2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

mama67 · 27 January 2008 at 6:02PM

Thank Nyk, we do have S/fields but it would be a special trip.

Any shopping trip is 25 mile round unless I call in at Co-op in the village where DS2 has footie training.

Got some recycled loo rolls yesday 4pk/£1.04 and fairtrade choc brownies were reduced to half price even cheaper than making my recipe from Nigella.Plus they give 5x divi points on fairtrade.

I have certain principles which have to be taken into account when working things out. I use all recycled paper products so that I can close the loop, and I try to buy fair trade if at all possible.

I also buy organic, for certain things.

Have just called in at Mr M to get some petrol on way home from DS2 footie match so that I don't have to go out specially another day this week and use £3 worth just to get it.

Paul_Varjak · 27 January 2008 at 6:38PM

I must admit I do like chips and I do prefer to oven-baked variety but they can be quite expensive.

LIDL does have oven-baked chips for 59p (1kg) whose ingredients are potato and oil. But they also sell 'frying' chips at 99p for 2.5kg, whose ingredients are potato and oil!

So, why do the frozen 'frying' chips have oil in them? Surely 'frying' chips would get their oil from what you fry them in? So, can these 'frying' chips be used as oven chips? Maybe ready-made oven chips are sold as such to justify the price?

Maybe it is possible to make one's own 'oven' chips from fresh potatoes?

BTW I never heat up the oven before I use it - that just seems to be a waste of time and money!

whitewing · 27 January 2008 at 6:45PM

Yes Paul V you can oven cook frying chips (we bought some by accident recently) It just took a lot, lot longer in the oven than oven chips

Paul_Varjak · 27 January 2008 at 6:49PM

whitewing wrote: »

Yes Paul V you can oven cook frying chips (we bought some by accident recently) It just took a lot, lot longer in the oven than oven chips

I guess that oven chips are partially pre-cooked (which probably justifies the extra cost).

natalie1974 · 27 January 2008 at 7:11PM

Would have loved to have joined in but I spend £100 a week on petrol just for the school run alone , £375 a month on private school fees then there is the mortgage , council tax etc etc so I need approx £500 a week to live on

Frugaldom · 27 January 2008 at 7:20PM

Hello all,

Penny you are doing really well with the challenge! You and Jacks are all organised and have listed your spends already! I'm jealous at having to wait until January 31st now! I'm trying to have a few NSDs in an effort to catch up and have now been to eBid and annnounced there that I intend trying to raise 25% of this year's challenge money from making the most of the free listings sales on their site! :eek: It kind of ties in with yet another of my many cyber (online) dosh (cash) challenges and will maybe help me make a start on my new cottage industry.

I'm kind of neglecting that (MSE) thread as I'm so busy keeping up here. I haven't even started making any more papier mache animals let alone been able to make anything new that's worthy of attempting to sell. Still, I did find the eBid thread on MSE, which I am glad to see is still in existance.

Slow cooker is on at the moment with a load of curried lentils & first batch of chicken. Looks like there'll be enough for about 6 meals instead of 3 :rotfl:
Have cheated and am cooking the rice in the microwave even although I forgot about all the extra portions that I have in the freezer. I really MUST keep up with my own food inventory!

Frugaldom · 27 January 2008 at 7:30PM

natalie1974 wrote: »

Would have loved to have joined in but I spend £100 a week on petrol just for the school run alone , £375 a month on private school fees then there is the mortgage , council tax etc etc so I need approx £500 a week to live on

First, hello and welcome to the 4k challenge thread. Now, may I draw your attention to the above highlighted phrase... this is the part where you have confused our challenge, as it does not include things like private school fees and £100 a week on petrol for the school run. This is just about the absolute necessities such as utilities, groceries and basic essentials. It includes Internet & telephone bills because we all need these in order to take part but we don't need to divulge where else we spend money as those decisions are all made through personal choice. The challenge is about what everyone HAS to pay for each year. Some of us are, indeed, trying our best to live on £4000 for everything (excluding mortgage/rent and council Tax/water) but others are attempting to reduce their basic spending in order to afford to make more financial choices with the surplus

Having kids in private school doesn't mean you can't join in the fun, so feel free to join us anytime

natalie1974 · 27 January 2008 at 7:42PM

Thanks for making that clear to me , right I will need to sit down now and work out what I spend

bails · 27 January 2008 at 7:52PM

CharliesAngel wrote: »

still can't work out how this is a challenge.... me and two cats live on £11 a week.... lol.....

CharliesAngel, I would love to know how you survive on £572 for the year??

Surely you're just talking about food?
Lollopybear, did you not say you were training to be a teacher? Sorry if I have the wrong person, but if it was you then there's your answer for the cold

I've got my eye on a couple of aubergines at the Coop (I'm lucky enough to have one a couple of minutes walk away) - at the mo they're reduced to 50p but I'm going back after 9pm to see if they're reduced further...There wasn't any bread when I went at 5pm so no hope of some cheap loaves :rolleyes: Probably won't do my week's spend til tomorrow now.
Now that we're doing up the house, I've spent £30+ on 'nothing' today. It's not coming out of this budget but out of what I save and will hopefully add value to my house. OH is wonderful and is working really hard on it, but he's does come up with some worrying suggestions e.g. getting new wood floors throughout :eek: We'll be sanding down the wood that's there, thanks v much! I'm a little scared as I'm paying for all the renovations (it's my house) and he loves DIY so he could get carried away unless I rein him in

I do appreciate all the hard work he's putting in though, don't think I'm a heartless be-ach

I can't believe it's nearly the end of Month 1:T; what I can believe even less is just how much I'm looking forward to scrutinising my spends at great length to see how I can do better next month :rotfl:

Janey51 · 27 January 2008 at 7:56PM

DH sabotaged my NSD by buying some sausages for £2.34 :mad: . Never mind that we have what seems like half a pig available to munch on already.
I was very restrained and did not express my feelings but he could see it on my face.
Felt guilty and made some more Low Carb Peanut Butter Cookies for him to nibble

Just checked the weather forecast for next week and its forecasting -10 (with wind chill) for our area.
Panic :eek: Panic :eek:
Have spent this afternoon bringing logs in to dry off more. Rayburn still full of pine cones which are drying off beautifully and are brill for lighting the fire.

If it snows really badly I might not be able to get to work which means I will save the petrol and be able to have "Adverse Weather Leave".
On the other hand, I will then have to use my own heating, lighting and yes, toilet paper.:rolleyes:

Oh, Frugalism is a hard taskmaster with many hurdles to overcome.

I am desperate not to put our heating on as the oil is astronomically expensive at the moment. I[URL="file://\\its"]ts[/URL] cosy in the lounge now but when the wind blows, even shutters and heavy curtains struggle to keep it warm.
Now, if someone could genetically modify a cat to shut a door after them.....

2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

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