2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

Janey51 · 7 February 2008 at 8:52PM

Billy can as in Waltzing Matilda?

System · 7 February 2008 at 9:28PM

is a billy can what cowboys heat their beans in over a campfire? or is that something completely different?:D

i got taken to the cinema with free tickets again last night. And i got bought a cheap pub meal afterwards - my bf said he HAD to pay for it because my wee face looked pained at the prospect of having to spend money

guess what i had in my inbox today???

a reply to my application to be a MYSTERY DINER! the greatest job on earth, surely! my workmates are jealous. If only it were full-time...

Mollymop5 · 7 February 2008 at 9:38PM

Evening Nyk, evening everyone.I have updated my food shopping on the grocery challenge, I have added my bank spends in spending diary.I have aded to my £2 coin collection and put some small change into my sealed pot.All these come out of my Yearly challenge budget.I will update my sig at the end of the month as I find this alot easier

FrankieM · 7 February 2008 at 10:05PM

Evening all,
DH away for another night. Children had sausage casserole and pasta for tea. I've had 2 value beers, some valu crisps and the pie I bought from the spar for 75p yesterday is in the oven..I feel very virtuous.
I've had to sort Christmas presents for family that we are seeing this weekend, cause we didn't see them over Christmas. I've managed to pretty much sort the whole lot out with free stuff, whether it be free stuff or buying their stuff with vouchers...its very cool.
I'm going to need more petrol though, which is going to be expensive, but hopefully most of the food I need is in already and I can get away with not buying anything else. A NSD has to come soon , surely????

mini_huny_money · 7 February 2008 at 10:18PM

hya everyone Ive been checking in every night but am struggling this past coupla weeks. Ive had 2 NSD this week and still writing in all my spends, though Ive not totalled up yet .

I too watched all those progs (missed the first half of the repossession one though)

You know the woman in the Grand Designs prog........well I feel just like her at the minute......though not on such a scale:rotfl: Am project managing......... my bathroom being ripped out this week. Tiler coming tomorrow and he;ll take 4 days,then Central heating being replaced over the next week , hopefully starting nest weekend and Ive stuffed up!!!!!! The kitchen gets delivered next week, where the !!!!!!!! am I gonnae put it till it gets fitted on the first week of March. The kitchen fitter could probly fit it earlier but the plumber needs to take out the old back boiler and fit the combi in the kitchen first

Am working full time , struggling to get things organised had to make 3 journeys 15 mile round trips to collect the tiles as they couldnt deliver on time. Though I stamped my foot and got 20% off the cost of the tiles cos they were the ones who stuffed the delivery

Am feeling really stressed out about it all.....I know it sounds like Im moaning but Im not really:eek:

Honest......am kinda looking at it as a laugh and a challenge but I know Im lucky Im getting it all done at last...

(said thru clenched and gritted teeth!!!!!! )

XX

mini_huny_money · 7 February 2008 at 10:28PM

mollymop I was having a nose thru all the kitchen pics yesterday but couldnt access yours.......do I have to sign in somewhere???

Sounds nice tho, Id love a rocking chair in mine but wouldnt have the room

Frugaldom · 7 February 2008 at 10:35PM

I've updated my signature and the following is my current financial state, showing what's already been spent and what's left of each. The items without second figures are things that I haven't had to pay yet. I never topped up my mobile in January at all! So that's a good start. :T

My recalculated targets for 2008 are:

Heat & Light: £1000 - £419.50 = £580.50
Telephone: £280
Mobile: £60 -
Internet: £230 - £24.99 = £204.89
TV Licence: £135.50
Insurances: £170 - £52.40 = £117.60
Gifts/Special Occasions: £500 - £49.23 = £450.77
Groceries: £1440 - £160.59 = £1279.41
Everything else: £184.50 - £161.70 = £22.80

Total: £4000 for year. Already spent £868.35, balance = £3131.65

This is day 38 of 366, which means we are over 10% of the way there :rotfl:

So what, exactly, is the Billy Can about?

