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

larmy16

So frustrating that I cannot get to work due to the roads (and paths) being so treacherous.

I am going to make some bread in the breadmaker. Will carry it into the living room and place in a warmer place as had a disaster on SAturday when it did not rise. There is nothing worse than trying to be all perfect housewife and wasting a ton of money and having to bin something!!

Please please can the snow go soon, I need to get back to work ( self employed) and this is making me worry.........I have not been in any kind of debt for ages and this would really stress me out seeing my bank balance go down.

flippin36

Ok I have done my expenses for the year. Its quite shocking isn't it when you add it all up. £1440 on gas and electric :eek:. If I've forgotten anything please let me know .

Although my expenses come to £6780, my aim is to get this down to £6000 for the year. I can cut back with the gas/electric, possibly the holiday, and travel.

Food/groceries - 2080
Petrol 1080
gas/elect 1440
travel 260
Pressies 200
dinner money 360
clothes (kids) 260
Holiday 500
car expenses 600

Total £6780

Kittikins

Thrifty - thanks for the shower attachment link, it looks really good and hopefully will help the current strange flow of my existing over the bath shower hose.

Nuala - my mum used to make lasagne with a natural yoghurt only white sauce (very tangy but reasonably yum once you got used to it) and baked beans in the red sauce bit......I still used beans for many things

SFT - one of my neighbours was amazed that I'd ever had such cheap gas/leccy bills, even though I had had to top up the leccy. I have been putting the gas heating on a bit more this year as having lost a lot of weight I am feeling the cold more than I ever did. Poor DD, she's probably spent her first 4 years freezing due to her lard a$$ mumma not feeling chilly, lol.

I've read somewhere that BG have a fuel deal where you input your meter readings monthly and pay exactly what you owe rather than a DD that can be too much/little. Does anyone know about this and whether it's a good deal?

We're snowed in again today, school is closed and I'm working from home. At least I had a NSD yesterday and anticipate that today will be one too. Really pleased that I have a gazillion dented tins in the cupboards and powdered milk for when the fresh/frozen stuff runs out. I'm hopefully not going out until the ice has gone, twisted my back yesterday so am taking thing easy.

xnatalie81x

OMG - not 100% related but will increase my income - my local paper want to come and feature my new swim school!!! They are coming sat to my first session to take photos - so so excited lol HOPE THE SNOW GOES SO POOL IS NOT CLOSED!!!!!!!!

XSpender

Morning all

I managed to complete my stores inventory last night by jotting down what was in the freezer in the garage. I had to go in there anyway (after clearing the snow from the bottom of the door:rolleyes:) to get dog food.

I was suprised to see tht it contained:

3 whole chickens
Bag of frozen chicken breasts
2 large portions of veggie bolognaise
2 bags of veggie mince
Tub of vanilla ice cream
Large chicken and mushroom pie
Pack of bacon
Runners Pie

What it didn't contain was all the carrier bags I had stuffed in the gaps to keep it full and more efficient which DH had chucked out so I will need to venture out and fill it back up. I do have some bits to swap from one freezer to the other after cooking yesterday too.

I still did not get 4 shepherds pie out of my bag of veggie mince, just 3 even though I added more veggies. I have decided that I am making the pie too big and need to find a smaller dish to cook it in.

No DDs today and should be another NSD, my 4th so far. I think I will tot up my annual spend at the end of each month or I will get confused.

Sweet and Sour quorn and rice on the menu for tonight, with yule log for desert.

Kiwisaver_2

ceridwen wrote: »

DUH! I've obviously not woken up yet....I coulda sworn I'd put my worked-out budget here early on in this thread and cannae find it...if anyone is more awake than me and happens on it...please let me know...more New Year planning going on here...:D

Here in the old thread: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=28156715&highlight=#post28156715 Post Number 536

If you click on your own user name in any post, you can view all your other posts.

Pippilongstocking

morning chaps

Cold and frosty here and a dusting of snow (1mm?) - chucked hen slobber in the slow cooker before I left and will feed them the yummy (?) warm conconction at lunchtime.

