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

Sarah147

Is anyone a fan of the Shopaholic series of books by Sophie Kinsella? I absolutely love them and cannot wait for the film in February, see link to the trailer below

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi4268949529/

It looks fab but not impressed by the fact they have Americanised it all. Becky is meant to be british.... grrr. I also think Luke looks like a bit of a drip. If the film is a disappointment I will cry!


Anyway, have just returned from the local shops and spent a bit more than I had planned;

£7.98 in Holland and Barrett but was all healthy stuff/supplements etc so not so bad
£6.04 in the Co-op (erm.. a Curly Wurly, bread rolls, crisps and beer :rotfl: )
£5.36 on postage in the Post Office (for eBay parcels)
£4.12 in the fruit shop (but got loads)

At some point today I am going to have a store cupboard audit and plan meals for next week, especially work lunches as I want to not spend money in the local shops next week. That is the plan anyway.

Got the house to myself and got the fire on, nice and toasty warm, and got a lot of books to read. I am not moving, it is freezing outside, so much so that the non league football match I was going to go to has been called off

Enjoy the rest of your day frunchkins!

fizzel81

Afternoon all, going to try and cut down on posting so much.

been a nsd here today, ive fineally got the ironing sorted and half of it is away

listing on ebay tonight once little ones in bed need to clear some bits and bobs and get some more stock pileing room, i told my brother to worry when he finds foodstuffs under the bed as thats the only space i reckon i have left to store anything:rotfl:

had email re remoska that its been dispatched so fingers crossed it arrives nxt week, really looking forward to it, anyone that has one are the extra pans needed or can i use whats here/or get cheaper ones possibly

felt naff today another letter turned up the biggest one of all, need to ring (well so the letter says) the goodside to it all is one of the debts in now on my dd so that one will be paid off by november latest putting me on track for debt free 2010 latest providing i stick to challenge and try to achieve under challange amount (i did last year but some of my extra saved was used in moving, furniture etc)

cottage pie for dinner tonight must get a move on to make it

sophiesmum_2

fizzel81 wrote: »

had email re remoska that its been dispatched so fingers crossed it arrives nxt week, really looking forward to it, anyone that has one are the extra pans needed or can i use whats here/or get cheaper ones possibly

Fizzel I have the grande remoska and mostly use the pan that comes with it even though i also have the rack and shallow pan too, I would get used to it first and after a while you will know whether you need another pan. Wouldn't bother with the separator pans as you can use any type of smaller foil tray etc inside the big pan as long as it is ovenproof:D

xnatalie81x

Have looked over figures, my maths must be baaaaaaaaaad.

income is 21,354

out (rent, water, debts n health) 13,756

Nope don't pay council tax as registered student although currently off work.

So 21 354 - 13 756 is 8 598 (i need to invest in a calculator as my paper calculations r no good)

So should have 598 left at end of yr. The yr is really unbalanced tho so gotta save save save now ready for the next half of the yr when i'll be getting less.

cw18

sophiesmum wrote: »

Was on the look out for mushrooms - managed to get 2.75 kg box for £2 each really happy with that, picked one up for cw too so looks like two of us will be batch cooking mushrooms tomorrow;) 2.75kg's is a lot of mushrooms........

Wow!!!

:T Thanks :T

Batch cook mushrooms? Nah!!! I leave small ones whole (to use whole in braised beef and mushroom), chunk large ones, and slice the 'in between-ies'. I then tray freeze before putting into bags.


Boys are on a chicken curry and rice tonight -- while out just after lunch I spotted C00p had some jars of their own curry sauce at half price (54p) which looked good quality, and have pulled a couple of very large Mr T value frozen chicken breasts from the freezer. So I'll make up 4 (or more!) portions of that, keep two out and shove the rest into the freezer for younger DS to have in the next couple of months (I can't stand curry!)

I know I have a 'very processed' cottage pie in the freezer that DH had asked me to get in a few months back -- so may use that up for me. But I also have some Quorn escalopes and similar than no-one else will eat (I love them), so I'm going to check out what's amongst that lot first

redglass_2

xnatalie81x wrote: »

income is 21,354...don't pay council tax as registered student although currently off work.

Hi Xnatalie,
That sounds as if you are an OU student who normally does paid work, unless your OH earns the income...would you mind clarifying a bit? I'm asking because I'm wondering if I could fund an OU course with what I would have paid in Council Tax (I am single/sole earner).

ram_murdock

Wow...day 10 already!!

Update time - from my january budget of £333.33 i have £174.51 left.

Did my first proper shop since christmas today and have now stocked up hopefully for the next week or so. Also bought my sisters bday present (bday not til feb) from boots 1/2 sale and got 112 bonus boots points!

I bought my first whoopsie today - carrot batons reduced from 50p to 27p which were out of date tomorrow!! Very pleased with that!! :j

Today, I batch cooked spicy carrot soup for lunch for the next week and sorted out dinners for the next week as well.

Going to cinema and out for a meal with OH tonight - going to use the pizza hut 50% off voucher which i got this week. (if you subscribe to their mailing list they send these out every couple of months - pm me if you want me to forward you a copy) I have also managed to eat weight watchers "no point food" all day so i have enough points to have a pizza of my own!!

Hope everyone is well and has a nice weekend!! xx

HH62

Sarah147 - not the Shopaholic series but I read 'Can You Keep A Secret?' on holiday about 5 years ago and was literally rolling and crying laughing at it. In fact my OH even read it and found it fab too.
Have you read that one? If so are the Shopaholic ones as funny?

fallen_angel_shelley

Afternoon, girls & boys!

I have just got back and didn't do to much damage to my purse, I picked up a pack of 8 sausages in m&s for 99p and also got a flan tin for making quiche £1, but the money I used was already accounted for in my sig, also got some bit in b00ts and used points to pay for them, so i'm still classing it as a NSD:D. It was so cold out, i'm still sat here with my scarf on trying to defrost.

NYK- your are so right about how important it is to stay warm, for health and keeping the house free of damp, I have now strated leaving the heating on constant with the thermostat on lowish, rather then letting it get realy cold and then trying to get the place warm when its the cheaper elec and then when it is cheap, if its still abit chilly I turn it up. the free food from Mr'M is an offer being run by the Mirror, you buy the paper each day and it has a token in it which you then have to use that day, todays offer was, tomatos and greek yogurt, I don't live near a Mr'M either I think the ad said that the total amount they are giving away to each reader is about £10 over the week.


Cat addict- the chicken brest you got form costco, how many was in the pack for that price? I haven't got a frezzer right now but I sit here [strike]thinking[/strike] dreaming of what goodies I can fill it with when I do get it, sad or what?, guess who is going to busy batch cooking when she does get one. :rotfl:I just need to decide if i'm going to pay for it out of the 4K or other money, the one I want is £247 inc delivery and cash back.


I'm going to use some of the sausages I got to put in a quiche with some toms, later in the week and, the rest I will use for sausage, mash and beans, yum yum. that reminds me I must put apple sauce on my list for when I next go MrT's.

Shelley x

HH62

fallen_angel_shelley wrote: »

I have now strated leaving the heating on constant with the thermostat on lowish, rather then letting it get realy cold and then trying to get the place warm when its the cheaper elec and then when it is cheap, if its still abit chilly I turn it up.

I'm now starting to wonder if this is the most economical way to use the heating when it's very cold like it has been lately. I've had mine off because I was out all morning. i got home at 2pm and turned it on and I am freezing, the house is taking forever to heat up. I've had to turn all the TRV's to max to see if that helps and I'm sat here wearing a top, a cardi and a fleece, clutching a hot water bottle and I'm still cold. The way it's going it will be 9pm before the house is comfortably warm.

I think on milder days it's better to use it on a timer but when it's very cold it takes so long for the house to reach a comfortable temperature.....