Billy's real name is William, otherwise known as Will Power, I just call him Billy for fun. He's a friend to us all, especially Frugalites, but if you upset him he can stomp off in the huff and leave us high and dry not knowing what to do! I don't call on him as often as I should, but am hoping that, as there are so many of us here, he may visit more often. I called on him in December, told him I was stopping smoking and that it was up to him to make sure that I stuck to it. He explained that, over the coming year, I would save £468.48 and, sure to his word, he has stuck around to make sure that I didn't stray from the plan. He's even making sure that I get on that exercise bike and has set me a target to cycle off 25,000 calories by February 29th 2008! :eek:

In the past, Billy has helped me out with all sorts of things, mostly to do with finances. Sadly, some people don't even believe he exists. Despite him being there for us at all times, many deny his very existance. Well, he's asked me to prove to you that he is real and says to warn you that you may feel really silly to start off with, because he's a bit of a practical joker! :cool:

The first thing he has asked me to get you to do is to save the next empty tin you see or use. It doesn't matter what was in it, although he reckons that most people settle for baked beans, spaghetti or tinned tomatoes.

I'll be interested in hearing from everyone about this as, amazingly, mine was a baked beans tin! OK, whatever was in the tin has probably been eaten, so completely remove the lid and make sure there aren't any sharp edged. Wash it out, remove the food label and then get a piece of paper to make a new label. On this, you should write his name - in BIG BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS - write the name BILLY! You now have your billy can!

Let me know as soon as you have yours and then I'll let you into the secret of what billy can do for you...

CharliesAngel · 7 February 2008 at 10:49PM

nykmedia wrote: »

By 'live on', I suspect you mean feed. This challenge is to 'live on' as in all the household bills - electricity, heating, telephones, Internet, gifts bought over the year, television license, insurance etc, etc, etc. I think you have misunderstood, or else haven't read the early posts The grocery challenge is the one where you count grocery costs only and you seem to do really well. Maybe you could demopnstrate a week's meal plan for us so we can see how you do it? :T Please?

Electric - 10 a month, i'm always at work (three jobs) no gas
Train to work - free through work
telly - free view, licence paid monthly, about 10 ish
phone - no phone.
no car.
i'm mortgage free as of last october (only borrowed 11k three years ago) contents insurance 4.43 a month
council tax is 137 a year, so paid a year in advance.. there's a wierd reason why it's that low, i'm yet to find out but have suspicions that the house is within 'private estate' land going back hundreds of years...
Water 14 a month
1.50p a week on food - yes that's right! fresh bread, beans, fruit, cat food from deep discount stores - meals are either beans on toast, pasta with sauce, tuna and cheese, waffles beans and cheese... u get the idea!
i don't buy presents because everyone knows i'm tight so we trade in favours like diy or gardening instead
i make my own (potent) wine and invite friends over rather than go out.

redglass_2 · 7 February 2008 at 11:05PM

mini_huny_money wrote: »

The kitchen gets delivered next week, where the !!!!!!!! am I gonnae put it till it gets fitted on the first week of March.

When something like this happened to me a friend volunteered to store the units in her garage until I could move them into my teeny weeny house. It might be worth asking round - good luck!

Mollymop5 · 7 February 2008 at 11:16PM

mini_huny_money wrote: »

mollymop I was having a nose thru all the kitchen pics yesterday but couldnt access yours.......do I have to sign in somewhere???

Sounds nice tho, Id love a rocking chair in mine but wouldnt have the room

Hmm I'd forgotten I'd posted them.I think I might have deactivated my account with whoever was hosting my pictures.I had just used them to show pics on here.My other photos are elsewhere.I will check it out.I was having a declutter of sites I was subsrcibed to as I was getting way to many emails.
Sorry.But yes I love my rocking chair

2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

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