FRUGAL LIVING CHALLENGE part 3, July - Dec 2010

slowlyfading

Well today's the day - I'm moving :j :j

Will be back on here as soon as I can be - though not sure when the internet will actually be connected yet.

Keep going with the challenge everyone and see you soon

Blairweech

SF - Hope everything goes well for you and you don't have too many issues! Enjoy your first night in your new home

Jen - Not relevant to your figures, but have you been on the HA waiting list long? In my town, unless you have a child, you have literally no chance of getting a house on your own and the HA seem to do everything in their power to delay the process so you miss out on potential homes. So that is quite impressive if they have 'processed' you that quickly and are actually trying to help you!

Will post properly on Monday, am at OHs at the moment with no access to my figures - but I have been approved for student finance @ £6407 a year - out of this needs to come £2500 for half my accomodation costs (thankfully my Dad has agreed to pay the other half) so from October I really will be living on 4k a year! I am going to run 2 budgets until the end of the year, then just go with the uni budget.

Hope you are all well, sorry I can't catch up!

Erme

Just checking in...almost another day down out of hospital...at this rate I'll be discharged on Monday :j...mega hungry so just waiting for rice and lentils....tomorrrow I do my first proper stew in the croc pot....Yum ...

anyhow hope everyone is okay...will try and read posts I've missed due to be sick properly later.... got ironing and housework to do tonight...

If folk could pray my sleep pattern gets better I'd really appreciate that too...

Hugs

E
PS. Nuala how are you finding veganism? Cheap? E

NualaBuala

Big hugs Erme. I hope you fight off the infection ok - are you just home for the weekend? And I really really hope your sleep gets better, it makes the world of difference I reckon. Re the veganism; I reckon it is cheaper but I'm rubbish so far - haven't even fully given up meat/fish, let alone dairy.:o I still have meat and fish in the freezer to use up plus a load of tinned tuna. But I am moving in the right direction. It's the eggs and cheese I find hardest to give up but am doing my best with it. Am getting a bit more used to soya milk too I think.

Good luck with the move SF!

Great news about the finance Blairweech, it may not be much but I'm sure you'll make it work!

Spent a lot on food in the co-op today but managed to get 2 free organic loaves of bread as the stall-holder left behind what they didn't sell.:j I didn't want to be greedy so took 2 which is what I normally buy from them. One for now, the other for the freezer.

Am really tired now but am going to have a quiet night in front of the TV (am having second thoughts about getting rid as I'm enjoying it these days) and then an early night.

Hope everyone's ok and hugs to anyone who isn't.

top_drawer_2

Blairweech wrote: »

Jen - Not relevant to your figures, but have you been on the HA waiting list long? In my town, unless you have a child, you have literally no chance of getting a house on your own and the HA seem to do everything in their power to delay the process so you miss out on potential homes. So that is quite impressive if they have 'processed' you that quickly and are actually trying to help you!

I wasnt on the list at all surprisingly, I rang up on Tuesday to ask some questions on completing the application form and she put me through to the housing officer who said she had some properties coming up which could be suitable for me. Hence I went to have a look..... She was really nice too! She said they get them often in that area and they are quite similar. She said that she finds its best to not work on the housing waiting list as a lot of people on it need declining however she said (in a roundabout way) I'm not allowed to decline people based on the fact that I believe they are going to be a pain in the @rse as tenants and because theyre antisocial chavs! She has to sort out the problems when they arise so I guess its in her interests to ensure she places tenants who arent going to be trouble. Maybe you should ring up your housing officer, if your interested in an HA house for a chat.

Erme - I really hope things improve for you soon, hugs and all the best xxx

SF- Good luck on moving, tips on making moving home easier are welcomed.

NualaBuala - lol I love quiet nights in with the TV too. Its best in winter or when its pouring down outside.

