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

Penny2myName

Well its cold and horrid here this morning.Think to try and warm house up will be doing more baking, as daughter complained she was really cold last night, so put heating on for an hour around 10ish, but forgot about it and it was on till 9 this morning:eek::eek:

Unfortunately house is now freezing again.

Frugaldom

Hello to all, it's a beautiful bright and sunny day here today, although bitterly cold - the frost hasn't yet melted in the shaded areas. It's like living in 2 different worlds; if I go out the back door, it's like a glorious spring day, if I got out the front door, it's like mid-winter and still white!

The Arg0$ £4 double duvets got delivered earlier this week, so we have extra warmth at nights, but there's no way I'd even consider turning off the storage heaters as they take about 2 days to fully heat back up to their set temperatures. For now, I'll leave heaters on mid-settings and boost the room temps using the fire. I'll need to buy in logs for this winter as soon as I have somewhere ready to store them. Must phone log man for prices after comparing the online bulk prices.

As it's such a nice day, I'll probably ignore the boxes still to be unpacked here and head back out into the garden this afternoon. I'm determined to make space for logs and make a start on finding a suitable spot for my potatoes and spring veggies.

Hope everyone has a pleasant weekend and that the sun shines wherever you may be

shaz_mum_of__2

Hi all

back from a disappointing shopping trip everything i wanted is out of stock except the christmas lights ............................£13 i wanted red but nearly got white as they were only £8 but i got the red in the end they are led's so energy efficient and will never need bulbs but still feel a little robbed!

Nyk - how are you going to do the veg garden by cutting a bed into ground or raised beds? hubby has made me some 4ft x 4ft beds from wooden gravel boards we plan to place on the ground and fill with topsoil(freecyle) i believe you can do simmilair with grass but you put a layer of wet cardboard on top of the grass first the boxes he made cost £7 each.

Its foggy here by the way

Got an essay to finish this weekend but my shiny practice budget starts monday!


Shaz

Marru

Good [STRIKE]morning[/STRIKE] afternoon everybody!

I had loooovely lie in as DD was happy with her films and snack box. And her dad called and is coming to take her out again tomorrow!!! :T That means that I have time tomorrow to finish my college work for Monday when they are out. And he has promised to go for a supper with her as well.

Need to go and get some food for us, go and pick some stuff from freecycle and take The Dog for a walk. Hoping for an NSD but will see after I have done inventory of my fridge.

Catch up with all of you later, have a great day.

Marru

whitewing

Was up at 5am - time of the month pains that snuck up on me unawares as normally I got more twinges and bouts of extreme snappiness for a couple of days before. So the vitamin C doses are working better than not having them. (And yes, redglass you have me eating orange pith too). Eventually drifted back to sleep and awoke about 10 with a stonking headache that is nothing to do with the boom, boom from the playstation, the hammering from next door's roof-fixing builder or the massive package of paperwork that arrived this morning from tax credits as a result of my data subject access request. Gosh, am I not looking forward to going through that lot. I hope at some point they will actually send me a response to the points I raised in my letter too.

sophiesmum, meant to say thank you before for the marzipan recipe. I must sort it all out tomorrow. DH is at work this evening and tomorrow so I hopefully will be able to do some as a surprise.

Trying to order my amazon stuff but I can't get beyond the payment screen. oops it goes £20 over the £50 voucher so am trying to pay by voucher and card, but nothing happens when I click continue. It won't take me to a confirmation screen. What am I doing wrong?

Got given a chocolate cake yesterday with flakes and minstrels. Made by a young child so there was even a small bar with the wrapper still on - don't think his mum realises. It was very kind and unexpected.

Also, still messing about with an egg isa. I realised that I had an old egg card acct from years ago under my maiden name and previous address so am updating details on that. Now I haven't used it for at least 4 years. When I checked my balance it has a credit balance of £24.99. Would this be from cashback? Or have I merely dreamt it? Is there any way of getting this credit balance tranferred to my current acct or the egg savings acct when it's set up?

cw18

Foggy here -- though some spots on the 70 mile round trip I've just done were totally clear !!!!

