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

grandma247

sophiesmum you can grate carrots into lots of savoury things. I add them to anything with mince such as shepherds pie, burgers, lasagne both vegetarian and meat, I also make fritters with carrot and parsnip although you could use just about any veg for them even a few sprouts.

skint_chick

Nyk - thanks for the congratulations I've had a really tough year and I'm now off work sick and will be for the forseeable future so getting the debt paid is a priority while I still have wages coming in. Not sure what happens after my sick pay runs out but we can manage on OH's wages. Hopefully I can get a less stressful job that I enjoy and still be able to stick to my masterplan for repaying the mortgage. I'm aiming to be mortgage free by the time I'm 40 - so I have 9 1/2yrs to go! And I need to join in with you on the fitter not fatter plan as well because we really want to have a family in the next couple of years. I know our probs with conceiving are due a lot to my weight so I really want to lose weight this year.

candygirl

Hi everyone:hello:
Still haven't spent today, but the duvet day went down the pan, as Mum rang and asked me to help with my Niece and Nephew, so have been round and played with them and bathed them, then went round to see my friend on the way back:D
Am cuddled up with the dogs and watching celeb BB in a min;)

Masomnia

My pen did come today and was well worth it

Had an NSD today, which I'm very pleased about. I'm home from uni and my mum is far too generous with me so my costs are very low at the moment. Of the money spent, one has been a direct debit for insurance and the other my pen and I can't see me having any more expenses for a while.

I'm glad to see so many people posting it's really inspiring. I'm hoping I'll be able to contribute more usefully when I go back.

gillst_2

Phew - made it - what a lot of posting today. Had hoped for a day in today taking down Christmas decorations and tidying the place up after the Christmas mayhem, but got a call this morning to say that my DD had been taken into hospital. Have only just got back, but am pleased to say he is ok. Relief..........
This on top of a traumatic day yesterday when my DS1 got mugged in the street - thankfully he was not hurt but was very shaken up.
Have just had dinner of left over roast beef, sliced thinly, covered in gravy and microwaved, with mash and peas - lovely. Got back home in time for my Asda delivery - spent £80 but did get over £20 off with multi buys etc. Have an awful lot of food in now so hope not to have to do much shopping over the next few weeks.
Hoping for a quiet non eventful day tomorrow. Please .......................

In_Search_Of_Me

oh no gillst...what a terribe couple of days for you...sounds like stiff g&t wouldnt go amiss...if ds does struggle after the mugging get him to get in touch with victim support - its what theyre there for and some people can get post traumatc stress after muggings...hope tomorrow is stress free for you...

grandma247

wow Just finished reading for the second time today. When I left this morning you were at page 47 I think.
Not done my budget yet but keeping all reciepts. Not feeling too well coming down with a cold.
Got three coats off freecycle today 2 fleece and one with faux suede on the outside and furry on the inside. I am going to make slippers with them.
We have been trying out three course meals for the evening meal the last two days and they seem to be going down well in fact 9 y old ds is eating better. They will help fill ds2,18 and 6'4'' with hollow legs.
I am putting down the costs for each part of the meal in my diary to see how little we can spend.
Yesterday was hm leek and potato soup, hm chicken in a pkt.thai sauce with rice, chocolate pavlova half price at iceland.
today was minestrone from teso fresh carton range whoopsied, hm mini pizza rolls, baked potato,salad of shredded lettuce, shaved carrots and sliced celery. hm apple sponge and custard.
I havent put the costs on yet as the book is down two flights of stairs and I cant be bother to go down for it. Will edit it in later.
I bought a mini toaster oven yesterday using a £5 voucher we got for something else so it only cost £14.59 and it has saved us quite a bit of money already. I love it. I did The chicken (legs) in it yesterday and the baked potatoes and apple sponge in it today plus ds2 did a couple of pies for lunch for himself. He was the reason I got it initially as he puts the big oven on for 1 or 2 pies.
Going to go down for a cuppa now and will probably have an early night.
goodnight all

gillst_2

In_Search_Of_Me wrote: »

oh no gillst...what a terribe couple of days for you...sounds like stiff g&t wouldnt go amiss...if ds does struggle after the mugging get him to get in touch with victim support - its what theyre there for and some people can get post traumatc stress after muggings...hope tomorrow is stress free for you...

Thank you for your kind words - funnily enough I was just opening a bottle of wine - medicinal purposes of course:beer: . DS1 seems fine at the moment, but will be keeping an eye on him - I just cannot stop thinking about it though and how lucky he was not being hurt. He is rather embarrased it - he is in his 20s and those who mugged him were only about 15/16. :mad:

LollopyBear

I've been reading this thread on and off all day and realised I haven't actually updated for today. It's such a mission keeping up with it; I'm not sure how I'm going to cope when I'm back at work next week.

I did spend a little today.

Got some sanitary products at Wilkinsons for 99p (Tesco currently has my brand at £1.38 with no offers). Then popped to Waitrose, as I had already broken into my spending, for a can of beans and sausages to go with hm bread for tea. DH and I love this and is a "treat" for us . The beans with sausages were 99p, but also spotted 4 cans of tuna for £2.50 - one of the best tuna deals we've seen round here.

Total spends: £4.48

Also reread the big threads about matched betting for about the third time and have got my head around it enough to make my first matched bet - eek! Waiting for my £25 to track from Quidco as well for signing up. Any extra money made is going towards dh's credit card.

All these posts about bread flour and Lidls are making me jealous. Lidls wants to come to our town but the council are refusing because Mr Ts is kicking up a big fuss about competitors. *sighs*. Our shops to choose from are Mr Ts/Waitrose or Iceland, apart from a few farm shops. If I could find 1.5kg of breadflour for under £1 I'd be delighted!!

Vixstar

Gillst - hope tomorrow is much quieter for your family.

Escaped from my meal with friends and sales shopping relatively unscathed. Put £15 towards the meal and then didn't buy anything from the shops. Although found a nice dress but it was £70, hopefully it'll get reduced further. Hopefully a NSD tomorrow, think I have enough petrol to get to work.