Live on £4000 for a year - Part 3

Frugaldom

Hi fruguys and frugals,

Well, the bedlinen got nowhere near hung outside today as wet weather has gone from drizzle & showers to absolutely pouring!

I've had an exciting day communicating with planning officers, lawyers, environmental protection agencies and civil engineers and have decided that I should be GLAD that it's been raining for so long, because it means that the river should be in spate and, therefore, at it's worst. I have a folder full of links to relevant sites (thank you) and copies of building regulations and waterways legislation. There are loads of lovely bridges but, unfortunately, the river is too wide to span it with an ornate wooden one. I'm scared to think about the costs but did, for one brief and ludicrous moment, wonder how many Tesco Clubcard points I could get from paying with their CC. :rotfl:

Marru, I hope your cold gets better soon, can't even call it a summer cold as the weather just doesn't warrant it! Perhaps it's an allergic reaction to the cr** weather?

Sukielou75, I'm glad you're still with us, nice to hear from you again

Redglass, if you use a tarpaulin to cover logs, it's best to leave it raised off them to allow air flow. We did ours with 4 posts and then fixed the hap over and around these so it was like a square tent.... oh, oh, oh! Would a cheap tent from Mr A do? Sophiesmum was saying how they were down to less than £10. Making mental note again, as I forgot last time - Must get a [STRIKE]portable storage building[/STRIKE] tent!

dfw844, I'll get your target changed back to £4000, EXCELLENT news! :beer: Well done! Just don't forget the big December expenses if you celebrate Christmas.

On the soup trail - I am goung to have to make another pot of soup as salad lunches just aren't acceptable to the household but at least I'll can cram in loads of veggies. Leeks are being harvested, so it'll be chicken stock from freezer, carrots, onions, leeks and rice; that should fill DS up at lunchtimes or warm us in the evenings. I'm needing to make more bread, too, as I defrosted the last loaf yesterday. DS says he prefers this bread to the last lot and this lot is Weezl's no need to knead recipe, so takes less time! :T Then that will mean I'll need to do some sponges and some biscuits as I like to keep the oven full. Oops! Just remembered I haven't logged my i-measure figures today, must go do that now before I forget again.

slowlyfading

my dad just checked his lottery ticket for saturday and he got 4 numbers! :j :j :j only £87 but he's well chuffed! He gave me the £7, so I'm pleased too

lyndasharp

OMG! The RSPCA were round earlier, someone reported that there were wild rabbits and guinea pigs loose in the back garden. One of the housemates was in, made her late for a job interview because RSPCA inspector insisted on checking everywhere (all OK). Rabbit and piggies were safely tucked up in their hutch, though we do let them out for a run round sometimes there's always someone there, and no chance of them escaping.

We have a very odd neighbour, I wonder if it was her that reported us?!?!? Hope there's no more problems when the chickens arrive!!!!

Work are sending me to Bristol tomorrow, leaving at 7am :eek: That's 1.5 hours earlier than I normally leave the house, and they are expecting me to be awake enough to drive! Stay away from the M4, you have been warned :rotfl:

Edit: it seems landladys sister reported us... apologies to neighbour for thinking it might have been her! Not sure why the sister reported us, it's her rabbit and guinea pig that we've adopted! Bizarre!!!!

dfw844

nykmedia wrote: »

dfw844, I'll get your target changed back to £4000, EXCELLENT news! :beer: Well done!

Thanks I'm really pleased! It's cheered me up a lot. I may get paid tomorrow, in which case I will update my signature properly. May even include the £4k challenge now I've realised I'm not failing quite so miserably!

sophiesmum_2

BB, re the spice jar issue - marmite jars are not see through, do you have a marmite loving friend?

I finally got around to picking my runner beans, there are still loads still growing but picked the biggest ones. Had some for tea and going to do some for freezer. Also picked another batch of cherry tomatoes, I think I will have one more harvest to come then tomatoes will be done in baskets, I just have three tomato plants left in greenhouse, one of which was transplanted from under bird table where it grew from bird droppings:D . Also picked two little cucumbers, one of which grew curly:rotfl: .

Took some pics but can't find the lead for phone:o

It has been like a winter day here too, and tonight I have put heating on in lounge for first time . Roll on September when we go back to Malta for some more sunshine , just hope things are okay with dad and bro so that we are able to go away , but family comes first.

bails

dfw844 wrote: »

complete with land for growing veggies, animals, a river, and of course a few marines...

If your land is fertile enough to grow gorgeous men in green berets, I may well have to outbid you for it :rotfl:
Shocker of a day here too :rolleyes: And not just the weather. OH has gone to Brighton on his own, need some space to try and look after myself as really not doing well. The sheer frustration of my situation is sending me insane, OH sadly doesn't have any head space to help me right now so I'm on my own with this one.

Sorry, I was going to try and come on here to cheer everyone else up, not doing a v good job! Hope we all have better weather and days tomorrow x

Marru

Bails, sorry to hear you are not well. I must say that I haven't had a good day either as Mums really don't get sick days. DD has been asking all day when you and your OH will come back. She really misses both of you.

I am shattered and this is not good for frugality. I have been buying ready meals as I can't force myself to do any cooking, it was in an offer thou. I have a reporting deadline tomorrow and I can't get any work done when DD is here so I will try to get as much done now during the night as I can. I will get the numbers to work with in an hour :eek:. Perhaps I will go to bed and go in the morning to charity shop to get some new videos to keep DD occupied so that I can finish my work.

I spent an awful lot of money in the shop today and I don't have a clue how long it will last as I have completely failed to do any kind of planning. Only treat that I allowed to us was white muffins and raspberry jam.

So I don't know now if I should make coffee or go to bed.

Marru

EagerLearner

Hi Marru, sorry I normally just lurk as not officially in the challenge, but sounds like you need some sleep hun x

EDIT > Actually, I was just thinking maybe I could be on this challenge? Being the spreadsheet loving bunny that I am, I can actually see what we jointly spend excluding rent, council tax and water!

For the two of us, this currently totals: £2130.94

To explain further this covers:

All groceries
All household items / furniture / furnishings
Tel & broadband
Gas & Elec
TV Licence
All meals out / dvd rentals etc

Could I join really, really late please?

In 2007 we spent £3155 on these categories, so we'd aim to beat this in 2008.

lyndasharp

DdraigGoch wrote: »

a 20Kw Woodwarm and EATS logs

Just reread that as being a 20Kw woodworm.... now one that size really would eat logs :rotfl:

Sorry to hear people haven't had good days, hope tomorrow is much better for you all.

Brighton_belle

Marru, I think you need to not worry about your budgeting for a few days - you've not been well and you have pressured deadlines and your dd to look after - something has got to give. You know you'll refocus on the budget when you have your time and energy back. Sleep and food are essentials now.
Bails - sorry to hear how things are for you. Life can be so terribly unfair. The unbareable frustration of long term illness is so harsh and unforgiving at times. To have to watch life from the sidelines and cope with the loss of opportunity time and again takes humungus courage and resilience. These you have demonstrated time and again. And sometimes you've just got to cry. You know I know. Sending you emergency hugs:grouphug: . Though I know several men in green berets might be preferable...

Been experimenting with spice jars and indian writng paper lining the inside to darken them, so thanks dfw. Like the marmite idea sophies mum too.
Tonight I made HM liver pate for sarnies tomorrow with HM bread:j .