Live on £4000 for a year - Part 3

wendywitch

NYK, Would this "bin growing" work with other plants, eg tomatoes? I'd like to start growing some odd bits but my dog would destroy any thing in the ground.

Frugaldom

wendywitch wrote: »

NYK, Would this "bin growing" work with other plants, eg tomatoes? I'd like to start growing some odd bits but my dog would destroy any thing in the ground.

Hi Wendywitch, if you go back a few pages in this forum, you'll find photographs from Sophiesmum's garden showing loads of stuff in pots. I have herbs, potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce, chilli peppers, sweet peppers, strawberries and peas in pots but now I have seen how easy it is, I'm going to do much more in pots for next year. So long as there's room for them to grow, my guess is that you can plant almost anything in pots so long as they are wide/deep enough for what you want. My best cropping lettuces are in a plastic tub covered with a polythene bag, as per my webpage. Not content to be frugally loopy, I'm going to pot next year! :rotfl:The cats dig up my garden and pots are quite easy to come by - I got loads through www.freecycle.org this year

Mumzy, we are having fun adding 2 plus 2 to make 5. MrDT said he had met a nice young lady, Mumzy said she had met a nice young man, neither have been posting recently, we decided that you two had got together and we're all awaiting the frugal news. Until MrDT small printed something along the lines of him not being the new man in your life and then edited it back out... but I saw it! :rotfl:

mama67

nykmedia wrote: »

I hide chopped celery in curry, pasta sauce and sweet & sour, although DS doesn't like S&S, but I haven't worked out how to hide leeks other than fine chopped in soup. :rotfl: DS doesn't even like tomatoes but he eats tomato based sauces, so I'm thinking that it's probably just as well the homegroewn ones, when they are eventually ready, can be cooked and frozen. Apparently, tomatoes are better for you after having been heated or cooked and even better, again, if you use olive oil in the cooking. Guess I'll be adding olive oil to the next grocery list. :rolleyes:

Ooh! Jimmy's talking about willow as a fuel source - one of my 'future projects', must go watch! :j

NYK, I use leeks sometimes to replace onions, if you saute them in oil/butter can't tell the difference.

EagerLearner

Thanks nyk and Bails that makes more sense now - wow, so excited, I want to make potatoes! Love the blog by the way, wow, beats my back paved patio handsdown... anyhoo, I will stop hovering and just happily read, seeing as I am not in the actual challenge! x

Penny2myName

Due to not having internet connection at he beginning of the month, I have two months of updates to do.

Total spend for 01 Jun 2008 - 30 Jun 2008: £330.21

TOTAL FOR ANIMALS £10.32
TOTAL FOR BILLS £177.53
TOTAL FOR CLEANING £2.66
TOTAL FOR COLLEGE £15.03
TOTAL FOR FATHER'S DAY £5.88
TOTAL FOR FOOD £20.51
TOTAL FOR HOUSEHOLD £9.00
TOTAL FOR OTHER £7.83
TOTAL FOR SCHOOL £10.62
TOTAL FOR SOCIALIZING £4.00
TOTAL FOR TOILETTRIES £42.14
TOTAL FOR TRAVEL £20.80
TOTAL FOR TREAT £3.89
TOTAL £330.21

Live on £4000 for the full year #005 £1393.51/ Weekly Budget £ 53.01

Total spend for 01 Jul 2008 - 31 Jul 2008: £607.85
TOTAL FOR ANIMALS £41.34
TOTAL FOR BILLS £149.09
TOTAL FOR BIRTHDAY GIFT £5.00
TOTAL FOR CHRISTMAS GIFT £51.01
TOTAL FOR CLOTHING £12.00
TOTAL FOR FOOD £154.26
TOTAL FOR GARDEN £14.49
TOTAL FOR HOUSEHOLD £13.08
TOTAL FOR OTHER £12.56
TOTAL FOR SCHOOL UNIFORM £36.97
TOTAL FOR TRAVEL £29.75
TOTAL FOR TREAT £88.30
TOTAL £607.85

Live on £4000 for the full year #005 - £785.66/ Weekly Budget £ 35.95

Seriously don't think I am going to manage as I only have £159.18 for August and that includes getting a bike for son's birthday. Plus I need to get him a whole new uniform as he is going into high school in September, so football boots, football kit, rugby kit, tie, and general uniform. Think I may end up having to include child benefit into this challenge. At least for the second half of the year.

