Live on £4000 for a year - Part 2

redglass_2

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

Nyk and sophiesmum - how have you worked out your consumption of everything for 6 months ??

I bet Mr T has got it all worked out if you shop there. They customise the coupons, don't they? So they must keep tabs. Is there any way customers can access that information, like on the site? (I'm not much of a Mr T shopper, more Mr M.)

Frugaldom

Hi everyone

With regards to the store cupboard, I am fortunate that we have a large walk-in cupboard under the stairs where I keep my small chest freezer. I have stored all the tins, toiletries and dry foods in there and I have plenty of cupboard space in the kitchen, so everything else fitted in OK. I'm afraid I didn't really use any particular method os working out how much would be needed to last the rest of the year but having done the grocery challenge for all of this year I already had a good idea of how much of each of the 'common' items I used and just worked it out roughly. Example: We have roast chicken every week, which means we also have either curry, stir fry or sweet & sour with the left overs every week. There are 30 weeks, so 20 tins curry sauce + 10 tins sweet & sour sauce + 10 x 3 packs noodles for having with stir fry = enough for the rest of the year. Weekly meals in this house are very, very predictable owing to lack of things we all like, so a typical week could be:

Sunday - roast chicken, potatoes, veggies
Monday - chicken curry, sweet & sour or stir fry
Tuesday - chicken pie or casserole with potatoes & veggies
Wednesday - Spaghetti Bolognese or mince & potatoes or cottage pie
Thursday - Lasagne or chile or whatever with the leftover mince
Friday - Pasta Bake, Macaroni cheese or pasta & hm sauce
Saturday - HM Pizza or Omlette or pasta salad

We do have variations, as I like things like stovies or corned beef with mashed potates and beans or BBQ kebabs made up with anything available.
Breakfasts are usually toast, cereal, grapefruit (tinned) or porridge, depending on the day and the weather. Lunches can be soup & pudding, sandwiches, French toast, scrambled egg etc. (I'm using up some duck eggs I got given this week.) So, it isn't too difficult to know how much jam, marmalade, honey etc will be needed - I have 30+ assorted jars in stock. :eek: I also have enough tomatoe puree for one tin or tube per month plus about 20 tins of tomatoes and the 20+ tomato plants I have growing. Puddings are mainly homemade custard, jelly, trifle, apple sponge, jam sponge, apple or rhubarb pie etc, so I know how much flour, suet, cornflour, powdered milk etc I use. Coffee, tea and cordial - I guessed.

My £10 per week grocery budget will cover the cost of a chicken, a carton of milk (we use powdered for most things), cheese, eggs and a discounted loaf when it's cheaper than baking it. I am hoping the veggie garden will be in full production by the time I use up everything I have just bought - already using lettuce/salad leaves and have the first of the rhubarb to make a pie for this weekend. Freezer is full of veggies, chicken, mince, fish fillets, sausage, roast potatoes, wedges, soft spread, margarine, ice cream, berries and reduced loaves.

I know I was a bit late starting planning my garden this year but that was because I was scared the lease wouldn't be renewed. However, now I know we can stay on indefinitely, I have already started planning next year's garden and have invested a further £10 (£9.80 to be exact) on more seeds - cauliflower, beetroot, artichokes, chillis, lavender and rosemary. I'm also planning on keeping a few quail for their eggs, as our lease allows for small birds but not chickens.

Must dash, got another load of washing ready to hang out and don't want to miss the sun, as it got a bit showery earlier!

Hope everyone is having a good day

mini_huny_money

hello again everyone....I;ve just skim read the last 4 weeks pages....

Havent been on MSE for at least a month, reason being I was getting really depressed. I know that I've got an addictive personaiity and I was spending way too much time on MSE. I'd subscribed to a coupla threads and to be honest I was getting too worked up about other peoples debts and thinking .......thats going to happen to me and worrying needlessly

......and I'd typed out a big long message saying I;ve failed miserably and I;m gonna have to leave the challenge....and adieu....farewell and all the rest....

and then I thought...(after reading about the wedding dress).......NOOOOOOO.........I've gotta stay for whitewings wedding......

and Marru....was there a mention of a dreamy man????

And Bails.......you're always encouraging everyone with kind words

Nyk......I have failed miserably in the challenge.....and I'm not even goin to pretend ....so I've made up a new word....I'm going to be a fruker....(a frugal lurKer)....hopefully I've spelt it right!!!!

whitewing

mini...you're so sweet! I am failing miserably in the challenge too. However, next year, I should have a much better idea of what is and isn't possible. And, this year so much is happening that wouldn't have been able to happen if I had carried on the way I did previously.

