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

Skint_Lynne

Hi all,

DH is away to Afghanistan now, will be home mid August for holidays and should be finished by October.

That leaves me to get on with being a good frugaller.:) I'm hoping to get some seeds in this weekend and hopefully get my washing dried outside weather permitting.

Natalie, congratulations on another wee one, you will be fine! I may be having a small visitor tomorrow, my favourite one.:smileyhea My brother and SIL are not very well, so it is best that he comes to auntie's house to try and stop him from getting ill. I'm getting my new internet in tomorrow, ironically, this one has been working fine since Monday but no doubt it would go wonky again at some stage. Maybe I'll do some seeds along with the wee fella, this will teach him where food comes from (but he might still be a tad young to take it in).

Will check in later. xx

cw18

First bit of good news for today......

Got my water bill. Last one came early September, and I was £53.38 in credit - so they reduced my monthly payments from £25 to £16.64.

I'm still £30.61 in credit - so they've reduced my monthly payments again, down to £14.16...... which means I've managed to drop that category in my budget by a whopping £60 as I'd actually allowed for an increase :T (So I've increased my contingency fund by that amount, and - despite having had to reduce it to allow for the unexpected vets bills in January - it's now £19 higher than it was at the start of the year )

Second bit of good news for today....

It's raining !!! Now, I wouldn't normally get so excited about that, but it's raining enough that I can hear the water running into my water butts :T :T So the first test of the installation indicates they're working


And slightly 'iffy' news for today....

Looking at my budget for this year - and even more so for next year - I couldn't see any way of building anything into it for a social life (and all the costs that entails, especially as they're not something I can accurately predict). Having been out today and done some clothes shopping for going out (started with a 'fitting' in M@rks & Sp@rks, only to discover I've been in totally the wrong size - so also had to buy some 'everyday' underwear which has been added to my 'anything else' budget page!) I've had to decide how to handle these expenses.

In the end I've decided to go with an option I thought of last week, but wasn't sure how "legit" I could make it sound to myself

So I'm excluding them from this challenge, but still running a "not defined in advance" budget for anything I spend on clothes, meals, entry fees, tickets etc..... I've calculated what my basic pay would have been (after deductions for Tax & NI), and anything I brought/bring home over and above that (ie. what I've earned for overtime) has become my budget for socialising. I was actually stunned to see how much I've earned from overtime to date, which I guess explains how come I'm managing to end the months with money still in the bank

But any petrol I use getting to/from outings will still be costed into my normal budget (too much like hard work to pull them out).

It actually feels wrong to exclude this from my 'Frugal Living', but at least this way I'm still accounting for the expenses - and will still have to be sure I have the money in the bank before I spend it.


Anyway, my best buy today was a coat from Mr T - I wanted a smart black coat, as my red raincoat doesn't always seem appropriate - and managed to find a lovely one that should have been £45 for just £12 Only drawback is it's dry clean only as it's 40% wool - but the label tickled me anyway, as just above the 'do not wash' symbol it states (in large bold capitals) 'think of the environment. wash at 30' :rotfl:

SuzyWuzy_2

Hi all,

Hope everyone one is well.

It's been a tough week for me with feeling shattered with this pregnancy but I've still managed to cook meals despite feeling very tired and therefore we 've kept on budget. :j

I'm going back to work next month since having the little one and I'm dreading it. Why is it when we're waiting for something nice it takes agesss to come and things we dont want to happen . BANG ..they are there before we know it.

I've got all my seeds in (still waiting for the free ones in the post though) and theyre all doing well, the pepper seeds seemed to have been slower growing than the others though but a little sunlight and hey ..they have sprouted.

I soo glad that spring is almost here and I can't wait for the children to be off school at Easter. I love the laziness of Easter and the fact that everything stops. So peaceful. I must be getting old! :D

anyway..i think that you lot are right about the frugal water on this thread..! ..

