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

MrDT

Morning all. Not impressed with myself, waking up at 8am on a Sunday is unacceptable. Can't get back to sleep though

Anyway, figured I'd switch the PC on and catch up a bit on here.

I've read a lot about the qype thing, and as today is gonna be a bit of a "non day" (I have boring stuff to do, sort out paperwork, tidy the attic, clean, etc) thought about giving it a go. Those that are taking part - lingojingo, whitewing, skintlynne - do you know what you'll be spending your vouchers on? I've had a look on the site and can't really see anything I'd fancy, or anything that would make good presents really. I guess I could make a £50 wine order, or get a load of toiletries as gifts. Just wanted to be nosey and see what you were thinking about getting really. Shame it's not an amazon/play/hmv/game voucher lol! Virgin don't seem to sell dvds or computer games anymore, not even online.

Just done my scratch cards for the day, £1.45 made within 5 minutes of waking up - must be a personal record!

Went shopping to morrisons last night. Usually go to tesco, but the weather was so bad we just headed to the nearest shop! Really pleased - a weeks worth of shopping, for two, including a few luxuries and packed lunches - £28.48

I don't think morrisons is cheaper than tesco for the stuff I usually buy, we just managed to turn up at the right time for reduced stuff by happy accident:

4x Half pints of milk 5p each (now in freezer, only use it in tea and coffee really)
2x Pizza at 19p each (reduced from £1.79 each!!!)
1x Bag of 4 freshly baked cheese and onion slices 19p (reduced from £1.95!!!)
1x Pack mini pasties 39p (reduced from £1.68!!!)
1x Madeira cake 19p (reduced from £1.15!!!)

I'm particularly happy with the cheese and onion slices, picked them up when they were reduced down to £1, saw the fella reducing stuff further just five minutes later and asked him if he'd put a cheaper sticker on the slices for me Excpected to be told to !!!!!! off, but he said no problem and reduced them down to 19p

They also have 4 tins of branston beans at 75p, and unlike tesco they had plenty in stock. I swear tesco must only put 3 or 4 special offer items out which sell right away, there's never any specials left on the shelves! Anyway, grabbed a couple of packs, thought about getting more, but there'll be other deals in future and my cupboards are only little!

Morrisons have HUGE potatoes in their value 5kg bags too. Seriously, bigger than the specially selected baking potatoes in tesco. Got a 5kg bag for £1.44 and it'll do a fair few baked potatoes and plenty of mash etc. I think these may have been better value than tesco.

Where morrisons falls down is the fact that tesco does a lot more 'value' stuff. Also, bought some muffins at £1.59, these would be 99p in tesco I think. So some things here and there are costlier, maybe the luxury stuff.

For offers, branded stuff, and if you're lucky - reduced stuff, morrisons wins. For staple stuff and sheer choice, I think tesco wins. Of course, the tesco here is about four times the size of morrisons, so maybe it'd be totally different if the tables were turned.

cw18

ISOM - If it's any comfort, I have a dog who's decided to stop asking to be let out.... and whilst she'll sometimes use the kitchen (ceramic tiles, so easy to clean), she seems to prefer the hall carpet too However, I'm in the "lucky" position I was already going to have to replace that carpet -- but that's only 'cos the other dog has scratched through it in a couple of spots, which means it would be flagged as a tripping hazard on a H&S inpection prior to child-minding registration going through !!

I'm actually looking at a type of 'green' lino and/or laminate (M@rmoleum), which I want in the hall, cloakroom, dining room (which will also be 'art' room for children), family bathroom and en-suite -- so it's definitely going to be one of my dearest jobs (probably second to only the garden).

I'm looking at this as an investement as it should last for years -- and it should also be much quicker to clean round children on at least a once-a-day basis than carpet would (especially additional mop-ups after spills), so I'm also looking at it as a time-saving purchase

ETA: I forgot to add my craft room to the list of rooms I want the flooring in !! So the bill creeps up again :rolleyes2

sophiesmum_2

Good morning frunchkins:D
Got a few things to do today, drop stuff off for charity shop, have hair cut, go to costco for oldies, visit my dad, and clear out boot of car. My wardrobe and car boot are my two messy hot spots, everywhere else is organised except those two places which get a bit:eek: :eek: with clutter. After good clearout last night wardrobe is now looking very calm but car still full of assorted random stuff:rolleyes: Migraine gone (thanks ISOM) but still a bit clumsy this morning - always leaves me banging into things and dropping stuff:o

General frugal aims for today;

• storecupboard meals
• reduce, reuse,recycle one item - 3 bags clothes to charity shop
• do something nice for me -haircut
• do something nice for someone else- gave DS my spare mobile as he has just smashed screen on his.
• do one thing just for fun - walk in woods and sneaky turn on a tarzan swing ....lol
• fitter not fatter - swim and jacuzzi, maybe go for a walk in woods later

Todays frugal meals;

• HM seeded bread with bacon and tomatoes, OJ
• left over lasagne from last nights tea,
• roasted butternut squash stuffed with feta cheese, chives and black olives, wholegrain couscous, mushrooms.

