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

Frugaldom

citroennut wrote: »

NYK, was very interested in the potatoes baked in the fire. We have a woodburning stove and I just wondered if you knew if they would work in this or if the heat might be too fierce and I might end up with burnt crisps!.

Doublewrap in tinfoil and a foil dish to see if it withstands the heat, perhaps? I wouldn't risk leaving it in for hours, though. If potatoes do burn, they turn into a charcoal like ball that can then probably be used as a fuel in its own right, perhaps on a BBQ. :rotfl:

Homemade wrote: »

Hello.....I would like to join in with this challenge this year but am unsure of something...
...if my budget was £4000 and I made an extra £100 a month at carboot sales, does that £100 help me out during the year by adding onto the £4000 or does it go in as savings?.

All extra income pays off debts before being saved, if you have no debts, save it or use it for things you really want.

signs_of_recovery wrote: »

I know that sounds very princessy and spoiled, but sometimes, when I'm busy not spending money, (and I didn't have a huge huge money habit) I have that horrible feeling I had when I was stopping smoking or dieting... ie I am trying very hard not to do something, and it's a bit counter-intuitive for me, and I wondered if anyone else felt similar.... (or, sadly, is it only me )

I live in the centre of town......

That's where living in the country with nothing within walking distance is a BIG help. That and the fact that I'm easily amused by researching 3 million different ways of saving money or making a few pennies extra without needing to go into the town. Frugal living means more time spent cooking, preservng and making mimimum money work to cover maximum costs. Much time spent researching new projects, setting new targets and learning new things. That's when I'm not glued to the computer trying to read all these forums, though, so no spare time. :rotfl:Really, my attitude is, when it's spent, where can I earn it to replace it again or can I make it, grow it or trade it rather than pay hard earned cash for it.

cake21

signs_of_recovery wrote: »

ie I am trying very hard not to do something, and it's a bit counter-intuitive for me, and I wondered if anyone else felt similar.... (or, sadly, is it only me )

It's not just you
I find it helps a lot to think of it as a positive thing, e.g. I've achieved a NSD today, hooray me resisted the reduced Green & Blacks, hooray me therefore saved £X of interest, and will pay debt off Y days early, hooray me (you get the idea :rotfl:)

signs_of_recovery wrote: »

I live in the centre of town, and it's far too easy to amuse myself by going out to the shops, chatting away with the shopkeepers, (many of whom are friends) and inadvertently spending.

How about leaving your purse at home and going window shopping to try on fabulous frocks? Works for me, even if sometimes I've only remembered the lack of funds with a few things in my basket and have to go round and put them back :doh:

signs_of_recovery wrote: »

There is only so much I can clean, declutter, cook for and actively do.... (which is what I've been distracting myself with)

Do feel free to start on my place...but if that doesn't grab you how about training for a 5k/10k/half marathon/marathon depending on your current fitness and preferred challenge timescale? Costs nothing if you already have trainers, and you can't shop

I'm currently trying to get my garden into shape, primarily because it's a jungle, ultimately may grow food.

cake21

Sorry can't remember who was giving tips for clearing an allotment, there are loads of brambles/blackberries invading my garden, how do I get rid of them please? Is it enough to just dig up the plants as I find them (they really are all over :eek:) or will they regenerate in some way as I make my way round? Some are in the hedge :sad:

Also any tips on how to kill off ivy gratefully received...and I won't leave it 3 years next time

rozeepozee

signs_of_recovery wrote: »

I know that sounds very princessy and spoiled, but sometimes, when I'm busy not spending money, (and I didn't have a huge huge money habit) I have that horrible feeling I had when I was stopping smoking or dieting... ie I am trying very hard not to do something, and it's a bit counter-intuitive for me, and I wondered if anyone else felt similar.... (or, sadly, is it only me )

I live in the centre of town, and it's far too easy to amuse myself by going out to the shops, chatting away with the shopkeepers, (many of whom are friends) and inadvertently spending. A walk involves going past the shops, and I'm far too habituated to walking to Tesco every 5pm "just to pick up some ginger for the curry I've suddenly decided to make" . Same with nipping out for a coffee and a cake, or a magazine, or a book. I don't watch tv, I do read, I knit, sew, listen to the radio, and am attempting to garden, but I have a horrible "marking time" feeling..,.Of course, I spend more time on the internet than is healthy, but what else! There is only so much I can clean, declutter, cook for and actively do.... (which is what I've been distracting myself with)

Are you sighing and shaking your head at me? Oh dear, I hope not. I do feel a bit embarrassed about posting this......

Not at all, signs of recovery. I used to be a total designer junkie and would think nothing of going out and hitting the shops with a £1000 budget and thoroughly enjoying the buzz of buying. My weekly earnings were the same as the yearly budget I have just set myself (that's not a typo) and I've had to have a serious shift in attitude, so to my mind this is all about changing one's perspective.

