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

In_Search_Of_Me

oh my goodness...should keeping up with the thread be a ft job?!! Worst thing for me is not knowing names and people well enough to remember so for now will say hugs that need them; get well soon sickies and yum yum all the cooking! Mum just gone home and I've managed a nsd as mums turn to get bread and cream that were needed!
Had yummy chicken pittas for lunch and will now boil the carcus with remaining meat, chuck in some pots, carrots, lentils and celery and voila - soup!
I have £30 in my purse which I want to last until pay day on 20th...hopefully no more spent (other than petrol) and I'll at least have caught up with myself a bit after Christmas! Feeling v. positve about this challenge and am enjoying not spending and never thought I'd say that!! hugs all...

grandma247

frizzel re: onions
you will need to wrap them really well as they stink. The whole freezer takes on the smell. They are a lot better if you gently cook them in some oil or something first.

fizzel81

thank you, will fry them first if i do chop them all

savingfortravel

Annie-I'd put some of that brocolli with my Christmas stilton to make soup...Can anyone guess that I'M SOUP CRAZY.[

Aims for today (copyright SM) How have I done??

• Nyk's Fitter not fatter* (copyright Nyk) campaign-I will walk to Tesco..searching for those illusive Branston beans/or pick up raincheck voucher. Will use some Money off coupons. Look in reduced section etc.. I walked and felt better for getting out. Beans not there but now have 36 cans in total on raincheck vouchers which apparently last for 6 months. Might phone up and check this. Used £1.50 vouchers from yesterday's Express. Picked up whoopsied organic tomatoes-2 punnets for 28p each, to make soup and whoopsied granary rolls 21p. Also half price Butchers choice sausages (for next month) 8 for 99p.
• NCD-Not no car day*..we've already had to use it but a No Choc Day..Wish me luck Chocolate is looking at me but I think I will settle for Low Cal Hot chocolate drink later.
• Use Boots Gift Card -only £5 but I'll see what I can get.. reading some of the posts on here has inspired me. Feel a bit naughty but used my gift card to buy pretty white collection gift set and some bubble bath (on offer) for mum for Mothers Day gift. She didn't give me gift card originally but maybe I should have spent it on myself. OH picked up another bubble bath for me for my Easter present..I am sending out message to family..no chocolate!! They gave me a £5 off No. 7 Ruby stuff voucher so I got a nail varnish for my cousin for Christmas-so cost me £1.12. Result!
• Pick up new freezer and install. -OH has done this so we will start filling tomorrow. OH will be making me some delicious home made soups. I know not cheaper but better for me. Neither of us knew he could cook when we met. What a bonus!
• Cook ham pies (using frozen ham from Xmas) and mince pies (my friend was given homemade mincemeat in a pretty jar for Christmas but doesn't like the stuff. Plan to use the jar-with fresh label for a present for next year). OH is cooking these now. He'll also be cooking my camembert for supper. Bless him... He's never been so busy since being made redundant.

I will......start decluttering spare bedroom. Off to do a bit now

I will spend time on exercise bike*-Will do this whilst watching a bit of telly which hasn't been on today.

So 2 goals to go..

SFT

JAMIEDODGER

Managed a NSD, couldnt be bothered to go out in the cold and get a paper:D Also had four days in a row of not using the car...that will change tomorrow when back to school runs!

andromache_2

LollopyBear wrote: »

JTB - I'm not in Cambridge itself, but in Ely. However, I am also very glad they didn't get the go-ahead for Mill Road as it would have spoilt the vibe of the road completely. At least Cambridge has a big Asda, Sainsburys, an Aldi just down Histon Road etc. and some other bits and pieces, which offsets the Tescopoly somewhat. Though it is ridiculous how many Mr Ts are in and around Cambridge.

Lol, I always thought Sainsbury's was the one with a bit of a monopoly in Cambridge! It's the only really accessible supermarket in the town centre for students as you have to make a special trip to get to Asda and Aldi so everyone ends up living on Sainsbury's basics, it's ridiculous :rolleyes: I'm living next to Mill Road this year and have been to Asda once so a Tesco's on Mill Road would have been great for me! It's a bit of a pain though as when Sainsbury's bumps up its prices and discontinues its basics ranges, which I've noticed a fair bit of recently, I don't really have much choice. Since I don't spend much on food for just little old me the amount I could save by going to Asda isn't really worth it for the extra time and effort involved. Oh well. It's definitely better to have more choice, anyway

Hope you feel better soon, bails xxx

Snow_White_5

skint_chick wrote: »

To make carrot soup do I need a blender? I was thinking about carrot and parsnip? I'd really like some ideas for pasta bakes/hot pots/stews too

Hi there, I use a Braun stick blender. I think someone else recommended them a few pages back. They are fairly cheap, compact and easy to clean. Parsnip and carrot sounds lovely!

Snow_White_5

andromache wrote: »

I'm living next to Mill Road this year and have been to Asda once so a Tesco's on Mill Road would have been great for me!

He he, same here. I lived there for 4 years and went to Asda once cos someone gave me a lift - I was like a kid in a sweet shop! :rotfl:

bails

Great work with your to do list SFT! What a bonus indeed that your OH found out he can cook! Mine has done most of the cooking in our house since we've been together due to my illness but gradually I've been able to do more. Don't think I'm ever going to be someone that sees cooking as a hobby/fun but I do enjoy making healthy meals and making my food streeetch
We're thinking of investing in a chest freezer too - we did get a second one off Freecycle some time ago but I think it's really inefficient and therefore not cost effective/good for the planet. Is a chest freezer the way to go peeps? Isn't it difficult rooting around in the bottom of it (esp. if you're short like me?)

Thanks Andromache. The upside is that as this is the first day I've been worse than OH, he went to Mr S. The downside? He spent £40, on a tiny list :eek: Our monthly budget is £100 :eek: He assures me he did some stockpiling so I'm off to investigate the receipt (why is there no smiley for praying? :rotfl:)...
While he's been out, I've got a spreadsheet on the go to monitor my usage of things eg loo rolls so I can see how much I need to budget for them. OMG, what have you guys done to me? :eek::rotfl:Also used the budget planner for myself and joint spends for the year but brain started to hurt with the India Factor so will leave it for now.

I mentioned that we watered down our milk while we were away and every single one of my friends laughed me off the breakfast table. It's good to come here and not feel mad
Right, off to analyse the receipt...

Zelie

Stick blenders are great. I have one though it's not Braun.

The other good thing I've used for blending is my smoothie-maker that I picked up cheap just before xmas. So long as it's properly cleaned afterwards to get rid of onion and lentil smells it's good for blending too.