2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

mama67

lingojingo wrote: »

As Martin's given the green light this week for switching energy supplier, :money: I've just been trawling through all the switching sites only to find I can't better the price I've already got, even though they've also put their prices up this week (with my discounts for dual fuel and paperless billing).

Now I don't know whether I'm happy to have already got a good deal :j or disappointed at missing out on cashback, lol

I had this problem as well, and add in the fact that my account is always in cr then it has to be extra savings on top of the yearly spend figure.

dfw844

Thanks for the encouragement Nyk! Although I'm afraid I needed a few bits at lunchtime so that's another £5.95 spent on groceries. Gosh, coffee is expensive! Can't do without everything though...

Since starting with all this (and the challenge) properly, I paid a whacking £557.42 off my credit card in January!!! Can't believe it. Whoever knew I had that much free cash? Not me, obviously - I've always lived on the edge! Some of it was Christmas money, but I'm still very proud of myself for getting the outgoings so low (£241 out of £333 budget). So I'm not going to beat myself up if I go a bit over in February. Incidentally, I've just worked out that my average monthly spend on the same budget items for 2007 was £957!!! £957 EVERY month and for Jan it was £241! I LOVE THIS SITE!

I keep thinking 'if only I'd realised a year ago' but I suppose that's the point of a lightbulb moment, you suddenly realise the obvious when it should have been clear all along. But anyway, I've realised now, and I'm sorting it out, so I'm still thankful for that!

elantan

funkyfunky monkey you can freeze them either without cooking them or after part cooking them which ever is easiest for you ..i havnt tried the oven to cook them in although i have spoken to others that have they said they tasted nice ...but there nice might not be your nice if you get my drift ..try it not got much to loose and loads to gain


well that's me just up out of my bed i took a sleeping tablet last night thinking i wouldnt be able to sleep ...i think it worked too well lol...not to worry i'm night shift this week so i have no doubt my body will make good use of the extra sleep...and the good news is because of that i have had another nsd yippppeee ...i think that might be my secret stay in bed you wont spend money

Frugaldom

Eeking out the cream, saving the seeds from peppers (guilty as charged, Bails ), paying off chunks of credit cards, no spend days, appreciating home when away... everyone, even those with a twinge of guilt or panic, sounds like Spring is in the air :T :T :T

:jBelieve it or not, despite having had to visit the post office, I have managed to have another NO SPEND DAY - all my work post goes on my account, so err... I cheated!! I included some 'work related' materials for sis and bunged the extra package on my account :rotfl: (I'm self-employed, so I'm not pinching postage or Internet access from work :A ) But 6 days in a row without a spend!! Makes me want to go for 7 now!!! I wonder if.... macaroni cheese for tea tonight, (massive) chicken defrosting for tomorrow and several other days, bit of baking and some more milk mixed up... hmm.... :rotfl:

Someone mentioned coffee somewhere - Co-op had a BOGOF on 100g Rapport and Semi-Chem do 200g Nescafe at £1.89 Either of these works out cheaper than the own brands in my local stores (unless you're going to the real saver non-brands). We only drink instant

BAILS - I rinsed the seeds and then dried them on top of paper towel for a week or two. Yesterday, I started them off in a plastic tray (from a chicken, I think) lined with soaked kitchen roll. They should start germinating on there if kept damp and that way I'll know which are going to sprout before popping one into each homemade seed pot (slice of toilet roll / kitchen roll / foil / cling film roll inner tube closed off with newspaper and filled with compost) inside my makeshift freebie propogator.

lingojingo

Frizzel, keep positive, you're doing really well already :T and we're all rooting for you! Everyone on here is really supportive and that helps so much.

flowerofthewest

Just been checking my spending on MS Money and, by the time my last two bills of the month go out on 27th, and if I spend no more money between now and then, I am already over budget for the month.
Mind you, I've had the extra expense of travelling to Cambridge once a week for the last couple of weeks, and this will continue until April. Costs £13.20 for the train ticket and £7 for the taxi home (no way I'm hanging around in a dark bus station for an hour for a bus). This travel is (mental) health related, so just wondering - should I be including it in the 4k or not?
Fi

sashacat

Well I'm over budget again but I don't mind as £72 of it was for my allotment rents which I have counted in for now, as I have decided to count in everything except water and council tax (and holidays/travelling)(I have no mortgage) and see what it all comes to at the end of the year. This means that I try to save money on things which are not strictly in the challenge and don't add in any money that I make. I really want to know how much I spend over the year on things where I have some control over costs.

System

flowerofthewest i would include it if you think you can balance it out by saving in other months (or at least have some frugal fun trying to!) but if thats not possible i wouldn't include it, cant have essentials like that spoiling your lovely frugal targets! it would be a de-motivator.

i have been naughty with my spending today... again

does anyone know about the laundry balls in aldi? are they any use? (5.99 for 9, last forever, but only reduce powder rather than replacing it)

anyone got some uber-frugal laundry tips to share?

also i was bad and got a windowsill greenhouse last week cos it was cute

can anyone recommend stuff i can grow on the inside of a windowsill apart from herbs?

funkyfunkymonkey

elantan wrote: »

funkyfunky monkey you can freeze them either without cooking them or after part cooking them which ever is easiest for you ..i havnt tried the oven to cook them in although i have spoken to others that have they said they tasted nice ...but there nice might not be your nice if you get my drift ..try it not got much to loose and loads to gain

I've copied your recipe to my list of ones to try and will try it as soon as I can get of all of the ingredients.

Thanks for all of your help.

FFM

Aril

Hello fellow frugalites:D
I've popped in for my weekly update [my life's not that exciting ] but do stroll over from the OS board on a near daily basis to keep up with all your doings. One has to feed one's challenge by proxy addiction you know:rotfl: :rotfl:
The gnat bottom stakes have continued merrily this past week with each of us trying to devise new and sneaky ways of outfrugalling each other. OH has used our very expensive new valve to fix the shower [thinking of the water meter here] resplendent with red face and blue air [I might have learnt some new Anglo Saxon terms Saturday had I not beaten a hasty retreat to my friend's house for a quick cuppa:eek: ] Meanwhile the Venus Trap purse has remained generally snapped shut [with the odd small spend noted in spending diary which is literally a 2007 diary purloined off small person] but my credit card seemed to have snitch type aspirations. It has sprouted wings and is trying to make a bid for freedom to the nearest chip and pin machine whenever I am out. Never mind I have a iron strong frugal willpower which only indulges it when strictly necessary. Yes it showed me up in Sainsburys this evening by spending more than I had intended but this was only buying Easter Eggs for a pound [other Easter spends were made at Lidl] which go up to 1.99 tomorrow, a bogof on hot X buns [frozen before demolished] and some pink champagne truffles leftover from Valentines for 87p [75% off] which I will put towards Mothering Sunday [and yes they are in date until April:D ] for my Mummy. Other spends this weekend were all for the small person's up and coming school trip but we used vouchers and got some good deals. Everything we got he either needed now or would have later in the season. The material girl thinks she's been indulged as she now thinks she's the proud owner of forget-me-nots, snowdrops and the pink truffles. Please don't disillusion her that the forgetmenots came from freecycle, the snowdrops were half of a freebie offer my Dad found and said truffles are as above. That way I can keep her in her box for the next few days as that should keep her shut up for now.
Brilliant frugalling still frugalites...this and the simple living thread are for me the highlight of my MSE trawling:D
Aril