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

landregistrylass

Morning all. went to the theatre last night (my Xmas present from DH). Saw Calendar Girls - very well done, and made me laugh out loud! We all need that sometimes dont we? Took our own sweeties and drinks (hate that scrum at the interval!) so was very frugal. Even ate before we went, so no need for a "pre-theatre" meal. It is quite liberating to be organised, its when I am not that spending gets out of hand. Prayers and thoughts for all who arent on top form at the mo x

babyboysmommy

I'm starting to really appreciate just how much you have to be committed to do this challenge, it doesn't take much of a slip to throw your budget right off. I've not had any slips but despite my best efforts I've dropped another clothes size so had to buy some more clothes. The old ones were already too big so I had no choice.

It's a real eye opener as to how much we spend on things, I completely under estimated the clothes budget & fuel. Also how much the children cost! The activities soon add up. And don't get me started on the cost of a school trip for GCSE geography, do the schools think we are made of money? I know it's optional but that's not the point, if they were more realistic more children could participate.

We have decided to replace the kitchen. Money was put aside for that a while ago but we have been putting it off. The whole thing is going to cost less than £1500, we are able to do all the work ourselves which saves a lot. We always seem to buy houses that need renovation work doing despite saying we will never do it again! A third of the kitchen has been taken out to make space. I'm in the process of removing all the horrid black tiles (floor to ceiling in a dark kitchen so I'm glad to see the back on them).

I'm waiting for my BBC seeds to arrive, as soon as they do I'll get them planted.

Hoping the weather really starts to pick up soon. Warmer days are so much cheaper for a multitude of reasons. The heating is already on a lot less. I want to get back on the bikes as petrol is a crazy price.

phoebe03cat

Cheryl sending you hugs and kind thoughts. I know how daunting these sorts of procedures can be. DD has had squint surgery about 5 times and a round of botulism injection-straight in to her eyeball while awake. There's something deeply distressing about eyes being touched that messes your head up. DD's 21 now and I've just been through her latest (hope last) round of surgery. Then afterwards of course you still need to use it, unless they give you a patch. DD found it best to keep up the neurofen for a few days as it seems to work brilliantly for the eye muscles generally, so it WILL help if its painful. Just need to keep the dose regular. Know exactly what you mean though..its not as if you can look away and pretend its not happening lol. I'm sure it will go well for you though.

Had to spend £25 on our medications between us yesterday, its so unfair that the rest of the UK get them so much cheaper or for free. Wrote to the doctor fairly recently and asked her to prescribe for more than one month at a time, so at least we get two months supply now for our money - always worth trying if you need it regularly. Works out slightly cheaper for us now rather than pre-payment. The tablets must cost pence to produce.
Well am going to have a huge cleaning day today;and try for sfd, nothing exciting, but productive.

Frugaldom

Hi guys,

I've just caught up and promptly forgotten who said what and when, so apologies if I get it all wrong - Lynz & Erme, I hope you're starting to feel better Pagangirl, hope yours cuts and bruises heal quickly, Top_drawer good luck with the interviews, and appropriate responses to all who have posted.

Yoghurtmaking been going on here too, I now have it sussed that I can make yoghurt and soft cheese then store the whey for using in the bread. I've only used half & half with water so far but the bread tastes lovely and fluffy. I also used some for baking sponges yesterday. Waste not want not, as they say.

Glad someone was able to make use of the Food Bargains code, I got another order in an have filled a shelf with kidney beans in chilli sauce plus spaghetti hoops for having with toast at lunchtimes. Will let you know when the discount code next becomes active.

Polystyrene packing peanuts get used here for packaging and for plant pot drainage. I've even started saving the caps off the milk cartons to use in the bottom of pots, as these not only help drainage but also help retain moisture in the upturned lids.

Great excitement over the past few days as I've spent a lot of time in between frugaling and working updating my blogsite and keeping up with the news of another frugaler moving here! I'm not going to say who it is but it's fantastic news to hear of another like-minded frugalite leaving the town to start a new life of frygality in the country.

Council Tax 'demand' arrived here too, we're having to pay an increase of just over 3.6% over 10 months, no 12 month option and the payment in full in advance discount has been abolished.

Has anyone received their potato kits from the gardeners world offer yet? I got my 10 packs of seeds but no tattie kit yet.

chika

OOhhh tell us more Frugaldom. It sounds and looks so idyllic where you are, I want to join in too - are there lots of houses to let in your area?

Knithappens how is the food processor? Let us know what you make with it.

Not much is happening here - I'm snowed under with uni work and need to really craxk on with it. I'm trying to look for teaching jobs for September but there are none available at the moment. I didn't get shortlisted for the one I really wanted so I'm trying to keep cheerful. It's early days in the job hunting season but when everyone around you is getting these amazing sounding jobs its hard not to get down.

cw18

cw18 wrote: »

Wanted to 'pressure clean' my fences today (so I can add protective gunk to them before planting against them), but the neighbours had washing out..... so, if the weather's nice, I'll have to check if their garden is clear tomorrow morning so I can get that done ASAP.

Neighbour's garden was clear of washing this morning, so went out to get the fence done. Pressure washer was great - for all of 10 mins :mad: Then the water started pouring out of the bottom of the machine instead of coming down through the nozzle :eek:

Back to the manual - all set up as per instructions.
Then the 'trouble shooting' pages - nothing to indicate what the problem is.

So a dig through the booklets for a contact number - and was impressed to find it wasn't a premium one Called K@rcher customer services, and the chap was great. Seemed amused when I admitted I've had the machine since last July, but this was the first time it had been out of the box So I was told to send in my receipt (bought from a shopping channel, and invoice still attached to box) with the silver label off the bottom of the machine - which I've done this afternoon. He said they'll send out a replacement machine, which I can expect 3 days (I assume 3 working days) after they get the letter from me......

So fence cleaning is now on hold until that comes........



Now I just need to figure a way of anchoring a water butt to a wall !!!! We've got a bit of wind today - which isn't a patch on what we've had in the past - and every time I turn around the butt round the back of the house is flat on the floor and the hose has come off the inlet valve on it Only things I can think of are either to put enough mains water into it to weight it down (which kind of defeats the object of having the butt to collect the rainwater and save my mains bill, and doesn't guarantee a stronger wind wouldn't still topple it), or affix two screw hook thingummys to the wall (one either side), and use them to secure some rope around the butt

slowlyfading

cheryl, i hope it all goes okay for you

Kerry_Woman

Hugs to the people who need them at present.

rictus123

Hey folks how are we all? £10 desiel + 2 no spend days to add, was not able to get on last night! So doing well i think. Its payday tomorrow:j:j:j Which means £135 phone+digs. £40 fuel in car. £175 out and i think itl be about £620 in So £445 to save i think :T Not sure if that will actually be the amount though but il try! Depends how much i get for my overtime.

Anyway cashing in road tax on my van, will also cancel insurance as mot runs out on Tuesday. The money from that + scrapping it will get me at least £80 hopefully to get the private plate changed over to my car. Other than what iv listed above i shouldnt need to spend another penny this month. + payday on the 2nd of April, if its about £620 aswel only costs are fuel i should manage to save £500 of that. Looking at another £900 saved between now and just before another pay on the 16th of April :T Magic :j

gilligansyle

Popping by to say hi to everyone, have been reading the updates but not had time to post much and the budget went out of the window a 'bit' this week, but for good reason.


I GOT A JOB!!!

I had a phone call on Thursday, to go for the interview on Friday morning, was offered the job at 4:30 on Friday, and started on Monday, so its been a bit hectic.

I've got to revise my budgets a bit, but won't actually be lots better off as will have to start paying mortgage again, rather than PPI paying it.

I had to get some new stuff as none of mine fitted. I did look in charity shops, but it was all either out dated or too expensive. I am not prepared to pay £4.99 for a second hand Marksys top if I can go to Mr A and get a new one for £4. So spent £15 on clothes but I can justify as are cash neutral anyway as had a gift card and some quidco money.
Have also had to pay out bus fare, when I get paid I'll get a pass. The money isn't marvellous, but its better than all the part time jobs, just straight 9 to 5. And I'll get exercise walking to and from the bus stop instead of having to force myself to go out just to get the exercise, IYKWIM.

Hugs to those who need them cheryl and pagangirl are the only names that spring to mind, sorry, so much going round my head.