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

Erme

Thanks for the comments FLD and others.

Now with regards HP...well, we did the menu plan last night and that's fine. I costed it and it's £15 for the both of us for the week and he's buying his own cheese. With regards the other things...he's a politician and has 'politics on fb' so internet time for me as @ a premium. I wouldn't mind so much but yesterday I spent all day doing laundry and cleaning and what does he do? Go on FB, run a bath (too hot so on FB, ran another...on FB 4 hours later has a shower ) and go to work then go back on FB. Till 0550 in the am when I'm just getting up.

This wouldn't be so bad if he just finished blitzing the kitchen he started doing the other night or just split his time a little. But anyhow. I will have words today .

The minister is as people suspected... on 'moral' grounds. Argh. It's like no no and NO and he's more at risk from me when unwell than the other way round :P.

Anyhow good news on the frugal front. Got a lampshade for my standard lamp for £3 yesterday so was pleased. So that's sorted and found another day light bulb for my Seasonal affective in Lewis' for £2 so quite chuffed.

Alas with all this cig smoke I'm quite dizzy but ebay paid so that's good. Savings have gone on an electric cig/inhalator. It's cheaper/same price as buying the spray for a week. ...I'm stressed. LOL...

This pm I'm going food shopping. I've made enquiries on the couch surfing website about finding HP another bed and I might show him it tonight when he gets in from work. Show him there's more options than couches/my spare bed! But he has it too easy here I know that. At least with him being a night owl I get my own space because otherwise - well I'd be well nutty and the flat should really get a proper spring clean with his help/encouragement and like he's making sure I eat. ....

Och I forget the £15 budget includes 9 litres of milk (I normally get 6 - I've told him to put a £5 note in the sos tin for sos milk) and 12 loo roll and my porridge . So that's okay. And I just got food for tonight from farm foods ...

Blessings and tx everyone for the comments...

E
PS. Because of my debt rictus I'm trying to get £500 as a BEF plus £30 in £ coins for things like sos taxis, sos milk etc. in the house.

Frugaldom

Hi fru-guys and gals

I can't believe it's pancake day/Shrove Tuesday already! Naturally, we'll be eating pancakes at some time today, as they are an ultra frugal meal when served up hot with lemon juice & a sprinkle of sugar. Maple syrup just not on the budget here, although I've been known to drizzle on some of the old Tat€ & Lyl€. :rotfl: Priced it all up and it should cost less than 20p per person, which isn't bad for lunch when breakfast only costs 10p each.

Woke up to snow this morning but it has, since, turned to sleat and then rain, so it's all washed away now.

Savings - If I could save the equivalent of what I spend each year then I'd be delighted, but that's just a theory. In reality, I'm happy if I can fill my cash ISA each year, although I'm not sure I'll ever manage it once they bump the allowance up to over £5k.

I want to save to buy a dwelling outright so I don't need to worry about how to pay the rent if the income dries up but then I also wonder what would best benefit the kids once I'm gone - the cash or the property. Beginning to wish I'd invested in gold back when I started all this in 1999! £4000 then would have been worth over £14,000 now! :eek:

Edited in - Notice I said 'dwelling'. That's because I don't know if I'll ever can afford to buy a 'real house'. :rotfl: Having looked at ex-MOD bomb blast strength hospital units, disused military bunkers, boats and beach huts, I'm not too sure what type of roof may end up over my head as a dwelling. :rotfl:

Karmacat

Hi Frugaldom! Linkies, please - for the blast shelters and disused military bunkers, if you can, that sounds quite a lot of fun to look at on the web, if not in RL!

Frugaldom

Karmacat wrote: »

Hi Frugaldom! Linkies, please - for the blast shelters and disused military bunkers, if you can, that sounds quite a lot of fun to look at on the web, if not in RL!

Sorry, you'd need to search back through the old challenge threads from when we were discussing all sorts of properties at the time, but a lot of the links I had saved are no longer there since they were originally posted on various property sites. Perhaps a search for 'plot with a roof over a river with no bridge' will find one of them - I'll have a look and see if I can find anything. :rotfl:

katey1979

I'm not an official member of this thread, but am trying to be more frugal. You have some great ideas!