Some of the things that did it for me - realising the waste that my consumerism entailed and, a big thing was starting to car boot when my LO arrived. (I'd sold my business and my huge salary was gone by then - I invested the proceeds of the sale of my business letting a few properties, so my cash was all tied up in that). It made me realise that something I might pay £100 for was actually worth a tiny fraction of that price once it was secondhand (i.e. the minute I walked out of the shop with it). I have literally saved £100s if not £1000s which I have used towards paying off the mortgages on my BTL properties and with other frugalities and being careful with our money generally, am almost mortgage free on them too!. It's a gradual process. It's taken me ten years to get here and I'm nowhere near the likes of nyk and my mother (who seems to live on thin air!). I think being aware of how your environment affects your behaviour is helpful - I had to avoid the shops initially, joined a gym, got fit, took up a new hobby. Now, I find I go into shops, look at the prices and can't believe what a rip off it is, and realise that mostly, I don't need what I crave and probably have that item in the back of the wardrobe anyway!


I know I keep plugging it but this book http://www.yourmoneyoryourlife.org/ really helped too. (The author is Vicki Robin not Alvin Hall). It might be that push that helps you tip the balance a little further in favour of frugality.

I'm going on a bit and am sure there will be posts much wiser than mine but, remember it's a process, you can't change overnight.

RP x

savingfortravel

cw18 wrote: »

I think I could have a not-budgeted-for-but-not-totally-unexpected vets bill tomorrow morning

My little dog (a large Yorkie, who was 15 in August - but who I've only had since March 2007 when a friend emigrated) had another fit at 2:30 this morning - and made that much noise crashing into things she woke me up. (For those who don't know, she had one towards the end of June - but after some sedation at the time it was left as 'keep an eye on her'). Having watched her behaviour in the hour afterwards (and again this morning) my gut reaction is she's also had a couple in the last few weeks while I've been at work.

She's getting more and more disorientated around the house and garden, has refused to go out on a lead since her first, and is making more and more messes in the house - even to the point I can have her outside for half an hour but still have to clean up (thankfully normally the kitchen floor which is tiled) within 5 mins of bringing her back in.

I'm also concerned that the (much) larger dog may end up getting hurt if she has any more. I was advised in June that I shouldn't attempt to pick her up if she has a fit, as even the most mild tempered dog can turn nasty during one of these 'episodes' - but this morning it was as much as I could do to keep the larger dog away from her as he seemed to be trying to get to her in concern. I couldn't even shut him in a different room, as the only one geared up for that (the kitchen) was the other side of the small dog (who was in the hall) and I didn't want to make him jump over her to get him into there !!

So (other than shutting the little one into the kitchen every time I go out / to work) there appears to be a risk that she could bite him - and I dread to think what he'd do to her in return :eek:


I guess I've known since the end of June that we were on 'borrowed time' - especially as both my lads have hinted that I should have said farewell to her several months ago (mainly due to the messes/smells). But as she can still find (and still enjoys) her food and water, and normally seems to like sniffing her way around the garden, I've steadfastly refused to even consider it as an option until now

Oh Cheryl, my heart goes out to you and your dog..
sft

slowlyfading

Evening everyone.

Had a nightmare day. Because of the snow at home, and the snow in other places, my usual route back to uni (which takes 2 hours and 3/4's) was not possible to use. So, I had to go via Manchester and back up. 4 and a half hours later, I'm there. And knackered.

The silver lining and all that, this resulted in my third NSD of the month. I do need to go food shopping tomorrow as there is hardly anything left in my cupboard at uni, so that'll be a spend.

CW, I'm sorry to hear about your dog. You are in my thoughts, sending you a big (((HUG)))

savingfortravel

jtb2412 wrote: »

Getting nervous about tomorrow and handing in my notice - I might be chicken and hand it in just before I go home .

TTFN xx

Good luck for tomorrow. sft:T

silkbeast_2

Hi Nyk and all - we're back! We are determined this year to stick to our budgets - a bit wobbly last year, but we are very proud to say that we have less debt than this time a year ago.... This is in a large part due to tips in this forum, and the encouragement it gives us to read other people's posts and what they manage to do! We still need to look at our budget, but can you add us to your list please?

Thanks - SILKBEAST (awful name, but husbands login - and it could well be either of us posting on here!)

savingfortravel

slowlyfading wrote: »

Evening everyone.

Had a nightmare day. Because of the snow at home, and the snow in other places, my usual route back to uni (which takes 2 hours and 3/4's) was not possible to use. So, I had to go via Manchester and back up. 4 and a half hours later, I'm there. And knackered.

Have you phoned home? :rotfl: Seriously..well done you for getting back in this weather.

sft

rachelet

Well so far am off to a bad start as I was planning to have a nsd at least once by now, but have managed to spend something each day. Admittedly it wasn't much each day, but it is still spending. On 1st I bought a duck from one of my neighbours as my duck had lost his partner and was looking really lonely. Hopefully, I will have a pair of ducks now and will be able to breed from them!
Then yesterday I had to get some petrol as had to take my husband back to the ferry port to go back to England to work.
Then today, I had to get some bread and washing up liquid and a few other bits and spent 7E which wasn't bad. I didn't get anything extra - only what was on my list which was good for me! But also spent 15E on some more chickens. However, I am hoping to breed from them and sell on their offspring as they are purebred Polish chickens!! So hopefully. I should make the money back that I have spent on them!