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

rictus123

Hey everyone how are we today? NSD for me, need to get a few under my belt Having a few weekends in doing sweet fa with my gf. Need a new back wiper for my new car, that should be about £10 from a scrappy. Not just wiper blade but the whole thing. Anyone had any experience transfering a private plate? Just turn up with docs proving i own car, tax disc, insurance etc and swap it over?

cha97michelle

Expensive day once the postman arrived. Council tax bill (gone up to £115 a month), CC bill, and a water bill. I also needed to fill up my car with petrol, though i can't moan about this as it is the first time i have done this since before christmas, and i did notice the petrol was 4p a litre dearer this time. I have hardly used my car at all, although that is likely to go up a bit as i want to visit my folks more and take the boys out more places.

Otherwise, i have avoided the supermarket for another day. You can actually walk into my pantry now which feels strange. We also tried the Mr T 4p tin of curry sauce which we thought was ok so i will buy more of that when we go in again. I am trying to avoid shopping till Saturday. Our local bargain food shop which is a bit like app. food but also sells fridge and freezer food has sent out an email for the past few weeks with offers. Last weekend i could have gone and got some fruitiser and some flavoured water for free which would have been RRP of £20 in the supermarket. They give away a few things for free and ask for a donation to the local childrens hospice.

We had a guy out this morning to quote us for a new bathroom. Very needed and luckily the in-laws want to pay for it. I can see it being more than we would want to pay but we will have to open up the negotiations. I hope we get it all sorted soon as i get bored so quickly of trailing round looking at very similar things. I just have no interest really. I'll love it when we get there but i can see it being hard work with the kids.

cw18

rictus - info on transferring a personal plate is available here

slowlyfading

I'm still around, but dealing with a lot right now. normal services will resume soon x

rictus123

Thanks, i found that earlier. Need to wait for the v5 saying im owner of car then i can go to dvla office to get it swapped and pay the £80.

rozeepozee

Blairweech wrote: »

Rozee - You are very fortunate to be in a position to use your houses as funding for your dream. Unfortunately, I would not have that option, so things for me are different. My biggest fear in life is getting to 40, turning around and saying I've wasted the last 20 years, so if you want to do smallholding then you should find ways and means to go for it

I know you're right, Blairweech. It's funny, I thought we'd be less hesitant when we had a second child as I liked the idea of the kids growing up in a better environment and I'm still attracted to it but both DP and I seem to have become more cautious because now that we have more parental responsibilities, we can see the value of good nurseries and schools, lots of amenities, hospitals etc being nearby and having a good, supportive community. We'd be more isolated on a smallholding, I suppose, and have to build a new community from scratch. However, we've just got to do it. I've always been a firm believer in the adage that it's better to regret the things you have done, rather than the things you didn't do.

When I met DP, he was shortly returning to Aus where he was living and invited me to try a holiday out there with a view to ...? I booked my flight and was there within the week and didn't return for two years. I need to rediscover my natural inclination to throw caution to the wind....

Thanks for your encouragement

Frugaldom

Good Morning

Been a bit busy here with relatives visiting for a holiday at the moment plus all the other stuff but things should return to a semblance of normality by the weekend. Plenty of cooking and baking been going on and plenty of eggs being gathered on a daily basis. We've also got new neighbours, at last, and they have chickens, too. Their cockerel was greeting me at 6.30 this morning along with my own and SM's.

On the small holding front, I grew up on a stockfarm with non-farming parents then moved into poultry farming as soon as I left school. Later on, when married, we rented a small holding for a while - never worked it as a business, just had the veggies, hens, couple of goats, did the preserving, batch cooking, baking etc and really just played at it whilst rearing a few horses & ponies.

My lifelong dream has always been to have a small holding of my own but that just isn't ever going to happen. Unless something major changes, I will never be in a situation that I can afford to buy one. So... life goes on. Good luck to anyone who decides that it's the way for them to go. I am sure there are places near towns that will be able to offer all the same facilities as townlife but with the added benefits of country living with land attached. The village my DD lives in had 2 children start school this year, both boys. The entire school has 2 teachers and 14 pupils. The nearest maternity is about an hour's drive on a good day, it's also the nearest main hospital. I don't consider myself to be living in a remote area in the least, but I also don't expect a regular nightlife. The days start at dawn and if you're going to milk anything, it's every 12 hours regardless of what time you start. I'd suggest that the first thing anyone does when setting out to follow the smallholding route is read up on the legislation and make sure you have enough land to rotate it - livestock cannot graze on the same land constantly - it's like expecting someone to live off the contents of the fridge without ever replenishing the supplies. Grass cannot be replenished with livestock walking all over the top of it and the ground/earth/grass is the basis of everything. Kind of reminds me of my farrier's favourite quote - 'no foot, no horse'.

Blairweech, :T well done getting rid of your loan, welcome to debtfree living! :j I hope the savings go well.

Must also point out that I don't think I work very hard - I feel positively lazy compared to many on here. I think it's just that I choose to live a lifestyle that has long days and it's 7 days a week, 365 days a year. I can see how much easier it would be to have a DH out working so there was no pressure to make ends meet and I often think how nice it would be to get an occasional long lie, hot water available all the time, a warm house at the touch of a button, a long soak in the bath without worrying what's happening outdoors, online grocery shopping and some housekeeping or a straightforward wage packet to pay the bills... but most people I know who are living like this either have debts or do nothing but complain about their husbands, cars, kids, pets, jobs, childcare, cost of living, need of a holiday... :rotfl: I gave up trying to understand it all years ago and just accept that society is diverse and someone, somewhere is trying their best to keep all of the people happy all of the time whilst pulling their hair out knowing that's impossible.

To the comments about not spending money - my lifestyle still means putting about £8,000 a year into the economy without claiming any social security benefits, so it isn't like we're pushing for a cash free society that could topple a Government. To live this life means 'sacrificing' such things as sickness benefits or maternity leave (not that it affects me any more). I've never had maternity leave or sick pay (I have a DD & a DS) and, even now, I wouldn't be entitled to any unemployment benefits if something happened that I couldn't earn my own living. Keep this in mind if doing the whole self-sufficientish, small holding for a living idea. It's still self-employment and you still need to make the National Insurance payments whilst preparing for your own future. Splashing out on some major new purchase isn't an option we can take lightly, as it impacts on the longterm.

phoebe03cat

Just wanted to say thanks for a great couple of weeks and to Cheryl for her spreadsheet. Have only posted once but come on here to keep me on track every day. Having to do this as I had a series of tia's and a seizure last year and have been off since June. Am trying to get my pension enhanced but may have to just retire early in the end. Don't think the money is worth putting myself in high risk of a stroke for, but it's taken me a long,long time to come to terms with it. Just to add to the pressure dh then got made redundant in November; but got a job last week.....yay. His salary is lower now though..but I'm not complaining. We have suddenly a HUGE shortfall in income to cut back on and an enforced change of lifestyle. This thread is giving me a bit of hope that it may just be possible to get through. Thanks all!

JayneC

Morning all,

Thanks for those wise words Nyk. THat's exactly what Im trying to do really. Find out as much as possible about the realities before going ahead (which actually isn't that much like the usual me - when we moved to the coast I kind of just did it on a whim, luckily it worked out well and I'm in a much better position now than previously but i do think that has been more to do with good luck than good judgement ) I have to say tho it's not very easy to get that detail. I've tried to look on the DEFRA website but it may as well be in Greek!! My main plan is to ask as many people as possible that are already doing it and pick their brains. So if anyone has any advice on where to find out more about the rules and regs I'd be very grateful.

I'm looking at finding something not too far from where we are and have seen a couple of places that would fit the bill in nearby villages and whilst a bit remote it's not too far from civilisation (within 30 mins of the towns). As you rightly point out it's got to be a lifestyle choice as much as a business as it's everyday of the year and a huge commitment.

My colleague at work was yesterday talking of a house and land nearby available to rent. She was looking at somewhere for her daugter to stable her horse and found a house with stables and 5 acres to rent at £750 a month which is less than I would have expected. She was really considering going for it but someone else got in first! (She does herald from a farming family so well aware of the workings). So now I'm also looking at the option of renting as well as buying!!

Anyway, supposed to be working so better get off and do something!

See you all later x

pink_numbers

Thank you frugaldom or taking the time out to write that, it is always interesting to hear what your day is like, what your thoughts are on living the way you do, as I learn a lot from you