2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

hopeless_spendthrift

Wondering if any of you saw The Wright Stuff this morning?

There was a psychologist guy on there who has travelled around the world comparing depression levels in relation to ecomonomic situations.
He said that people who live English speaking countries are twice as likely to become depressed than those living in other western european countries. He says this is bc our leaders aspire so much to the American way of life and consumerism and that peeps get ill being expected to, trying to, but failing to - keep up with the joneses.
Survival consumerism, or consumerism of 'need', he says, is different to consumerism of 'want'. So in the area of Nigeria that he travelled to for instance, where families are struggling to feed themselves and their children on a daily basis, there is only a 4% rate of depression, compared to 26% among families living under similar circumstances in the United States.....

So where does that leave us guys....?!? :eek:

Lol reckon we are good coz we are choosing to do this and we are supporting each other so beautifully, so reckon we will be ok (all apart from our poor, dear fizzel, that is......)

Joking fizz! I see you as incredibly 'thrifty' rather than 'tight', but thanks for the laughs :laugh:

You're doing gr8 Frugalmum :T

Sorry your essay is a being such a pain sf - hope u get ur head round it 2day.

My shower beckons!!! (As do the soap nuts!!) Will let u know how the wash turns out later x x x

hopeless_spendthrift

Good Morning Molly :hello:

Ditto re, mucky kids! :doh: Sent off for the sample (75p). They came with a leaflet that said the soap nuts clean the clothes and make them very soft, but bc they don't contain any whiteners or brighteners, whites may need a boost if using soap nuts over a long period of time. They recommend using bicarbonate of soda or ecover bleach for the job.
On the other hand, they say colours will last longer bc of the absence of whiteners/brighteners in the wash :T

We shall see...all shall soon be revealed. Knotted sock at the ready!

wornoutmumoftwo

OK, i've been brave and finally added up week 2, so here goes:

Total spend: A staggering £261.26

Food: 55.77 (Reduced counter at Tesco's is responsible for this)
Other groceries: 12.05
Cigarettes: 71.85 (OH on patches this week and i'm cutting down)
Bills: 53.00 (electric = 43 and TV License = £10)
Other: 65.59 (Hair cuts/ Xmas shopping/ taxis - didn't include fence damage
as OH paid for that)
Savings: Three whole pounds!


So that's that. I now have a balance to spend of 5380.81 and divided by 50 weeks that gives me £107 a week, but hopefully this will be a better week anyway.

I am awaiting a reply from the Disability living allowance dept in another 6 weeks as I claimed for my possibly Autistic spectrum son and filling in another form for my globally delayed and atshmatic son, it's to help me afford all these cabs, dance classes and drama classes I keep putting them in.

Going to try harder to make my own bread as well to save a bit.

That's the plan anyway!

elantan

hey all i notice some of you are going down the soap nut route have recently bought some myself and through looking up the net i noticed there are plenty of things you can do with these nuts not just for washing clothes

bails

Hiya everyone! :hello:

I'm glad other people are aiming to spend less time on here today, as that's my plan too Fell at the first hurdle though as I told myself I would do some decluttering first but the lure was too great (well, compared to decluttering, pretty much anything's a lure ). Anyway, remembering that decluttering not only means a simpler, freer life but also extra £££££s hopefully - kerching! - off to work I go! Don't have too many posts waiting for me when I get back (although I too am excited about the soapnuts trial!)
Have a great and cheap day all xx
ps Thanks for the kitten food link Nyk, had seen it but forgot to go back to it so thankyou!

sweetpea03

hopeless_spendthrift wrote: »

Wondering if any of you saw The Wright Stuff this morning?

There was a psychologist guy on there who has travelled around the world comparing depression levels in relation to ecomonomic situations.
He said that people who live English speaking countries are twice as likely to become depressed than those living in other western european countries. He says this is bc our leaders aspire so much to the American way of life and consumerism and that peeps get ill being expected to, trying to, but failing to - keep up with the joneses.
Survival consumerism, or consumerism of 'need', he says, is different to consumerism of 'want'. So in the area of Nigeria that he travelled to for instance, where families are struggling to feed themselves and their children on a daily basis, there is only a 4% rate of depression, compared to 26% among families living under similar circumstances in the United States.....

So where does that leave us guys....?!? :eek:

I wish I'd seen this Thrifty - it sounds really interesting. I know that the times when we've had very little money to live on have also been our happiest I must admit to feeling pretty happy at the moment living on this limited budget Having money & buying more "stuff" does definately not equal happiness to me, something I'm just beginning to realise!

I'm looking forward to the verdict on the soapnuts too, I was reading that they are good for sensitive skin so they would be great for us if they get the clothes clean

Hope you enjoy the pasta miss_pink & good luck with your dla claim wornoutmumoftwo, hope you hear some good news soon

sweetpea03

elantan wrote: »

hey all i notice some of you are going down the soap nut route have recently bought some myself and through looking up the net i noticed there are plenty of things you can do with these nuts not just for washing clothes

Hello elantan, that sounds interesting can you tell us more? And what did you think of the soapnuts? Thanks for your support to us all too

(sorry for posting again Bails I'm going now )

bigbullyweedave

sweetpea03 wrote: »

I wish I'd seen this Thrifty - it sounds really interesting. I know that the times when we've had very little money to live on have also been our happiest I must admit to feeling pretty happy at the moment living on this limited budget Having money & buying more "stuff" does definately not equal happiness to me, something I'm just beginning to realise!

It's a control thing isn't it? It's like when I eat healthy and watch carefully what money I spend. You are in control and it feels good. Plus you appreciate things more when you treat yourself.

Frugaldom

mumzyof2 wrote: »

£54.20 for a full year i pay £11 a month and went thorugh quidco to get £60 cash back..im waiting on them paying it me and once its in my account im going to switch again thru quidco? Can you keep doing this or will they find out lol.

I pay for the entire year at time of buying the policy and go through the cashback sites each time. Only trouble this time is that Greasypalm hasn't tracked properly and I'm waiting to hear if they will credit the cashback manually. £30 cashback would be quite good!

Our household in general is quite frugal, so we don't have a great deal of belongings to insure. We certainly don't have anything of high value that warrants extra insurance and I don't keep cash in the house (other than the coppers in Phil the Pig and always less than a tenner in my purse). Perhaps insurance is different depending on which area you live? Not sure, as mine has always been around about £1 per week for contents and I don't pay buildings insurance when in a rented house.

My soap nuts haven't arrived yet, boo hoo....... and it's a good drying day here. OH! Just remembered I put a washing on late last night, am off to hang that up now

Pasta salad the even cheaper way:

Pasta
1 small tin tuna (or left over chicken or ham)
1 small tin sweet corn
Large dollop of salad cream (mayo??? :eek: extravagance :rotfl: )
Diced cheese if you have any left lurking that needs using up

Mix the whole lot whilst the pasta is still warm and that way it melts the cheese at same time. I also add in chopped peppers if I have any in need of urgent using

PS: I love budgetting - perhaps it's an illness and I really should speak to a psychologist Or worse! A psychiatrist!! :eek:

sweetpea03

bigbullyweedave wrote: »

It's a control thing isn't it? It's like when I eat healthy and watch carefully what money I spend. You are in control and it feels good. Plus you appreciate things more when you treat yourself.

You're absolutely right weedave, & it is a much better feeling to be in control isn't it :T

Nyk it is value mayo I am using!!! :rotfl: Your recipe sounds lovely with the cheese in, deffo going to give it a go in the next few weeks