2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

mumzyof2

I just got back from a and e my DD fell down stairs but she is fine and just needed to be checked out, got there and she has been running up and down one corridor in waiting room, was home within the hour , oh paid for bus fare but only cause im buying him a drink lol. so i will update when he comes in from shop!

CharliesAngel

Evening all

Janey51 - hope you're feeling much better about things.. you've had, as always, some fab advice

You'll all be glad to know my £11 a week budget has gone down the pan lol.. i've spent £14 (£2.50 for 2 - 3 hours, or £7 pass for visiting for 2 -3 hours for up to three days!) quid on parking at the hospital this week, £193 quid on car hire, £50 on petrol and spent far too much on buying lunches :eek: because i've been too knacked to actually make them or even go shopping.. i'm still in my nightie!

so.. it's pay day in three weeks and i'm on my last fiver. deep joy :rotfl:

CA x

sophiesmum_2

Hi CA
Hope you have a relaxing evening to recharge your batteries.
I hate how hospitals cash in on car parking:mad: :mad: , OH works at a hospital where the charge is £1.50 for a 24 hour period which if you HAVE to pay is reasonable. Our local hospital is £1.70 for 3 hours:mad: so if you visit someone in hospital afternoon and evening you end up paying twice:mad: and a visit to casualty is guaranteed to cost you £3.40:mad: .

£5 for 3 weeks:eek: :eek: :eek: Good Luck!!!

Frugaldom

Well done Lollopy - a diehard frugaller! No doubt about that!

Janey51

OK enough of other peoples' debt problems :beer:

Did the charity shops again. Spent £22.44 and have got 5 blouses (one from Wallis and a Per Una), a George skirt and another Next t-shirt. So I am all set for the long hot summer for less than the cost of one item from the only shop I used to be able to buy from....Evans

Got a load of bargains in Netto and spent £14. That should do me for the rest of next week.

DH brought me 2 packets of chocolate buttons and I have wolfed the lot :eek:
I find chocolate far better than tranquillisers for calming one down and making life look happy again :rotfl:

As I am being so frugal, I will have enough money to take advantage of the new ISA allowances next month :j

Getting on really well with the soapnuts. I have bought a big packet of biological powder (£1.88) from Netto to use on DH's chef's gear as the soapnuts aren't up to coping with a messy cook who looks as if he has been bathing in tomatoes when he comes home :rolleyes:

Ploughing my way through the Stardrops thread to find more uses for this MSE favourite. And I have bought some Barkeeper's Friend to use to try and remove some of the more resistant marks about the house.
I don't know why the top of my freezer always looks as if a herd of baby warthogs have been tramping across it after leaving their mudhole

Frugaldom

Janey51 wrote: »

As I am being so frugal, I will have enough money to take advantage of the new ISA allowances next month :j

GOOD GRIEF! Well done on your frugal savings, but it's quite scarey how fast time flies past, so it gave me quite a shock reading that the new ISA allowances start 'next month' - already?! That means... :eek: :eek: :eek: ... the dreaded tax return needs done again! Pity that reading MSE forums isn't tax deductable! :rotfl:

DdraigGoch

Woohoo! Sorry to offend anyone, if I do with this, but I don't ever have to fill in another tax form!!! The advantages of not being able to work, eh?



Well, gotta look on the bright side *giggle*

I suppose that I really ought to set up an ISA, but if I'm not paying any tax, what are the advantages? Should I get OH to set one up as he does?

And, harking back to an interesting bit of a thread, has anyone investigated the idea of putting all your money into a government recognised pension plan and then claiming all the tax rebates you might be allowed to? It sounded too good to be true, but if Groovy Gordon hasn't latched onto this one then we might get away with it for a year or two..... any IFAs who know their onions out there?

DG

whitewing

DdraigGoch wrote: »

*

And, harking back to an interesting bit of a thread, has anyone investigated the idea of putting all your money into a government recognised pension plan and then claiming all the tax rebates you might be allowed to? It sounded too good to be true, but if Groovy Gordon hasn't latched onto this one then we might get away with it for a year or two..... any IFAs who know their onions out there?

DG

My accountant is considering how this may work for our family. I wouldn't dare trust myself to do this properly. (I was a bit vague when I asked him about it; couldn't quite admit that I'd heard it from 'Dithering Dad'!)

maverickangel

Hi all, haven't been around for months coz work has taken an upturn so no time!
Well according to my bank statement I've spent £543.34 so far, which is good going.
Downside is the car has failed its MOT big time so I'm looking at shelling out £600 to get it back on the road. I need the car for work, so sending it to the great scrap heap in the sky isn't really an option. A friend of mine has seen a second hand Fiat Punto on sale for less than £600, but having mystery shopped Fiat think I'll pay the bill to keep my Toyota on the road.;)

Am also having major issues with my mobile phone. Finished my contract in December and have restricted myself to £10 payg each month. I find that really difficult, as I do love my phone and not being able to txt much is really hard. I also mystery shop mobile phone stores big time and there are some desperately attractive offers on the market at the moment. Still, effort must be applied!

Other major issues are: The Cats (refuse to eat anything if not one specific type of wet food); Fridge (freezer compartment has gone mad and big debate whether to get separate freezer, buy new fridge freezer or never bother with freezer again!); My music. I haven't downloaded anything but freebies / bought anything since the challenge began and it's getting to me!

Other than that all is serene and suitably frugal Will read how everyone's doing when the great God of work allows. Anyone that ever thinks "I'll chuck in the 9-5" and go self employed / free lance...bewhere! Believe, once you are on your own you live to work, big time
Hope you are all well and living within your budgets. You can do it!

andromache_2

WOW, so many posts to catch up on and so many things happening! Marru's new employment ideas, Mumzy's son's new school, FOTW's holiday...

Lollopy, I've stayed out all night to avoid higher transport costs quite a few times!! The worst one was walking into college at about 9am having just arrived back from London to be told that I was up early for a Sunday, when in fact I hadn't yet gone to bed! Hey, it makes life more interesting :cool: I hope you have a lovely birthday tomorrow

I've overspent slightly (OK, a lot :eek:) this week due to end-of-term socialising and yet more train tickets, but I'm still optimistic (perhaps overly so, but never mind...) about clawing back my budget overall :A I'm DETERMINED to have an NSD tomorrow so I've done my weekly signature update already (or will do in a few minutes!) in order to motivate me

Happy frugalling all

ETA: Hmmm, the weekly spends budget is NOT looking good. In an attempt to rectify matters, I'm going to set myself the mini-challenge of not going over £2000 before the end of term. Should be possible... only anticipated spends are food and alcohol :rolleyes: