Claire's OS house deposit quest!

Managed to get connected to the internet - praying it doesn't give up before I can post - if you see this I was successful!

[I've skipped quoting people as this post will be really long otherwise!]


Hi Linda!

I have heard of the freezing cakes bit, though wasn't sure the cakes would taste as good from the freezer. Do I need to freeze them in containers with greaseproof or something in between?

I did try this with sliced swiss roll but made the extremely unfortunate discovery that it actually tastes so much better straight from the freezer! :rotfl:

I don't mind dried sultanas but I've never tried much other dried fruit, unfortunately. What dried fruit do you recommend? I do like fresh fruit but it's a case of having something that's not messy at my desk. I've had really juicy fruit before and somehow managed to make a complete mess!

When it comes to gym memberships it's just not that cheap around here. I'm paying £35 a month (:eek: I know!) and that's fairly standard. I just don't think I use it often enough for that price. I rent a cheap flat that I was very lucky to get as it's in a wealthy village and the office where I work is in a well-off town nearby so mostly the better-off are catered for. Can't get a haircut for cheaper than £40 around here! :eek:

As to your second post - I knew what you meant about the cakes. I did say a batch of them thinking fairy cakes and the like so I reckon we were just on the same wavelength.

I never considered naan as a pizza base. Might be worth a try! I did in my skint uni years toast a slice of bread and top with tomato puree and cheese but I reckon a naan bread would be better!


Hi Rosie!

My parents have never been that well off but have always been good at handling their money so I think I get it from them. I somehow realised the value of money quite early on. I used to choose the cheapest ice cream from the ice cream man when on holiday because I knew it cost less and I liked it anyway!


Hi Cranky!

You are very welcome to join in - would you like me to add you to the summary as a total so far and update as we go along?

Taking the ds on holiday sounds wonderful, do you have any ideas on where you'd like to go yet?

No judgement here on anyone taking government money if needed - I really do hate the misconceptions around it that's caused by the media picking out the minority of cases that seem unfair and making a huge deal of it. That money is there for a reason and though I find the few who "work the system" or whatever frustrating, there are so many who really need it.

Sorry to hear you have arthritis (if that's the right words), I know it's a very unforgiving sort of problem and can be frustrating. My mum has it quite badly but I'm just at the beginning of it so I do count myself lucky that it's not too bad yet and is only really in my hands and wrists at the moment.

I may have to have a go at the pizza dough as I've never made pizza. I need to make more effort to make some different things as I do cycle through the standard stir fry, chicken korma, pasta, etc.

I quite like walking, too. Perhaps an alternative to the gym once it gets warmer?

January 5th indeed. :T


Hi NewShadow!

Are you my clone?

Unfortunately I don't have any pets (assuming that's what you mean by fuzzbabies?!)

Good luck with your running goal! I never have been much good at running. Do you have a plan to get you started? I downloaded the couch to 5K about a year ago but I struggled to stick to it as I chose the wrong time of year, really - my eczema can't handle the cold. How do you manage your eczema with the cold weather? Make sure to keep us posted on how you're doing, and let us know any tips for newbies trying to start up running. (I say running, but more "slow jogging". )

I am just the same with the clothes that are too small! I may only rotate a few currently, but I have an entire wardrobe stuffed full of clothes of sizes 14 and 16 that definitely do not fit at all. I'm thinking a mutual summer goal could be to get into an outfit we haven't been able to wear that's been sat in our wardrobes?

A whole month off sounds exciting! What sort of thing would you like to do? Are you thinking cheap travel, or going for something a bit closer to home?

You can post as much as you like. I love to read what other people are up to (hence the frequent lurking and rare posting). You will probably already note that I like to write essay-length posts when time permits so I'm sure you'd be hard pressed to take over! :rotfl:


I've decided that, at least to start with, my plan for stashing the money into my ISA and adding it up will be that when I get paid I will put whatever didn't come from my wages (ie. was left in the account already) into my savings. So the adding up for me will only occur once a month when I get paid. I do have a "safety cushion" in an instant access online savings account so would have this to deal with unexpected costs (car repairs, etc.). There should be enough in my wages to cover car insurance, etc when that comes around (I pay yearly) but that means I will just put less in the savings during such months. So my savings will be a bit uneven but should average £500 a month over the year.

I have a thing for numbers and like to keep everything in one place so I will probably do a bit like the grocery challenge and post all my spends on here.

Sorry, I do waffle a bit once I get started! :cool: