Live on £4000 for a year - Part 3

Janey51

Sophiesmum glad your brother is back with the people who love him :grouphug:

Brighton Belle saw your mention of the no Knead bread. I think I have seen it mentioned before but have you got a link? My search thingy doesn't seem to be playing ball this morning.
And let me know how it goes in the Remoska as mine arrived yesterday :j I haven't unpacked it yet.

Nyk we had torrential rain last night and 2 enormous claps of thunder. Good thing I love storms

As I am Rayburn-less I am having to use the immersion when I want a shower. Our shower runs direct from the hot water system. We have lashings of hot water when the Rayburn is on.
I put the kitchen timer on for an hour when I put the immersion on or I forget to switch it off :rolleyes:
In best MSE fashion, I have also being filling a flask when I boil the kettle so I have enough for my first 3 coffees of the day

Came downstairs this morning to realise I had managed to knock the freezer onto "superfreeze" last night so heaven knows how much extra electric it has burnt since last night :eek:

I will try and redress the balance by taking some washing to do in the communal washing area which my Mum uses in the sheltered accommodation She pays for it as part of her rent but has not used the facilities for ages since being in hospital.
I have a meeting with the Social Worker later this morning so I have to drive down anyway.

Woke up to torrential rain but the sun is shining :j I could do with a few days of sunshine so I can get the grass cut.
Roll on the first frost to stop the grass growing :rotfl:

Forgot to say I picked up a Student Cookbook in a charity shop while waiting for my car to be sorted yesterday. It's by that author Cas Clarke. I already have her "Posh Nosh" cookbook which I bought years ago when I catered my sister's wedding.
I remember feeding 100 people on a budget of £120. I made everything from scratch and she was well impressed :T
Guess I was already sickening with frugalitis all those years ago :rotfl:

bails

Blimey, that's amazing Janey - my brother's wedding is £55 a head! :eek: No knead bread is here

Cross with myself this morning as I offered to sort out my godmother's phone/broadband package - she currently pays BT £34 just for calls :eek: She was offered £34.99 from TT to include broadband but I can get it much cheaper of course. However, I just found out that I could've got £100 cashback if I'd done it before midnight :mad: Oh well, can only do so much I guess.
My OH's parents live in Brighton Minirolo so we head down there quite a bit, which is how I've met the lovely BB in person I love it there too, despite the MiL :rotfl:
Great to hear your brother is home Sophiesmum x

MrsHayes

Morning everyone hope you are all well. It is nice and sunny here this morning for a change :T

Nyk - haha no he isn't a sausage dog although he does love them. He is a staffy cross alsatation (staffsation?!) despite looking funny it really does tire him out more and means he is less frustrated which is better for everyone. I have taken a picture of him in it so may post it tonight! (at work at momet)

Sophiesmum - really glad your brothers homecoming went well. I'm sure he is happiest surrounded by those who love him.

Did the shopping last night and got a trolley load of things in Lidl for £31 so was very impressed by that. Not so impressed with Mr A at all. Things I usually buy have gone up since last week some as much as 50p :eek: I was shocked whe I came to pay. I am definitely going to try and get all my shopping in Lidl and only things that I can't get in Asda fromnow on. I forgot to budget for dog food as we buy massive bags which last a month so I was £7 over however I will try and make that up next week. I have stopped buying fresh rolls for my dinner at work (29p per day) and bought some pittas to bring instead - cheaper and better for the waistline! xx

whitewing

Morning all!

I am reading daily but can't get up the motivation to post much. I liked the WW2 poster - 'Don't panic but carry on'. That will be my slogan for the next couple of weeks.

Spent a fortune on school uniform, and also new casual clothes for DS recently. Actually, it was all very good value for money, and we always update his wardrobe once a year in autumn. We buy him stuff that totally swamps him!

MIL is now settled in her new flat. We have been busy sourcing furniture (friends have been generous, and there is quite a bit of solid old furniture, which if she paints and reupholsters, will last her a very long time and look good). It's a ten minute walk from ours, so we have had some lovely walks home under the stars.

Oh well, must go now and see what today brings. DH gets paid today and it will include last Mon's pay at double rates, which is one good bit of news.

Warm wishes to everyone. I read all your news and offer thoughts of support and encouragement, even if I don't always put them on here.

System

yikes, just came out of a team meeting at work, just as we were walking out one of my workmates asked what was wrong with my hand (as im off for the rest of the week following my op)

i HATE it when that happens, im like a rabbit in the headlights cos i can't say the word 'tumour' out loud to workmates! i have been saying i'm getting a 'wierd lump' on my finger removed - silly really cos its probably nothing to worry about

not looking forward to next week, when my hand is bandaged up and everyone in the world (including all the not-so-subtle teens!) will be asking me what happened to my hand!

think i will change it to 'i had a problem with my tendon sheath', that sounds boring enough that no-one will question it further and worry me!

bails - i am keeping my totals so low because i haven't added in my holiday spend yet, iv just noted it down till i think how i can get rid of it (think i am due some quidco cash)... plus my lovely mummy usually gives me some 'pocket money' when we go to jumble sales!

MrsHayes

Just found out Dh and I are getting the £60 tax rebate this month so we have £120 to finish off the work on the baby's room and then £20 extra per month til March 09 which will go into the baby fund :j Thats made my day! xx

Penny2myName

Either I'm too honest or I'm fool. Just got off the bus from bringing shopping home from town, and saw this old lady getting into a taxi, anyhow as i was about to pass where she had been standing, I saw some money on floor. I stopped the taxi from going, and got the lady to open the door, then asked if she had dropped it. She had. It was two £10 notes. I may only have £1.90 myself now till end of week but I know how much losing £20 would have effected me or my mother. Guess the lady was lucky it was me that picked it up, as this was outside of the local shops which does get alot of traffic. Luckily i was the first person passing where she had been.
I will admit my fist thoughts on seeing it was YESSSSSSSSS, lasted all of a second, before the honourably me took over again.:o

Brighton_belle

Penny2myName wrote: »

Either I'm too honest or I'm fool.

Or neither: sound just like good personal integrety to me, which is worth its weight in gold.
Janey - so far in my remoska...I have cooked a roast breast of lamb - succulent & tasty & a loaf of bread which cooked well & had a lunch of of an aubergene with HM feta sauce a la bails ,with sardines.Yum. Because I have avoided using my oven a lot, most of the meal planning (done in advance) revolve around non use of oven, so I think it will take a while to be using it every day, but I am excited at the possibilities. It has highlight the short comings in the design & layout of my kitchen though, so just need a few £1000's to put that right:rotfl:.

lilac_lady

Penny, I believe what goes around comes around so one day you'll have an honest person who'll do a similar deed for you.

Frugaldom

P2MN That was your good deed of the day. It isn't often that we hear the elderly discussing the 'youth of today' in terms of good deeds, I hope the lady cncerned appreciated your honesty.

Well, my DD has gone off in yet another strop, so no more babysitting DGD for now, yet again. :rolleyes: She just can't cope with a mother who stresses out about debt, so has chosen to tell me what to do with my budgetting & savings for her wedding - by email, no less! :mad:
Ho, hum... off to find the bad mothers club AGAIN.
Can anyone point me in the right direction?