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

Blairweech

Congrats JennyBee!

Went to a jumble sale with my Mum today - I haven't been since I was a kid, this was my first experience as an adult. All I can say is :eek: :shocked: . Made the mistake of crouching down to look in a box on the floor and I got trampled.

Anyway for the princely sum of 1.70 I got

- Double duvet cover to go with my autumnal curtains 1.00
- Terracotta casserole dish (I will be using this as a plant pot in the garden) 0.30p
- Blue spotty serving plate 0.20p
- Bill Bryson's 'The Lost Continent' 0.20p

We then went to another jumble sale which had started at the same time - Mum assured me it wouldn't be worth going and it wasn't - they had almost finished packing away, an hour after the sale started! So what was left was being given away, I got a crystal lamp base (needs rewiring) and my Mum got some lavender furniture polish in a vintage tin, which I will pinch after she has used all the polish

SophiesMum - I thought the fact your stones were already attached to the gauze would make life easier if you wanted to make that mat, you could just pour grout in between them (I am guessing ). I spose if they are smaller size squares they would not be any good for that anyway. Please post pics of whatever you do!

savingfortravel

Congratulations JennyBee and OH!!!:T

mumzyof2

Congratulations jenybee

Paulgonnabedebtfree

Just a quick question from someone who has only recently started cooking regularly for himself.
I know potatoes store reasonably well anyway - if you keep them in the dark so that shoots don't appear.
However, is it possible to freeze potatoes after cooking? I have a feeling that mashed ones can be frozen for ages but not sure.
This is on topic for the thread because I'm looking for extra ways to save money on food and sometimes can get hold of decent deals on potatoes. I haven't paid full "normal" price for milk, bread, or potatoes for a while now since I got that freezer from freecycle. It's a major bonus. I realise that my question may seem obvious for people who cook from scratch but I'm a bit clueless and the learning has to start somewhere.

grandma247

I freeze leftover potatoes for adding to soups and one pot stews. Lots of people freeze mash.

Edit. I also do extra baked potatoes split them mash in butter and/or cheese and freeze them. Then they get put in a hot oven when I need some for twice baked potatoes.

lingojingo

Congratulations Jenny Bee and welcome to (not so) little JD

Frugaldom

JB - Hope you and your family are all well and getting settled into homelife together. Hmm... Aiden and JB both over 9lb - does this mean frugalmites are mightier than most?

Paul - re the potatoes, I picked up loads of tips on here last year and now make huge pots of mash that can then be made into fish cakes, croquettes, veggie cutlets, pie toppings and just as plain mash. I had loads of homegrown potatoes last year and just used up the last of them a few weeks ago. I boiled them, mashed them with marg and milk but used powdered milk with less water than per instructions and I've had no problems with watery mash when defrosted. Anything regarding frugal living towards becoming debtfree and having savings is on topic as far as I'm concerned.

Marru - I can't believe you are spending that amount on hire cars because of a lost/broken/faulty key. :eek: Not the most frugal thing to do if you have debt and/or struggling to make ends meet. Couldn't you ask around the other mums to see if anyone else could have collected/dropped off DD?

Blairweech - nice haul at jumble sale. I don't think I have been to one in the past 25 years but would if I could. But... How much for a bed????? :eek:

Redglass - good freecycling and good luck with the ice cream maker - I'm no good with electrics but would think that if something is electrical and works with liquids then it should be pretty well sealed and insulated, but don't take my word for it, just in case.

Catching up, will edit this post as I go. Been outside all day shed-building and just noticed that the rhubarb crown I got from friend a couple of weeks ago has started to grow already! :j I was worried that the brutal hacking it took when digging it up would have set it back for months! My garden is coming alive! All the bulbs are coming through and, when the sun shines, it looks quite springlike!

Frugaldom

xnatalie81x wrote: »

...I am on target this mth - 666 is the max and i have spent 580 with a food shop due wed and 100 for the car! So that will not be there next mth thank heavens! Overall am doing very well. Have stockpiled a tone of food so feb will be low low low. Living on 8k so far is not hard at all.......... and hubby n kids love having homecooked dinners every night

Natalie, don't forget that this isn't your maximum spending limit, this is your AVERAGE spending calculated over 12 months to include everything in your budget. Not all months are the same, so anything extra should be kept safe to run on further into your financial year. Example - If you had a claim on your insurance, chances are you will need to pay the excess charge, but this is an unforseen cost that affects the rest of the year. My monthly average at start of year was the £333.33 but I have spent £484 this month already - January is an expensive month for me. That means that from 1st February, my average monthly spend will be reduced to £319.63 to compensate. Apologies if this is obvious but I'm always worried that people forget and then wrongly assume they have 'extra' money when they don't spend the exact average amount.

Marru wrote:

I think I will blow the budget completely and get myself something a bit stronger than tea for tonight. It has been that kind of a week.

I think the budget already got blown on the hire car, are you really sure you want to spend on something stronger than tea that can only serve to weaken will power? Fetch that 'billy can', me girl, and think long and hard about what you are about to do! :cool:

glendam

Today I have actually worked out a spread sheet I understand doesnt take alot to confuse me on office programmes.
it has weekly balance on the 12 categories and a cumulative one as i go through the year. As i hadn't done one before allocated spend in some areas is too big and car a little small( I have a granddaughter to visit 200 miles away now) So I have jiggled them to make them realistic for me.
Makes me feel pleased to see underspends but I know I would go massively over the week I go to costco so it will hopefully even out.
In these four weeks I feel as if I am more in control which is good.
Thanks to everyone for all the ideas and encouragement.
Glenda

sophiesmum_2

Paulgonnabedebtfree wrote: »

Just a quick question from someone who has only recently started cooking regularly for himself.
I know potatoes store reasonably well anyway - if you keep them in the dark so that shoots don't appear.
However, is it possible to freeze potatoes after cooking? I have a feeling that mashed ones can be frozen for ages but not sure.
This is on topic for the thread because I'm looking for extra ways to save money on food and sometimes can get hold of decent deals on potatoes. I haven't paid full "normal" price for milk, bread, or potatoes for a while now since I got that freezer from freecycle. It's a major bonus. I realise that my question may seem obvious for people who cook from scratch but I'm a bit clueless and the learning has to start somewhere.

Paul you can freeze almost anything after cooking and a lot of things before cooking.Freezers are invaluable for preventing food wastage - anything approching its chucking out time in fridge gets cooked and frozen in this house, as do surplus portions of food and bulk buys/cooks. It can save you a fortune, I can honestly say I haven't thrown ANY food out at all over the past 8-9 months.:D