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

taka

candygirl wrote: »

Have had quite a productive day for a change:D Have cleaned all the floors, the microwave and cooker and sorted 2 lots of washing up:D
Have had a NSD today as haven't left the house due to the doglets refusing cos of the rain:rotfl: :rotfl:
It looks like i'm keeping well under target up to now this month so am a bit chuffed wiv myself;)
BAILS did I read right that you're going to India?If so i'm jealous:D and hope you feel better soon:D
NICKYNOO well done on the decluttering, I need to do the same asap:T
I ordered form Approved Food on Friday and am eagerly awaiting my delivery, alomg with my new blender from Amazon

Wow :eek: :T Just reading your post is making me feel tired!

So far I have...
... discovered that I can't make wholemeal bread in my breadmaker (it tastes evil and sank ),
... been late for work,
... shown 2 new people in the lab how to analyse their data,
... eaten cake,
... tried (and failed) to find out when new person 3 is going to arrive (this week sometime but which day would be good),
... confirmed new person 4 will be here probably on Wed
... failed to find a donor for tomorrow
... precisely none of MY work - I seem to be endlesly looking after/looking for the new people :rolleyes: see above... :rotfl:

I give up... I'm off to see another free film preview (Milk) - my 3rd free film this week! :T I've got free tickets to Frost Nixon next week too!

Thanks for the kind words earlier re my shopping. You are all lovely

HH62

Hello everyone

NSD !!! YAY!!

Am so pleased. This is going to be a fairly spendy week so I needed today to be strictly NS.

Made some veggie soup. I've never made it before. It came out lovely.

candygirl

taka wrote: »

Wow :eek: :T Just reading your post is making me feel tired!
Oh don't worry hun it's only once in a blue moon I do any housework, I hate it with a passion:rotfl: :rotfl:
Lucky you getting free cinema tickets.we never have them near me:o

Cat_Addict

Hey January - I'm trying to get better at meal planning and eating a better balanced diet, and all I'm getting from OH is "I miss scampi". It's disheartening.

Oh and I must have a rant folks!! At work our NY resolution was to spend no more money at the butty shop (£5 a day) but to bring lunch taking it in turns, sandwiches, leftovers soup etc and thereby massively saving cash. Well today was my turn and I brought in homemade parsnip soup and poppy seed bread in a little jute bag which says "My Little Lunch Bag" on the side (very obviously my lunch).

My bosses husband walked in at 11.3am and quietly goes over to my bag, takes the bread and eats it without a word! I can't even begin to see the funny side of that - taking someones lunch?? Needless to say I went ape.....

skint_chick

Back from my weekend away and stuck to my prepaid budget so feeling quite pleased. Also NSD but tomorrow is going to be :eek: - £275 for tyres and brake pads for my car!! But he's worth it

Have made a definite decision not to return to work after my sick leave finishes after months of agonising and am going to look for something new and less stressful - maybe part time too. I am going to spend the rest of the year being more creative and artistic in my leisure time, concentrating on family and friends and successfully completing this challenge and my evening course.

Have plenty to keep me busy so from Weds onwards will be NSD's until I need groceries again in a week or so - studying, reading, and decluttering and cleaning the house. Now I have made my decision I feel free and relieved - although I should be worrying about my mortgage!

Anyone got any suggestions for what to do with leftover cranberry sauce from Xmas??

cw18

bails wrote: »

Bizarrely found a £60 payment in my account last night - anyone else had one of these from benefits and can tell me what it's for? ie do I get to keep it?

I'm due that as well (Widowed Parents Allowance qualifies me). Got my backpay of WPA late last week, including the earlier £10 one -- but still waiting on this extra. They're paying it "between January and March", so potentially another 7 weeks of checking my bank account before I can call and ask where it is !!!

Penny2myName wrote: »

Oh goody does that mean I will be getting a payment soon, on IS ?

