Living on $12,000 a year

gb57

Water rates

To HardupHester, Cupid_s and anyone else who is struggling on a low income.

GET A WATER METER. If there are only 2 of you (and possibly if there are 3, I am not sure), you will save a fortune. I have had a water meter for 11 years. I currently pay £15 per month. My other half has his own home but spends about 75-80% of his time here. We generally shower rather than bath, but we have a power shower and I believe that it uses as much as a bath. I have a rain barrel and use water from that to water the pots, but if we don't have much rain then I water the garden anyway.

I am not ultra-careful with water at all, just sensible (ie don't leave the tap running when cleaning your teeth). I have a dish washer, not used when I am alone.

My elderly neighbour who lives alone pays over £300 pa water rates! I have just persuaded her to get a meter.

Tiger_greeneyes

This is a brilliant website, it's become my bible http://findextrawork.co.uk/

I've joined all the market research companies and even found a cosmetics research company who regularly send me premium products to try out (not tested on animals). I've even got my cat involved, she tries all the nice new cat food - yesterday she received a "gold tuna and shrimp in gravy" pouch through the door and loved it! I've received about £25 worth of laundry products and haven't had to buy any for months. I've had lots of hair conditioners, soaps, foods and cleaning products - and I've only been doing it since the beginning of the year. The money I've earned on the market research adds up to about £200 so far. It'll certainly pay for Christmas. It can be quite time consuming but I don't work because of poor health so it keeps me busy.

My best freebie so far is winning a timeshare holiday today!!! (https://www.clubseasons.co.uk) We've now got free holidays every year until 2069 - I'll be 103 by then

I've looked through the frugal sites and I now live that way anyway. The only thing I don't do is have a veggie garden, but we've only just moved here and the garden is tiny. We're moving again next year so it's not worth the outlay to set it up.

I used to live and work in London - and my then husband and I used to earn around £94k per year between us. The money we wasted was obscene, and we weren't particularly happy for having so much.

I make all our food from scratch - the pizzas we have are superior to take-aways and cost pennies to make. I make my own biscuits out of flour, stork and sugar and bake them at the same time as cooking dinner. I use the hob far more often than the oven because it's so much cheaper.

One tip is to have a look at your electricity meter - if it's going fast then you're using something that drains lots of power.

moanymoany

Dear Tiger_greeneyes, I'm very interested in your recommended website and it looks very interesting. However, it seems to come under the something for nothing banner and I'm very suspicious. How has your experience been? Which have you joined?

I hope you don't mind me asking, but it looks a good thing to do.

Tiger_greeneyes

Hi Moany, I've joined every single market research company on there and they're all entirely professional and legitimate

The guy who runs the site (Chris) has got another site too - https://www.borntoloaf.co.uk. I'm pretty sure this really is just a hobby for him. We've exchanged a few emails in the past and he's straight up. You can sign up for his newsletters, too.

I really can't guarantee these highly enough Just the fact I've made so much money and had so many freebies speaks volumes!

Have a look at a few of the market research companies on there - you don't have to join if you don't feel comfortable If you want to try joining one to see what it's like, try yougov - it's a great one to start with.

I used to do market research years ago (pre internet days) and get paid anything from £15 - £40 for an evening. You probably get paid a little less pro rata with the internet based ones, but you can do them in your pyjamas and it doesn't cost you petrol to get to your computer

Austin_Allegro

Some thoughts on the US/UK cost of living.

I've travelled a bit in the US and on the surface, it did seem that things were a LOT cheaper. Clothes, fuel, accommodation (both temporary and permanent), entertainment, alcohol etc were all considerably cheaper than here. We're not called 'rip off Britain' for nothing!

That said, I think there are some hidden costs in the US. The main one being healthcare. There are welfare benefits etc but these are minimal and, to an extent, stigmatising (food stamps etc) but whether that is a good thing or not will depend on your political views.

Most people do get health insurance through work but if you lose your job you can become ineligible. I'm not sure but suspect that the cost of private insurance would be more than our NI contributions in the UK, and wouldn't cover so many things.

Taxes do seem to be lower overall in the US though, as the philosophy is that it's up to you what you spend your money on and you shouldn't be compelled, as we are, to buy state medical insurance. The American view seems to be that provision for illness and old age is your own responsibility, not the government's. Again, the worth of this depends on your political outlook.

The one big difference I think is the cost of property. You can live pretty cheaply in the US (apart from the obvious hot spots like New York) as the cost of land is much lower and there isn't so much red tape around self-building.

Someone pointed out the large numbers of elderly people working in the US. This is probably partly due to a lack of pension provision, but also probably because old people have been brought up with a strong work ethic, and are often more reliable than younger people. Don't forget also we're being encouraged to work later here too, as state pensions get cut back.

I'm also not sure if the large number of frugal sites in the US is because they're poorer than us. I think it's to do with the culture of individualism and personal responsibility - the pioneer spirit - that pervades in the states. The UK, by comparison is more of a mixture of feudalism and socialism - ie, the state will provide. Our websites seem more about canny consumerism than actually opting out of consumerism itself, and those who do are seen as a little eccentric - like in the Good Life!

Hardup_Hester

Hi GB
The reason I've not swapped to a water meter is that I often have people staying with me, short term lodgers & the last one spent 2 or 3 hours in the bathroom every morning & although hubby & I are prepared to be frugal with water, I find the lodgers aren't

Plum_Pie

Austin Allegro, a very interesting post!

gb57

Hi Hester

I think I would attach a little water meter to each of the lodgers and charge them per pint!!!!

GB

Hardup_Hester

Lol, GB, sounds like a good idea

ceridwen

found 2 more nice blogs in spirit of (still US I know!)

http://simplereduce.wordpress.com/

www.thebuttonbox.blogspot.com/

(nb theres stuff on buttonbox re vintage dress patterns for those interested - as in vintage style, modern sizing - allowing for our bigger waists and bust I guess - yep, sounds like me!)