Living below your means

moanymoany

sorry folks, was telling miroslav to ditch her selfish lodger - looked back and I too realised the post was 2005!!!!!!!!!

While I'm here, does anyone still use their Tesco vouchers to shop? It is possible to use them to do so much more with them. We always pay our fare through Eurotunnel , our RAC membership and getting the car serviced.

Hardup_Hester

Hi Janb5
Working on a chat line isn't easy, you need to be very broad minded. The pay isn't very good, although it's 10 a minute, most companies only pay for a completed minute & a lot of calls don't last that long, some companies don't pay for the first 2 or 3 minutes of the call. You need to be able to think on your feet as you never know what the caller is going to want. The busiest time is midnight till 4am which I can't do as I get up between 5 & 6 for work.
Hester

Hapless_2

Mics_chick wrote: »

What is this ??? (highlighted above)

lack of caffiene!:rotfl:

overlykeensaver

This is a great thread so thanks for resurrecting it for all of us newbies.
When we got our car loan, we overpaid the debt and once it was paid off, we kept paying ourselves that money into a savings account. It really worked for us.

We both also set up a D/D to our savings account to come out the day after pay day. This means that we have at least saved something and we only use what is left in our accounts.You soon get used to it and adjust accordingly!

In terms of day to day living we always cook from scratch, shop at the market for fruit and veg and try not to spend much on day to day stuff - ie a coffee at the station, a newspaper and we also take in our own lunch packs to work. I believe this has saved us a small fortune - we were both probably spending an average of £4-5 each a day on lunch:eek:. Over a month or a year that is a holiday!

kippers

I was feeling really really down yesterday about money. We have paid off all we owe and now have to live withing our means. Yesterday for some unknown reason i was feeling so sorry for myself, thinking we were the only ones who need new clothes, damp sorting in the house, electrics re-doing, decorating, carpets, curtains etc and always saying "no" to the kids etc etc (the list was endless and i felt everyone i know seems to have a nicer house, bigger car, nice clothes etc. Infact me and my hubby ended up having a big row about money (when in reality we are both so careful with money and have nothing to argue about).

Anyway, this morning, i saw on the news about the hurricane in Jamaca where my friend ( who has loads of money)and her family are on holiday at the moment. I texted her and she is safe but they have been moved to a safer location ready for the hurricane to hit. I realised then that money can't buy everything (i hope they are ok).

Also, i have just read this thread from the beginning to end and realised that we are not the only family in this situation and really we do quite well for ourselves as we do go on holiday for a week every year (even if it is just Butlins) which some of you can't afford.

Well now i need to eat humble pie and go and say sorry to my husband for being such an idiot!

I hope you all understand on here too as i can't be the only one to have real low moments. Thanks for all your help and advice on this forum.

msgnomey

This thread has been great to read (and I have read it all) thank you to all for the ideas!

kethry

i think being poor (and living within poor means) successfully is very much to do with one's attitude towards it all.. we (OH and i) live on benefits: Incapacity + income support which gives us the aforementioned £4k a year or so, out of which we have to pay the bills and feed ourselves and so on (although not rent or council tax). I've been living this way for 2 and a half years now and although there are moments when its really tough, i will also say that there are times when i'm having so much fun!! We don't go out (as in, out to restaurants/pubs n so on) very much - maybe 4 times a year, in total - but it does mean that the friends we've got are *good* friends, and not just people who hang out with us because we're cool/fun to be with/got money or whatever. We've learned to be with each other properly, to be friends as well as lovers, and i've learned to cope on a very small budget. Its gotten me interested in all sorts, in order to try to save money, like gardening (growing own food), but i've often wound up thoroughly enjoying myself anyway.

when it comes to things like birthdays and christmas presents, the kind of thing where you do sometimes feel a bit bad, i try to think in terms of "money poor but time rich" and give presents that are unique and different: i make my own cards, and as a result, no one feels hard done by (or at least, they don't say it around my OH lol). I also make a game of it: giving as much as possible with as little as possible, maximising things like coupons and vouchers and so on.

while there are times that i wish we had a bit more money (mostly when it comes to things like not being able to see my (rather elderly and lonely) grandmother because she lives in a remote location which is bad for public transport, and we don't have a car) i can honestly say that for most of the last couple of years, i've felt much better than i have in years when i had lots of money. i feel healthier, not just in body, but in soul.

keth
xx

taplady

I've thought of a couple more things we do

DH takes a flask and sarnies and HM cake to work plus bogof crisps!

If we go out shopping or carbooting we always take the flask and some HM food - saves us a fortune and tastes better too!

I refill water bottles with my britta filtered water - also saves loads!

I swap books with a friend who has similar interests - I get them for 50p from the carboot!

Instead of spending loads going out we have time together -fishing, dogwalking, carbooting etc

overlykeensaver

I think this is such a good thread! And it is interesting because I bet most people live up to or even beyond their means. For example I know that I earn more than my sister. But I know that I actually spend less than she does and that makes me quite pleased! I try to pass on the tips in general conversation and hope it sinks in somewhere....

tooties

i second that overlykeensaver!
absolutly fab thread ive been transfixed for the last half hour reading it as my yearly income is going down by £22k shortly i can see im not going to die but going to have to work very hard to live within our new means of about £12k a year.
keep these great threads comming
tooties