Live on £4000 for a Year, 2009 Challenge, part 1

MRSMCAWBER

Hi all

I find LIDLs bread flour the best one... its lovely n soft... I love it so much I bring it back from the UK with me when we are in the car

bails

Stop, stop, stop, I'm still only on page 39 and you're on 53 :rotfl:Lots of scribbled notes already - great ideas peeps, thankyou v much indeedy! - and wonderful gesture from your sister Jennybee, a real heartwarmer :T

Brief update from here - NSD on NYD, OH is making a fresh loaf and we're having HM chilli with fajitas and 20p lettuce and avocado :T Oh, we're on it

Will tell you all about my fab trip when I finally catch up, love to all and well done Marru for making a difficult decision :T xx

Frugaldom

Here goes...

1274 wrote: »

...In other good news, my mortgage is now below £25K (it was £125K in December 2007), I've made lots of lovely soup in my slow cooker (lentil and tomato in freezer, kale, bean and chorizo all eaten in the last 2 days, and leek and potato still to come)

:beer: :j :T Wow! That is absolutely amazing! Well done! I can't even begin to comprehend that amount alone, never mind overpayments.

Purple_Sparkles, I hope your mum is better soon.

Fizz, I hope your DS's eye problem clears up soon. Re the coupons - if it works out cheaper to buy using the coupons then I'd stockpile in whatever way I could - send a friend? :rotfl:

MShawX I think your name is already in the challenger list, welcome back

Marru, thank you for being able to summarise everything so well, helps me loads

MRSMCAWBER, well done on the weight loss, especially so soon after the festive feed-fest time of year.

Sorting Out - good luck with your scarf-making enterprise. That may just be the start of your new cottage industry :j

Mumzy, welcome back!

Skint Chick, :T I need to congratulate you on clearing your credit cards and paying off £3,700 of your loan, that is brilliant! I love reading about people clearing their debts, it's what makes this challenge so enjoyable and worthwhile. (Even when it takes me almost a full afternoon to read all the posts LOL) Good luck with your 2009 challenge, I really hope you get there.

Andan, your London trip sounds brilliant! You've done an excellent job juggling the frugal offers, vouchers and points. Maybe we should call that 'Fruggling'. :cool:

Candygirl, hope you enjoyed your relaxing duvet day

ISOM, I had a chuckle too, even although that kind of 'man set-up' sounds fine to me! :rotfl:

Sophiesmum, what a fantastic haul! £1 per bag?! Who needs a garden with prices like that available? You could always store some for the chooks when they arrive, mine used to love pecking at chopped veggie leftovers, maybe you could make a non-seasoned coleslaw for chickens?

Broke Mum of 3, I only use one firelighter tell it to count itself as a luxury item when it's smoldering between the scrap paper, twigs and chopped up bits of whatever kindling I've laid my hands on! Our cheapest ones are now 75p per pack of 15, so an extra 5p every day I light the fire. (Don't scoff, you'll all be as obsessed as this soon )

CharlieDavis, just a quick word of caution lest you find your signature lost, links are not allowed at all on there, only in your profile link to home page. I had mine struck off last year for linking to the MSE forums.

Well, in between the mammoth task of catching up on here and chatting to friend over a lovely warm mug of hot chocolate, I managed to get a little bit more of the garden done, but not much. I've cleared / marked out where the raspberries, blackcurrants & rhubarb will be planted, have my first potato planted in a tub, planted a tray of rhubarb seeds, 5 pumpkin seeds, some globe artichokes and have several pots ready and waiting for my rooted spider plant cuttings that will be used to make up future gift baskets. Excess get sold for fund-raising/charity. I asked friend about treats for dogs and she favours cheese but doesn't recommend cat food for dogs or dog food for cats. Can't argue with that, she's a vet (with a penchant for frugal living, foraging and homegrown/homemade produce). Stopping off at her's tomorrow to collect a rhubarb crown, so I can get that planted when I get back from having dinner at DD's.