Natalie - I found 4 children different to 3, my washing doubled !! Lovely news on about pregnancy. Congratulations
Rozee - You mustn't have long left now have you - Do you know what you're having or is it a secret?
Gilligansyle - Congrats to you too on your new job :j. Well done you
Michelle - I love your thread btw but I do wish you would update it more ! Your inspirational

Best wishes to everyone else !

Suzanne
x

cw18

cw18 wrote: »

Second bit of good news for today....

It's raining !!! Now, I wouldn't normally get so excited about that, but it's raining enough that I can hear the water running into my water butts :T :T So the first test of the installation indicates they're working

UPDATE : we must have had a fair downpour - even though it's just a fine drizzle now - as my water butts are full

So I guess the one at the back's not likely to be blown around the garden any more either

landregistrylass

Morning all. Pouring with rain here, so am going to spend the day menu planning to take advantage of the whoopsied veg from Mr T at 10p - including asparagus, sweet basil, spinach, baby courgettes and leeks. I can feel some soup coming on - unless anyone can suggest recipes which include any of the above? I know I am not as hard core as many on here, but I do feel so much better about myself when tracking my spending. I need to set myself a goal - I like challenges. But what........hmmmm

Blairweech

Landregistylass -You could make risotto primavera, in a gesture of defiance at the weather!

Natalie - All the best for your pregnancy

Not much happening here tbh. Had my claim for JSA approved - £50.85 a week. Until september when my NI contributions run out! 4 years of working full time doesn't go very far does it Have applied for a couple more jobs - one at the farm shop next to where I used to work - I actually went in to see them and told them about my agricultural ambitions etc, so I really hope I get that.

Today I will be taking more Ebay pictures for my Mum, sorting my CDs to sell and I hope to write to a few people about WWOOF. Hope you all have a great day!

cw18

To the best of my knowledge, Contributions based JSA only runs for 6 months even if you've paid stamp for 30 years. After that everyone goes onto the means tested one.

Means that if you have a partner (with an income of 'his own') you still get for the first 6 months - if you've paid enough stamp - but after that your household income is all taken into account.

I couldn't even get the contributions based JSA, as you can't get that and Widowed Parents Allowance at the same time. I shouldn't complain as WPA is worth a lot more, but as that's based of late DH's contributions (over 37 years) I still felt diddled out of something that was based on my 23 years of stamp!!!

And if I were to lose my job now, I no longer have enough stamp in the 'requisite period' to qualify for the contributions based JSA anymore :mad:

candygirl

Hiya fellow frugallers:j:jHave listed tons on ebay again today, as it's free listing all weekend:DHave sold a few things this week too, so am kind of money neutral on there now;)
Am picking Boo up this aft, n taking her to mums then having her over night as DD is going out again;):DShe is trying to walk now, but refuses to hold hands, little miss independent:o
Am slightly over on my total for the quarter but did pay the 6 month water bill in Jan and have bought a few pressies etc, so it should all balance out:D
CONGRATS Natalie on the baby news xx:A

top_drawer_2

hello everyone!

I tried my guineas with the rocket and they wolfed it down lol, and they enjoyed the mix of spinach, water cress and rocket too so I am definitely going to get some seeds and start growing some as soon as possible!! My lettuces and cabbages are coming along nicely but I am not sure about how Im going to treat them from now on ..... any advice? Is it warm enough to put them outside? Should I buy the plastic greenhouse thing and will that be ok? I dont want them to die.

Also I tried out making wholemeal bread and adding seeds and its turned out very knobbly so a little disappointed ;(

I meant to mention last week that I made another banana bread and it seemed to go wrong ;( I used 3 banana instead of just two and added some baking powder as the first time it didnt rise properly, this time it expanded out and out and out ........ it was huge! but very brick-like, not at all cakey. Any advise from baker people?

teachergirl

hi there top_drawer It is definitely too early to put out the lettuce but the cabbage should be alright. Make sure you harden them off (let them get used to the outside slowly.... a little bit each day) A plastic greenhouse thing would be fine for the lettuce though. Some lettuces are hardier than others so for really detailed advice you should check the packet.