Live on £4000 for a Year, 2009 Challenge, part 1

Frugaldom · 10 January 2009 at 2:04PM

It's a howling gale here, we've already been out trying to secure the greenhouse before it takes off completely. Mad as it may seem, I have a washing out, but it's 'hanging' horizontally. :rotfl: Double sheet dried in under half an hour, but I almost got parachuted trying to bring it in off the line! :rotfl: I fear for the whirlygig and suspect my bathtowels may yet take off and land in Northern Ireland somewhere!

Shares - I have dabbled for the past few years but now hold very few and only because they are such rubbish that they cannot be sold - Woolies included!

Last night's programmes on TV about how tight people were had me thinking more about the bloke who lives apart from his fiancee and I have to ask -could she, perhaps, have been a spendaholic with heaps of debt to sort out before they got married?

Free food from M0rris0ns? Tell us all more - I don't read newspapers and don't live near a store but I'm still interested in hearing about free food.

Electricity & gas costs - ridiculous prices, I agree, but isn't it better to be comfortable, free from dampness and keep everything in working order than to risk permanent damage? Please don't anyone sit freezing and risking damage to health or home, consider all other options first and if the Government doesn't like the incresing Carbon emissions then perhaps it will force someone, somewhere, to get cracking on making alternative sources of energy available to us all. (Putting away soapbox now, it's safe ro come back out

)

Appr0ved F00d - nothing is a bargain unless you were intending to buy it in the first place. I've stocked up mainly on cooking sauces, kidney beans and brand names that cost less than the non-brands I normally buy. Someone posted a link to the MSE thread discussing it and I sat for ages last night, reading through comments. Interesting reading what some people think of it.

Back soon, need to go rescue some flower pots that just sailed past the front window! :eek: Candles all at the ready, flasks filled, maybe I'll go kindle the fire and then make dinner [STRIKE]before[/STRIKE] just in case the power goes out again.

lilac_lady · 10 January 2009 at 2:34PM

After much "advice " from me, I think my DD has finally succumbed to the frugal gene that surely she must have somewhere in her DNA.

She baked a carrot cake and told me that she's joined freecycle in the hope of obtaining a chest freezer. She also bought whoopsie blueberries and cherries - a first for her. I'm so happy.....she IS mine after all!

kittiej · 10 January 2009 at 2:44PM

I was just about to post about not needing to spend any money but then I realised we need milk (sigh).

I've just been looking at Asda and Tesco sites and Asda seems to be the cheapest and they are committed to keeping prices lower for longer.

I'm so glad I halted at the price increase for laundry tabs in Lidl's because Asda are doing 2 boxes of their own brand for a tenner, so that's 100 washes, or they are doing Surf for £3 per box and that's 30 washes.

They've also got 4xtins HP beans for a quid. HTH somebody out there!

JennyBee_2 · 10 January 2009 at 2:51PM

jtb2412 wrote: »

JennyBee - do you have to have a food hygeine certificate if you want to sell your products? I've often thought about doing it but someone told me you have to be 'registered' - just not sure if that's the case ?

Hiya

I (and my mum) always thought that you had to have your kitchen registered as a food outlet if you wanted to do anything like that, which is why we never bothered before. (Mum used to run a restaurant in our house using their kitchen and some of the things you have to do are daft unless you're going for it on a big scale). I'm not sure about the law re Food & Hygiene certificates but I actually did mine on Monday. It's about £80 to do it at the local college but some people that run a "coffee morning" thing in a local village hall needed a refresher course so they arranged it for £21.50 each which was a bargain (as they never expire).

Anyway...at the course on Monday the lady running said that you don't need to register your premises until you're trading for 5 days in 5 consecutive weeks. So you could quite happily do a farmers market once a week as long as you missed every 5th one and be doing nothing wrong!

jtb2412 · 10 January 2009 at 3:05PM

That's great ! Thanks for that JennyBee. I was thinking of just selling mine at car boot sales and things like local fayres and coffee mornings so wouldn't come nowhere near the 5 days in 5 weeks - it's all good news !

I've already done my food hygeine (childminding) so will need to dig that out (not sure if they ever run out

).

Got the kids cleaning their rooms at the moment so i'm sitting on here with a cuppa relaxing

purplevamp · 10 January 2009 at 3:05PM

:bdaycake: TTDB - Happy Birthday!!:j

broke mum of three - I'm using crimbo leftovers up as well :rotfl: . We had the last of the HM turkey pie and sprouts last night, with lovely roast potatoes, mmm!! I've spent less than £40 so far this month and we normally spend about £75 p/w.