It's keeping me on track to be sensible with money. Just have to learn now how not to freak out if someone actually wants to spend some of it!

redglass_2

Sorry to hear you haven't been too well, Mini. It is easy to get addicted to this stuff, like watching a soap opera, coming back to see how everyone is getting on. But if you can get it under control rather than give up altogether, you get the best of both worlds. If you're a fruker (love the word) you're still getting everything out of it that you are capable of dealing with right now, which means you are less likely to go into debt like the people you were worrying about. So welcome to the Happy Band of Frukers and just dip in whenever you like! And thank you for our new name.

fizzel81

Good morning everyone

quick update from me as im madly rishing around getting house sorted and strightened, a man i met last year is visting me tonight, 1st time since last july, met him just after id split from ex husband so timeing wasnt great but we kept in touch online and texts etc and tonight he is comeing down (we had a big chat on messenger last weekend) nervous as hell hehe

well this week is going to be a toughie, ive given myself £9.35 (thats whats in my wallet) untill the end of the week as i want to start working a thursday to thursday (i get my money weekly) ive got an envelope with sons playschool photo money in and put £10 in my provvy book (i was going to use what ive saved in this challenge to pay it ll off but id get nothing back from the interest paid so decided against it) 4 months left and im all paid up, this challenge has taught me i dont need to do this route to buy something if i dont have it

Marru

mini_huny_money wrote: »

and Marru....was there a mention of a dreamy man????

Just stick with us - I think it is better than the soaps. I have really found the sense of community here that I was so desperately in need of after my relocation. So thanks everybody!!! :T

Frugaldom

Glorious day here again, washing all out, heading for the garden soon and need to do housework blast this evening before friend arrives tomorrow for our frugal daytrip to the Isle of Man on Monday. We had a laugh about that on the phone last night and decided that, even if it's impossible to live on 4k a year, everything we save makes a huge difference. If we open bank accounts with £1 in IOM, does that make us so rich we have off shore savings? :rotfl:

Mini - Sorry you've been a bit down recently but summer is almost here and ABSOLUTELY NOBODY can fail this challenge as it isn't about keeping to an exact number of pounds and pence, it is about the actual cost of living, and it is different for all of us. Becoming debt free is the best 'cure' for depression, so even picking a penny up and popping it into a jar is a tiny step in the right direction, as it grabbing a BOGOF when it's something your really need. And a frugaler's favourite 'gadget' has to be a lost of some description, even if it's just a list of debts prioritised into what'll be gone first. These are all 'needs' so we can clear the way for a debt-free future. Don't worry about others, we all have access to the same information, the same services and the same money problems. We each deal with them differently and thank goodness for that! Imagine trying to keep up with the forums if we all went on the exact same thread? :eek: Besides, you have loads more of your cost of living budget left than me! :rotfl: I'm like shoe-string annie right now but am having a great time being able to afford the luxury of attempting to grow my own veggies!

Fizzel - Tumbledryers don't actually cost as much to run as I had anticipated, and they save so much by way of stress free dry clothes during bad weather that mine has been worth every penny - and I went for the 6k load (because it was on offer from Curry's, at the time, and cheaper than the compact model. )

Redglass, well done on the free flights to Ireland! We're sailing to Belfast when we go, courtesy of Tesco Clubcard points converted to Deals, then coach to the Giant's Causeway. Hope you have a fab time!


Mollymop - cheers for the frugal budget update! Always nice to see how others are doing. I see you have succeeded in staying below the ':eek: I've spent more than half already' threshold. Well done! :T

Whitewing - you aren't failing either, you're just practising for next year. Remember I had all of last year to practice before I built up enough courage to come on the MSE forums. I've been frugalling for years, now, and never got brave enough to admit to my lifestyle until the major debts had all gone bye-byes. I just need a house to call my own, now.

And all this 'men talk' - what's happening about here? Anyone would think that summer was approaching. :j

Hmm.. on a more frugal note, we decided to open up the downstairs chimney last night, giving us 2 fireplaces to prepare for next winter. Well, I cleared around the fireplace (just in case) and then proceeded to pull out the wad of plastic wrapped newspaper that had been wedged up the chimney. FORTUNATELY I was wearing my garden gloves! (Am a wimp where spiders are concerned!) Anyway, it dislodged fairly easily, followed by a bundle of twigs and 3 crusts of bread! I knew those flaming jackdaws had been attempting to nest in the chimney pot! I began picking out the bits and pieces and then eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeugh.... realised it wasn't just a few sticks poking out the chimney!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: HS had to drag out what was there whilst I hid upstairs and DS TOOK PHOTOS WITH HIS MOBILE! Why are boys such 'mingers' at times? I succeeded in stinking the place out with smoking papers last night, in an effort to find out if the chimney was cleared. However, after all that, there was no grate in the hearth, just some rather old, dusty dried heather! :rolleyes:

fizzel81

Thanks nyk, was looking at the 3 kilo one in argos for the £100 plus delivery costs (£4.95 if memory serves correct) that way i wont be tempted to slip back and dry everything straight from machine, or do i wait and wait till september/october time in the hope something slightly bigger is on offer somewhere (hmm choices)

Marru

fizzel81 wrote: »

Thanks nyk, was looking at the 3 kilo one in argos for the £100 plus delivery costs (£4.95 if memory serves correct) that way i wont be tempted to slip back and dry everything straight from machine, or do i wait and wait till september/october time in the hope something slightly bigger is on offer somewhere (hmm choices)

Have you tried freecycle? Where I live every now and again dryers pop up for offer. Worth checking.

Marru

PS I am picking up another book lot from freecycle tomorrow - yes I know, I know, I said I would stop...