Not unless you also get disability or carer premiums

nickynoo08 wrote: »

made my final cc payment:j

Well done :T

grandma247

taka this site might help answer your bread problem.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/tips/bread-machine-basics.html

jtb2412

Thanks for the replies about the chicken carcusses - now in the bin which has given me more space in the freezer

Not much done today, just some washing, caught up with some paperwork and cooked dinner and that's about it. Have just started my shopping list ready for Weds night. I might (if the weather is ok) go to the butchers on my bike tomorrow (although I'm not sure how much meat I can carry back ! :eek: ) I have a basket but I think I'll have to take a rucksack too :rolleyes: .

Hoping not to spend too much so I can spend the rest of this month's grocery budget on starting my stockpile. Had to pop to local shop earlier to get some fresh orange for DD2 (suffering a bit from all the rich food over xmas I think :sad: ). Also needed some more spread for sandwiches (made cakes yesterday and I didn't buy enough last week) - was pleased because I didn't buy any extras :j (no whoopsies still - keep going in at different times of the day but either someone is beating me to them or they just don't reduce anything/let the staff have it). Never mind, I might find some one day

Phone bill is due in any day now but I'm hoping it should be quite a low one as we've hardly used it (free evening and weekend calls).

It's warmed up considerably here now so the heating has been off all day and even though it's on now, i've got it set quite low. I will make time to look at I-Measure soon ! :rolleyes:

nickynoo - well done on the final CC payment :beer: :T

Have a good evening everyone xx

Penny2myName

Only asked cause my mum confused me other day asking if I had had an extra payment into bank due to X amount of cold weather days in a row. Ah well nothing gained but nothing lost either.:rolleyes:

xnatalie81x

Update on my day - feel very good as got loads done but has created a looooooong list for tomorrow. This debt free stuff is starting to get me in the swing for work lol.

1. Ring Npower and sort out direct debits and find out what plan i'm on so i can find cheaper - can't do as electric are generating a bill so need to wait for that and gas is already coming out 14th at their made up level. Did find out about the 100 rebate which i will get in october
2. Ring all my creditors in green below and find out balances - got quite a few done, only 3 left and all my balances were lower than i thought! Will get final total when finish ringing them tomorrow but sick of saying the same thing - started feeling like i was working in telesales, selling myself! Have upped all payments by £5.30 ish (amt saved per mth on not using debtcare, changing son from dinners to pack lunch, changing phone suplier etc etc 53 divided by 10 creditors) and they were very happy debtcare have gone. All the ones i have prices for are on frozen charges and interest! So all money paid off goes to the debt
3. Write letter telling debtcare where to go - didn't manage - will do tomorrow
4. Make loaf bread - yep and waiting for me to eat
5. Go bank and pay in 150 from treadmill, and 4.60 from all my spare change.- paid 150 into bank and transferred to e saver, need to decide when i will pay it off debts and how much...... Spent 4.60 on a pack tobacco and some pitta breads. Money was added extra so not coming off my budget
6. Tidy kitchn, frontroom and bathroom - managed kitchen and frontroom but phone calls to creditors took ages, as did trip to bank
7. 1 load washing (not using tumble so airer takes longer = only 1 load day) - no washing done as i decided to start dishwasher off for first time in three days (very good for me as usually use twice a day but been washing stuff in cold water to save energy. Rule is now one electrical appliance used a day and today that is dishwasher
8. Get teaching stuff ready for work tomorrow.- got shampoo, conditioner and body wash ready for free shower after i've finished! Just gotta grab t-shirts and stuff. You know whats better than getting a free shower..... Getting a free shower with no kids hanging around outside the bathroom saying muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum i need a weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

So, all in all a very good and positive day. Also got call from Swim club that are interested in me working for them. Any extra hrs are great!!!!!!!!!!!

Menu for today
breakfast - none too busy
lunch (me and 1yr old) mushroom, cheese and ham omlette
dinner (3kids and dad) spag bol (meat cooked yesterday)
(me) cottage pie from yesterday
snacks (kids) jelly, banana and custard (been in cupboard since xmas, MIL bought it)
Some HM bread toast before bed for 3 kids n me

o and MIL bought round oranges and bananas and birds eye fish fingers (2 packs = 20) for the kids. OH had a moan about her buying sweets so we get cool stuff now