Dinner tonight was turkey casserole with veggies, the last of the homemade potato & sweetcorn cutlets & potato croquettes. For all you Appr0ved F00d fans, yesterday we tried the Ll0yd Gr0ssman Korma sauce (cost £1.50 for 10 packs :rotfl: ) and it is really creamy, tasted fine to me and it got the thumbs up from DS, so it must be OK. Will try the Tikka Massala one with chicken next week (same price).

Just spotted Bails is back... :hello: HELLO, WELCOME BACK to the madness and mayhem of Frugaland

fizzel81

well im back to asda to see if thy have any, if they do im getting a few, will then check daily, ive given some of the coupons away as stardrops is still alot better value but the best thing about this stuff is you dont have to scrub etc and its handy for quicker clean ups

Ds3 eyes look so much better already been using every 2 hours as suppsed to (omg he screams madly) but there looking 100% better than earlier i ws told to take him dr'smonday if no improvement but it seems to be working plus he hasnt been rubbing them since using it, i may well buy a bottle to keep in cupboard so its there if needed

fizzel81

nyk im so tempted by some of the items on approved food is there anything on there i should avoid iykwim? thinking of putting an order in once i find out how much space i have left from the asda activfizz (if i get some)

lingojingo

nykmedia wrote: »

Dinner tonight was turkey casserole with veggies, the last of the homemade potato & sweetcorn cutlets & potato croquettes. For all you Appr0ved F00d fans, yesterday we tried the Ll0yd Gr0ssman Korma sauce (cost £1.50 for 10 packs :rotfl: ) and it is really creamy, tasted fine to me and it got the thumbs up from DS, so it must be OK. Will try the Tikka Massala one with chicken next week (same price).

verdict eaerly awaited in this house, we looked at that - might need to order before your tasting though, as the korma was good i expect tikka masala will be too.

ram_murdock

Thank you to the person earlier who mentioned the Times £5 meals - just downloaded the voucher and spotted the times will send students discount vouchers so students only pay 25p for each edition of the times!! This will certainly cut the cost of buying the times for the meal vouchers!!

I've been a long time lurker on the mse website and i have to admit i am now addicted to this thread!! Decided not to buy my bf's nephew (4 yo today) a bday present this year but today instead made him a cake and some buns!! He loved them and came over at the end of the party and said "thank you i loved the buns they were yummy!! it melted my heart!! If i had bought him a present he probably wouldnt have appreciated it as much as he had got so much over xmas and his bday.

Going to drive to meet friends tonight, which will stop me buying any drink which will help cut down the spends and will be driving bf's car so wont be wasting my own petrol. bf doesnt mind when he's getting a free lift to his mates!!

All in all, i'll be going to bed feeling very pleased with my day and looking forward to the rest of the challenge!!

kittiej

Hello Peeps

Well I went to Lidl's and what a complete waste ot time that was I must say!

They didn't have any Toppers lemonade which is the only lemonade I like, they had run out of milk as well.

I came out with a bag of sugar and went to Leos (co-op) instead. Only trouble then was that I did end up with a bottle of vodka which I am contentedly quaffing atm!

BTW the bread flour is 48p here in S Wales too (plenty in stock - just typical) and I've used it loads of times and it's really good. HTH

Bonaventure_babes

Hi everyone
I still havent managed to do a proper shop yet and seem to be cutting into the budget for bits and bobs.:mad:
On a brighter note i am working on a menu for next week and hope to be able to get all i need out of the remaining money.:rolleyes:
I hope everyone is ok and having a good weekend;)

charliedavis

nykmedia wrote: »

Here goes...


CharlieDavis, just a quick word of caution lest you find your signature lost, links are not allowed at all on there, only in your profile link to home page. I had mine struck off last year for linking to the MSE forums.

Just spotted Bails is back... :hello: HELLO, WELCOME BACK to the madness and mayhem of Frugaland

Aha thanks for that have removed now...wondered why no one had any links to websites in their sigs. Wonder why they have the option to hyperlink in there, bit odd.