Live on £4000 for a year - Part 3

sophiesmum_2

Bails - I haven't got a large area for growing, it is mostly tubs, hanging baskets, greenhouse 8ft x 4ft, small area for fruit bushes and rhubarb around 12ft x 4ft,salad leaves, and radish, on indoor windowsills along with some herbs, and strawberries in pots and dustbin.(OH drillled a plastic one for me but I swapped it with friend for a metal one as wanted a brazier for burning stuff) .Spuds in tubs, and even apple tree is in a big tub.
I will post a few more piccies later. Would recommend the tumbling tomatoes in baskets as have had loads from these already and still loads to ripen yet.
Beans have also been growing fine in big pots with canes and a net up the wall, carrots, leeks in pots too.
I put the goosegogs and raspberries and blackcurrants in last spring, they didn't do much last year but have been great this year, same with rhubarb. I have picked it right down twice and it still keeps growing again:D
The apple tree i have in a tub is 10 years old and this year produced around 15 small apples, I used them to add to jam as some had started to fall off tree and birds were getting them, they may have grown bigger if I had left them Space wise though i would go for rhubarb or gooseberries rather than apple tree. I can't wait to get started on my allotment and be able to grow some of the big stuff, squashes, cabbage, sprouts, broccoli,spuds etc.

The other blackberries weren't quite ready when I went this morning just about red - they are in a shadier position than mine, I was surprised that mine were ready so soon, especially with poor weather we have been having.
Rosehips are ready too so need to pick some and see about syrup/ jelly:rolleyes:

Just chilling now before tea, shopping and cooking done, visits made, car fille d to gunnels, as i was riding on fumes :rolleyes: - £50:eek: :eek::mad: for a corsa. Never spent £50 before filling it up , before xmas it cost me £37.

1274

Hi gang. It's time for my monthly update, but I've totally let the spending diary slip this month so I don't really know where I am (it says I've spent £355.47, with a yearly total to date of £3,191.79 but I think I've spent over £400 this month). So, instead of a breakdown, I thought I'd reach out to all you nice folks for a bit of guidance on how to cut back on the following:

Food shopping - thanks to MSE I always use a tesco voucher. I've switched to own brand stuff except where the stuff I like is only available in Finest (my tastebuds were formed in a more affluent period!). Have tried the value range but it is just horrible so I haven't kept on with that. Average spend is £112 per month and budget is £100, so I need to trim a little fat. I don't have a full size kitchen so, although I do cook, it's mostly stove top stuff like spag bol. No garden so my salad and fruit spends are a lot too. Any tips for stovetop cooking?

Going out - I still haven't figured out a way to cut this down. Go out around once per week and it's £30 odd every time for a pub visit and a cheap meal like pizza. I have used vouchers a couple of times, but have not told my friends about MSE so we don't specially go to the voucher places. How do the rest of you go out (adults not kids) on a budget?

Going a bit crazy - occasionally (well, three times since Jan ) I go a bit mad with the unnecessary spending on wants not needs. I think it's just the stress of living on a budget. Don't know how to cut this out because it's not at all planned

It doesn't look too mad set out like this, but if things continue I will probably end up spending £6K on the challenge. All help gratefully received

mama67

sophiesmum wrote: »

Sorry whitewing:o but I am a complete foodie, and HM sausages are yummy.OH bought me my mincer/sausage maker a couple of xmas's ago. You can make lovely speciality sausages - pork and apple, beef and horseradish, beef and blue cheese, pork with chilli, beef and tomato, turkey and cranberry or just bog standard ones, and you know exactly what ingredients go into your food.
Next time I make sausages I will post piccies, it is good fun too.

Sophiesmum, could you please post a link for the sausage skins supplier.

This is something I want to be looking at when i buy the half pig from the farm.

TIA

Frugaldom

Good afternoon to all, hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. It is absolutely scorching here, too warm for working outside or, even, sunbathing! Hopefully, this will benefit my tomatoes, as I sometimes wonder if the plastic green house acts like a filter for the sunlight.

1274 it's nice seeing you back again, even if it is questioning your [STRIKE]sanity[/STRIKE] spending. :rotfl: Nightlife - what's that again?
£1500+ per year on pub/club visits isn't really classed as an essential 'cost of living' item, so it isn't included in your 4k budget To be honest, I can't really remember the last time I went out for a drink and food (barring parties/special occasions) but that's probably because I live in a rural location with no actual fast food takeaway outlets here. It's pub grub or nothing. Going out for the day, now that happens quite regularly - picnics mostly and £78 for 18 months National Trust family membership is a snip when you consider all the places to visit. Most have children's play parks and nature or animal parks attached, if you have kids. Living not too far from the beach helps, too.

On the subject of fruit growing, none of the fruit in my garden is anywhere near ready. Brambles are flowering, tomatoes still flowering but there is green fruit growing on the vines, my giant pepper is just starting to develop tiny peppers but is still flowering and the apples are at about half size. All I'm getting from garden at the moment (and for past month) is salad leaves, potatoes, parsley, coriander, mint, a few peas and potatoes. When do I start picking the leeks? They look next to be ready and, possibly, some broccoli if it doesn't just shoot past the eating stage and straight into flowers! Next year, I'd like to try the salad basket growing, like this:

Note the various lettuce plants around the bottom
and the herbs & tomatoes in main basket!
Not sure what the yellow flowers are.

slowlyfading

:hello: everyone. Was going to have a NSD today, but work called me in as someone else called in sick. Cue buying a slush puppy and an ice cream. so not too much, and definitely needed! The bakery gets far too hot during the day... so yes, I'll update sig in a minute! hope you've all had a good day xx

Frugaldom

I'm back again

Rice now cooking away and I've added loads of extra veggies to the sweet & sour, which is simmering in the slow cooker, so that will take us up to our 5-a-day. I'm hoping to make it to the end of this month without having to buy any more groceries. As you'll see by the signature, I haven't much left out of the July budget but neither have I much left by way of fresh fruit & veggies! We'll be living off supplies from now until next weekend and then it's another week, again, until the next trip out anywhere near a major supermarket. I'll be hard pushed maintaining 5-a-day from the store cupboard! What with the varying degrees of fussiness in this household, the coming week could prove to be interesting, to say the least! :rolleyes: Must dash - microwave just pinged, so the rice should be ready. :rotfl:

Edited in:
Late Brekkie: OJ, banana & yoghurt (2)
Snack: Cuppa & couple of hm sultana & oat biscuits
Dinner: Sweet & Sour with extra peppers, onions & carrots (3) followed by tinned mixed fruit & custard (1)

I have a huge cabbage to use this week so will be checking back through forums for ideas and recipes plus finding out how easy it is to freeze the surplus.

Doom_and_Gloom

Today has been very productive. I've made some ratatouille (still one portion left as I eat it on it's own as a main), there is rice pudding in the slow cooker made with rice milk (So good rice milk that was 65p at Sainsburys, not sure if it still is though ) and I will be making some vegetable lasange later :j (have prepered the vegetables for it already :rotfl: ). I still have nearly 6 inches left of my courgette (picked it yesterday and it was 16inches long and 11inches around at it's fattest point and 8 inches around the thinest point :eek: ).

I'll be watering my vegetable patch later as it's so hot at the moment that it could all die otherwise :rolleyes: .

I need to buy some Bio-Catolet soon for the rats trays in their cage at some pont (probably Saturday). It's the best for the 6 of them I've found and it doesn't contain much dust, it does not clump and it works out rather cheap as the 12L bag lasts around 3 months :T .

Spent £8 on Wednesday so could use Orange Wedsenday at the cinema to see Wanted (very good film) and we didn't pay for cinema food prices as we took food and drink with us , not that i can eat alot of the cinema food which would be my excuse if ever asked about the food .

I've already had my 5 a day
Breakfast - Banana and 2 satsumas (2)
Snack - Humous with bread (1)
Lunch/dinner - Ratatouille (2)

I will be having some rice pudding later and maybe some grapes, mango, melon or some other fruit or veg .

Hoping to keep the rest of the month as cheap as possible.
D&G

sophiesmum_2

mama67 wrote: »

Sophiesmum, could you please post a link for the sausage skins supplier.

This is something I want to be looking at when i buy the half pig from the farm.

TIA

Hi
I use www.designasausage.com
I buy the collagen skins as they have a longer shelf life and also you don't need to soak them.
I don't buy the rusk as I use HM wholemeal breadcrumbs instead, but the spices are quite good, or mix your own.

sophiesmum_2

Bails - This is my little corner, compact but quite fruitful, with lots of stuff in baskets and pots.



This is one of the remainder of my basket tomatoes - recommend doing these,I'm going to put two rows of baskets next year:D



Lots of toms on every bit of tumbler tom plants:



runner beans also in pots with netting and canes;



Runner beans will be my next crop for picking, there are tons of them:D



Leeks in pot



So you don't need a big space, just be a bit creative with stuff.:D

whitewing

Sophiesmum and Nyk, I feel inspired. Especially by the pot grown stuff. Shall make plans for next year. Am also going to check out the bramble bush at my parents'. I love blackberries.

Janey, nibbles: cheese and grapes on sticks (I'm not keen on pineapple) and celery pieces piped with primula are my favourites. Along with strips of peppers to add colour.

Everyone else, I read all your posts but can't remember everything I have to say. Next year I will keep a notebook dedicated to the challenge so I can properly let you know what I am grateful to each of you for.

Just 1 (extremely busy) week to get through before we travel to Cornwall for our weddingmoon. Now, I am slight - very - worried about how we are going to manage without the internet. I normally check online banking at least twice a day. As well as checking on here to keep the frugal momentum. Generally once a month (on payday) I tot up all my monthly outgoings and ensure there is enough to cover. Between times we just go without. But this relies on seeing the balance.

While we are on weddingmoon our bank account has to cover: normal bills, wedding stuff (mainly flowers, buffet and alcohol) and our holiday spends.

I will talk to H2B but am fairly sure that we will set a daily cash budget for the hols. We may even give DS the chance to be a budget manager, so any unspent funds can roll over to the next day.

I don't want to use cash for the wedding stuff though because of the relative amount.

I'm not worried (more than usual) about having enough money to cover everything. I am worried about if it will be in the right place at the right time and if I miscalculate anything. Also if I have too much of a comfort barrier, I will spend it (the urge to splurge is gathering force).

I know, despite us saying 'no wedding gifts', that some friends are buying us stuff and some are giving cheques. All will be gratefully received of course. But I want to use any wedding money for something special (maybe set up my garden/veggies/ fruit tree!) so I don't want it to disappear into holiday spends.

Wise folk on this board, can you help?