Jen

cw18

July figures finalised



Still overspent on several categories, but in the main the overspends are decreasing month-on-month due to the way the bills / changes in payment schedules fall

Am now overspent on my car insurance as I had to pay that last week, and also had to increase that budget by £24

Changing my status from house-wife to working (hadn't realised I hadn't already told them) increased the premium by £13. Upgrading from Protected to Guaranteed NCD increased it by another £8 (but something I still felt was worth doing). I asked about taking OH off the policy to see how much this would balance out against the increases (he'll only drive it in an emergency situation - ie. if my back locks up when we're out in my car - as he's used to an automatic and mine's a manual), but was told it would actually increase my premium by £20 a year so he's still on it I tried the comparison procedures, but even taking out a new policy via my current insurers site and getting cashback (which I did in 2008 and 2009) didn't beat it this year

Had to dip into my contingency fund for an essential repair during the service, but even if I log that as an overspend on my service and work on an annual budget of £7096 (budget to end of July of £4242.50) after removing my Contingency Fund I'm still underspent overall by £112.03 (or 2.64%), so I'm pretty happy with how things are going

If I include my Contingency Fund then I'm underspent by £639.36 (or 13.4%) which I'm really chuffed by :T

Erme

NualaBuala wrote: »

Big hugs Erme. I hope you fight off the infection ok - are you just home for the weekend? And I really really hope your sleep gets better, it makes the world of difference I reckon. Re the veganism; I reckon it is cheaper but I'm rubbish so far - haven't even fully given up meat/fish, let alone dairy.:o I still have meat and fish in the freezer to use up plus a load of tinned tuna. But I am moving in the right direction. It's the eggs and cheese I find hardest to give up but am doing my best with it. Am getting a bit more used to soya milk too I think.


Hope everyone's ok and hugs to anyone who isn't.

Thanks...I made a stew last night in the rice cooker (from Mr. A half price in the sale) but the beef was overcooked so would rather stick to something with beans once this is done...Think I will soak them for a day or 12 hours or something with the bicarb and then like put in rice cooker with pots/pasta and veggies. Beef is beef is beef...and gravy granules are quite good for a meat style flavouring (even if they're not 100% veggie)

Discharge day today...infection comes and goes....think I'm on the antibiotics for a few more days but have had so many getting a tad worried :eek:

and have run out of instant :coffee::eek:


So praying P is not so manic when I go on the ward this am...his constant grandiose conversation was driving me nuts the other day...

anyhow best go now and shower....

Hugs

E
PS. Yeah Nuala am home for weekend but if it goes well (which it has) I should be discharged today. And the hospital is within walking distance so I go back this am

NualaBuala

Morning all :wave:

Your housing officer sounds lovely Jen, glad things are going in the right direction for you!

Crossing fingers for you Erme that you're doing ok and get your :coffee:.
Did anyone suggest you take yoghurt (the probiotic kind with the live cultures in it) after antibiotics? It can help rebalance all the good bacteria that the antibiotics kill off (along with the nasties). Didn't know about using bicarb to soak beans - I just use water, is it better to put a bit of bicarb in? Anyway, happy slow-cooking!

July was expensive for me, mainly because of going away. But that also left my energy levels low and I had far too many emergency take-aways. Didn't spend as much on groceries though so it balanced out a bit. The good thing is that I didn't need to dip into my savings too much for the trip - I managed to cover a lot of it out of my monthly budget (spread over a few months). I'm now on a reduced income but I think I can do it. My budget hasn't really changed much except that I can no longer afford to save - I was already living off the reduced amount in anticipation of a drop in income. But I am determined to cut back somehow so I can save SOMETHING, no matter how small.

Hope everyone is ok and hugs to anyone who'd like one.

dramarama

Hi!
Just wondering if I can join this forum?! I'm having to live very frugally nowadays and am currently on JSA...stupid thing is even though I knew it may happen I was holding out for temp work.

I have been in the same situation before and lived quite happily, I think my resourceful instincts kick in!

I admire everyone for living frugally and personally I prefer to live within my means whenever possible...am currently looking for temp work. Usually I work as a supply teacher and that's a whole other depressing story...work has run dry for me and I've been searching for a permanent job for 2 academic years now...attending interviews etc and no luck but keeping my chin up!

Trying to occupy myself so I don't stray to the shops....eeek!

Blairweech

CW - I think insurance has gone up considerably this year. I did a quote for my car, and it will go up £300 when I become a student despite me not even taking the car to uni (meaning I will be driving maybe 3000 miles a year at absolutely most) :mad: :mad: I thought about only insuring it for the times I will be driving it, but that is really expensive and I lose my NCD. Got to look into pay-as-you-drive (but am not 100% sold on the idea of this) and possibly putting my brother as the main driver, as long as it is a policy where named drivers also get NCD. I would sell it and use my Mums when I need to but she won't let me (in case I interfere with the one time a week she uses it to go shopping)