Live on £4000 for a year - Part 2

bails

Good luck with it Mumzy, hope you manage it.

Penny2myName

I'm going to break two cardinal rules to my £4k challenge and becoming debt free. I will be spending an estimated extra £500 and spending it via my Credit Card:o. This is because I am likely to move within the next month, and no longer have transportation available to me now, so will have to use a removal firm:mad:. Also I have just bought on my CC some removal boxes.
My question is, do I add the Removal expenses into this challenge, or keep them separate, since they are being done on CC not cash, which is how the rest of my £4k is being done, with actual cash and the occasional dip into the O/D.

Frugaldom

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

Hi Nyk

where did you order from just paid £8 for 8 square m and need loads more to keep the pigeons off my brassicas when i put em in


Shaz

I paid £10 for 2m x 50m roll plus £4 for delivery. Got it here and they've already emailed to say it's been despatched, so I'll let you know what it's like as soon as it arrives, hopefully on Wednesday

Slowlyfading - hope you are alright, that was the last thing you needed in the final run-up to an exam. Try to relax and get a good night's sleep and I wish you every success tomorrow!

Mumzy - are you still on the quit smoking thread? I won't say 'good luck' as you know my opinions on it, but well done for choosing not to buy cigarettes. If you are unable to cope without them at friends - SMOKE HERS then quit when you leave her house. :rotfl:

Marru, that is fantastic news about your placement. I love horses and bunnies. In fact, when I was no longer able to keep horses, I wanted one of those enormous 'British Giants' but couldn't find a breeder in Scotland. Probably just as well, as a giant rabbit would need giant meals and the veggie patch wouldn't cope. LOL

Made the most of another beautiful day. I managed to complete work by about 3pm and got into the garden for some more odd jobs then had another BBQ rather than cook dinner. The electricity meter readings have been BRILLIANT the past few days! When I think of hitting 88 units (A DAY) in mid-winter and then see it at under 10, it's such a relief!

The chicken run that we acquired from ex-neighbour has now been converted into a guinea pig run, so DS's piggie got his first visit to the back lawn.
The 3 rows of onion seedlings seem to have survived their first night outside in the veggie plot but I reckon it's because the cats are terrified of my makeshift 'cat scarer'. I have the garden canes in place awaiting the netting, so had pegged a huge plastic sheet between them, draped over string tied from cane to cane across the length of the plot. I can highly recommend this extremely cheap 'cloche' method, as the polythene sheets were originally bought for £1 per pack in £ shop - they are meant for covering a room whilst decorating and we use them when sweeping the chimney. Disposable my foot, these are totally reuseable, despite what it says on the packets. :rotfl:

I finished off my tax return tonight and have now submitted that. I was hoping I'd overpaid by a few hundred pounds via my second job but, alas, by the time they deduct what I owe them and then repay what they owe me, it's not what I expected. I guess that will be because of the abolition of the 10% tax banding! :mad:

Off to chat to friend now, I'm trying to convert her into a moneysavingexpert and have just introduced her to the cashback sites and free bingo. G, if you happen to read this, you'll be expected to be doing this challenge in 2009!

Edited in: Penny2myname - I would not count in the removal costs, as these are not normal, everyday cost of living expenses, whether they are on CC or otherwise. If it was me, I'd set myself another mini challenge to raise extra cash equivalent to the removal costs... but then I'm a money challenge addict. Oh, and every time we move house, our packing boxes come free gratis from the nearest Co-op. No need to buy special boxes.

Marru

Hi Everybody,

Slowlyfading – I hope you are ok. What a thing to happen!!
Well done Mumzy - keep it up.
Nyk - thank you for a reminder, have been meaning to do mine and I know that I should get a fair amount back so really need to get it done.

I have now finally managed to reconcile my bank account but still not done cash. I am afraid that by the time I get around doing it I won't have a clue where the money has gone - hence preferring card payments. Shouldn't be that much as I try to avoid cash if I can.

