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

Marru

nykmedia wrote: »

:eek: :eek: :eek: BILLY CAN ALERT, BILLY CAN ALERT! Marru, noooooooooo..... don't do it, get out your billy can! Becoming debt free will make you feel so much better and then you can buy whatever you want (and can afford, obviously ). You may end up regretting the spend if things get really tough, especially if something like kitchen cupboards needed restocking. I know it's none of my business, but at least assess the full impact of the spend before deciding. Or, just tell me to shut up and mind my own business.

I am just about to leave to go and get them. I have checked my online banking and even without quite large cheque that has not cleared yet I can afford them and I NEED them. I have been needing and thinking about them for months. The chepest lot that will do the job will cost me £135.- and when I can get that pile of books sorted I will feel so much better of it and then I know what is there and can actually start selling them. And hopefully I can release my own books from boxes and have access to them as well.

Must go as need to get back in time as today is my dog walking day.

Marru

Frugaldom

Hi WOMOT, I use either lavender or lemon essential oil in washing machine with soapnuts when I remember to add it. I've had no problems with the smell of the soapnuts and, as I discovered on the dry day of the recent gales, violent, gusting winds shake laundry softer than any fabric softener I've ever tried.

OK, confessing my spends to date just to show how January can upset the apple cart of the monthly budget:

Foodstuffs & store cupboard - £128.95
Toiletries - £1.38
Cleaning products - £1.43
Electricity meter - £90.00 (balance in it is currently £36+)
Coal - £34.50
Mobile phone - £5.00
Clothing & footwear - £3.20
Gifts - £37.50
Travel related - £14.45
Pets & livestock - £5.80
Garden - £31.49
Miscellaneous - £14.20
Free income - £17.60
Total = £350.50

Balance remaining from £4,000 = £3,649.50

I'll also need to pay for the log delivery tonight but that will give me enough fuel to last at least 6 weeks. Within my gifts spending, I ventured into The B0dy Sh0p sale this morning, via TCB, with a 10% off voucher code and a cashback cc, so I am a happy bunny with my finds.

Lilac_Lady, Appr0ved food doesn't sell anything that's out of date, it's only the best before or store display dates that can be past. But I do understand your concerns because, despite having no qualms about buying short-dated foods or reusing leftovers, my personal quirk is the extra I spend on disposable gloves (and sterilising fluid)! I always wear them when handling food & baking. I'm happy with my quirk, I know its origin. Personal preferences like that are part of our own built-in safety systems.

xnatalie81x

How do you use your soapnuts and where did you order them from. I have had a look and am very interested in these although i do have about 2mths worth of washing tabs left........

xnatalie81x

wahoooooooo the other council just rang me to cover 4-6 thats an extra 30 earnt today - right must rush to get ready now ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Frugaldom

xnatalie81x wrote: »

How do you use your soapnuts and where did you order them from. I have had a look and am very interested in these although i do have about 2mths worth of washing tabs left........

Check out the 'Soapnuts' link in handy links section of post 1 on this challenge.
I'm still using the same lot I got last year and have had no problems with them, even with higher temperature washes. Will get the link for you, back in a mo.

OK, here's the current list of handy links, if anyone thinks of anything else that should be there, let me know.

HANDY LINKS - now alphabetical!

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Approved Food[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - amazing bargains if you don't mind short dates or past sell by – save it from landfill![/FONT]
Bite Card - 20% off food at train stations
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Complete (MSE) cooking collection[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - Loads and loads and loads of recipes[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Electricity & Gas savings[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - monitor your electricity & gas with the MoneySaving Carbon Club[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Free crafts ideas[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - how to make papier mache banks etc[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Freecycle[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] (UK) - don't bin it, rehome it.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Greenfingered money saving[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - Gardening & growing your own food[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Grocery bargains[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - Supermarket price reduction times[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Hunger Site[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - Charity site where every click counts[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]i-Measure[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - log your meter readings and try to reduce your carbon footprint[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Menu Planning[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - hundreds of options and suggestions[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Nutrition and diet info[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif], an excellent thread - thanks to Weezl74[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Old Style indexed collection[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - Indexed collection of links, hints and tips for anything old style, moneysaving and frugal.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Recipes part 1[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - thanks to Rosieben on the Grocery Challenge[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Recipes part 2[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - thanks, again, to Rosieben[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Remoska discussion[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - everything you need to know about Remoska ovens[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Selling on eBid[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - decluttering and recycling for cash with no listing fees[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Soapnuts[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - The frugal, eco-friendly alternative to soap powder or detergents[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Soapnuts thread on MSE[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - discuss, ask questions here[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Spending Diary[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - excellent free resource for recording your spends[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Start a cottage industry[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] - the official MSE discussion[/FONT]

Brighton_belle

fizzle81 - do check out the remoska thread - it's packed with info (link through post one as Nyk show above). Yes you can cook anything you can do in an oven in a remoska - it is an oven, that just looks a bit differnt. May take longer than you are use to - but you soon get used to that.

Todays frugal/simlifying aims:

• rewrite notebook 'to do list' and prioritise: choose top 2 tasks to get done
• update accounts
• clear clutter that has reappeared on hobbies desk

redglass_2

Hullo everybody
congratulations to all those who are doing so well (amazing lot, aren't we!) especially Pipsmum, and hugs to all those in need (who are also doing fantastically well). It's great that we have so many new people on the thread and have still kept the same supportive atmosphere as when it was smaller.
I haven't yet managed to get onto Boots site, it's off every time i try.
Worse, I can't update my spending for week 2 because when I looked at the bank statement there's a great big cheque gone out THAT I CAN'T REMEMBER AT ALL....! :eek::eek::eek: and I'm worried in case it's actually a fraud, a cheque for a small amount that someone has altered into a big one. The online statement says nothing about who it was made out to, and (wouldn't you know?) it's the only one in the whole book where i didn't fill in the stub. :doh:When I rang A&L they said they can't tell me anything about who it was made out to, and I will have to pay £5 for a photocopy of the cheque. So that's what I've done :mad: because even though I hate paying out the £5, i can't bear not knowing.

BUT apart from this I'm very happy with progress so far, especially with the frugal eating. I've really clamped down on sarnies and coffee at work, and if i think about it logically, I sometimes would spend as much as £6 a day on random snacks and bits of cake, which puts my £5 bank charge into perspective. Taking a packed lunch instead of buying snacks has led to lots of NSDs. Today i had a frugal soup made from chicken stock (from carcass), rice, cabbage and Approved Foods kidney beans. It was delish and I'm taking some of it to work tomorrow.

nickynoo08

Hiya everyone, had a busy few days AGAIN.
Well my de-cluttering is still going strong, cat belive how much stuff i've found that i can sell/give away/re-use as presents/charity etc... My wardrobe was like a tardis, lurking in the back i found my mum's old ab roller and a rowing macheine, how they fit in i dont know cuz on top of that there was a huge bag of dvd's my mum had borrowed from me, a small suitcase filled with beach towels and a stack of gift sets all ready for birthdays and xmas. Oh plus its full of mine and OH's clothes too:rolleyes:. Anyhoo its all sorted now. Got loads of space in it again.
I'm off to stock up again tonight. We seem to be going through milk and fruit like theres no tomoro at the moment, so that'll be my gc budget out of the window:o. I need to start batch cooking again. I've got a few days off next week so hopefully i'll be able to get some stuff made.
does anyone have a recipie for brocolli and cheese soup? The last one i made was far too thick and the cheese went all gloopy, tried to thin it down but it looked and tasted awful so ended up in the bin.

candygirl

Have just got my Approved food order through and got approx £40 of stuff for £20 , so am well chuffed, oh and the choc snack a jacks are lush:o

jtb2412

Afternoon all ...... things still ticking along nicely here.

I took a leaf out of Sophiesmum's book and did something nice for me today - I made a distinct effort to sit down for an hour after work while the kids were at school and just chill out. I tend to find myself not being able to sit down and relax, always looking for something to do (mainly frugal things ) but finding it hard to sit still lately ! So I thought I ought to do something about it and I now feel refreshed and ready to do a bit of batch cooking tonight.

We're having the belly pork recipe for dinner tonight (the one on the first page -sounds yummy !). Not had it before so looking forward to it - has anyone else made it? It's a really cheap meal (£1.84 for the pork, 20p for 1/2 pack of the whoopsied pears and about 20p for the rest of the ingredients) and should feed all of us easily (apart from DD2 who is having boiled egg and soldiers :rolleyes: ).

I've got the whoopsied swede cooking, ready to be mashed, portioned and put in the freezer and I'm going to do some leek and potato soup ready for the weekend (friend at work gave me the recipe so i'll post it later depending on how it tastes ! lol)

Popping out to post my uncles birthday pressie shortly (which I got 1/2 price in boots after xmas) and using some of the hundreds of stamps i've accumulated on the Royal Mail survey so not costing anything for postage.

My Mr T healthy living mailing came today with a few coupons so that will help towards my next shop and also got a couple of other coupons from freebies that I'd sent off for.

Had a quick look at the soapnuts thread and it's very interesting ! Will send off for the free sample tomorrow . I did buy Mr S basic washing powder last night - not sure what it's like but we'll see - anyone else use it?

Thank you for the links nyk - it's so handy to have them all in one place - makes my life a lot easier (I tend to have about 40 different windows open in one session otherwise :rotfl: ).