2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

hopeless_spendthrift

:hello: Good Morning Janey, GemGems, Az and all fellow frugalites!

Week 5 Update: Only spent £52.92 this week! :j

£13 odd of this was 'invested' in some cross stitching supplies from ebay. My daughters have got into this and they've made some beautiful cards. :T Thought I might give it a go too so have ordered enough supplies to make 50 cards which if I have calculated correctly (help please Nyk)!, equals 26p per card. Probably would have bought this stuff anyway to satisfy my daughters' creative needs. Am so glad to keep them occupied in this way. Means they don't have much time to watch rubbish on tv or waste time on the net (unlike mumsie here! :P) So glad they have taken to it ....knitting next! My 8 year old son is also joining in - trying to make a picture of a sailing boat :T

Only £9.11 spent on groceries last week The figures should even out this week tho, which will see a few DD's going out, plus a big shop, organic veg, milk delivery etc, so my glory is sure to be short-lived!

Lots of love to you all for a happy, frugal-packed day x x x

hopeless_spendthrift

:rotfl:

Janey51 wrote: »

Had an almost NSD yesterday but had to lash out £1.24 on Recorded Delivery.

My soapnuts sample came yesterday and I have done 3 washes so far with 6 halves as per instructions on leaflet sent with them.
Everything seems to be OK. I stopped using fabric conditioner ages ago as I just like the smell of fresh line dried clothes.
Of course, hanging anything out in the recent gales could have seen me hurdling the fences to chase after Knickers
The soap nuts came just as I finished my soap powder :T

:rotfl: :rotfl: Eat your heart out Lynford Christie! :rotfl: :rotfl:

princess_leia_3

Been a bit lax recently adding up what we have spent so I will work that out this morning, plus I know most of our dd's have come out now so I need to do that anyway

Everyone looks to be doing well and so far I have kept to one big shop and not been back in 6 days (which is nearly a record for me :rotfl:) I have also done better on my dinner plans, by making an extra dinner with leftovers which I would have never have done before :T

Burlesque_Babe

£20 for me today.

Yesterday I had to post a job application and a course application. Both were really close to home but I haven't got any stamps so I decided it was cheaper to hand deliver rather than go to the shops, put the stamps on and then post them!

Janey51

keren29 wrote: »

£20 for me today.

Yesterday I had to post a job application and a course application. Both were really close to home but I haven't got any stamps so I decided it was cheaper to hand deliver rather than go to the shops, put the stamps on and then post them!

Way to go Keren :T

Frugaldom

Morning all!
Last night I had my usual casual stroll through the posts on here and can see that, for many of you, being part of this challenge is having an effect on both how much is spent and how it is spent. I'm a firm believer in a frugal lifestyle regardless of what type of lifestyle you really have. Like I said before, I've met quite a few fairly wealthy people along the way and the one thing they all have in common is frugality within their own homes, despite some of their more flambuoyant and, some may say, vulgar extreme spends. I mean, it isn't everyone who flies to London or the Continent for shopping trips. HOWEVER ... it's all part of what I call my cyberdosh challenge - doing as much as possible with your virtual dosh.

What about my jetsetting friends? Are they really so well off that they can go shopping at the drop of a hat? Well, no! In fact, the easiest way to have such an apparently extravagant lifestyle is to quit smoking and be ready to jump on a plane when the 99p flights appear! :rotfl: Many collect airmiles, Tesco points and any other points they can accrue. Many more shop on eBay, eBid and the charity shops - of course, theye do the charity shop run in an area other than their own! some even take part time jobns IN the charity shops. You know the old story of these wealthy stay at home housewives - they balance the books on the housekeeping and opt for some 'charity work' to fill in spare time and be seen to have some standing in their community on accounts of their husbands' high profile jobs ... come on, we've all heard that old line! :cool:

The most important factor in succeeding as a born-again-frugalist is debt obliteration. Get rid of it as fast as you can. It doesn't matter how you do it so long as it's legal and it's clearing any debt. A successful frugaler has no debt. Credit cards that are paid off in full each month are not classed as debt. Monthly minimum repayments made on what's known as stoozing is not classed as debt. A true frugaler will hone these skills until nobody actually knows how rich or poor they really are - and therein lies the secret to frugal financial well-being.

What's all this got to do with living on 4k? Well I'd like to know for sure that everyone is aiming to become debt free and that everyone really will benefit from this year long experience.

Back soon...

Alassa

Hi all,

I'd like to join in Living on £4K for 2008. There is only me and DH but I have 6 dogs to feed too I live abroad so can't take advantage of all the offers in UK but I think I can make some cuts here and there to do this. I've finally got debt free and would like to get the mortgage paid off and also get some money into a savings account for a rainy day. So count me in :T

FrankieM

Hi guys..
Had to buy a new frying pan today, another £5.99 added to my total.
I think I'm feeling how you all felt in January!
February feels like the longest month ever. I can't wait till payday and I can't wait to through a few days without spending....
Tesco delivery is coming later on tonight, so will have that to add too.
I'm hoping after that, that will be it for a little while at least.
I have some presents to buy, but I'm using vouchers for all my gifts etc this year, so that won't cost me anything....

Janey51

Hi Alassa. Welcome to the challenge.
Blimey...6 dogs Are they huge and hungry?

FrankieM would the new frying pan be in honour of Pancake Day?
Oh, I remember pancakes. With lemon and sugar. And crispy round the edges. Mmmmmmmmmmm

lilac_lady

Pankcake day's great. A chance to have the grandchildren in the kitchen showing them how easy it is to cook. They love eating what they've made (immediately). When I see someone buying a packet of pancake mix from the supermarket I think, " well, they can't be logging on to MSE!". This site is really affecting my thoughts!!!!