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

slowlyfading

Evening everyone.

Sorry I'm not around much at the moment - things are getting more busy at uni so it's taking more and more of my time up.

Got some good news though - I applied for a teaching post about 20 minutes away from where the BF lives, and I got a phone call today offering me an interview :j :j It's next Wednesday, and starts at 8am :eek: I'll have to travel on the Tuesday night, as Tuesday is my first day at my Placement B school and I'm going to miss the second, but that can't be helped. Am really pleased, obviously nervous and trying not to think about it all too much. It's the first one I'll go on, so it's more for experience than anything.

Feb is proving to be a month where I'm spending a lot - got the car back today which cost £70 but he also pointed out a few things that are not that great and when the car is put in for its MOT (march) it won't pass. Great. So, more expense then as well.

So, just as normal, things are tight here. But I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

happym - that's great news!

jtb2412

Hi everyone,

Not a hope of catching up with you all, I've just skim-read the last page I'm afraid

Shaz great bargain on the juicer ! :T

Rictus if you can save £500 in just two weeks, then you should be able to save for a van in no time ! I'd be very cautious about getting a car on finance, if things go wrong you'll be on a very slippery slope downwards (bad credit, car possibly taken off you and you'd still owe the money and have nothing to show for it). Make sure you're 100% sure before you enter any agreement. I'm afraid I'm with nyk on this one - you're speaking to an ex-mega-in-debt person here so I now too avoid credit like the plague !

Well ..... I've really, really enjoyed my first week at home. It's been lovely despite the poor weather. I've just pottered about, and pottered a bit more. Done some cleaning/tidying and sorting but nothing too strenuous . Next week I'll crack on and there will be a lot more tidying/cleaning and sorting - I've got quite a list and it's growing daily !

We also heard that DH got his bonus this year too and it's going to be double what we expected :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :j :j :j :j. Half will be going into the ISA (decorating fund) and the other half we're going to treat ourselves and rent a small cottage in Normandy for a week at easter. It's cheaper than staying in this country !!!!! Obviously it will be a frugal holiday - we'll be doing our own cooking and seeking out the bargains at the many daily markets around the area (can't you tell I've been researching the area already :rotfl:). It'll also give DD1 a chance to recharge her batteries as she's had loads of GCSE coursework to get done over the last few weeks, with more deadlines looming up to end of March. It will do her good to have a break from it all too.

Mum is doing absolutely fantastically and the physio are really pleased with her. She made me giggle on Tuesday, she thought she was paralysed :eek:. It wasn't until she spoke to Doc that he told her they'd given her a block to stop her leg moving for 12 hours to let things 'settle' :rotfl:. She's going home tomorrow and her progress has been great according to all the professionals. Couldn't have wished for a better outcome really, I'm so pleased for her .

Right, I've rambled enough (as usual) so I'll love ya and leave ya .... have a great evening everyone. Hugs to those that need them (hope you're managing ok mooloo, thinking of you here xxx).

Edit: SF Congratulations ! Hope it goes swimmingly for you xxx

ceridwen

crystals2632 wrote: »

like candy gir today is a nsd mainly as I was up so late posting on here.resisted the charity shops. altho some one may have to talk me out of a 4.00spend on a nice dictionary I have seen last week. Help, no onestly I need one my spelling is not good.

Well - in my book self-development rates as necessity.

Buy it....buy it...I would myself..:)

and....Happymrsh - RESULT! Yay! Congratulations on your OH getting such a decent-size pay rise.....lovely stuff...

rictus123

Jtb thanks for the advice, im steering clear from that idea. Im going to just wait until the end of this month and see about getting my van mot'd, even though its not due until the 22nd of March, if it needs too much then i can look at other options without any hurry. Takes up alot of your income when you start out on the career ladder. But im working my way up, away to go into the 4th year of my apprenticeship this summer meaning more than £300 a month take home pay rise. Itl make running my van more bearable. Im hoping to get a £1k cushion in my account then pay off credit card(nicer side of £600) then i will see about getting some funds together for a car!

cw18

I use an on-line dictionary, and have done for several years

Means it's always up-to-date when new lingo gets added as well

jtb2412

Ohh yes, great news happymrsh :j :T, congratulations to your hubby and you ! :beer: (sorry, I knew there was something else I wanted to say !) I'm useless at keeping up and memory like a seive !

Rictus sounds like a good plan to me

cw18

Congrats to HappyMrH :T Hope the job is more enjoyable than the current one

SF : Best of luck with the interview

jtb : Glad to hear your Mum is doing well - must be a relief for both of you And great news about Mr jtb's bonus as well..... enjoy your week away.

grandma247

Well done rictus

cw18

My 'anything else' took a hammering today...... monthly 'allowance' is £33 (though I spent under £19 last month), but I've spent a whopping £20 in one go at A!di today (while picking up my gardening bits) :eek:

Have a number of jobs around the house need doing, and no decent tool box.... or, to be more precise, a lack of decent tools for the jobs that need doing (bought myself a metal toolbox a couple of years back, but haven't yet stocked it up!). So today I picked up a set of spanners, a set for removing spoiled screws (initially for outside light - needed bulb changing over 3 years ago and DH decided to have a go, but used totally the wrong screwdriver and we've not been able to open up the casing since then :eek: ), an Allen key set (much sturdier than my previous set that cost £1!), and a nice little hammer (fairly heavy, but only a short handle - so I think I'll find it easier to use than the 'full size' one I have).

Also picked up a set of spare bulbs for the car while I was there. I used to have a lovely boxed set (bought when I drove to Germany in 1990!), but it eventually cracked so I used up the bulbs and then threw it away. But they had a set in a more compact box which should fit in my glove box (along with everything that's already there) rather than the door pocket which is where my last one lived.




Have decided to keep my gardening stuff out of my £8k budget (guess I'm lucky I can afford to this year), but in order to try and make it 'cost neutral' I'm going to charge my grocery budget for anything I manage to harvest from it (just need to decide whether at full supermarket price, or - more likely - allowing myself a 50% discount ). Hopefully this will then give me some money towards anything else I need/want to add to it next year.

NualaBuala

Hi frugalites :wave:

I'm just wrecked this evening so have just had a skim read. Congratulations on pay rises and new jobs, good luck for interviews and hugs for anyone poorly and/or miserable.

Nyk - wow! Buying mortgage-free is a fantastic goal. I would love that but not sure I would do it. I hate the lack of freedom that comes with renting - I want to be able to use the property in a way that suits my lifestyle. Although you seem to be blessed with a landlord who doesn't mind you growing what you like, keeping hens etc and hopefully you have have enough security to know you'll still be there to reap your harvest. Maybe there are other landlords out there like yours!

Rictus - That's great that you are thinking twice about taking on debt to buy a van. Somewhere along the way I think we all got the idea that it's fine to borrow to have "nice" things, stuff that's brand new or better than what we've got already. But the recession (and the stories on MSE) show just how bad the consequences of that can be. If you've got wheels that allow you to do your job then making do till you've saved up would be fantastic. You are doing brilliantly with your savings. :T

I'm not sure that today was all that frugal today. I spent a lot, almost €100! :eek: But thinking about it, almost all of it was essential - groceries, prescription and printer ink refill kits. Chocolate biscuits are not essential though. Or are they?. :D And the fruit shrubs aren't essential but I hope will save me money in the long run. I got 2 lots, just have to figure out what to do with them now. Another non-essential spend was a feeder for my feathered friends but I hope that the birds will eat the seed rather than the berries I grow so perhaps I can class it as an investment?.:) Am very pleased with my single whoopsie - a white cabbage for 35c. :j So I am going to make my own coleslaw. I don't like the creamy mayo kind; I prefer it kind of tangy so if anyone has a nice recipe I'm all ears.

BTW, here's a link ]to pic of my piggy bank made following Nyk's instructions on another thread. For some reason the embedded image link thing isn't working for me today.

Link not working - will try to tweak. Anyone else use Picasa?