I was going to make some cakes today but we have no eggs

, may make some jam tarts instead and use up my leftover pastry.

Have a good day everyone!!

In_Search_Of_Me · 10 January 2009 at 3:11PM

Afternoon pepys....had a nice but rushed morning trying to get going and then spent time at craft club - made 3 cards and then a woman came round to look at all my scrapping stuff which I've now sold and feel liberated!! Spends minimal - som tablets and a flan/pastry case as need to make a lemon tart to take to lunch tomorrow...pastry chilling in the fridge as I type! Will update siggy later.Hope youre all ok! lol at the washing being horizontal and congrats on the frugal dtr lilac!! Suspect my mum feels the same but its taken 39 years to get there so she's had to be patient!!

JennyBee_2 · 10 January 2009 at 3:33PM

jtb2412 wrote: »

That's great ! Thanks for that JennyBee. I was thinking of just selling mine at car boot sales and things like local fayres and coffee mornings so wouldn't come nowhere near the 5 days in 5 weeks - it's all good news !

I've already done my food hygeine (childminding) so will need to dig that out (not sure if they ever run out ).

Got the kids cleaning their rooms at the moment so i'm sitting on here with a cuppa relaxing

No problem - happy to help. I even checked whether the 5 in 5 weeks was selling or making and she said it's when you trade....so if you spent 5 days in a row making stuff to sell you would be ok too.

Food Hygiene they apparently 'recommend' that you get it renewed every 3 years due to changes etc but they never legally expire.

sophiesmum_2 · 10 January 2009 at 4:27PM

Good afternoon frunchkins:D

Busy day so far today, haven't managed swimming so far today but have been to town/market and got some bargains. Was on the look out for mushrooms - managed to get 2.75 kg box for £2 each really happy with that, picked one up for cw too so looks like two of us will be batch cooking mushrooms tomorrow;) 2.75kg's is a lot of mushrooms........

Treated DD to a new coat in New Look sale reduced from £40 to £20, I picked up a pair of boots for £12.99, and some mung beans in morissons natco 2kg bags for £2.97 didn't think that was bad as a 250g bag in health shop was 65p.Also picked up 3 lots of the 75p Branston beans and 8 black florist pots for 99p(for veggie growing)

DD took scratch card back which was in her xmas pot of gold as it was £1 winner, changed for new £1 card and won £7 so she was happy:D

General frugal aims for today;

have a quick sort of freezer and free up some space
source some good priced mung beans - 2kg Natco in Mr M's £2.97
reduce, reuse,recycle one item -remembered to take reusable bags shopping, recycled oldies cards, refused plastic bags in shops.
do something nice for me -treated myself to boots for knocking about in
do something nice for someone else- treated DD to new coat, and also a foundation in boots using points.
do one thing just for fun -
fitter not fatter -try and make time for swim tonight

Todays frugal menu:

sausage bap courtesy of friend whilst out:o
Hm batch cooked lentil and carrot soup,satsuma
wholemeal pasta with spicy tomato and mushroom sauce

Fruit and veg portions;
1 fruit, 1 pulses, 3 veggies,:D

Expenditure or additional income
Spent £20 on DD's coat, £12.99 my boots, £2 mushrooms, 2 x 2kg mung beans £5.94, 12 tins branston beans £2.25, 8 black florist pots 99p
Total spend £44.17

HH62 · 10 January 2009 at 4:29PM

Saved £10 because I got a lift into Manchester for my OU tutorial.

Already had a ticket to come back with.
Spent £11.57 in M & S at the railway station coming home :mad::eek:
At the end of the month I'm going to total up my impusle buys - I reckon I'm up to about £35 already this month on stuff I don't really need to buy. I did want some wine for tonight but should have bought it at Lidl the other day, for £3.99 instead of an M & S bottle that cost £5.99.
I could kick myself because I know where I'm making bad spending decisions, just finding it difficult to stop myself...there again this is my first month trying this and keeping a budget so I guess I'm allowed a few beginners' slip ups

Rest of the day is strictly NS. I'm staying in tonight, studying, and I've got a bottle of wine for later.

Tomorrow will also need to be strictly NS. If I go over my £600 total the only place I can get some money is by using my CC, which I won't be able to pay off in full, and I refuse to do that...been down that road too many times.

Live on £4000 for a Year, 2009 Challenge, part 1

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