Live on £4000 for a year - Part 3

sophiesmum_2

Hi SF,
Hope you are okay;)

Marru

Thanks Sophiesmum! You are a sweetheart!

I know that. Just the fact that I have been tired for few weeks now is not helping. And I am worried about my piggy boy as he has started to lose weight again. I will see my GP on Friday, I will have a chat with her (not about my piggy - about my tiredness).

Anyway - just heard that there are 17 rats looking for new homes or they will be put down and I have offered to foster so might get couple more ratties in here! :j(Psst - don't tell the landlord...)

Bails doesn't know this yet but I have nominated her as my business coach. I have had a domain name since January that I haven't done anything with and it is time to take action. So I need someone to keep giving me kicks up the back side to get things moving on. What is the site about? Oooh - you know me so well, yes it is about animals and books.

Lynda - hughs to you too!!!

Am now off to choose a book and then go to bed with it with The Dog sleeping by my legs.

Oh oh - was watching that Mary Queen of Shops and they had some rugby players as a models. Can I add another attribute to my Irish VET please? Could he be a rugby player as well? I think I need to find the local practice ground for my new hangabout place

Lets try this again: Night night!!

Marru

Edited: Jumblebee - You could make an online lifecoaching course. Just prepare emails that will go automatically out in certain intervals and the payment can be automated as well. Just get it all up and running and you have constant stream of income and never work again. Except you would need to give us all free life coaching here for us to give you brilliant recommendations and references for your website where you sell your course

Frugaldom

Hi Frunchkins!

Friend left for home this morning after a very frugal 3 day visit during which, neither of us spent a single penny! :eek: :T :rotfl: I now [strike]suspect[/strike] confirm she's a lurker on here after she asked how some of you were doing by name!! (:hello: Hi G! We all know you pop in here now and again, so you may as well join in the fun! Don't be shy! :rotfl: )

Dinner last night worked out well, I was rather pleased with the result of the vegetable cutlets! Fairly quick, very easy, very tasty and completely meat free. I used home grown potatoes boiled, seasoned and mashed then mixed with assorted cooked veggies (diced carrots, peas, sweetcorn, greenbeans all steamed above the potatoes), 2 outside slices of bread for the breadcrumbs and dip the 'pats' into some egg before covering in the breadcrumbs and frying for a couple minutes. I served this with homegrown salad leaves, sliced tomatoes and vegetable savoury rice from store cupboard (23p per pack store's own brand). All the 'Twinks' are gone, the frugifle got scoffed and, in total, we managed to clock up about 100 miles on OH's car in galavanting trips to various local (free to enter) places of interest. Better still, the weather stayed dry. :T


Now I need to start concentrating on trying to empty the freezer to defrost it. My main problem is that it magically fills quicker than it emptied the minute I mention defrosting! I had extra left over from the lasagne, so that had to go in; I had extra leftover from cheese sauce, so that had to go in; I had extra leftover from the potatoes, veggies and the savoury rice, so that has all been mixed together and made about a dozen more cutlets, so these had to go in! I'm thinking of just making up iceblocks and defrosting the freezer whilst the food is in freezer bags - anyone any ideas how quickly a freezer defrosts enough to wash it out and wipe down with fabric softener (as recommended elsewhere)? I don't use the stuff but I do still have a couple of free sample packs. :rotfl:

Marru - Hope your ex-troubles improve soon, don't let him get to you. Have you considered changing your mobile number to avoid receiving the abusive texts from him?

LyndaS - I am so sorry to read your post about BF Vs job dilemma! It sounds like you may be faced with the prospect of making the ultimate decision re choosing between him and your job. Or maybe he can't face the prospect of choosing between you and his son but can't see an easy way around it. Has be made any alternative suggestions? Perhaps it would be better to go for the interview on your own, without meeting his mum, and then decide for yourself what means more to you? Not much help, I know, but it does sound as if there may be tough decisions to make with little space for compromise owing to distance and family commitments. Good luck, hope everything goes the way you would like it and I'm sure everyone will agree to my sending you :grouphug:(dodgey hugs) of support on their behalf

Brighton_belle

nykmedia wrote: »

I'm thinking of just making up iceblocks and defrosting the freezer whilst the food is in freezer bags - anyone any ideas how quickly a freezer defrosts enough to wash it out and wipe down with fabric softener (as recommended elsewhere)? I don't use the stuff but I do still have a couple of free sample packs. :rotfl:

My up right freezer takes about an hr in mild weather NYK - I help it along by putting in metal saucepans filled with boiling water from the kettle. I store food in freezer bags for that time with no problem - everthing together helps keep them cold.

slowlyfading

sophiesmum wrote: »

Hi SF,
Hope you are okay;)

haha hello :P I'm good thanks!

Marru

Hi,

It has been a spend day for me unfortunately. I got some news this morning that my ex had gone around making really outrageous claims about me and I went into a shock and had to have some chocolate for remedy.

But then I had a really nice afternoon at DD's very first sports day. Made some new friends with DD's best friend's mum from her school. And after sports day went to visit one of the new pre schools that she is going in the autumn and there are going to be lots of other children that she already knows from either nursery or present school. I spent £3.70 at the sports day for raffle, tea and cakes and that also includes Christmas present for my Mum.

Oh and yes went also to petshop to stock up with everything my little rodents need and met this baby rat that we had a nice little cuddle with. And my piggy boy has started eating again so thank goodness for that.

We are now back and going to have some supper soon and have some cakes for pudding that I bought from the sports day.