I was shocked with my household and grocery cost in April but then I had bought the yoghurt maker, big lot of herbal tea, iron supplements, Hoover bags and expensive pub lunch so it was explained quite easily. And also I did a big shop in April that I still have stuff from in freezer and cupboards. I have been much more successful in May (apart from car repair costs). In the end of May I will do some playing around by taking car costs off and adding animal costs and see what the end result look like. I wouldn't have any problems in sticking to the budget if it wasn't the keep and running of my car but car for me is essential.

I have made a decision today that is not really a MSE. I have decided to find a cleaner. After I managed to do all that sorting out yesterday I have felt so much better and energetic today and that confirmed that the constant chasing my own tail when it comes to looking after the house is really draining. I just can't keep up with it. Plus that if I think of how much my hourly charge is I am sure that no cleaner will charge me that and I could then put that time into profitable use and make it actually earn me more than I am paying for the cleaning. Convinced? So I am now when talking to people asking everybody if they know a good cleaner - going to hit the post office tomorrow, they should know.
So night night,

Marru

mumzyof2

I smoked my friends then went home ive had 2 i dont crave any though its great!!

Mollymop5

Marru wrote: »

I have made a decision today that is not really a MSE. I have decided to find a cleaner. After I managed to do all that sorting out yesterday I have felt so much better and energetic today and that confirmed that the constant chasing my own tail when it comes to looking after the house is really draining. I just can't keep up with it. Plus that if I think of how much my hourly charge is I am sure that no cleaner will charge me that and I could then put that time into profitable use and make it actually earn me more than I am paying for the cleaning. Convinced? So I am now when talking to people asking everybody if they know a good cleaner - going to hit the post office tomorrow, they should know.
So night night,

Marru

I think this is a fab idea.I've a friend who had a nervous breakdown after the birth of her baby and returning to work.The doctor told her she wasn't superwoman and something had to give.She got a cleaner in for a year and this meant she came home to a clean house and a happy home.
Once she was feeling better she reduced heer work hours and took over the cleaning again.
Hope you find a good cleaner.
I live to far away or I'd offer my services

mumzyof2

Good Morning Everyone! It suppose to be hot here all week again so im going to try and get housework done and then sit out the front untill 9.30 when my friend arrives for a cuppa. I then have to take both children to nursery at 1pm, then im off to town to look round market and get eggs, then back to nursery to pick DS3 up and then go to Morrisons to get compost and then back to nursery for 5pm to pick DD2 up. So im pretty busy today. I also might pop into iceland and get some chicken tikka slices as i have lots of tortilla wraps in the freezer.
I need a brew and need to make children breakfast so i will pop back on when i can
Have a nice day all

sophiesmum_2

:eek: Good morning mumzy and everyone else to follow:D

We are all packed and ready to go to Malta, just need to sort a few things in my office before we go, and chase up the engineer to fix the call system for the oldies. No water here again today till 6pm but i will be gone around 2 this afternoon:j :j :j

I am not costing any of this holiday in my challenge as it has all been paid for already. The actual hotel and flights from last year's quidco/topcash earnings and the £1000 spending money was what we saved last year in our £2 coin stash:j so freee holiday coming up:D Just hope I can get out of this frugal tightwad mindset long enough to actually spend some money:eek:

Have a good two weeks everyone whilst i am away, if I find an internet cafe i will pop in and say hello;) .

whitewing - Great news yesterday about the back pay - good luck with the wedding:T :T :T

marru - Good idea about the cleaner, if it frees up your time to increase your earnings and helps make you feel more positive at the same time that can only be a good thing.:D

Got to go OH ran me a bath before the 8am water shut off time and it is going cold:o but at least I persuaded him not to drag me out of bed at 6am for a shower.

mumzyof2

Have a loverly flight and holiday sophiesmum

slowlyfading

have a great holiday sophiesmum! :j

Its my exam today, and I'm SO nervous. :eek: I'll be spending as well, as I have to have a banana before I go in there, so I need to buy one!