With CB included for 6 months I would have £1053.60 extra for next 5 months. Giving me a total of £1839.26 allowing £84.14 a week.

I will see how long I can make the remaining £785.66 from my 4k set amount last. before I full back onto the £1053.60 CB amounted stated above.

Brighton_belle

Been lurking a lot this week, as had a manic week at work with everyone on leave but moi. Finding the garden/veg pics veru inspiring but still unsure about my regular watering skills:o . Secretly yearning to plant a sproting pototao now though. Perhaps I hould draw up a watering rota with OH?

Totted up total spends for the month. It feel really good to have my first month under my belt as a starting point. Mind you I popped to the shops on wed and found it very hard not buying quite a few things I fancied: would have totted up to £50 though so made myself leave them behind, to at least try and see if I could live without them:rolleyes: . It really would be better not to go to shops at all really wouldn't it!
Still used m&s xmas pressie vouchers for shoes I needed (really really) for a wedding and a couple of traid craft t shirts for a £5 each as I only have 2 hot weather tops, one pair of trousers and one skirt at the mo (lost a lot of weight since last summer) so getting a little despartae in this hot weather we are having.
Aiming to shave £30 off food bill next month. This months was £230 which embarrasses me a bit given what some of you seem to survive on and there are only 2 of us...:o . I already cook alot from scratch but I am sure I have picked up loads of tips already from here to improve on this big time. I borrowed Martins old style book for the library and it is excellent - loads more in there. And he talks about when switching lifestyles, do a bit at atime rather than trying to take on board everything at once and crashing from overload.
Any body here have/use a ramoska? (I know there is a thread dedicated to them)?

Mollymop5

Oh my goodness.Just realised it's end of the month and need to check out and count up my spends.Thank goodness for spending diary!
I'm off to count up

sophiesmum_2

Good evening frunchkins:D
lots of frugalchat to catch up on tonight on the thread.

These are todays offerings from the garden/pots:



The carrots and spuds were both grown in pots. The spuds shown came from one sprouting eye of a manky spud. Nyk I am even [STRIKE]meaner[/STRIKE]more frugal;) than you, and managed to cut one sprouting spud into 5 chunks each with a sprout, planted these into black florists tubs and got 5 plants growing, these are first i have harvested. Not bad for a fifth of a potato:D
Carrots were grown in a plastic tub in sand and compost mix, still have lots left to harvest.More cherry tomatoes ready and more blackberries and gooseberries and blackcurrants.



Shaz trade you some courgettes for cherry toms:rotfl:

sophiesmum_2

Brighton_belle wrote: »

Any body here have/use a ramoska? (I know there is a thread dedicated to them)?

BB,
I have just received my latest lakeland catalogue and spent ages looking at the remoska pages. I don't really need one, and I don't need to save electricity as mine is free but I do have a kitchen gadget fetish,and one has been on my wish list now since last year. It was in third place after the panasonic breadmaker and the dehydrator:o , the other two are now residing in my kitchen.:o
If i was paying for electricity I would seriously consider getting one in the current climate of spiralling prices.
Incidentally i think the people at lakeland have been reading the OS forum threads as this time the catalogue has little articles about free food from the hedgerows, alongside the jam making stuff and chutney recipes with the preserving jars, then articles on moneysaving/electric savings with the remoska stuff.

bails

Looking good Sophiesmum! :T

I've been having a rethink about moneymaking opportunities open to me and which are most cost effective for me. I've made a list (of course ) with pros and cons and it's really helped me to focus on what I need to make a priority. Think I'll do the same with moneysaving ways and see what comes up.

Marru helped me be frugal today by giving me a book I was thinking of investing in, so well happy about that, thanks Marru! :T

Well done on making it through your first month BB :T I totally agree with taking it gradually and chipping away at things. Your GC will be down in no time (are you on the GC BTW, great tips on there - some peeps feeding a couple on £35-£40 a month: I'm still trying to fathom how! As for Weezl the super genius, I just bow down and am not worthy, she's seriously :cool:). Great stuff for avoiding the spends, hopefully you'll realise you don't really need them (never going back to town ever again usually helps :rotfl:)

I am going to town tomorrow, to the library and diary buying and I am not coming on here til I've been Enjoy your evening folks xx
ps Interest Day tomorrow :j