find those 4 litre "lock and lock" containers from Lakeland are just the job.

Re milk bottles - as in I guess you mean those plastic milk bottles Tesco and Sainsburys, for instance, sell their milk in....hmmm....well its consistency of blancmange - so I guess if its possible to ensure that you clean them out thoroughly (thinking about the awkward shape they are...) then I dont see any reason why not myself. Maybe someone might come on and say they've tried and it hasnt worked out - but I would think that, with a thorough cleaning, it would be possible (I'm thinking here of that awkward handle and trying to remember whether the milk is in that - as well as the main "body" of the container....).

Ummm....what else....ummm....maybe large icecream containers (if you buy readymade icecream). You would need several of them and they would take up more "shelfspace" - but I think they would be a feasible idea if you have that shelfspace to spare. Part of the reason I favour my 4 litre "lock and locks" for this is that one is sufficient to hold one session worth of "gloop" and they have a narrow base and so that makes them just the right size to sit on my kitchen windowsill. Each to their own on this. I think icecream containers would be suitable for a lot of people - I just bear in mind my tiny kitchen personally - hence I need my containers to have as small a "footprint" as possible.

annie123

FrankieM wrote: »

As far as the laundry gloop....how do you store it? Would milk bottles be an ok way?

Mine is stored in plastic milk containers, need a funnel to get it in but it pours out easily.

Whilst our council does recycle them, I find they have lots of uses, bird seed/peanut scoop, scoop for compost into planting holes/planters, quick cloch over plants if late frost threatens, chop up into bits for drainage at the bottom of planters (add a few sheets of newspaper over before putting soil in), put a paint brush handle through the opening when painting ceilings etc, no drips onto hands/arms.
Sorry, I'll stop now:o could get carried away!

Puddleglum

Hi again!

:eek:The humungous gas and electricity bills.......:eek:

Well. It is a big house. We moved here in 2001 and ran it until last year as a B&B. We are in a touristy part of the country and so we did have a lot of guests having long showers and baths and wanting the heating on at all times of year.(And just staying for one night because they were on their way down to Devon or Cornwall for a week's holiday!) Lights had to be left on, the washing machine and tumble drier were on at least 7 times a day, and we still didn't manage to wash our own clothes!:eek:

We have two electricity supplies to the house which is a legacy from the days before the two houses were knocked into one. DH runs a webdesign business and a sells slot cars over the internet so his computers do put a load on one half of the house. The minimum usage is 4p per hour and I go around like the queen turning out lights to keep the daily usage below £2.:D

Anyway we pay our gas and electricity bills by direct debit. And N-Power still can't get their heads around the idea that we are not using gas and leccy like we used to, so next time the meters are read I am expecting the DD to be reduced. ATM they are taking £71 and £30 for the leccy and £117 for the gas but we are massively in credit.

The last water bill we had claimed that they had read the meter, but they hadn't and we actually owed them less than half they thought. The house is on a meter because of it having been a business.

Hope this helps explain why we can't afford to eat out or buy clothes etc.!:o