2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

fallen_angel_shelley

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

Yeah, I suppose that when I get off the computer late at night, and then find that she's gone to bed a few hours earlier without putting the nappies in, I could do them, and THEN measure out bread ingredients.

Or maybe we all need to plan a bit better.

Meal plans is an ongoing campaign which I haven't yet won. I hate getting home from work to "what shall we have for tea" rather than something cooking! And I know I sound like a right old chauvinist but I'm not really. But recently it seems that the only time we eat something that isn't straight out of the freezer is when I cook it myself.

Today was our 2 year old's second half-day at playgroup so I thought she'd have a bit more time for making the moussaka. Instead she (my wife) spent the afternoon in bed.

marky- i wasn't trying to sound like i was nagging at you. is it a BM you guys use? if it is fill it befor you go on the you p.c for the night. i still find meals plans hard at 3! with 2 all most grown up kids, let alone how it was when DS 2yro & DD a new born (mind you at least i didn't get all the back chat then) as for it been your 2 year olds 2nd day at playgroup, if your OH is anything like i was, she will be making most of the her time, putting her feet up with out hearing the word MUMMY every 2 min. shelley x

MRSMCAWBER

Evening all

Had to poke my nose in when i saw the word "bread" :rotfl: ... MarkyMark.... even if there isn't much to be saved on the difference between HM and shop bread... (my 2lb loaf works out about 20p plus gas-i make it by hand, the BM has been relegated to the basement ) home made is so much more filling..so you eat less -so you save more :j ... 2 Slices of HM bread toasted stuffs me, give me 6 slices of shop bread and it probably wouldn't touch the sides :rotfl:

My hubby has an adiction to it, a couple of slices toasted with marmite for his supper -instead of god knows how much cheese n biscuits..

But on the flip side - i don't work or have children unfortunately -so i have time.. not that it takes long to do really....

Nykmedia.. if its the options hot choc turkish delight ..its nice, but it smells more of turkish delight than it tastes -if that makes sense

right i will pull my nose back out again now -until the next time something catches my eye:rotfl:

sophiesmum_2

Just took couple of oldies shopping at Asda and while I was there spent £2.40 myself BUT i did get two nets of clementines for 10p each and two punnets of raspberries for 10p each:D , the other £2 was for a big canvas reusable shopping bag to stop using carriers.Mostly go to farm shop and this one is plenty big enough for my veg;)

Apart from my car insurance DD of £26.28 this is my first spend this week:j

MarkyMarkD

fallen_angel_shelley wrote: »

marky- i wasn't trying to sound like i was nagging at you. is it a BM you guys use? if it is fill it befor you go on the you p.c for the night. i still find meals plans hard at 3! with 2 all most grown up kids, let alone how it was when DS 2yro & DD a new born (mind you at least i didn't get all the back chat then) as for it been your 2 year olds 2nd day at playgroup, if your OH is anything like i was, she will be making most of the her time, putting her feet up with out hearing the word MUMMY every 2 min. shelley x

shelley I didn't think you were nagging. I was only being playful hence . You are 100% right that I could set it in the BM before I settle down to skiving in my study. My wife is definitely in celebration mode at having time without "mummy, mummy" - she spent the first half day going to the garden centre (and cafe) and chilling, and the second half day mainly sleeping. Hopefully after she gets used to the idea she'll spend the time slightly more productively - she did say she was going to start sorting the house out a bit which it could do with.

MrsMc - I know I need to get back onto the home-made bread. I'll try to take Shelley's advice and put the ingredients into the BM at teatime so that it can go on overnight ready for eating the next day.

LollopyBear

Hi all,

First of all I want to beg those who are talking about quitting the challenge to stay here! It doesn't matter if you go over budget or have to change your parameters. It is partly an experiment to find out what you can live on and if you have to make adjustments it doesn't mean you have "failed" just that you may have miscalculated your family's budget for this year. I hope no-one decides to go for good.

After a rather downer of a month (I always seem to loathe Feb), I am on an upswing now. I was feeling really bad for going over by about £100 my budget for this month, but I think I can claw it back over the rest of the year. It just means that my monthly target will need to be within £320 instead of £330.

A £2 cheque turned up today for a survey I don't remember completing, which was rather nice.

I am getting that excitement again that tomorrow I can check my interest on my savings account! I'm so sad! :rotfl:

I went to check my Oily Hand account to see if my £30 cashback for house insurance had been credited and was very surprised to find £70 in there instead. Instead of being £30 I was credited with £35, and it was listed twice! It said verified but I'm not sure it's going to stay there. Has anyone else been credited twice at OIly hand?