Fruit and veg portions;
1 fruit, 0 pulses, 4 veggies,:D

Expenditure or additional income

managed to go to costco for oldies and didn't spend a single penny myself - mainly due to the fact that I cannot squeeze ANY more food whatsoever into the flat.





Remaining target cash for first 6 months food spends - £260.34 left from budget of £400.(17/1/09)

skint_chick

CW18 Congrats on clearing the card! I know how good that feels and you should feel really proud. If you don't need it you should write the cc company a letter to close the account so it shows on your credit file as closed rather than unused - it can help increase your credit score.

Nyk really sorry to hear about the destruction the weather caused I hope you can get it fixed easily.

While mystery shopping yesterday I popped into the Monsoon sale and found a lovely brown cord skirt that would go with everything in my wardrobe and is exactly what I was looking for so I treated myself. It was reduced from £45 to £13.50 so I don't feel too bad. Lovely freecycler brought me a bottle of wine - I'm going to recycle this onwards later in the year! Planning to clean the house today, organise my paperwork, and sort out the mosaicing stuff I got from freecycle so it's in the cupboard rather than all over my dining room

dND

Just a quick post as I got up late – I’m sleeping around 10 hours :eek: at the moment and still feel tired! I think it’s time of life. So a quick catch up while I have my morning cuppa’s.

The aim for today was to cut the wood for the next few days this morning before the scheduled rain arrived but as one of my cats has just come in wet I may be a bit late for that. The wood still has to be cut but I’ll have to work out where, as the chainsaw is electric.

The bananas I bought the other day look as though they had been stored too cold as once they got to room temperature after I got home they went soft and bruised – they looked slightly green in the supermarket. I really don’t like eating soft bananas so once I get the cooker hot again I think I see a couple of banana cakes in the offing, note to me, remember you are supposed to be on a diet! :rolleyes:

It should be a NSD, I do have a 7€ voucher for the local (20 miles away) gardening centre that’s destined for gardening gloves and I do want a mooch round so…

Nyk those are very strong winds, it sounds like nothing is going to last very long in those conditions unless it’s brick/stone built. As another thought, what about freecycle for old windows, they could start off as a cold frame and if you had somewhere where you didn’t mind a collection of windows maybe they could be fashioned into a lean-to growing area.

Maruu I’ve was living with boxes everywhere too – I’ve now got rid of the boxes but still don’t have the shelves :rotfl: but it is much easier when you can see what’s in the boxes isn’t it. Good luck with your sorting and selling. Sorry the car problem was a serious one but what good luck you had the CB.

Welcome back and congratulations Pips Mum.

MrDT You’re welcome to some of my sleep, I could do with a bit more awake time. Sounds like you hit Mr M’s at just the right time. I used to take things back to be further reduces as well, sadly no woopsie sections here in France.

I hope everyone else has a good day; tea is now drunk so work beckons.

cw18

skint_chick : I have three cards I've now cleared, and plan to close all of them. I phoned to close this one yesterday, but the dept I needed had closed an hour or so before I rang! I do now have a direct number to them though, so will try in a little while in case they open on Sundays which I doubt (or put it on my list of 'to do' jobs for tomorrow). I also plan to close a second one today/tomorrow (second highest interest rate plus an annual fee they brought in a few years back with no warning -- but it was the best for international transactions, so as a lot of my on-line purchases from the USA were for relatively small amounts it still made sense to pay the annual fee instead of lots of handling charges), but will wait on the third until I've cleared my 4th (just in case of a dire emergency with the car or house).

The 4th I plan to keep to do my shopping on -- especially petrol -- and pay off immediately, purely to keep a credit rating going. For the same reason I want to speak to my mortgage provider about leaving a small amount on that rather than using all the life insurance to clear it, but this will also give me the money for the jobs needed around the house before I can risk a H&S inspection for child-minding. I could afford the essential jobs anyway, but may not be able to do them to quite the standard I'd like -- and it seems silly to do them 'on the cheap' only to have to redo them all in a few years once I (hopefully) build up some more savings


Well done on the skirt :T Sounds like both a brilliant bargain AND a good investment. I luuuuurve clothes that 'go with everything', as they make it soooo much easier to get dressed in a morning. (For this reason I live in jeans and T-shirts now I don't have to go to work anymore!)

