Live on £4000 for a year - part 4 (Oct - Dec 2008)

Brighton_belle

amazing hampers sm!
Just got our monthly phonebill and we got call costs down to £3.22 this month by making more use of the free calls at weekends. Bought a plastic pouring container with lid from charity shop for 79p for reconstituted dried milk now we're using that. Fits in fridge door:j .
Janey - haven't read any of your wonderful mums memories for a few days - are things feeling a it easier/better round your mum at the moment?
17 degrees in my front room at the moment - positively tropical compared to many of you.

bails

Janey, :kisses3: :grouphug: I know it's far from the same but I hope it helps a little.

Good work on the phone reductions BB! Isn't this saving malarky addictive?

I had quite a successful trip to the charity shop, spent £9.25 but got some great things for my present baskets :T I asked in the florists and they would sell me the cellophane for £1.50/m - assuming I can get it cheaper somewhere else? I couldn't find any cheap baskets (best was £5.99) so any tips gratefully received folks.
One of the cats (the big boy) keeps trying to sit on the laptop, so he must be freeeeezing too, brr! Off to make a nice warming lentil stew now before heading off to the gym for a sauna and steam. It's so cold trying to have a shower in the mornings here that I might start popping up there every morning for my ablutions
BTW, I've ordered a free copy of Lonely Planet mag from this week's email and am now having to steel myself against splurging on a subscription I haven't even seen if it's any good yet! (I've got it down to £1.63 an issue - RRP £3.50 - through Quidco and Magazine Group so far...)

sophiesmum_2

Morrisons have some reasonably priced baskets in at moment, also think outside the box;) - gardening hamper could be done in one of those plastic garden tub things, I have done wine in a wicker waste basket from pound shop,etc have a look on special occasions board lots of info on finished bashkets thread.:D

Janey51

Mum's Memory of the Day
Mum couldn't cope with foreign food at all. About the most adventurous we got was Heinz Spaghetti Bolognese and Vesta Beef Curry.
A few years ago, I persuaded Mum and Dad to come to Tenerife with me. We went on a coach trip around the island and stopped for lunch at a restaurant serving traditional food. On the menu for the day was Chicken in Almond Sauce with lotsa free vino.
And what did Mum have?
A plate of chips and a can of Tango.

Brighton_belle

bails wrote: »

Good work on the phone reductions BB! Isn't this saving malarky addictive?

Yes it is: I'm actually almost kind of 'enjoying' sitting here a bit cold: I can almost hear the chink of coppers falling into my savings pot**:rotfl: . Of course, rather bizarrely, the heating is on - but only downstairs where the lodgers live. Our radiators in our 2 rooms upstairs are not on, so only 17 degrees up here but we do benefit from a warm bathroom as the default radiator is in there, so if the heating is on, the bathroom is warm. But no one has starting putting the heating on in the morning yet so chilly showers indeed (I don't mean cold showers:eek: We have a combination boiler so hot water on tap). Our room up here is 17 degrees still.
Can only suggest charity shops and pondland type shops for the baskets bails.
** just remembered, i got TWO £2 coins in change today. Rushes off to put them in money box...

whitewing

Lol, when we went to Tenerife a few years ago, we ate mainly Chinese as the Chinese Restaurants were so cheap, and I love Chinese food.

MrDT

Nearing the end of October, dark nights, snow, "soon be Christmas"... :rotfl:
Nice hamper sophiesmum! I made a few last year (gardening for grandad, movielovers for dad, pampering for mum) but none of them looked too impressive really, I don't have the creative arranging/wrapping flair you have. Maybe I'm a bit too "hetero male" to pull that kind of thing off well haha Seeing your photo has made me determined to try something similar again this year though, the personal thought behind the gifts mean so much more than the pounds and pence spent

I'm still not quite bust yet, £84.26 of my budget left... Won't be long now!

I have a big nightout this weekend, fancy dress halloween party, that'll swallow up a fair bit. I also have a birthday present to buy, and need to get a nice silver christening gift for my niece too.

I like the thought of 'busting' on a significant purchase, I'd hate for the purchase that finally pushes me over the edge to fail the challenge to be something mundane like a loaf of bread or a pint of milk - much better for it to be a treasured gift my niece will keep forever I think, so I'll be timing my spending to try and bust on the 'right' purchase, sad or what haha!

Not making excuses for myself, but for the past couple of months my girlfriend has pretty much been living with me... Net result is that the food bill etc (counted in the challenge) has gone up a fair bit to feed us both, but she drops me off at work in the morning and picks me up in the evenings so I'm not spending anything on my commute (which I wasn't counting in the challenge). I hadn't budgeted for the extra spends in advance, and obviously didn't expect to save £100 a month on travel - so although my challenge spends have gone up recently my overall spends haven't in reality (if that makes sense lol!?)

Aaaanyway, I was going to post a breakdown of my spends to date, but I figure I may as well just leave it now and put up a breakdown the day I go bust. I think I'll also put up a post New Years Eve detailing what I spent in the nine months in reality.

Don't know if I'll be going on holiday next year, if I don't then 4k would be more doable. Then again I might weaken and buy a car for myself, which would pretty much render 4k an absolute impossibility!

cw18

Janey -- I'd have joined your Mum in drinking Tango rather than the local vino..... but I'd have been more than game for the chicken dish as it sounds yuuuuuuummy

whitewing

MrDT wrote: »

Not making excuses for myself, but for the past couple of months my girlfriend has pretty much been living with me... Net result is that the food bill etc (counted in the challenge) has gone up a fair bit to feed us both, but she drops me off at work in the morning and picks me up in the evenings so I'm not spending anything on my commute (which I wasn't counting in the challenge). I hadn't budgeted for the extra spends in advance, and obviously didn't expect to save £100 a month on travel - so although my challenge spends have gone up recently my overall spends haven't in reality


......until you have to buy her Christmas present,

Frugaldom

Hi guys, I wish it was 17 degrees here, it's staying steady at 10C and I am really struggling to keep the 'warm' rooms at 14C despite turning on more heaters. I'm quitting on trying to cut the carbon emissions until after the housemove, sorry folks, it's just too cold and damp.

I feel another pot of soup in the offing, but tonight's priority is, "don't forget to switch the TV on in time for Martin's programme!" Must keep telling myself this and then remind myself to set the slow cooker before bedtime for the soup.

Could anyone make use of a Nat. Exp. £5 off 'travel to London' voucher? Don't know why they insist on sending them here as we are nowhere near a booking centre - such a waste of time, money and paper! It also incorporates a 2 for 1 offer for selected Christmas attractions.

Edited in - Hi MrDT, just seconding Whitewing's comment - those savings will come in really handy for the extra special Chrissie pressie you'll be buying for the GF