Sorry for rambling on quite a bit! Hope everyone's having a good evening

fallen_angel_shelley

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

shelley I didn't think you were nagging. I was only being playful hence . You are 100% right that I could set it in the BM before I settle down to skiving in my study. My wife is definitely in celebration mode at having time without "mummy, mummy" - she spent the first half day going to the garden centre (and cafe) and chilling, and the second half day mainly sleeping. Hopefully after she gets used to the idea she'll spend the time slightly more productively - she did say she was going to start sorting the house out a bit which it could do with.

you tell your mrs from to spend a few more days chilling out. i remember when my lovely darngs started nursery, i spent about 3 weeks chilling out then i got on with sorting the house out, when mrsmarkymake is ready for sorting the house out point her in the direction of the 'flyladie' thread she will be very welcome http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=761861&page=38 check it out your self 1st Mark, it might give you a few ideas for helping out as well. what is it you are studying?

Mollymop5

Evening all.I haven't bought a loaf of bread since xmas when i got my breadmaker.I seem to be able to make 3x 1 dozen rolls out of one 48p bag of flour and 2 sachets of yeast.
The saving for me though is that I have yet to visit my local coop in the village this year.i have been shopping online with asda like I usually do but I used to pop to the coop for bread and come out £10 lighter as I'd see other bargains!!! Using my breadmaker saves me money!

Frugaldom

Hi Lollopy, good news on the oilyhand but I think they'll probably claw it back when the final checks are done prior to sending out payments. I've spotted a couple of reversed payments on mine and my insurance cashback had to be chased. I'm due a payment from there in March and am really pleased with my 'savings' as it amounts to almost £200 this year so far!

Now, on a completely different note, other than Bails, who has already mentioned this, is there anyone else on here doing this challenge so they can live debt and mortgage free with a taste for the 'good life'? This is always a hotly debated subject, but it's my main motivation for continuing relentlessly with financial challenges. I want 'the good life' whilst still young enough to enjoy it. I want freshly laid eggs from my own hens, homegrown fruit & veggies from my own garden, home cooking, fresh baked bread, the ability to earn enough from home-based self employment to support the kind of lifestyle that doesn't include clock-watching.

So far, so good, I've been following the frugal lifestyle for some years now and began taking part in challenges in 1999, so it's almost 10 years! If there is one thing that has surprised me, it's the fact that it gets easier each year. With every debt that disappears there's a surge of renewed energy and enthusiasm and a renewed understanding of why skrimping and saving is so bound in to the current lifestyle. With every debt that disappears, there is a new source of funds to kill the next debt, then the next, until they have all gone and you are left with nothing more than the cost of living. I am not yet at that stage, as I don't own a house. It's difficult to believe it is even possible, especially the first couple of months into a new year, but anything is possible. Even when everyone around you seems set against everything you believe in, the fact still remains that you really could 'pull it off' and that is what keeps us all going.

Tomorrow is that one extra day that we get every four years, so make the most of it. Do something crazy and call it an eccentricity, do something enjoyable, have some extra fun. Every action we take at any given moment in time results in the creation of a future memory. Give yourself something extra to talk about when tomorrow becomes yesterday!

Philosophical rambling over, see you all tomorrow

fallen_angel_shelley

LollopyBear wrote: »

Hi all,

First of all I want to beg those who are talking about quitting the challenge to stay here! It doesn't matter if you go over budget or have to change your parameters. It is partly an experiment to find out what you can live on and if you have to make adjustments it doesn't mean you have "failed" just that you may have miscalculated your family's budget for this year. I hope no-one decides to go for good.

After a rather downer of a month (I always seem to loathe Feb), I am on an upswing now. I was feeling really bad for going over by about £100 my budget for this month, but I think I can claw it back over the rest of the year. It just means that my monthly target will need to be within £320 instead of £330.

A £2 cheque turned up today for a survey I don't remember completing, which was rather nice.

I am getting that excitement again that tomorrow I can check my interest on my savings account! I'm so sad! :rotfl:

I went to check my Oily Hand account to see if my £30 cashback for house insurance had been credited and was very surprised to find £70 in there instead. Instead of being £30 I was credited with £35, and it was listed twice! It said verified but I'm not sure it's going to stay there. Has anyone else been credited twice at OIly hand?

Sorry for rambling on quite a bit! Hope everyone's having a good evening

lollopybear- thanks for the kind words hun. i don't think it was really the right time for me to take up a challeneg like this, my mum only passed away last september and my OH the year befor . don't worry i don't see my self as failing i'm still doing the GC and the sealed pot challenge, plus i will be popping back on hear to keep an eye on you lot and to say hello as well.

MarkyMarkD

fallen_angel_shelley wrote: »

you tell your mrs from to spend a few more days chilling out. i remember when my lovely darngs started nursery, i spent about 3 weeks chilling out then i got on with sorting the house out, when mrsmarkymake is ready for sorting the house out point her in the direction of the 'flyladie' thread she will be very welcome http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=761861&page=38 check it out your self 1st Mark, it might give you a few ideas for helping out as well.

Thanks for the tip.

what is it you are studying?

When I said "skiving in the study", I meant it! I'm not a student any more (not done any studying for at least 5 years, actually). I'm normally in the study, on t'internet, either doodling around on MSE or losing games of two-player Solitaire to my lovely friend, slowlyfading.