Live on £4000 for a year - Part 2

Frugaldom

OK, here are the results of my recent 'research' into the possibilities of my completing this challenge successfully (or not, as the case may be).

The rejigged budget:

Groceries: £1000
Gifts/Special Occasions: £400
Utilities: £1800
Household Insurance: £52.40
Internet: £240
Everything else: £507.60

Spends so far:

GROCERIES
Jan 2008 £86.09
Feb 2008 £103.68
Mar 2008 £99.52
Apr 2008 £97.05
May 2008 £280.61 (The stockpile shop)
Jun 2008 £10.71
TOTAL FOR GROCERIES £677.66/£1000
I have £322.34 of my food budget left and am hoping not to need to buy any vegetables or tomatoes this summer, once the garden starts producing more. I am setting aside £50 for Christmas & New Year week, which leaves me £272.34 This total allows me to spend no more than £10 per week from now until then (27 weeks) on top-up essentials.

GIFTS
Jan 2008 £49.23
Feb 2008 £16.97
Mar 2008 £4.49
Apr 2008
May 2008
Jun 2008 £14.97
TOTAL FOR GIFTS £85.66/£400
This allows me a budget of £314.34 for gifts. I am not buying birthday or special occasion presents or cards, these are all being hand made. This has come about from the multiple increases in cost of utility bills.

EVERYTHING ELSE
Jan 2008 £117.92
Feb 2008 £7.58
Mar 2008 £43.50
Apr 2008 £150.00
May 2008 £37.00
Jun 2008 £35.00
TOTAL FOR EVERYTHING ELSE £391.00/£507.60
Not sure what this might include but I have £116.60 left for miscellaneous expenditure.

UTILITIES
Jan 2008 £419.44 (elec)
Feb 2008
Mar 2008 £59.72 (tel)
Apr 2008 £534.14 (elec & mobile)
May 2008
Jun 2008 £50.69 (tel)

TOTAL FOR UTILITIES £1063.99/£1800

Still to come in 2008: (estimated)
Sept & Dec telephone bills - £110
Mobile - £40
July & October electricity bills - £550
Total estimated costs - £700

HOUSEHOLD
Jan 2008 £52.40
Feb 2008
Mar 2008
Apr 2008
May 2008
Jun 2008
TOTAL FOR HOUSEHOLD £52.40

INTERNET ACCESS
Jan 2008 £24.99
Feb 2008 £6.92
Mar 2008 £14.99
Apr 2008 £14.99
May 2008 £14.99
Jun 2008
TOTAL FOR INTERNET ACCESS £76.88/£240
Still to pay:
June - Aug @ £14.99 = £44.97
Sept - Dec @ £19.99 = £79.96
Total = £ 124.93


TOTAL SPENDS TO DATE: £2347.59
BALANCE: £1652.41
ESTIMATED SPENDS TO 31/12/08: £1578.21

According to my calculations, and despite all odds, I am currently running WITHIN BUDGET. My savings 'pots' are slowly increasing, my vouchers are accruing and my cashback fund is growing steadily. I have spent around £70 on the garden, but this includes the 10' portable greenhouse and was all paid from my £2 coins challenge, which is not part of the 4k challenge. However, it is BECAUSE of the 4k challenge that I am able to save elsewhere.

I hope everyone is still feeling confident that this CAN be done. I was a little unsure when the electricity prices soared again but by carefully monitoring the useage and starting early collecting firewood for winter, I think I have cracked it. (I seriously HOPE I have cracked it!) Also, as one of my 'everything else' spends was on a few small shares, I also have the option of cashing these in to raise a few pounds for an emergency

We have only 18 days left until we are half way through this challenge! I'll start a new thread for Part 3 on 1st July and then we'll be comparing notes on the non-spends if all these veggies grow around the country.

I haven't won a single line of free bingo! Hope you're all having better luck than me and I'll catch up with you all on Friday 13th :eek:

Janey51

fizzel
Well done on your negotiation skills :T We had a Miele before the fire and it was great. Had it for years and years and it had mega use. Had been making a few funny noises so getting it replaced courtesy of the Insurance Co was a real bonus.
Our new machine has a 12 min quick wash which I use a lot...with soap nuts , give it an extra spin and hang the washing out. I have never minded if washing gets rained on as it makes it smell nice. Only drawback at the moment is low flying house martins :rotfl:

Janey51

bails oooohhh holidays. It is a frugal one I trust?

Janey51

Morning frugalites.

I feel a deep depression coming on :mad:
Have been checking the price of heating oil and it is now 61p/Litre :eek:
When we moved here 10 yrs ago it was 19p.
that means to fill our 1000L tank will cost £610 + 5% VAT so nearly £650.
That is crazy. A tankful lasts about 3 months in the summer but half or less in the winter. We hardly use the heating at all because of the log burner but that only heats one room.
The oil supplies the Rayburn which we cook on and it heats the water. DH only has his very small pension while he is off sick so looks as if I will be working 24hrs a day for the forseeable future :eek:

Frugaldom

Janey51 wrote: »

Morning frugalites.