When FIL and (several years later) MIL passed away, the family flowers were in the shape of a cross. One of DH's cousins then took them to put on the war grave of their Grandad. As we finally settled on a Celtic Cross for DH it seemed appropriate to do the same, but the cousin couldn't make it on Thursday (water flowing down the inside of house walls) so I still had it on the back seat of my car. From the info I gleaned from my SIL I managed to track the grave down using the Internet, so they're now "delivered".

shaz_mum_of__2

Who hoo

Finally awarded some incapacity benefit................well whatever it's called now thats an extra £250 month

Shaz

Skint_Lynne

I am going to be doing 2 challenges next year:
1. Living on 4K.
2. Money neutral for gifts.

I want the money neutral for gifts to work out as it would help me achieve my 4k challenge.

What does everyone do to generate extra money or free money? I have so far done some surveys and reviews and have done car boot sales in the past. It would be interesting to see if any of you guys do anything else I haven't thought of.

Frugaldom

Good afternoon, light's fading, fire's glowing and I managed to completely clear the corner I've chosen for the log pile. I also got all my wooden planters fitted in a row along the house by squeezing them along and wedging the last two in to make 10. I now have six of them with 3 or 4 strawberry plants in each and noticed that the parsley is still alive in another, so have tidied it up, added a little compost and now have a coffee jar over the top to try to keep out the frost. I have transplanted a bramble bush to the corner next to the bird table and I've got all the empty pots and planters in one place so they're ready for use.
Shaz - well done getting the benefits sorted out! :beer: Can I quiz you on your raised beds, as I've decided that these are my best option for next year's veggies owing to how uneven the ground is. These will also be safer in the event the cows or sheep manage to get into the garden! What height are yours? If anyone can load a piccie, I'd really appreciate it.

Sophiesmum, you had loads of hanging stuff in your garden. I have a clothes pole that won't be getting used and am planning on hanging 4 baskets from it, but I need to devise a way of actually hanging them securely. The location is quite sheltered and south facing but I haven't decided what to put in the baskets, just so long as it's edible. All suggestions welcome. Is there anything I can plant now just by digging holes in grass, d'you think?

I now need some inspiration for a speedy Saturday dinner - getting fed up with mince, chicken and pasta dishes.

SkintLynne, I'm trying to do money neutral next year too. My signature lists all the 'extras' I do. Interest beater is made up of tax free income from winnings - free bets, free bingo and premium bonds wins. I've spent £280 so far this year on presents, including most of the Christmas shopping but have easily made more than this from elsewhere. I won't know what percentage has been money neutral until the end of the year, when I'll zero all my totals and start again In the longterm, I'm aiming for a money-neutral lifestyle so that I'm as self-sufficient as possible, including financially.

sophiesmum_2

nykmedia wrote: »

Good afternoon, light's fading, fire's glowing and I managed to completely clear the corner I've chosen for the log pile. I also got all my wooden planters fitted in a row along the house by squeezing them along and wedging the last two in to make 10. I now have six of them with 3 or 4 strawberry plants in each and noticed that the parsley is still alive in another, so have tidied it up, added a little compost and now have a coffee jar over the top to try to keep out the frost. I have transplanted a bramble bush to the corner next to the bird table and I've got all the empty pots and planters in one place so they're ready for use.
Shaz - well done getting the benefits sorted out! :beer: Can I quiz you on your raised beds, as I've decided that these are my best option for next year's veggies owing to how uneven the ground is. These will also be safer in the event the cows or sheep manage to get into the garden! What height are yours? If anyone can load a piccie, I'd really appreciate it.

Sophiesmum, you had loads of hanging stuff in your garden. I have a clothes pole that won't be getting used and am planning on hanging 4 baskets from it, but I need to devise a way of actually hanging them securely. The location is quite sheltered and south facing but I haven't decided what to put in the baskets, just so long as it's edible. All suggestions welcome. Is there anything I can plant now just by digging holes in grass, d'you think?

I now need some inspiration for a speedy Saturday dinner - getting fed up with mince, chicken and pasta dishes.

SkintLynne, I'm trying to do money neutral next year too. My signature lists all the 'extras' I do. Interest beater is made up of tax free income from winnings - free bets, free bingo and premium bonds wins. I've spent £280 so far this year on presents, including most of the Christmas shopping but have easily made more than this from elsewhere. I won't know what percentage has been money neutral until the end of the year, when I'll zero all my totals and start again In the longterm, I'm aiming for a money-neutral lifestyle so that I'm as self-sufficient as possible, including financially.

now is a good time to plant fruit bushes - gooseberries, blackcurrants etc.Will hve ponder about the washing pole thing:rolleyes: