2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

bails

Right, Week 3 update:
£64.02 spent this week, which I'm very happy with, especially as £45 of that is for my mum's hot stone therapy pressie! My weekly total was already down to £72.61/wk and that's now pushed back up a few pence to £72.79 - 18p a week (8.82 for the year) doesn't sound much but it all helps
No big birthdays now til May, and we have LOADS of food still in (ate for free at my mum's this weekend as well :T).
The other bonus is that I have saved £545.58 this week :j so I'm edging towards my first grand and it's only 20th January!! :beer:
There's the big gas bill to come out this week - does this count though as it is for gas used last year, so I'm thinking not? Thinking about that, you're paying yours out of this year aren't you Nyk? We had the money for it put aside in an account already...mm, does it count or not then? Thanks!
My aim this week is to avoid buying silly little things that stop me having NSDs - just the odd Freddo but it means my personal spending chart has to have an entry, damn it! Looking forward to the week ahead - going to have my first go on Ebay, which reminds me - apparently it's half price listing day on Thursday so get your goodies ready! Have a great Week 4 everybody; let's save some cash! :T

skintwellie

:A Where did you do your shopping?

nykmedia wrote: »

Well, I did my 'tenner shop' after hitching a lift to the supermarket and taking accompanying male around store with me as a mental calculator. I shopped, he counted and, when the total reached £9.70, I dashed off back up the aisle to grab a 30p frozen family size Yorkie pudding. Now, however, the lady on the checkout thinks I'm nuts!.

This came about from my standing there, packing the items into my reuseable 'green' shopping bag and eagerly awaiting the till to register £10.
IT DIDN'T!! :eek: :eek: :eek: It registered £10.85!!
Boy, was I mad at finding out said accompanying male was not number perfect in his mental arithmetic! And I said as much, right there at the check-out. "Your arithmetic is CR**", I spouted at by now embarrassed looking accompanying male. To rub salt into the wound, checkout lady proceeded to comment on how much I had managed to get for a tenner, so she got it next -

"It isn't good for a tenner when it comes to £10.85 and what if I only have a tenner on me?!"

Fortunately, accompanying male did not have to suffer the indignity of seeing me trawl through the items returning 85p worth of goods, but he has accepted all blame as it was he who wanted the 4 pints of milk rather than finish off the two cartons in the fridge and then get more! MEN!

Here's the list:

Washing up liquid - 14p
2 x 1.5kg plain flour @ 38p - 76p
500g brand name margarine - 68p
2 x tins baked beans @ 21p - 42p
Pk of 4 low fat youghurt - 34p
Family size Yorkshire pudding - 30p
1kg long grain rice - 51p
500g pasta - 20p
400g minced beef (reduced to clear) 52p
Box of brand name oatcakes (special offer) - 55p
Saver digestive biscuits - 26p
3 x peppers (1 green, 1 yellow, 1 red) - £1.50
Onions - 5-p
Carrots - 47p
2 x 500g spaghetti @ 17p - 34p
400g strong cheddar cheese (half price) £1.80
4 pints whole milk - £1.34
Total spend for day = £10.85

NYK's WACKY HINTS & TIPS - NEVER TRUST SOMEONE ELSE TO DO YOUR COUNTING. Where finances are concerned, ALWAYS keep control of your own.

PS: Going to use the pepper seeds for some homegrowns as I've had some success growing red peppers in the past :T

Aril

Crikey you lot have all been busy little bees since I was last here Friday...looks like I shall have to set aside an entire evening to catch up with all your doings and the ironing will have to wait. Aww shame....just one of those side effects that us challenge addicts by proxy must suffer:D
I meanwhile have been merrily spending away whilst absent but in a tighter than a gnat's bottom sort of way...lots of brilliant jumble sale bargains [I helped set it up] and a meal out but with the new approach...the fixed menu for £6.50 per head [this is the eye wateringly expensive South East] during the pre 6pm toddler zone. Well it was a late afternoon out with the OH without the small person...hey we know how to live it up in these frugal times:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
Well OH has continued to outsmart me with all frugal moves since the success of the oh-meter the other night and has now pointed out that I could shave £3 off my shopping bill if I cut some of my very precious stockpile of rags [that I am very carefully storing and not using:D ] into cloths and then put them somewhere prominent [like under the sink next to the cleaners rather than at the back of the cupboard in the spare room]rather than buying kitchen paper. Plus it saves money/meets the green recycling credential. He has also built me a contraption to collect fresh rainwater [not the stuff in our waterbutt] to use in the iron instead of the distilled water that costs me £3.49. I am simply going to have to find new and thrilling ways to outfrugal him [note "to frugal/outfrugal" are new official verbs...can you tell I'm a literacy tutor by day:D
Keep up the great work...I'm now off to trawl the thread in order to pinch...erm sorry borrow some more of your fabby tips and keep ahead in the gnat's bottom stakes!!
Aril

catznine

I've gone and spent money again!:rolleyes: £5.74 on 2 lynx gift sets (for the gift cupboard) in the boots 75% off sale, then into tk maxx to ogle the bakeware section (very sad I know) £6.99 on a new non stick loose bottom 25yr baking guarantee square cake tin! But I will use it as it will replace the very old one I have used over the years for cakes, traybakes, flapjacks etc., (old one got dropped and is now bent!:eek:

Off to alter signature!

Janey51

I think Aril's new noun/adjective are very useful to store for future use.

Have had a truly horrible day but nothing to do with frugality or the challenge so will try and forget what a sad bunny I feel tonight
Spent £14.90 when I thought it would be a NSD so think I will be over budget this week but its early days.
£2 of that was for 2x£1 that I put in the 2 moneyboxes I bought as Christmas presents the other day.
Made a carrot cake to use up a couple of decidedly manky bananas and its in the freezer. I can't eat it but it will be nice to ask visitors if they would like a piece.

redglass_2

[q:beer:uote=nykmedia;8054437]

When doing your surveys, there's usually boxes to tick or untick depending if you want further offers sent. Just make sure you tick or untick in the right places and you should be OK [/quote]

Have worked out the problem now, it was because I read the posts without logging on, so the thanks button didn't appear!

notanothergreyhair

Mollymop5 wrote: »

Another NSD for me.I do like Sundays

Ditto what s/he said.

I never thought I would get to the point where I preferred the days of not spending over the ones where I bought things.

lilac_lady

I've not joined the £4000 club but I do read it and it keeps me motivated. I spent £36. ? in Boots for 3 birthday presents (later in the year).

Diesel perfume - £5 (paid in Boots points)
Ben sherman Gift Sets - £13.? (I know, the receipt's in my bag) x 2
Dona Karan Perfume - £10

I was pleased with my shopping trip and feel that it's ok to spend money on items that you would buy anyway such as birthday presents.

Mollymop5

Janey51 wrote: »

Have had a truly horrible day but nothing to do with frugality or the challenge so will try and forget what a sad bunny I feel tonight

Oh Janey poor you.If you feel the need to off load on anyone feel free to pm me!

broke_mum_of_three

bails wrote: »

My aim this week is to avoid buying silly little things that stop me having NSDs - just the odd Freddo but it means my personal spending chart has to have an entry, damn it!

Just buy seven Freddos on the one day bails, then you can enjoy one every day and dont have to ruin your personal spending chart by having to make and entry:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: