Live on £4000 for a year - Part 3

redglass_2

Thanks for the information/advice re tarpaulins. Am borrowing a friend's DH in about a week to fix up part of the hearth - might ask if he will consider putting fence posts in the yard so i can store wood underneath. I do most things myself but sometimes it's such a relief to hand a job over to someone else....Discovered a new frugalism while rinsing out the last few drops of liquid soap: if you dilute the soap so that it's ready-mixed, as it were, you can just wash your hands with what comes out of the bottle without having to turn on your tap. You then only need to give your hands a quick whoosh under the tap to rinse them, which reduces water consumption. I might start experimenting to see how far I can cut back and whether it's worth going onto a meter.

Janey51

I spy a big yellow ball in the sky. Could it be ..............the Sun

Question..I have some chicken in the fridge I cooked last Wednesday. Will it still be OK to put in a curry? I was going to do it at the weekend and forgot.
Smells OK.
I could always try it out on my friend

whitewing

Morning Peeps!

I am still around, but not even lurking at the mo. Haven't had a chance to catch up yet. Was at work all weekend. Yesterday I wrote 55 thank you letters for my wedding presents and cards. We made the thank you's too (include a photo of us in wedding finery) and they look very nice, if I say so myself.

Will be back properly soon. Just got 180 cakes to ice for a group of children this afternoon.

dfw844

Hi everyone,

We're a sorry bunch aren't we?!

Bails hope you're feeling better soon

Marru same to you. I think you should just concentrate on the basics - eating, sleeping, keeping warm until you're feeling better. Budgetting as well is too much stress when you're not 100% and have a little one relying on you.

Janey Personally I wouldn't eat the chicken... I only keep it for three or four days. Other people might know better though.

Whitewing Good on you for getting the thank you notes out. I know it sounds mean of me but I get really annoyed when I spend my hard earned cash on wedding gifts and people can't even be bothered to write a proper note. Being a dfw does make you more grateful though, don't you think?

Weather is awful here too. My ebay listings are doing quite well. Sold 4 items on buy it now, and have bids on two more. 5 others which are not selling at present and only have one watcher between them... so I'm not that hopeful. The bad news is I will only take my paypal account up to the £50 needed for a free transfer if every single one sells. Must find some more stuff to list - but house is immaculately organised now. I've even sold all of the cr*p which has been living down the side of the bed for the past 3 years. That's what MSE has done to me! Got to get it up to £50 somehow though.

Off to check bank to see if I have been paid and can update my totals.

xx

Frugaldom

Hugs to all who need them!

Bails, hoping everything turns out for the best for you and OH, a bit of recovery time could be good for reflecting, just don't let him stay away too long in case he gets other ideas for spending. You know what men are like. :rolleyes:

Ddraig, I hope you manage to get the wood pile sorted out - perhaps you could keep an eye on freecycle for anything that is safe to use as free fuel? I'm dreading winter coming in and facing the electricity bills here but it has made an enormous difference since having everyone on here for moral support with regards to how to make extra savings. And a 20kw stove is a HUGE beast to feed. It must be like keeping a Clydesdale, as opposed to a Shetland Pony! I think I'll try for something like a Welsh Mountain type beast, sturdy, hardy and relatively cheap to feed. So there you have it - think of your stove as a pet that's part of the family and it might make it easier when you still find yourself smiling when he/she consumes a half hundred weight of food like there was no tomorrow.

Marru, you really do need to get your food and sleep routines sorted out if the 'we are what we eat' theory is true. Could you try one week of same mealtimes as DD, get her packed off to bed early and have some early nights yourself?

Perhaps there really is something in this full moon theory. Saturday was full moon and, according to legend, moods & health can follow the moon's cycle! So, if all seems to be really cr** at the moment, mark your diaries for next weekend, when things should take a turn for the better. If you had the time to sit and scroll back through every post of this entire 4k challenge since it began, I believe there would be a trend when comparing it to the lunar calendar! :eek: We may all be frugalunies! (Frugal-lunar-loonies).

Janey, I caught a glimpse of that big yellow circle thing in the sky too! The only thing I can think of is that it's to signify the return of the kids to schools - it's first day back here and it's the first the sun has shone for aaaaaaaaages! Typical! If it's anything like when I was little, then we should probably have glorious sunshine and mini-heatwaves all the way through to the October holidays from now!

EagerLearner, I will most certainly add you to our list of challengers, thank you for joining us. :T (At last, another captured! ).

It's quiet here today - no DGD! It's less than a week until her 4th birthday, so we made the party invites last night and I'll be doing some mini-iced sponges and some top hats for next weekend. It's my sis's birthday today, Happy Birthday sis! I had a pressie at the ready from The Body Shop order, but didn't mention what, as I never know who is reading this! :cool: The gifts section of my spending is up to date, and I've kept all the receipts just in case the Frugal Brigade get called in to examine my accounts. :rotfl:

Redglass, if you can't find a tarpaulin, I spotted some here whilst pricing damp proofing materials. Not a bad price for brand new and I may invest in a couple IF the frugal house project ever begins.

EagerLearner

Thanks for letting me join late nykmedia, I just wondered that given we are only 2 peeps, should our total aim be less than the standard £4k? Last year was £3155, so was thinking this year could hopefully beat inflation at £3100... anyone else doing the challenge 'a-deux'?

Bails hope you are doing ok hun x

Brighton Belle - I use the spice pots from Habitat (£1 each) and these are in a drawer. I then replenish them with spices from my local Turkish deli (by the way the veggie man on Portland road also has cheap spices, elthough you may already know this ). Since I discovered those big 100g bags of spices I have never again bought supermarket ones, what a waste - of packaging, and money, for such tiny amounts of spices, like 17g!

Frugaldom

Hi EagerLearner, I have added your name to the challenger list at post 1 showing a target of £3,100 for 2

I think you are doing incredibly well, but must add that if you celebrate the festive season then the basic Christmas shopping is included in the annual budget. The only things I don't count in are gifts of major importance, like DD & DS's 21st birthdays, DD's wedding, which need to be budgeted for separately.

I've decided to be forward thinking and positive about future frugal housemoves and must make a start on 'being prepared'. So, I have posted my exercise bike onto freecycle. I got it free, so now it's time to start emptying the shed and let someone else benefit from the bike. I'm sure that I'll find plenty of other things to get rid of and am planning on taking some stuff to the charity shops this afternoon. Must declutter, must declutter, must declutter...

EagerLearner

Thanks nyk - we do celebrate Xmas but this year we will be in Portugal. It has been paid for in terms of flights, just need to both contribute spending money, which we are both saving for now so the joint account will not be paying for. However, there might be more than the usual spend on the groceries around that time so we will add that in if it happens...

Also in terms of gifts for birthdays and Xmas etc, we both tend to generally buy for our own, seeing as my family is quite big and his isn't, we find it fairer that way. I guess that doesn't count for this challenge?

Hoping the list I showed for what counts as our challenge spend is what is expected? Then I can start in earnest... I really want to beat inflation!

Shame I don't have room for exercise equipment, our flat is tiny! Good move to get so organised now x

Marru

Hello everybody,

And thanks to all for your support. I am feeling better today, still itchy throat and coughing. Eye drops that I got from the chemist yesterday are starting to work as well. And I am pleased to say that I have FINISHED MY REPORT!!! I did decide against working last night and crossed eveything and hoped DD would let me finish it during the day. It was so funny. I have been sitting downstairs with my laptop so that DD can sit next to me and watch her videos. Then she brought the old laptop that has been given her as a toy downstairs, put it next to mine and was pretending to work. She was holding a piece of paper like I was and pretending to input numbers and had her juice cup next to her laptop the way I had my tea cup.

Now she is angry as I said she only can have grapes after she eats her lunch. Lunch today is stir fry from ready stir fry veggie pack I got yesterday and ready stir fry sauce and noodles.

Anyway, off I go now to cook our lunch (yes we eat together now that she is off from nursery) and then if the weather allows we are going to go out and walk the dog.

Oh - about my shopping yesterday. After my brain kicked in again I realised that I had stocked up with non food stuff that will last for a long time so it is not as bad as it looked.

Have a great day everybody, lets hope that the weather lasts.

Marru

PS Sophiesmum I really hope that your family members will get better and that you can go for your holiday without having to worry about them. You so deserve to have a break.

And Bails - I so hope there would be something I can do to help. As I am feeling better now please give me a shout, even if it is just to go to the shop to get some chocolate (my local has still that Twirl offer )

bails

Thankyou so much everyone :kisses3:
It has been hard OH going away with things not great but I do think it's the right thing for me so I can focus on myself completely.
My parents are here decorating, bless them - scraping off years of woodchip :eek:. I spent most of the morning waiting to feel well enough to go to gym which I was determined to achieve today so spent the time watching the Olympics Just back from a couple of hours at the gym, swam my half a km and am jacuzzied, steamed and saunaed up! I've decided to save up for renewed membership next year as it's the nicest thing I can do for myself. Have until April so should manage it.
EL, we're a twosome here (although we have several animals which get included - 4 cats, 2 guinea pigs). I cant remember what you have on your list but will have another look if you like to see you've included everything. Good luck and welcome officially to the gang!
Glad to hear you're feeling better Marru and that you finished your report :T Might you happen to know anything about a lovely bunch of flowers on my doorstep this morning?