Nyk, when I have defrosted a freezer I either take as hot water as my hands can take and a cloth and keep wiping the ice to help melt it or you can use a hair dryer and a spatula. and the ice comes out in big chunks and is easy to pick up and throw to the sink instead of having all the water sloshing in the bottom of the freezer from where it then has to be mopped up.

Have a great evening everybody. I think DD won't last long she seems very tired after all the excitement of the day.

Marru

sophiesmum_2

Marru have sent you a pm:grouphug:

Frugaldom

Thanks for the thumbs up on emptying/defrosting freezer guys, will plan on doing this tomorrow and then I'll have a dull inventory of what goes back in; at a guess, I would say, veggies of various types, potato cutlets, chicken, margerine, soup stock and pizza bases. Anything else will be an added bonus that I'd forgotten about, so I'll aim to use it all up before going shopping. I know I'm out of biscuits and cakes, so might need to cram in some more baking, but I used the last of the eggs & some rubbery rhubarb for the sponge pudding we had after dinner tonight.

Brief recap of 2008 to date so I know I'm making progress:

1. 2008/9 ISA is filled ('stoozed' it) and is now increasing by £45+ per month in interest alone.
2. 10 year savings & assurance bond in place and on schedule to be paid via my interest beater challenge.
3. Interest beater challenge balance should be at £127.15 but is actually at £161.50. (Must increase this by another £98.50 by 31/12/08)
4. Cashback fund has paid for all extra entertainment to date including a trip to the Isle of Man and 18 months family membership to the National Trust
5. Quit smoking and have saved £1.35 per day since 01/01/08 (into bank account.)
6. £2 coin savings have paid for everything done to the garden so far, including buying a 10' portable greenhouse.

It may look as if I have grossly overspent on my 4k budget but the biggest bills are behind me and I'm sure I can survive on an average of £65 per week from now until the end of the year. I hope you all know how great I think it is to have some serious company whilst doing this challenge. It makes such a difference! Thank you. :T

Now I am off to catch up on Weezl's 50p per person per day thread as it's pretty close to my £10 per week for 3 efforts, except I rely on the store cupboard for back up.

Frugaldom

Challenges within challenges within challenges

I've been looking at quite a few different links and posts and I've done a few quick searches relating to the National Health Service and recommended daily allowances. The basic one that we all know now is the 5-a-day, so I had another look at the recommended portion sizes. Link can be found here to what counts, as suggested by the NHS.

I know we already have the 4k challenge and, within that, many of us take part in the Grocery Challenge, Sophiesmum's stockpile challenge, homegrown veggies, the interest beater challenge and the £10 shop, but I really do need to find out if the members of my household each get their 5 a day, especially as potatoes don't count!:eek: (I didn't know that until recently.) It's all very well living on a budget, but it's useless if it results in bad diet or malnutrition! That's why I'm having another mini challenge within this challenge. (Mumzy, this is thanks to your request for another mini-challenge.:rotfl: )

For one full week, I am going to keep notes and list all the fruit & vegetables that I incorporate into our meals in an attempt to make sure everyone here is getting their RDA. The biggest challenge, for me, will be getting everyone to eat the RDA - it'll take some creative menu-planning to hide that amount in the meals every single day!

sophiesmum_2

Nyk - we are big fruit and veggie eaters even on stockpile budgets:D we usually average about 10 portions a day each.
Typically -
Breakfast
glass orange juice/tomato juice/grapefruit juice (1 portion) plus
porridge with dried prunes (soaked in cold tea) (1 portion) or HM yoghurt with tinned fruit/pureed fruit from garden (1 portion)

Lunch
HM veggie soup made from sundays leftover veggies with added pulses (approx 5 portions)
or beans on toast (2 portions) tinned tomatoes on toast (2 portions) jacket spud with beans (2 portions)
salad with cucumber/lettuce /tomatoes/tinned sweetcorn/radish/chives etc (5 portions)

Dinner

Lots of veggie based meals-
quorn chilli - with tomatoes, onions, kidney beans, peppers, chillis, mushrooms (6 portions but only count pulses 1 a day)
meat free bolognese - tomatoes, onions, peppers, blitzed carrots and peas, mushrooms, herbs (6 portions)
HM pizza with tomatoes, cheese, olives, mushrooms, capers,spinach, onions etc (approx 5 portions)
veg and pulse stews (usually about 5 portions)
Peppers stuffed with rice and other veggies(2-3 portions)
Roasted vegetables (4-5 portions)

Meat meals
Roast dinners with 3-4 veggies (3-4 portions)
Cauliflower cheese,garden peas, and fish (2 - 3 portions)
HM burgers with salad on a bun (2 portions)
Hearty meat and veg stews (usually about 5 portions)

Desserts
stewed fruit with sponge topping or with custard etc
sugar free jelly set with tinned fruit
fruit crumbles
fresh/tinned fruit with ice cream
Yoghurt with fresh fruit/tinned fruit
smoothies made with fresh/frozen fruit
rice puds with added sultanas etc


Snacks
fruit
HM Humous with celery sticks/carrot sticks
HM veg pate on crackers
HM flapjacks with lots of dried fruits
cheese with HM chutneys


If you have a sandwich add lots of salad stuff to bulk it out, add pulses to stews, add "hidden" veggies to sauces, add chopped veggies to burgers etc, have a glass of fruit juice, snack on a handful of raisins,etc. I use lots of frozen veggies/tinned fruits/frozen fruits/dried fruits as well as stuff from the garden and also pulses and fruit juices.Just get creative about how you can sneak veggies into what you are preparing. It really is easier than you think;) For instance a curry can hide a multitude of veggies, helps bulk it out too.