Annie021063

Mr DT - I have just joined qype (yesterday) and I have yet to get my head round it. I plan to get some reviews done tonight. There does seem to be lots of reviews for places I know, do I get paid for those that have already been reviewed? How do I know if they want a review on a place not already done? Sorry for questions but I thought you might know.

redglass_2

MrDT wrote: »

Morrisons have HUGE potatoes in their value 5kg bags too. Seriously, bigger than the specially selected baking potatoes in tesco.

For offers, branded stuff, and if you're lucky - reduced stuff, morrisons wins. For staple stuff and sheer choice, I think tesco wins. Of course, the tesco here is about four times the size of morrisons, so maybe it'd be totally different if the tables were turned.

I'll back you on the huge spuds, MrDT: I've got one of those 5kg bags and the spuds are massive! Not bad quality either. As for choice, it's t'other way round in this area, a horrible run-down old Mr T and a much bigger Mr M, so yes, Mr M has more choice. BUT despite doing my shopping at all sorts of crafty times, I never seem to pick up really cheap whoopsied stuff. If I'm lucky I get something half price, but I guess that's still a 50% saving. I envy those moneysavers who come staggering out of the supermarket with a huge sack of swag for only a fiver. :rotfl:

....That's you, Sophiesmum! :rotfl:Congratulations too on the Great Declutter (at 1 am? That's dedication!)

SL you may convert your sister yet....maybe that was her lightbulb moment! Amazing how £50 can just melt away.

Nyk awww, that is such bad luck about the wind smashing down your greenhouse and the rest, but at least you found out before it was full of summer produce...still, a pain.

Marru well done on the shelves, I love shelves the way some people on this thread love stationery!

Hugs/congrats to everyone else, I can't keep up at all now, completely hopeless.

MrDT

Annie021063 wrote: »

Mr DT - I have just joined qype (yesterday) and I have yet to get my head round it. I plan to get some reviews done tonight. There does seem to be lots of reviews for places I know, do I get paid for those that have already been reviewed? How do I know if they want a review on a place not already done? Sorry for questions but I thought you might know.

Hi Annie, I haven't joined yet, but I believe for the £50 virgin voucher you need to review either 50 places that haven't been reviewed by anyone yet (worth £1 each) or 100 places that have reviews already (worth 50p each) or any combination that adds up to the £50 value.

I'm wondering if I should bother or not as have no idea what to spend a £50 virgin voucher on, I don't really buy any of the stuff listed on the website.

dND/nyk, my grandfather has a solid greenhouse in the garden, brick built with old single glazed windows that came from the house when they got double glazing installed I believe! He built it himself years ago, it's rocksolid and produces amazing veg, the best tomatoes and cucumbers I have ever tasted. He also grows cactii. I'm sure grandad will have built it at a budget, that's his style, no doubt it was a matter of grabbing spare bricks off someone that had just demolished a wall or something rather than buying in all the materials from a builders merchants. So long as you have someone around that's a bit handy with diy it could be a relative cheap option for a solid greenhouse. Grandad probably only paid for cement and paint! I remember helping him shovel sand from the beach into buckets to mix the concrete base haha, there are shells etc visible in it, very 'old style'

fallen_angel_shelley

Good morning. I hope everyone is well this morning. NYK, I hope nothing else got blown away over night? Skint_chick, well done with the find at monsoon, I like that shop but think it is very expensive. SM- Glad the migraine has gone, I can really sympathise with you, I use to get them alot when I was married, but since we got divorced, all most 9 years ago, I only had about 1 or 2:rotfl:. today is going to be a NSD:T, not got much to do today other than essay writing:rolleyes:, I have decied that uni work is taking 1st priority from now on and the decorating and de-junking can wait until the holidays or i'm on top of my work. I was having a think last night, we live in a 1st floor flat with it's own staris leading up to it outside, what I was thinking of doing is seeing what I could put in pots and grow some of my own veg, it only gets the sun in the afternoon in the summer, so any ideas will be more than welcome:beer:.

Right, i'm going to log off now and get dressed, do the washing-up and then crack on with my work, hope everyone has a productive and frugal day, I will catch up later. :wave:

Shelley x