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

lyndasharp

Janey, try not to worry about your Mum. A move like that is going to be hard at first but I'm sure she'll settle in soon.

My bank has finally noticed I'm not a student any more and taken away my interest free overdraft. I shouldn't complain really, as they took two months longer to take it away than I expected. I've been charged 87p due to not noticing immediately, but as I've earnt about £12 in extra interest by putting the whole overdraft into my savings account it's not too bad.

I picked up my freecycle sink today, very very happy with it. Freecycle is great :beer: Hopefully getting a dressing table through freecycle tomorrow. Luckily one of the housemates has just moved out, I can fill her room up with my stuff :rotfl: Tomorrow will be fairly expensive as it's her leaving party, we're going out for lunch. I hope I can wait until after the dishwasher I've got my eye on on ebay finishes, before I have to leave for the lunch, I'd be so annoyed if I lost the auction at the last minute!

Edit, Nyk, just read your post and it's making me feel hungry. Chocolate, cherries and coconut are my favourite You should put them all in one batch of biccies... I've used cooking chocolate chopped up in place of choc chips before and it works fine.

Buffythedebtslayer

I joined at the beginning of the year, and then had a few nightmares and sliently bowed out. I really have no idea how you do it! But I aim to do it next year, its my debt free year - it will happen.

I have learnt so much about spending and saving and debt busting this year its been amazing. I have experimented with different budgets and actually spent more money than I should. but i have paid for driving lessons, ou, the dentist and the car, so I am trying not to beat myself up! At least I know where it went for possibly the first time ever.

any how for the last two months I have managed to to keep to a budget where I spend 225 a month on me so next year when I do this challenge and have 333 pounds a month after I have paid rent, loan and cc bill ( where do I count the phone bill?) it should be ok. bit worried about paying car insurance and stuff but I have to pass my test first!

I also need to make a plan for birthdays etc. working out when they are and how much.

But I shall follow this thread till the end of the year and I am also in the 1000 in a 100 challenge !

its a great thread btw am looking forward to next year
xxxx

Buffythedebtslayer

Nyk I think you could grate cooking chocolate - on a big gratey bit?

xx

redglass_2

I got into Mecca online bingo for the first time tonight, via Quidco, and played a few games until the site decided it didn't like me and stopped letting me into the game of my choice (yes, I did have enough left in my account). I do the keno as I don't want to be in a chat room. I just don't get it. I think I must be making a fool of myself by asking this question, but here goes: all you frugalists who started doing this ages ago, please can you tell me why people want to chat with other people who are just watching a load of numbers come up? Am I missing something? I think I must be...

RebekahR

Ok Ok! I'm in please!! I have just budgetted for a whole year, Will need tweaks as we go along. I am considering this last quarter a practice run for me. I stuck to what the origional post said and have not included water, rent or council tax. Everything else is included.

My monthly budget for October is: £315.20
Weekly budget: £78.80
And this week is from 1st - 9th. I have £12.20 to last me til Thursday!

I am doing this last quarter for myself and what I pay only just to get the hang of it and then I shall delve into the whole household out goings next year.

cw18

Not really sure where to ask this, but thought someone on this challenge may be able to help me?

Over the last year I've managed to get loads of Whoopsie! items from our local Co-Op that also applied the multi-buy discounts to them -- but they've now got a new computerised till system that has stopped this Amongst the items I got were chilled stuffed pasta and chilled pasta sauces -- often for as little as 20p a pack/tub, and once where I actually had to buy something else so the till didn't come up with a negative total (that was a very successful shopping trip!). I still have a few packs of stuffed pasta in my freezer, but am running very short of pasta sauces -- the family favourite being the Tomato and Mascarpone.

Does anyone have a recipe for making this from scratch? My grocery budget won't let me pay £1+ for a tub, even though the one tub does 3 of us (rather than the 2 it says on a tub), but the blokes will happily have sausage and pasta or chicken and pasta every week with this sauce -- and when it was 20p-45p/tub the 'with (value/smartprice) sausages' made for a really cheap meal !!

I did think about chucking some (blended) tinned toms and some mascarpone cheese into a pan and just heating through but wasn't sure on quantities. I tried Google, but they vary from that format (with equal quantities through to about double the qty of toms to the qty of mascarpone), right through to some really fancy ones using 3lb of fresh tomatoes, plus oils and herbs! Had also wondered if I could cook some onions and blitz them with the tomatoes to add to our F&V count

sophiesmum_2

Hi Cw

I just usually cook without measuring ingredients but for tomato and mascarpone sauce would probably use a jar or tetra of passata, tub of mascarpone, little garlic,some basil and salt and black pepper to taste.
If you are using tinned toms (prob 1 tin will do for small amount) whizz them up first, heat through then add the garlic and mascarpone don't boil it or you will spoil the flavour and may burn the garlic. Add the basil and salt pepper near end.
You could add some onions but may overflavour the mascarpone if you put too many in.

Hope that helps.:D

looby-loo_2

All this talk of biscuits! I always like the idea but they get eaten so much more quickly I don't think it saves. I have made progress on the heating front, finally getting DH to be at least a little aware of switching it on/off, up/down at various times of day.

I worry too about when my mum gets old. Her mum and dad lived until they were 98 and 97 so I think she has a few years yet. I just hope I wont be working full time when she needs me as it's a 45 min drive to her house which would make it difficult to put the time in. I'm sure your mum will be OK when she settles in.

Garden today - was hoping to plant bulbs and dig some lotty for next year as I'm hoping to expand the growing area but it's so wet that that will have to wait. I have bought some Japanese onions as I like them to fill the gap before the later ones. Then I went to Lidl and they are selling them for 20p a Kg bag I wonder if it's worth the trouble. Anyway, another cucumber will soon be ready. That will make 9 from two plants which cost 29p for the pkt of seeds from Lidl.

Lunch - Cold pork from the joint on Thursday (cooked as a treat for DD going back to uni) Will liven it up with Yorkshire pud so I must get some baking prepared to fill up the oven. From the garden apple for apple sauce, runner beans, corn on the cob (the last two) and a very nibbled head of brocolli which may serve three if I'm lucky. And something for pud made from apples and blackberries.

Freecycle - listed more stuff and got rid of another chair which a lady took to recover and another two dining chairs. No luck with the insulated plasterboard on gum tree though.

Have a lovely frugal day!

mad!! mad!! Why do I sign in then it tells me i done have permission to post and I have to sign in again.GRRRR!

cw18

Thanks for that

May give it a try some point this week, though it looks like it's still going to work our dear than the tubs I've been buying in Whoopsie -- even when I didn't wait for the final evening markdown

99p/250g for Mascarpone + 44p/500g for Passatta = £1.43/750g which is about 57p/300g - compared to 20p for most and 45p for the dearest I've had..... though it's definitely not as bad as the current £1 offer at Mr T, or standard of £1.2? (not sure if it's £1.26 or £1.29)

sophiesmum_2

Good morning Frunchkins:D

So far today has been a really good day:D
Went to the gym early for a swim with my friend and we had the whole pool to ourselves:j Bliss!! then same with jacuzzi and sauna. If i ever win the lottery i am having a pool all to myself Gym started to fill up as we were leaving but we had a lovely relaxing visit.
Arrived home to find that I had won bonus ball last night at work (again!) so £20 on its way to me:D and OH had done all the washing and made breakfast:D and the sun is even making an appearance after 24 hours of rain:j Doesn't take much to make me happy!!!

..... and I found 25p whilst clearing out my car