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

bails

Purplevamp, your DD sounds like a sweetheart! Glad to hear your mum's doing well, even with half a haricut! Great you're feeling a little better now too, that's what we're here for. Sorry to hear your Dad is in hospital as well Cat Addict, it does seem like there's a lot of illness around at mo.
I don't think it's nesting here Whitewing but I definitely feel the urge to get our home really sorted out too. It has to be done in very small steps but I'll get there!
I wanted to mention that I've made a conscious decision not to record my spends until next year now. It's purely a time/energy decision, we're definitely not sticking our heads in the sand I'm actually really pleased with the progress we've made this year and am confident we are sticking to it without recording it. Now's the time to focus on other things and then move onto Stage 2 when the 2009 challenge starts. I am still going to prepare for that so we can hit the ground running though
I need chocolate - I don't know wht it is about today but I feel a little out of sorts (oh yes, I do, that'll be yesterday's full-onness coming to bite me in the b*m ) so I'm even going to brave the horrible weather to get some. Sometimes a girl's gotta do...

the_cat

Hi everyone

Haven't posted for a few days but have been reading - hugs to those of you who need one (sadly that seems to be quite a few at the moment) and good luck to Nyk for the move - you must be getting excited!

Spent Friday feeling a bit sorry for myself and 'had to' cheer myself up with a bottle of wine Not sure why, although I have heard bad news from friends this week and for some reason the interest rate cut/general state of things got to me and left me with a bit of a 'what's the point' sort of feeling.

On Saturday however I got a free hair dye through the post with which I can now treat the peculiar grey stripe which has yet again apeared on the top of my head:rolleyes: and today I managed to bag a couple of nice 1/2 price toys at MrS for Xmas presents and also a couple of whoopsies which will bring the cost of this weeks food down.

The fact that these small things have cheered me up so much makes me realise that although we all have down days, my old trick of cheering myself up in a clothes shop or something would not have given me anywhere near the same amount of satisfaction as frugal living. So thanks guys!!

bails

Cat, that is so true! My OH still sometimes gets perplexed by how excited I get at such seemingly small things but they really can give you so much more of a lift than splashing out! I'm glad you are feeling a bit more positive now x

On that note, I forgot to say that I may be converting my OH to 'the way of the Frunchkin' In fact, I'm not even sure I can take any credit for it which is even better :T After we bought our new shower from Eb@y he rang to say he'd got us a shower from Tr@deit too. OH great, I thought, now we have two showers... but someone he was working for needs a new shower so they're having the Eb@y one and we're having the other one, which is £60 cheaper!! :j He went to pick it up from Bristol, it was advertised at £20 but when he got there it had no hose or head so he got it for a tenner! He fitted it using our old hose etc and it works brilliantly, better than our old one! Now, that's my boy :happyhear

sophiesmum_2

Just had a trip to costco for oldies. Had a look at the Turkey crowns etc whilst I was there. Good sized turkey crown was around £20 and they had duck as well for between £10 and £12. the meat etc at costco is usually very good quality.
I'm probably going to be doing xmas dinner for 6 people and boxing day dinner for 4 so think I will do one of each. Turkey for xmas day and duck for boxing day. I will make the most of the left overs though as there will be lots, so will have to make room in freezer ready as I can't stand eating turkey forever over xmas - the one meal will do fine.:p Then it can be recycled into strips for stir fries,soups, casseroles, curries, pies, etc and frozen until it is needed.Taking that into consideration I don't think £20 is too excessive :rolleyes: same with the duck, will freeze strips for stir fries, wraps with plum sauce,and casseroles. I will have to ensure I have enough left in budget to cover this as rest of my xmas foodstuffs will be bought from asda using my savings card. Will be the start of my stocking up for 2009 though:D

Buffythedebtslayer

All this talk of nesting and decluttering got me upstairs and under the bed and tidying and sorting like mad. I think its cos I want to be ready to do the challenge properly next year - if I don't stick to it I won't be out of debt by the end of 2009 which is my big aim.

I did start the challenge this year but failed miserably. However I have been reading the threads and feel far more prepared for next year!

happy Moving Nky! and happy decluttering everyone elsexxxx

Marru

Evening all,

I have survived yet another birthday party. I am happy for DD being popular and getting invites but it is just sooo exhausting. Only thing I have managed to do since we came back is to put mushrooms into slowcooker. I really need to do some sandwich filling from kidney beans and get my HM loaf into freezer before it goes off and I end up spending money at college canteen.

When we were coming back from the party DD told me off because I had made a mess in the car (I had transported a bale of hay in there and left a mess of hay behind). She said she is going to tell Bails and her OH and that Bails won't be happy. Then she told me that she will take me to the doctor to get my ears checked as I am not listening and while I am at the doctor she is going to get the doctor to paint my toe nails red same as my neighbour has. :rotfl: Oh my goodness me, what ever will I do with her. I was impressed with her math skills thou. I asked her this morning that if we both have two slices of toast how many is that and she gave me the correct answer = 4 :T We have also been doing deducting with slices of cheese (needless to say that she has been eating the disappearing slices).

Aim for the week is to survive with what is in the cupboards, fridge and freezer. It shouldn't be difficult at all, I am just adding potatoes or noodles etc to the mushrooms and keep pulling out stuff like veggie sausages from freezer to add to them.

I am only one third on my way through my list, wish me luck with the rest...

Have a great decluttering evening everybody,

Marru

lingojingo

wow! what a lot to read from the past 24 hours or so!

Welcome to all the newbies - this thread is really addictive, you have been warned!

Big hugs to all that need them (((((((((()))))))))) as far as i can remeber that's Sophiesmum's DD, CW18's DH, Cataddict's dad, purplevamp - sorry if i missed anyone, consider yiurself hugged too.

Sophiesmum I'm interested in your batch cooking instructions, I freezee any spare portions, but would like to actively cook ahead.

BB thanks for the platesize tips, I think Whitewing and I are probably a similar size, any help greatly appreciated!

Cataddict, Janey and Bails - I'm really jealous, we have one adorable cat, 4 would be fantastic! (maybe one day;))

Nyk glad everything seems to be going well with the house move, I think you've coped so well at the current place, you really deserve somewhere nice and warm!

NSD here as it's far too cold and wet to venture out unless absolutely necessary.

redglass_2

Hi, welcome to the latest arrivals! :hello:For combining weight loss and frugalising, you could do worse than follow Slumming World's green plan - it's basically veggie (with a bit of animal food but only if you want it) and you can have lots of spuds, pasta etc. I am the world's worst dieter, a real spineless wonder, and even I managed to lose weight on it (until I got bored and started snacking on brazil nuts. Oh well, that was pre-frugal days. ) Seriously though, Slumming World green option is a frugal diet and it works. In case you're wondering, I don't work for them and never did, but I've known a lot of people lose weight on their diets. There's a meaty version as well, if you want it (but that's obviously less frugal) and you can even swap between the two.

Brighton_belle

I lost my weight with sw redglass and 100% agree with what you've said: couldn't praise it highly enough. I eat loads, and healthily and lost weight. It certainly got me thinking more creatively about veg and I now eat far more than I used to and types I had never tried before.We however, tend to lean more towards the meaty/protein based version just out of personal preference: that's what's good about it, you can adjust your choices to suit what you prefer to eat. And I get to eat cheese everyday on it too:D .
One more general hint, away from the sw plan - a vital tool in my kitchen is my digital scales - I always weigh pasta/rice portions before cooking, it is easy to eat too much and can add on the lbs (and if necessary cook mine in a pan separator away from OH's.
Sorted clothes and summer stuff now in attic. Remains looking a bit sparse. Need to plan carefully to fill in the gaps.
Just cooked 1kg of lentils for mass lunch portions in freezer. Lentils+ feta + mint jelly + roast peppers = nomnomnom.
Right off for prelim search for hse ins.

Frugaldom

Good evening to all

I hope everyone who has been feeling a bit 'off' is feeling better and am sending my best wishes to everyone with loved ones in hospital or needing special care at the moment. Many thanks for all the messages of support re the house move, just keep fingers crossed that we can make the transition without losing the Internet! I'd need to do housework instead! :eek: :rotfl:

This afternoon's visit was rather enteratining. After spending ages scrubbing out cupboards yesterday and making sure all the cleaning stuff was filed carefully under the sink, I went in today to find the edge of my roll of bin bags shredded into tiny pieces of confetti! :mad: I had forgotten the joys of rural living and will probably pay a visit to the local Cat Protection group to see if they have any 'frugal-mousers' in need of rehoming. :j After emptying out the cupboard , I was able to see the gap at the back, so it's now (HOPEFULLY) been mouse-proofed and everything replaced. Thankfully, some old habits die hard, so the dusters were tucked safely into their basket. It's still GRRRRRRRRR.......... losing 2 binliners to little "mouskie".

It was just beginning to get dark when we left the farm, that's when we got our first view of a deer. It trotted across the driveway in front of the car then bounced into the trees, but dear little deer wasn't in any great hurry to go anywhere, so I'd have got a picture IF I had taken a camera with me.

Popped into Co-op to pick up some milk and, despite trying to empty my freezer, I ended up buying 3 wholemeal loaves @ 35p each plus 2 blocks of cheese on BOGOF. :rolleyes: Must go update my signature before I forget.

Forgot to say, whoever asked about the extra savings from moving house, I think we're saving for a small, more eco-friendly car, one that costs a maximum £35 to tax and can do about 100 miles to the gallon But the longterm savings plan remains unchanged - to buy a house outright so there's no mortgage and no rent