One tip I have is that if you eat the very cheap 'value' soups from the supermarkets, add a generous splash of worcester sauce or similar to make it much more palatable

candygirl

katey1979 wrote: »

I'm not an official member of this thread, but am trying to be more frugal. You have some great ideas!

One tip I have is that if you eat the very cheap 'value' soups from the supermarkets, add a generous splash of worcester sauce or similar to make it much more palatable

I usually make my own soup, but got the lentil one from lidl yesterday for 39p and it is lovely.I watered it down a bit and added sweet chilli sauce n black pepper:p:p:pit'll do for 2-3 meals for me;):D

Happymrsh

Hi all,

Have not been around for a while so i have lllooooaaaaaddddssss to catch up on!

Last time i posted was about DH new job, then I came down with flu and have been wiped out for almost 2 weeks, not nice, but am just about back to normal now.

DH is doing good, old job finishes this friday and new job starts next monday so hoping it all goes well.

Have staed writing my present lists and i'm hoping to make every present throughout the year, wish me luck!?!?!?!?

Have loads to catch up on so going to do that now before I post again, only about 20 pages of posts to read LOL!!!!!

katey1979

Sat down and worked out my budget- not counting all the fixed bills and CC repayments, I have worked out that I have £69.23 a week to spend on food for me, DH and DS, travel, toiletries, cleaning, DS nappies and wipes, entertainment, stamps, holidays, presents, clothes and shoes for me and DS- basically anything nice! So I am trying to live well within that. That sounds like quite a lot to me, so I am hopeful that I am able to do it for less than that....fingers crossed!

I will post on this thread if that is OK to record what I spend.....

Really nervous as I want to pay off CCs and overdrafts (total of £1900, built up over the last year), I so want to do this!

Entering tons of comps and getting every freebie going to try and succeed at this....

week 15/2-21/2= £4.15/£69.23

citroennut

ceridwen wrote: »

...and further on that washing machine. I just googled for the price of that washing machine.....make that "...and the rest" on top of that figure I thought. Looks like about £700-£1,000 of my savings is about to go west...



I need a strong drink...(and any helpful comments about a cheap supplier of Miele washing machines....)

Ceridwen, I had exactly the same thought as you when our last washing machine died after too short a time. I wanted a Miele as they seem to last for donkeys but they were too expensive.

We found the site, www.clearance-comet.co.uk which is a sort of auction of appliances which may be slightly marked or ex-display and managed to get one for the price of an average machine.


This was a few years ago now (it's still going strong!) so I don't know ifthey still have them or not. Ours was slightly scratched but as it was going into a utility room we couldn't care.
HTH

Frugaldom

Good luck Happymrsh, hope you succeed in making all your pressies. I'm hoping to do this, too, but not being much of a crafter of any description, it's going to be difficult. First occasion we have coming up is Mothers Day, so I'm going to have to work out what to make for that pretty soon.

Good luck Katey, if it helps you clear your debts and make a few savings then feel free to post here. I think £69 per week for non-bill related items sounds loads but I guess that'll depend on your level of socialising and what you see as essential in your week to week living. With regards to soup, I find it much cheaper to make at home than to buy from supermarkets.

On another note, does anyone want a 20 year-old DS to borrow for a few weeks whilst I try to get back to sanity? Mine is driving me nuts! He's now come in and announced that he NEEDS to eat at LEAST 240g of chicken for lunch EVERY day - that's 2 large chickens per week along with all his other meals PLUS he spends a fortune on ridiculous whey shakes and supplements amongst other stuff and he's on minimum wage with a car to run! He says it's nothing to do with my budget but overlooks the fact that he has made no start, whatesoever, to saving for his own future. He can't see why he needs to do this when he's only 20! :mad: Apologies for the rant but I am so annoyed by this that it was either put it here or else lunge at him! :mad: Breeeeeeeathe....