Live on £4000 for a year - Part 2

Frugaldom

sophiesmum wrote: »

Nyk I have raspberries and blackberries in garden they look very alike but the raspberries have smooth stems and the blackberries are full of spikes.
Blackberries also have white flowers which are out about now. Hope that helps.

Thanks for that, mine have really prickly stems like the brambles you find along the roadsides and they look like they are getting ready to flower, so definitely blackberries. Is there anything I should do to help them along? I'm watering them every day and have tied up as many as possible. I'm guessing these are the ones that can run riot if left unchecked but I know I can freeze the fruit, so there won't be too much of it. I have some supermarket bought ones in the freezer now, mixed with blackcurrants and blueberries, I think. One of those summer berry mixes. I just remembered about it now!

mumzyof2

Thankyou NYK i will look forward to you IM/PM. And yup she did bring me some 5 x 50g packs on baccy and 200 cigs :P

Brassic

Hi there,

I'd really like to subscribe to this thread, but can't see how on earth I could We are a family of 5, with children who are very active and eat about the same amounts as we do. Try as I might I can't reduce my shopping bill. How do you have healthy eating and stay cheap? My TARGET atm is £80 per month - and that would be my £4k used up without anything else. What am I doing wrong?

Brassic

Frugaldom

Brassic wrote: »

Hi there,

I'd really like to subscribe to this thread, but can't see how on earth I could We are a family of 5, with children who are very active and eat about the same amounts as we do. Try as I might I can't reduce my shopping bill. How do you have healthy eating and stay cheap? My TARGET atm is £80 per month - and that would be my £4k used up without anything else. What am I doing wrong?

Brassic

Hi Brassic,

Is your grocery target £80 per month? If so, that's only £960 for the year. My aim is £1000 for the year for 3 adults, but I'm finding it quite tough going because of price increases. I can highly recommend you join the grocery challenge, which is here, and then try a few practice runs. If this is your first year attempting a 'cost of living' challenge then it's more about establishing how much your basic 'cost of living' amounts to overall then setting a new target for the next year. The £4000 is based on last year's prices and includes all essentials but doesn't count rent/mortgage payments, council tax, water, luxury items, work associated costs, child costs, holidays, cars etc, as these are all dependent on income and lifestyle. £4000 is for all your basic essentials. Those with families have a target of £4000 plus standard child benefit allowance. I'm not sure how much that is for 3 children, sorry.

Feel free to join in the thread, as we all love hearing how everyone else minimises their spending. Healthy eating is well covered as frugalers don't really spend on convenience foods or ready meals. It's mostly home cooking, home grown and homemade.

Brassic

Is your grocery target £80 per month?

<Brassic gives hollow laugh> Nope, if only - at the moment it's per week, and I'm finding it difficult. My 7 year old eats more than me, my 9 year old about the same as me, and my nearly 3 year old is doing her best to catch them up. My child minder (do I include child care costs?) has had to charge me extra as they eat so much! :eek:

I'll take a look at the grocery challenge as I'm at my wits end. I've started growing some of my own stuff, but don't see how it'll make a huge difference, I just don't have enough space!

Will try and work something out, and come back to you - I'd love to join in

Frugaldom

Hi Brassic, we do not count in childcare costs because we don't all have them to pay. The following gives a rough guide to what is included:

Groceries
Laundry
Toiletries
Cleaning products
Gifts
Contents insurance
TV
Electricity
Gas
Oil
Telephone
Internet access
Travel (non work related)
Clothing
Footwear

Everyone has set their own budget and list of what they have included but the main aim is to keep a complete diary of spending (we use www.spendingdiary.com) and ascertain how much it really costs to live for a full year.

Good luck and we'll look forward to your input.

mumzyof2

If wd cont include some things tho eg child care or hatever then we aint atually living off exactly 4k a year it would be more with childcare costs. I did try and include everything so gives me a exact figure of what i spent it a year

Frugaldom

Hi Mumzy, the reason we don't count childcare costs is because not everyone has children and not everyone pays for childcare, so it is not classed as an essential cost. Those who do pay are doing so for their own personal or work-related reasons, not because it is compulsory. Hope that makes it easier to understand.

Brassic

Love the spending diary site. I've signed up to the grocery challenge. The kids will moan but I'll try and cut down on food even more, and will put a figure together in the morning when my eyes are able to stay open on their own

Thank everyone.

Brassic

Marru

Brassic wrote: »

Love the spending diary site. I've signed up to the grocery challenge. The kids will moan but I'll try and cut down on food even more, and will put a figure together in the morning when my eyes are able to stay open on their own

Thank everyone.

Brassic

Hi,

Check this thread as well. I always go there for inspiration and when the day comes that I finally make my first proper meal plan I shall use all the tricks that I have [strike]stolen[/strike] copied from this thread: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=826653

Marru