Got my car expenses onto excel and transferred this money accross this am - scary to think how much it is a month (£165)
Sorted out my grocery spreadsheet and must sort my energy one now - already figured I need to drop a bag of coal every 3 weeks to keep in budget as I forgot to put in my mobile phone (DOH).
Can often get free wood at work (although I have to collect and chop it - I use ot do it but now have slipped into buying coal) best get my sleeves up eh?

Sorting out a few ebay things as well so started another ebay basket to chuck bits in as I find them.

Hugs to all - keep warm!

flippin36

xnatalie81x wrote: »

OMG - not 100% related but will increase my income - my local paper want to come and feature my new swim school!!! They are coming sat to my first session to take photos - so so excited lol HOPE THE SNOW GOES SO POOL IS NOT CLOSED!!!!!!!!

When my sister opened up her shop, it was amazing at how much free publicity there is for small businesses. She really notices a difference in sales when there has been a feature. She wrote to the local bbc radio station saying she is a new business and would they like to interview her on the "new business in a recession" angle. She not only got her interview (plug, plug) but they gave her a roaming mike to do a diary slot every week. She's almost a local celebrity now lol .

LilacPixie

What is it with men and finance?? My husband is the exact same! Speaking of chauvanistic attitudes we are switching energy suppliers. My OH is named on the bill. OH has no comprahension that different companys offer different prices and depending on consumption there may be a better deal availible. Old company called on Tuesday to try make us stay, OH says to them 'my wife deals with all this you need to speak to her' so the woman speaks to me, I politely tell her that xx company is over £100 cheaper,she says that an estimate and very few people know their true energy consumption so comparison engins usless ( condesending or what!!!) I was still polite nd told her i had used the last 12 months bill generated with actual readings and did that mean her companies reading were incorrect or flawed?? she thanked me for my time and said they were sorry to lose a customer and to contact them if we want them as a supplier in future. Same company called this morning asking to speak to Mr Pixie. i said he was at work and could i take a message guy said it regarding change of energy suppliers, we would like to retain his custom. I replied that he had spoke to a woman on tuesday and told her to deal with me she had and couldn't beat new dealso we were moving. He says he needs to hear that from 'man of the house'. :mad::mad::mad:

Another example. I am selling up. I bought this place asd a single person, now i'm married with 2 kids and its time to buy bigger and a true family home. I called a local estate agent enquiring about selling costs. They said costs variable depending on home value and value of property I will be buying so I arranged for them to come out. OH was here for the appointment. The EA started to talk directly to him OH said no point telling me I have nothing to sell talk to the owner IE me. The EA did but i didn't like his attitude kept asking if i understood fees are a percentage of selling price and 1% of 70k is £700 and generally treated me like I was a dumb little girl (I am an Accountant). He also asked my OH directly if he has any questions but not me. A week later the written quotation came through addressed to Mr Pixie. It wasn't just Mr Pixie it was Mr C Pixie and not Mrs L Pixie so definatly not a typo. They called about a month later to enquire if we would be using their services and were told no because if they cannot even address a quotation for services correctly I have absolutly no faith in their ability to handle the sale of MY property.

xnatalie81x

flippin36 wrote: »

When my sister opened up her shop, it was amazing at how much free publicity there is for small businesses. She really notices a difference in sales when there has been a feature. She wrote to the local bbc radio station saying she is a new business and would they like to interview her on the "new business in a recession" angle. She not only got her interview (plug, plug) but they gave her a roaming mike to do a diary slot every week. She's almost a local celebrity now lol .

Really!!! That is fantastic! I have written an article for dubit and national childbirth trust newsletter and have had business from it but by far netmums has been the most fantastic source of new business!! Hoping this article will enable me to stretch my sat by half hr (12.30-2) and also start running some lessons on a sunday too!!

Must spend some time on my website as i wrote the whole thing myself (also all stationery from freecycle as i want to pass the savings on to my customers!) - any mums out there that want to put their kids into lessons want to 'test run' my website for me......... obviously anywhere in uk as you don't have to actually have the lessons - just let me know your feedback on it.....pm me - reward will be a massive thanks from me lol