Live on £4000 for a year - Part 2

lingojingo

Hi everyone
been very busy with DD who is planning university visits - short list now down to 9:rotfl:
Got her a railcard a few weeks back through Martins deal (half price):money: and spent ages trawling through various train sites to get the best prices, splitting the journeys in lots of stages to get cheaper fares. It's really time consuming, but it works and saves a huge amount - for example we've paid less than a quarter of the through ticket price for the return journey to Warwick:j

Now, my question is, do I include these fares in my budget, or can I leave them out as essential work(well, study) related expenses? Even with all the discounts, it's going to add up to a tidy sum by the time she's finished. And then there will hopefully be interviews at some of them:eek:

mumzyof2

Hello everyone, iam now back online and i had a fantastic holiday. I will add up my totals this week so i can update my sig, I spent nothing whilst on holiday from my own money so that was good.

OMG where is my sig???????? anyone help me as i not written down my totals on paper so if i dont find my sig then i will have to restart from 1st april as thats all reciepts i have

Frugaldom

Welcome back Mumzy and WHERE IS YOUR SIG? :eek: Imagine going all the way to Cyprus and coming back without it! You must have been having such a great time you forgot and lost it! :rotfl:Perhaps if you scroll back through a few pages or check in your sealed pot challeneg then it'll show up? Or, have you checked your settings to see if you accidentally turned it off?

It can be figured out somehow but, for now, welcome back and I hope you had a great time with your mum.

Mollymop5

Janey51 wrote: »

Mollymop what's an eye show? Or is it meant to be egg :rotfl:

/quote]

Why did I type "eye show" definateley an egg show :rotfl: :rotfl: sorry hehe

Mollymop5

mumzyof2 wrote: »

Hello everyone, iam now back online and i had a fantastic holiday. I will add up my totals this week so i can update my sig, I spent nothing whilst on holiday from my own money so that was good.

OMG where is my sig???????? anyone help me as i not written down my totals on paper so if i dont find my sig then i will have to restart from 1st april as thats all reciepts i have

maybe it's been lost with all the trouble you were having logging in
hope you find it

andromache_2

lingojingo wrote: »

Hi everyone
been very busy with DD who is planning university visits - short list now down to 9:rotfl:
Got her a railcard a few weeks back through Martins deal (half price):money: and spent ages trawling through various train sites to get the best prices, splitting the journeys in lots of stages to get cheaper fares. It's really time consuming, but it works and saves a huge amount - for example we've paid less than a quarter of the through ticket price for the return journey to Warwick:j

Now, my question is, do I include these fares in my budget, or can I leave them out as essential work(well, study) related expenses? Even with all the discounts, it's going to add up to a tidy sum by the time she's finished. And then there will hopefully be interviews at some of them:eek:

Very industrious! I was too lazy to visit many uni open days I had been to Oxford, Cambridge and Durham for other visits before and I went on an open day to KCL since I live in London... I figured that was enough then after picking Cambridge I made an extra trip to choose a college. I'm sure it'll do her loads of good though to see all the different places if she's having difficulty choosing

Very impressed with the train savings! My OH is going to Durham next year (:( though :cool: cos I hope he enjoys it) which means EVEN MORE spent on trains and coaches than this year! The super-advance fares are very cheap (well, £12.90 single, so still a lot more than now) but life is too hectic to be able to guarantee a free weekend that far in advance... did you use this site to find them?

Have had a very MS day today he came up on the coach and we had a cheap lunch in Slug and Lettuce with the vouchers from this site, then wandered round the gardens, free cos I'm a student which was nice. Now off to do revision, sigh. Since it's the end of the week I'll update my signature in a couple of minutes... the total is a bit above my weekly figure, but not horribly so, and I have the dentist to blame for that. Hope everyone is well and enjoying the nice weather xxx

Jay1_2

OMG Its ages since I've been on here. I think I last read on Wednesday and last posted a long time before that. I've lost interest in the internet recently - think it may have been the bingo that did it, nearly lost interest in breathing with that!
Anyway just saying Helloo! and updating my signature. Its been a long time since I totalled up my spending too - 10 whole days (GULP) and in that time I've bought some expensive shoes (but they are loverly (and I've always longed to buy something from Schuh )) and been to the sandwich shop a couple of times .

But on the plus side I have been pursuing my frugle hobby - sitting/lying around doing nothing but reading Library books. Acutally no thats a minus too really as it means I've been s**d*** lazy!

I'm thinking that this evening, after my very late dinner coz the meat wouldn't defrost, I'm going to sneak out in the dead of night and pinch some soil (it isn't really stealing when its communal gardens is it - I don't want much) and plant my pepper seeds (that I got from a pepper I ate a few days ago). I think its a bit too late but I'll give it a go.

Jay1_2

Oh and my signature is actually wrong. Coz the ISA I opened on the 9th still hasn't accepted my cheque :mad:

lingojingo

andromache wrote: »

Very impressed with the train savings! ... did you use this site to find them?

Hi Andromanche
Yes, I read Martins article, followed link to discussion forum, then used practically every train booking site people mentioned! The best seems to be Cross Country Trains, they let you book for all train operators and don't charge an online booking fee:j. There is a huge difference in price if you can spare the time to try out numerous different combinations of tickets. First find the whole route, so you know where the train actually goes, and what stations you have to change at any way, then you can experiment with small portions to get the best price. This is especially useful if part of a long journey is during peak time, as then you only pay the higher price on a small portion if you see what I mean.

DD really fancies Oxford, but wants to look at other places in case that doesn't work out. Until this afternoon she'd decided against Cambridge, but now it 's appeared back on the list:eek:

It was so much easier with DS, he didn't look anywhere before having interviews at Sheffield and Manchester! (and went to Manchester).

Frugaldom

Good evening peeps

Jay, I don't think it's too late to grow peppers, my last ones grew all year round in the conservatory and then on someone else's windowsill after I'd to move away and leave them all behind. (AJ, if you ever happen to read this, I have started afresh and planted new seeds.) I started mine off on wet kitchen roll then potted them into some compost. I now have loads more to plant and am selling the surplus in the charity auctions

Work/college/university associated costs - these do not get counted into your 4k cost of living budget as they aren't common to all of us, nor are they the same amounts for everyone who has them. Your living allowance is safe

It's turned into a glorious evening here! I can hear the lambs (from the garden 3 doors up) bleating for their bottles and there's a horsebox in the street with its occupant (a pony) stamping and kicking to get out to play. There are also some boyracers about and an idiot flying along the street on a motorbike. This may be listed as a very small town situated in a fairly rural location, but it has the makings of a rather surreal village that could put Glengarroch to shame. Whether the inhabitants like to admit that or not is a totally different matter. :rotfl: