2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

Fairywings

Considering how much time i spend on MSE, i've never actually posted, so hello all.:j

Sign me up for £5000.
That will include all my bills except rent coz i'm on a super tight budget at the moment.

(I cannot believe i spend nearly £300 a year on shoes for my 2 little ones!!!):rotfl:

whitewing

Hello Fairywings, it's good to see you here.

Little cutbacks make all the difference to me. My budget for my mobile is £25 a month. My latest bill is just over £16 so am very, very chuffed with that.

Am hoping to get into batch cooking over the weekend too. Have just been given 7 ice cream tubs to get started. Excellent.

Must make a call to find out bank details for my mortgage co so I can overpay it (only by tiny amounts unfortunately)

notanothergreyhair

tryingtodobetter wrote: »

Am I the only one looking forward to Jan 1st so they can start the challenge. Just recieved £20 of Boots vouchers from pigsback so that should cover shampoo, toothpaste etc for a while.

It is interesting you mention that. I was given £30 of vouchers for Boots as a Christmas present; I am just trying to work out what stuff I should get with it to last me through the year.

whitewing

notanothergreyhair wrote: »

It is interesting you mention that. I was given £30 of vouchers for Boots as a Christmas present; I am just trying to work out what stuff I should get with it to last me through the year.

Has to be stuff that you can't live without eg deodorant, toothpaste OR great gifts for bday presents (if on BOGOF etc). Or you could just not spend them yet -ha! ha! - and keep for emergencies later in the year.

azjh77

Today I bought 7 Christmas presents...wrapped them up, put the labels on and packed them away. All with my Christmas money - so when I finally have my 'sealed pot' open I can pay myself back in December..and put it back in the pot.

Star buy - literally - was a purple star hot water bottle in Hawkins Bizzare for 2.50 for my eldest.

Won't be spending anymore this month now...I've joined the Jan. challenge and have to stick to my budget...It's that Phil the pig's fault..he keeps leading me to all these new challenge threads!!!

sweetpea03

sorry if this has already been mentioned but I found this brilliant thread when I was searching on the old style forum & thought it might be of help to somebody doing the £4000 challenge. There are loads of blogs to read which will hopefully give some good ideas & inspiration. I think its my reading sorted for the next year http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=499372

sos999

Please can you add me to the challenge?

princess_leia_3

Ok so I need to change my target, I will now go for £4k plus child benefit which is £2200 so £6200 in all, thanks

Jacks_xxx

nykmedia wrote: »

I know we are all budgeting in a different way and, just to make sure it is clear, your target figure is for your basic, essential living expenses only. I have listed what the basics include and don't forget that if you have children then your basics are based on £4000 plus Family Allowance/Child Benefit

Items that should be counted

Groceries/toiletries/cleaning products
Heating
Lighting
Telephone
Internet
TV Licence
Home insurance
Gifts for others
House Pets (if you have any)
Basic travel
Essential home maintenance
Essential household goods/furnishings
Essential clothing/footwear
Cigarettes (if you smoke)
Alcohol (if you drink)

Items that should not be counted:

Rent or mortgage
Council Tax
Water Rates
Work related travel expenses/cars
Holidays
Outstanding debts
Luxury items
Entertainment/Socialising
Home Decorating/Interior Design
Hobbies/Sports/Club Membershipsquote]

:hello: I don't think I fully understood the particular "goal posts" set out for this challenge before so thanks Nykmedia!

I really want to do it but £4000 as a figure just isn't going to work for us.

*goes off to do sums*

Items that should be counted

Groceries/toiletries/cleaning products £300

---

(Current ave spend £339 p/m)
Heating & Lighting £100

---

(the DD is £110)
Telephone £11.50

---

(line rental)
Internet £26.00
TV Licence £11.37

---

(Is this going up this year???)
Home insurance £37.13

---

(lowest quote)
Gifts for others £50

---

(£100 p/m last year)
House Pets (if you have any) £31.00

---

(food/ins/worming/fleas)
Basic travel £200.00

---

(I visit my grandparents by bus daily.)
Essential home maintenance £10.00

---

(something's bound to break!)
Essential household goods/furnishings

---

£10.00
Essential clothing/footwear

---

£50.00 (for 3 of us)
Cigarettes (if you smoke)

---

£0
Alcohol (if you drink)

---

£0
TOTAL PER MONTH

---

£827
TOTAL PER YEAR

---

£9924

I've tried to be realistic and set attainable targets, but all of those figures except for TV Licence are less than we currently spend, or spent last year - and in the case of our home insurance is the most competitive quote I could find.
The clothing category is the one I am most worried about. :eek:

It includes essential clothing and shoes for my husband, myself, and my ever growing beanpole daughter. (My son can buy his own!)

Having done a wardrobe inventory, Hubby will need new underwear, socks, a work suit and at least two work shirts this year plus at least one pair of shoes. (Two ideally) He just got a fab coat from the charity shop but I don't hold out much hope of getting the rest of it from there. (Do clothes count if they are for work?) He also ripped his jeans recently. I have patched them up, but he'll need new ones for non scruffy wear unless he wants to wear his work trousers seven days a week. :eek:

My 12 year old daughter has a 33 inch inside leg and only one pair of school trousers that are long enough so she'll need some more if anything happens to them, or she grows any more, plus I already know that she'll need at least one pair of H width fitting shoes and trainers for school this year because her current ones are almost worn out. (This past year she had 4 pairs of trainers for school, four pairs of school shoes and two pairs of boots for weekends because they were either outgrown or grown out of.

She's been four or five different bra sizes this past year as well but hopefully that will calm down somewhat now.

She could really do with a pair of jeans that are long enough though - at the moment she wears hers tucked into her boots so it doesn't show that they're 3 inches too short.

Ok... so panicking slightly but can I join in for £10,000? I know it's a much bigger amount than other people's but I don't believe it would be realistic if I didn't do it with reference to what we actually spend / need.

Having said that I'm prepared to change most things (The cat's non negotiable - as is visiting my grandmothers.)

I am looking into growing our own. I am entirely clueless about it though so it may be a slow process.

I am also working out a bare bones, back to basics, budget busting bulk buying meal plan which relys heavily on bulk purchases of porridge, beans pasta and rice. (I'm not promising to live like that all year but it could be educational to try it for a month I think.)

God. Sorry this is so long! I do go on don't I?

Love Jacks xxx

ceridwen

sweetpea03 wrote: »

sorry if this has already been mentioned but I found this brilliant thread when I was searching on the old style forum & thought it might be of help to somebody doing the £4000 challenge. There are loads of blogs to read which will hopefully give some good ideas & inspiration. I think its my reading sorted for the next year http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=499372

Thanks for that - you're welcome - and good luck to everyone on this Challenge.:T