I feel a deep depression coming on :mad:
Have been checking the price of heating oil and it is now 61p/Litre :eek:
When we moved here 10 yrs ago it was 19p.
that means to fill our 1000L tank will cost £610 + 5% VAT so nearly £650.
That is crazy. A tankful lasts about 3 months in the summer but half or less in the winter. We hardly use the heating at all because of the log burner but that only heats one room.
The oil supplies the Rayburn which we cook on and it heats the water. DH only has his very small pension while he is off sick so looks as if I will be working 24hrs a day for the forseeable future :eek:

Janey,

I sympathise with you on the oil thing, it is truly ridiculous what it costs to heat a house these days! I know you already do all the frugal things to conserve heat in winter etc but is that REALLY a full tank of oil you need just to get through 3 months of summer? :eek: I'm dumbfounded and trying to put this into perspective, as oil is one of the few option we have in this area when there's no mains gas. Can I be nosy and ask how many full tanks of oil you use over the course of a year, how much electricity and your spend on logs? I'm hoping to have the open fires this year to save switching on the electric oil-filled heaters downstairs where there's no heating at all.

Having calculated my own household's fuel consumption only this week, at current prices, our annual bill will be at least £1700 and that's before they hike up the prices again. This amount is only achieavable if we are really vigilant and it doesn't make the house warm, so I'm hoping to light the fires and burn logs, which have not been included in my costs. According to my landlord, their bill for winter quarter electricity in this house was over £800 last year!

shaz_mum_of__2

Hi all

In need of advice

i have stepdaughters living in USA nr atlanta we have to go visit next july and need tips on getting best deals and cashback finding nice hotels etc


also

Woodburners......... if i put one in my lounge will it heat my bedroom ??the chimney
runs up our bedroom wall hubby says it will get warm ..........is he right?? there is no door on our lounge and it opens onto the stairs so heat would go up wouldn't it as hot air rises ???? also are they very messy we have a cream carpet in that room ......i supposed i could get a rug!


Shaz

shaz_mum_of__2

Janey51 wrote: »

Morning frugalites.

I feel a deep depression coming on :mad:
Have been checking the price of heating oil and it is now 61p/Litre :eek:
When we moved here 10 yrs ago it was 19p.
that means to fill our 1000L tank will cost £610 + 5% VAT so nearly £650.
That is crazy. A tankful lasts about 3 months in the summer but half or less in the winter. We hardly use the heating at all because of the log burner but that only heats one room.
The oil supplies the Rayburn which we cook on and it heats the water. DH only has his very small pension while he is off sick so looks as if I will be working 24hrs a day for the forseeable future :eek:

Couldn't you find a better way to cook in the summer like bbq,microwave,slow cooker ,i have been using the camping hob type stoves the butane type ones in the kitchen the little gas cylinders last ages and cost less than a quid now i use the steamer pan and pressure cooker on it too do you not have an immersion heater or could you fit one the element is about £20 if you know someone who could fit it

Shaz

redglass_2

Hi Shaz
have to type this really fast, dashing to work soon, please excuse any gibberish. My woodburner is in my lounge and it doesn't really heat the upstairs room via the chimney but maybe that's because of the chimny liner. It works better if i open the door at the stair bottom and let the heat rise up the stair well. On the other hand, with the right wood in it and roaring away at top speed it can put out a BLISTERING heat, enough to heat three rooms if i can get the heat up the stairs (i guess you could opne an upstairs window to start the flow).

Yes, they are dirty. The ashes are very fine and you don't realise how they float about in the atmosphere until you find a layer of wood ash over everything - it arrives invisibly but soon piles up. I am resigned to it now but then i don't have a cream carpet.
Hope this helps...

tryingtodobetter

NSD so far!!! I've been a busy bee this morning mending my son's chest of draws and sorting out all his clothes. We've put DH's prize possession his big gas guzzling, tax and insurance rip off car up for sale this week it's in the magazine today so fingers crossed it sells.

I Need to go and get some grow bags for my peas and tomatoes, where is the cheapest place that people have found??

DS1 still off school with an ear infection so not been able to paint the kitchen (with the nearly free paint from focus)

Hope everyone has a great day :j

sophiesmum_2

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

Hi all

In need of advice

i have stepdaughters living in USA nr atlanta we have to go visit next july and need tips on getting best deals and cashback finding nice hotels etc


also

Woodburners......... if i put one in my lounge will it heat my bedroom ??the chimney
runs up our bedroom wall hubby says it will get warm ..........is he right?? there is no door on our lounge and it opens onto the stairs so heat would go up wouldn't it as hot air rises ???? also are they very messy we have a cream carpet in that room ......i supposed i could get a rug!


Shaz

In our last house we had a woodburner in the lounge and another in the back lounge. They were quite big ones and the chimney breast and walls on that side of the upstairs rooms were always warm to touch. The one in the back room was connected to the hot water system and we used it for all our hot water.We used logs in the front one(and our old shed and fence when we renewed them;) ) and smokeless fuel nuts in the back one for the water.The downstairs was always toastie, all our visitors would start to fall asleep with the heat:rotfl: upstairs wasn't hot but was never cold if you know what i mean:o .
Downside - arguing over who is making the fires each morning, lots of dust in house, having to replace the grates regularly when they start buckling with the constant heat, storage for the logs and nuts,renewing linings and chimney sweeping.
Upside - lovely toastie rooms, something to watch other than the telly,no worries in a powercut (cooked our tea on top of ours once;) ).

Are they messy?? YES! Would I have them again??? YOU BET!!!!