Live on £4000 for a year - Part 3

FunBrum

I haven't had much time to post in the last few days, but I've managed tohave 3 NSD's.:D

I have to go with OH as he want's something from Boots and so I think I'll pick up some bit's and pieces from there but use my Boots points, so I don't have to use any money. Does onyone know how much of the points money I can use, as different assistants...I'm sure...have fed me contrasting answers. We are then going to pop to the freezer place we go to, to stock up on their fab Deli and Sicilian sausages that they have there.;)

looby-loo_2

Hi, I've not been around much as all my children are back form uni and the end of term gets more and more busy. I suspect I'll be spending the first week of the hols in school trying to catch up and sort out ready for next year. There always seems to be something more pressing to do when the children are in school. This week I got a rare chance to teach high level children in main stream school. I love Special Ed but it made me realise how draining it is. Just explaining once, all attentive and on task, quiet settled room with no disputes or problems, all able and wanting to get on with the task unaided - what a dream! I taught 5 full hour lessons then cleared up (well not really as these main stream students did it all perfectly) and when I got home I had ENERGY! I'd forgotten what it was like to cook tea and still have energy to go in the garden till 9.30 hen come in and make jam with the fruit I had picked.
Perhaps there is some thinking to do - I'm saving to retire early/go part time but maybe I could change direction and do part time in mainstream.

On a MSE front I have:-
planted more salad
harvested broad beans
made raspberry and frozen the blackcurrants to make jam or jelly later
made bread and hotcross buns
made yoghurt form reduced milk - flavoured with strawberries from freezer
sold three things on gumtree
persuaded new rescue cat that she does like to eat cheap cat food. (I do need to buy 28 can a week!)
star findfound a working printer in a skip! Has leads and everything. DD will take it back to uni.

I'll catch up with everyone elses posts later.

Frugaldom

That's me just caught up with all the posts from the past 2 says and I have just updated my signature to reflect my spends etc. My Asda £10 voucher arrived this morning, so it's been added to the voucher count and I have updated my cashback spending to reflect yesterday's trip, which was most enjoyable despite some horrendous rain showers.

Janey - I am hoping everything is alright across where you are, as the weather was horrendous in places yesterday, what with the flash floods, roadslips and landslides in places. Fingers crossed you aren't being affected by them.

Mumzy - hope you have a great time this weekend and that your mum has a good flight. Have a fab time for your birthday, just in case you don't get on line much before then

Whitewing - pass on my congratulations to your DS, he's a true frugalite in the making and did really well with his school results, you have good reason to be proud of him. :T

Looby-loo - glad you enjoyed a slight change of tempo to your work schedule; I am one of those people who plan to work enough to keep the wolf from the door but don't mind if he sits watching from a safe distance. It's a good philosophy, in my book, if it means a relatively stress free and happy living environment

Marru - I can see why that's your favourite room. :rotfl: That's probably how mine would end up if lived in my own house with no livestock restrictions. I think that's what I miss most - being able to keep whatever pets or livestock I want. That and the peace & quiet, of course. Why do boyracers need to spoil an otherwise happy little community?!

Sophiesmum - 4 kids under 5??? :eek: No wonder you are so organised after that amount of practice - imagine 4 sets of grandchildren visiting in the future at the same time... and the Christmas list?! :eek: :rotfl:

Wendywitch, how do you get a photo on a cake? It's my gran's 90th birthday in a few weeks and that sounds like a great idea! I've seen photo chocolate but never cakes. My frugal pressiemaking idea involves a scrap book and rounding up all 5 generations of this family to contribute photographs, postcards, poems, anecdotes, drawings, cartoons etc. Hopefully, I can get this done in good time for the family get together

Just added another £2.99 to my spending under 'household' as I needed to buy an emergency umbrella yesterday. No amount of rain was going to stop me from having that day trip with picnic to the castle & country estate for OH2B's birthday.

Frugaldom

Just updating further. What with future househunting, DD's wedding and my 0% options nearing there end for the stooze pot, I decided to draw out of the penny shares option as my £150 was shrinking instead of growing. So, I have just put through the sale and will be withdrawing the cash back into my 4k budget as soon as it clears (normally about 3 working days). Of my original £150, I am left with only £117.78 but I just didn't feel the urge to lose it all when we are running the risk of seeing electricity prices increase again this year. I'll redo my signature once the cash gets refunded to my account. In the wake of the direct debit scam, I'm reassessing everything I am signed up to and cancelling accounts wherever they are not required. I'll probably cut back to just one cashback site and one points site plus I'll leave myself with the free bingo option, just to be sociable. Apart from anything else, if I ever need to change my email address I'll be there for a year if I don't start keeping note of everywhere that I've registered it! :rotfl:

lingojingo

Have just checked my account and found my first quidco payment has gone in :j
then I got home to find another voucher in the post from valued opinions (got one from pigsback yesterday, just in time to put in a card for my nephew's birthday, avoiding spending real cash:D).

Totted up all my vouchers this year, £105!!!! Most have been used for birthday presents, and the rest will go towards Christmas (well, ex OH will be 50 in October, so he might get one as I'm not using any real money on him:rotfl:)

I resisted the temptation to use tesco vouchers in my shopping at beginning of July, inspired by Nyk's tales of travel deals - hope to have enough to go somewhere next year - and I'm keeping the co-op ones for extra goodies at Christmas.
I'd never have done any of this without this thread and the grocery challenge, so thank you all:T

wendywitch

nykmedia wrote: »

Wendywitch, how do you get a photo on a cake? It's my gran's 90th birthday in a few weeks and that sounds like a great idea! I've seen photo chocolate but never cakes. My frugal pressiemaking idea involves a scrap book and rounding up all 5 generations of this family to contribute photographs, postcards, poems, anecdotes, drawings, cartoons etc. Hopefully, I can get this done in good time for the family get together

I got mine done at Asda but Tesco do them to. Just take a photograph to the bakery department and they some how print the photo on to sugar paper and put it on a cake. Costs £8 something, cake serves 16 and at Asda you have the choice of plain or chocolate, don't know about Tesco.

milliemonster

Hi all, I know I'm probably a bit late to join in on this challenge seeing as tho we are more than half way through the year but I'd like to have a go, in fact its going to be essential if we are ever going to get our debts paid off

So I guess it works out at £333 a month which is about £78 a week, we should be able to manage that!, esp as I've had a nsd today!!!

mumzyof2

Hello everyone

I have spent about £5.10 today and i been to college to do a english and maths addesment and i got Level 1 meaning when i join a course il go straight to level 1 and not foundation/easy entry.

Im off out tomorrow shopping for my clothes for tomo but comin out of birthday money when i get it.

whitewing

Mumzy, well done on your test.

mumzyof2

Thankyou whitewing.