Live on £4000 for a year - Part 2

whitewing

Awww mini huny money, hope you're still sleeping soundly and your dreams are full of happiness xxx

I'm up early, putting off (yet again) all the preparation I'm doing for my visit to the accountant's office today. I keep trying to tell myself that things are getting better for us long term, but it seems to take forever to undo 35 years of financial rubbishness. Got to get cracking.

Got given 2 bunches of daffodils yesterday. Came out this morning and all the buds are open now so they are a very cheerful start to the morning.

See you later.

Kittikins

Happy Wednesday :beer:

Mumzy you were right, I'd counted something I needn't have in my calculation, namely the council tax. Phew!

So, that's given me a bit of breathing space, "losing" that £95 a month :rolleyes: If only I could LOSE the council tax, fortnightly bin collections, grrr.

Yesterday, I continued my spending spree with another £2.48 in Waitrose on 2 bags of crunchy apples, which cured my desire for a kitkat (well, not really) and some reduced milk for DD. It would be cheaper to have a cow in the back garden, the amount of milk she drinks!!

Hope everyone has a frugal day. I should have a NSD as there's enough food in the house to feed an army and we have a lake of milk......and a bag of apples at my desk to fend off the Kitkat urges. I've been inspired by MRSMCAWBER's weight loss and want/need to do the same, so am trying to cook everything from scratch, eat "real" food and enjoy it and lose the curves, lol.

I'd like to be a geeky spreadsheet girl, my attempts to control my spends/savings for annual bills (I save for house/car/travel maintenance, insurance, tax etc and am always getting confused) are rubbish (don't tell work, I'm a PA and supposed to be an expert at these things, but am a good bluffer :cool: ). If anyone has a template how to live your life and have lots of columns for everything sheet they'd be prepared to share with me, I'd send you many virtual beers! :beer: :beer: :beer:

Marru

Hi Kittikins,

Best way to learn excel is to do some of the free courses that Microsoft offers online. Here is the link: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/CR100479681033.aspx

Then you can create a spradsheet that fills your unique needs. If you need help you can always pm me.

Marru

Frugaldom

I'll be back to catch up soon, haven't read any of the posts yet, just popping on to update signature and realised that there are now exactly 39 weeks left to go! :rotfl:

FunBrum

I haven't been able to get onto the net as DS has come back from his dads and so he has taken over the PC:mad: The only time I get to go on it is as at the moment....when he's in bed! Roll on next week when he goes back to school.:j

I've just checked my figuers and I haven't done too badly for the first quarter. I'm £108.08 under budget!:T This month is the one though, that sees the TV licience, although I ususally pay outright....I may start paying by DD.

I managed to only spend my mileage allowance from work on petrol, so didnt have to pay for any extra last month. I'll try to do the same for this month too.

I think we've cracked the food budget, but may reduce it and aim for £100 per month, for the three of us instead of £120.

I'm off now as DS has just reared his sleepy head and no doubt he has pals that he 'has' to talk to on MSN

broke_mum_of_three

mini_huny_money wrote: »

gnite everyone.....am off to bed and this is quite late even for me.....was reading a thread on DT and it was quite a nasty one ( dont often go in there really ) and just wanted to come back on here for a wee minute and wrap myself in .........niceness....(thats not really the word I want,)

.....support and friendly people, each of us with a common goal, thats how I feel about us 3,4,5 and whatever k our challenge is

Gnite and I feel better now :A :A

I feel the same!
I started on these forums on this thread and thought everywhere was the same, boy did I get my eyes opened on DT ( some people are very vindictive and nasty) there is nothing but support on this thread and it is a much nicer place to be:A

bails

nykmedia wrote: »

News is on now; 8 million for a loaf of bread in Zimbabwe???????????? :eek:

I know, this makes me terribly sad. When I lived there, it was 13 Zim dollars to the pound... as you know inflation is now at 100,00%, it's just crazy. I so hope change comes soon, my friends are literally starving out there. I had a letter a while back - I'd asked them how I could help - and all the prices of things they wanted to save for were in the billions Certainly puts things into perspective.

What is DT? I know there are some nasty threads out there, been lucky only to catch snippets, all the ones I'm on are so supportive it's great! Why do people need to be like that?

Went to Lidl yesterday after all, spent about £50 :eek: It'll all be ok though

Janey51

Excuse my thickness but what is DT?

Janey51

bails wow. Living in Zimbabwe must have been interesting.

Janey51

I have had a lovely morning at work with the old ladies Lighting fires, making breakfasts and having a laugh :j
Its a brilliant job and I am so pleased I made the big decision to leave nursing and go into Homecare.

I feel humble when I see the living conditions that some of the ladies live in. Not that they are living in squalor, but they obviously have a very small income and have to watch every penny. Some of their fridges are very bare and they waste nothing. Many houses are clean but in need of a coat of paint and fresh wallpaper. It doesn't always follow that having relatives is a bonus as many never get visitors apart from the Carers and they all have their favourites. It gave me a warm glow when one of them(who is quite crotchety) asked me to sit and have a cup of tea with her

It makes me realise that these people have had to do all their lives what we Frugalites are re-learning.
Most expect nothing and are happy for the care they get. Very few of them complain.
I am a lucky lucky bunny to be making a difference:T