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

cw18

fizzel81 wrote: »

cw thankyou sooooooo much there here this morning

glad they arrived safely DD has just been round, and apparently our store (though still full of stock) is now closed down!!

fizzel81 wrote: »

and from next month monday and tuesdays i should have had my crb check stuff back to help out in ds1's school 2 days a week so hopefully i can get some experance to get on a teaching assistant course

I went in to help with younger GDs class this morning as a 'taster'. I now have to get my CRB done before they let me back in, but will be every Monday morning (9-11:30) for the rest of this school year (at least). They were asking for parent helpers for Mon morn, Tues aft, and Wed morn -- but as Monday is the one I have least time to myself it was the one that made most sense for me to do. I'm using it as relevant (and useful) experience for when I apply for Childminder registration.


Had some 'good' news this morning. Got the first 'payment advice' notification from the Occupational Pension -- and was really confused that there was one addressed to me and one addressed to my son. Turns out the 'dependant child' element gets paid to the child -- which means it doesn't count as taxable income for me (I've confirmed with them that they send DS his own P60 at tax year end). So that's around £5.75/week more for me/us (rather than Inland Revenue) which equates to £299 a year :T

mumzyof2

Thanks lynne, do i wait for them to cool down before putting them in the freezer or can i wrap them in clingfilm and put in fridge ready for tomorrow? Going to have fahitas tomorrow with the chicken Sausage casserole on wednesday

Skint_Lynne

mumzyof2 wrote: »

Thanks lynne, do i wait for them to cool down before putting them in the freezer or can i wrap them in clingfilm and put in fridge ready for tomorrow? Going to have fahitas tomorrow with the chicken Sausage casserole on wednesday

Yes, defo wait until they are cool/cold before putting in the fridge/freezing. I would even chop them up and put them into a tub, ready for the fahitas tomorrow. Then whatever you have left, you can either freeze them whole or chop them up and put into freezer bags. xx

sophiesmum_2

Hi Mumzy
As Lynne says once you have cooked the chicken you can then freeze it until you need it. Next time you get any big packs if they are raw/ or cooked but unfrozen split them into smaller portions before you freeze them.

Some good ideas there too. Fahitas sound good to me:D
Make sure they are cooled properly before you put them in fridge/freezer.

mumzyof2

Back again ...

I defrosted them yesterday and was going to do them for tea but in last 10minutes i feel really hot and my tummy feels like its hungry but i know im not. I feel a bit sick too. So just going to feed the kids something out of freezer. so what im meaning to ask is.. will the chicken be ok if i cook it tomorrow? I do hope im not ill and just havin a hot flushy moment as i have my last lesson at colege tomorrow and i cant miss it as i missed it last week.

Also just found out that I will be getting £160 a month extra!! woopwoop! Time will tell if this will be a regular payment... proberly not though! Suprised i actually got a payment! Should getfist payment by thursday at latest!

Skint_Lynne

I think that will be fine as long as they are in the fridge now, just give them a sniff before cooking them. You will know if they are off..................just by the smell.:D

Frugaldom

Hi guys

No spending to report here, just been busy with work (last week of month always the same) and trying to think out how best to use what space I have in the kitchen.

Bails - you mention painting your filing cabinets - are these the traditional metal type? I'd quite like to make mine look more like a piece of furniture than lumps of metal and hadn't even thought about the possibility of painting them! :rolleyes: All suggestions welcome.

Janey, your metal detecting explorations sound fun. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that you make a dramatic find!

Sophiesmum, you mentioned storage tubs and I spotted some quite good-sized ones in S0merf!elds last week - half price or clearance or something, I think the were £2.99 each and looked sealable and stackable. I was very tempted but then thought BILLY CAN! I decided against them until I have the kitchen space sorted out properly.

Nice to see you back, thriftylass, hope everything continues to go well for you

Andromache, can't you stage a demonstration to make the point that it's unfair to ban food in the faculty but then provide only one option for buying it? Seems ridiculous to me - I'd drop in the term, 'monopolies commission'. Someone must benefit from baguette sales via the shop.

Bails, good luck house-viewing. I've been thinking along those lines - money still better in property than in an ISA because at best, I can live in it rent free and at worst I could have a tenant paying a tiny rent that would still be more than the interest gained from banks/building societies. I'm seriously considering switching my regular finances to an €gg M0ney card, as they are still offering 4% interest on credit balances plus 1% cashback on all spending.

Redglass - what do you think of the €gg M0ney deal in comparison to straightforward stoozing?

Back again soon, apologies for not responding to individual posts but take them as read and the appropriate responses intended - need to get some more work done here.

angelatgraceland

SiannieLaz wrote: »

Afternoon All:j
OH also announced that he doesn't like food that's been frozen?!? I made a huge pot of curry before xmas, which he ate fresh, but now says it's inedible now it's been frozen:mad: I've never heard such rubbish in all my life. He's eaten stuff and liked it when he doesn't know, so I don't know why he's being such a twit. Have decided to ask him for more money for groceries as if I've got to cook fresh for him every nite, he can pay for it. I'll stick to all the stews, etc I've already got in the freezer. Feb bills have started coming out of the bank already, so budget has gone up. Won't be spending any money on food this week, so should be a super-frugal end to the month!!
Hugs to all that need them :T
xx

Sounds a bit like mine! So he won't eat frozen? Nothing frozen then-not buying him anything frozen either? No chips or frozen fish or frozen veg? Or is that ok? He trusts a factory more than you? Oh Ive been there done that and I "turned" as you can tell! If he didnt want frozen fine-but that meant ALL frozen not just home frozen. He gave in first!:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Skint_Lynne

This is a strange request guys,

Does anyone know how to stop a cat doing it's business in your garden? My mum has one visiting her new garden and our wee dog is not best pleased. I know some of you have moggies so some tips would be appreciated. xx

Skint_Lynne

angelatgraceland wrote: »

Sounds a bit like mine! So he won't eat frozen? Nothing frozen then-not buying him anything frozen either? No chips or frozen fish or frozen veg? Or is that ok? He trusts a factory more than you? Oh Ive been there done that and I "turned" as you can tell! If he didnt want frozen fine-but that meant ALL frozen not just home frozen. He gave in first!:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Mine is like that too. Remember the 'roast beef' incident just at christmas/newyear time? Just hide the tubs out of sight when defrosting, or just tell him he will take what you offer or nothing at all.:D