2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

dreams_R_free

Congratulations on setting up a brilliant challenge, Nykmedia:T .

I would so love to take part but know I couldn't do it(not merely because I'm a defeatist and a back-slider:o )

Briefly(hope I don't bore you all to sleep) my situation is like this. There is just DH and I living here in an old and difficult to heat house. He is a total miser and insists we split all running costs 50/50, even though he used to earn a lot more than I did. He has never bought anything for the home(fridges, cookers,washing machines, carpets etc and this has also had to come out of my income). Sorry if I stray from the point:o but it's relevant to my situation challenge-wise. He also has a violent temper and I, being a wimp and terrified of confrontations, have always just bitten the bullet and gone along with it. I know I should have displayed more 'back-bone' but that's the situation.

We've always eaten well (food bought and cooked by me). Nice meals keep him sweet, its a small price to pay in my book. Well, not literally of course:rotfl:.

So to summarise, I pay electricity(no mains gas here but he pays for heating oil,), phone, buy and pay running costs of my car(being very rural here with no public transport this is an absolute necessity) all household shopping etc.

DH knows nothing of my considerable debts(which have just accumulated over many years) and I intend it to stay that way. i truly envy all of you with supportive partners who are in this for the long-haul together. My problem( largely of my own making) is that I have to carry on cutting as much as I can here and there without him being any the wiser. That's a challenge in itself! Sometimes I get so stressed about it but thank my lucky stars that I discovered this website and the wonderfully supportive people on it.

I've worked out that after all my essentials(electricity, phone, car insurance/tax/petrol etc etc) I'll have £28 per week left! This is for food, cleaning materials, household necessities etc. I've cut all bills to the cheapest/best tariffs through the 'switching' sites and cook from scratch using 'own 'brands and 'value' brands whenever I can get away with it. I'm a regular visitor to the OS board for recipes but most of them get the 'thumbs down' from DH as not including enough meat/fish etc:eek:. Lidl has been a godsend. But DH has become used to top-quality roasts and stuff and I can't cut down on some things however hard I try, although I go to Farmer's markets, bulk-buy when offers are on etc.

I could make a stab at doing this challenge if it was for £5000 but £4000 is just impossible.

I know many people manage on a lot less and I truly admire them. But, with things being as they are chez Imp, I just can't do it.

I'll be reading this thread regularly and cheering you all on. Good Luck all:beer:

Sorry to have 'gone on' a bit!
Imp x

hypno06

((hugs)) Imp........why not make "your" challenge for £5k then? Same rules apply, just a different "top end figure".

I am sure that would be ok with nykmedia and the gang

Toto

Well seeing as Nyk is my bottom kicking buddy I guess I have to join this. We are a family of 5, 1 teen and two girls who eat for England so realistically I need to balance that with what I'm including.

So, I won't take rent, council tax gas, electricity or water out of the £4,000. I will include petrol, food, clothing and all other non essential spending.

Ok, off to sort out my spreadsheet for 2008.

hypno06

Good luck toto! We can do it!!

FunBrum

Imp....my heart goes out to you.:heart2: Why don't you do what Hypno suggests and go for £5000?

I've been in your position many years ago, but managed to break free, and although in debt, I can honestly say it was the best move I ever made!:T

Hugs to you!

Toto

You too Hypno, yikes I don't know how I'll manage this one. The spreadsheet is laughing at me It's going to be OS for me all the way this year, I need to feed us all on a sixpence a month.

Toto

Oh Imp, you shouldn't be living like that darling. How about investing in a little counselling for yourself to regain a bit of your strength and self esteem (which no doubt has been shot to pieces during the course of your 'marriage'). No one has the right to treat you like that, you deserve a life of wonderful with someone who thinks you're gold. How about your challenge for 2008 is to work towards a new life, one where you are in charge of your happiness?

whitewing

Hi Guys,

Please can you add me in too. This fits in with where we're aiming. I'm not going to include fuel (for the car) in this challenge though due to work & school run. There are just 3 of us - me, OH and DS so I think it's more doable for us than some people. We will use any extras to overpay the mortgage. Thank you.

LoadedIWish

Hi, I'd like to join in too please.

I'll be including spends for food & drink, petrol, entertainment, clothes, christmas & birthdays basically everything thats not on direct debit, if that's ok.

Frugaldom

This is absolutely BRILLIANT! I have found people as daft as me and mad enough to attempt to scale the Mt Everest of money challenges (pinching quotes, here LOL)

To help a few more people along, how about I say that my personal target is 4k and that I don't see that as a fixed 'must' on the challenge. The 4k was originally set against minimum wage earnings, so that it was fair to allow anyone to take part last year. It equates to 40% of the annual income, so why not just set your own targets and I'll include those in the initial chart? That way nobody is obliged to divulge personal information relating to income, only the amount they plan to live off during 2008.