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

Frugaldom

Penny2myName wrote: »

Glad to hear the truffles get a thumbs up,a s I ordered six lots to stick in peoples xmas hampers.:T

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: So did I! I went for the Sa!nsbury ones and some chocolate marzipans. I also ordered about a year's supply of various cooking sauces and chicken/sweetcorn soup (at DS' request, for his lunch flask). I did consider the seaweed but left it for now, as it wasn't something I could honestly say I needed (unlike the crisps, cereal bars, chocolate, CN cornflakes, savoury crackers, hot chocolate drinks and toffees). I blame most of my order on DS - I just hope it gets delivered soon!

taka

Brighton_belle wrote: »

Taka - deep breath, you can do it: have you made a list of essential things that need to be done, as opposed to what you would like to achieve in an ideal world?

Yep and that is scaring me too I've done one for each room and the shortest is around 20 items long... :eek: My bath and sink are no longer draining properly so I need to call out a plumber too. :wall: I've already had 2 panic attacks over it all in the last 24 hrs. Its partly about having people in my flat as thats been REALLY difficult for me in the last few years and knowing they want to see it all and will be here for hours... The total no of people who have set foot in my flat this year is 2 - that was on Saturday delivering my dishwasher and they were here for a whole 20 secs literally. Also the side effect of my eating disorder is a really bad hoarding problem means I have sooooooo much stuff - Just totally clearing the floor in 1 room would be good...

Argh I need to go... Xmas party part 2 starts now... :eek: :rolleyes:

Brighton_belle

Taka - you're a sciensy sort of person I think: can't you spend some time inventing some sort of teletransporting device and then I could pop up for an evening or two to help - being ruthless with other people's stuff is so easy:D .
Seriously, you've done really though to make this committment in the light of what you have to deal with. Do you have strategies that help with the panic attacks?
Oh and thanks to you I felt obliged to head to the pier today to see how many bargains I coul neither justify or afford I could snap up (I love theirstuff too). Fortunately, the queues to pay were so horrendous I left empty handed.
Janey - spreadsheets are one of life's secret joys. Hopefully Nyk can induct you in to theways of the spreadsheet ninja and all will be revealed. The dancing naked with sheep is the fun part of the ceremony.
I've just bought the entire set of Narnia(7 ) books at oxfam for my ungod daughter for the price of one new book:j .
Good to hear from you whitewing.

Frugaldom

Update - got apologetic email from Approved Food saying my order won't be delivered until Monday. I guess that means it's safe from the marauding DS over the weekend! :rotfl:

cw18

taka wrote: »

My bath and sink are no longer draining properly so I need to call out a plumber too.

It's probably just your U-bends a bit bunged up...... shame you don't live closer, 'cos I'd have come and done them for you !!!

Brighton_belle

cw18 wrote: »

It's probably just your U-bends a bit bunged up...... shame you don't live closer, 'cos I'd have come and done them for you !!!

That's a good point cw - Taka you can buy stuff to pour down sinks that dissolves blockages. It would be much chaeper than a plumber and worth a go.
Forgot to mention I recieved two free cinema tickets today for signing up to something I shall cancel at end of trial period, and got given £50 from a a colleague for whom I have been helpful through the year but don't actually work for:j . I'm going to buy a new kitchen worktop with it (currently £50 in B&Q but hoping fo some off in post xmas sale). This is for my freecyle 1.5 sink:j . And received £10 in post from a very dear old friend, so have offset that against frivolous red blind purchase. Gradually getting kichen funding sorted:D )

Frugaldom

Frugaliving must make us susceptible to becoming easily excited by the silliest little things, but LOOK! :dance: :xmassign: :cool2:

This is the tub I planted my salad leaves in on 28/11/08

This is what inside the tub looks like right now!

I have dozens of baby lettuces starting to grow! I may never need to buy ANY lettuce or salad leaves ever again! :rotfl:

This is even more exciting than getting the new timer switch on the hot water! I love frugal life!

the_cat

Taka
I've always managed to clear U-bends using a plunger. Fill sink. Block overflow hole with old flannel stuffed in it or even just with your hand firmly over to block air escaping. Take out plug and plunge plug hole. Should after a couple of goes gurgle back to life - then pour boiling water/bleach down to clean. Defo worth a try before the plumber

cw18

I've got a flexible coiled wire that is the easiest thing for my bath -- came from a pound store. But when in serious doubt I take the U-bends off and clean them out 'properly'.

Made my daughter do her sink one on her own early last year -- many phone calls from her to ask "what next", but she managed it :T

redglass_2

Taka, I've also had good results from pouring a very hot solution of washing soda down the plughole before starting in with the plunger. If there's already a lot of cold water in there, though, it's not worth putting the hot soda in as it just loses impact and you might as well just plunge 'cold'. Use it afterwards...Sometimes it has taken ages for the plunger to move the blockage but it's always worked in the end, so if you're doing this, don't despair, persevere! Using hot soda solution from time to time can help prevent a build-up of fat and other icky stuff, and it's very frugal.