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

angelatgraceland

nykmedia wrote: »

Good luck Marru.

Sophiesmum, have you tried advertising on Freecycle wanting someone's garden in exchange for their having a small percentage of whatever you grow? I'm told this is also the type of thing that can be done on an exchange basis through LETS but still haven't had time to find out more about the scheme.

Nickynoo, well done getting OH aboard the frugal-train

Anyone know the best way to get rid of a tumble dryer? Been trying to sell it for over 6 months and it's now out of its 12 month statutory guarantee. It's hardly been used since DD and DGD moved into their own place a year ago, I have tried advertising it to no avail. It's about 13 months old and still looks like new, but I have neither need nor space for it. Should I bite the bullet and Freecycle it?

Yes-there will be so many people grateful for a tumledrier on Freecyle.
You cannot however do swaps or exchanges as suggested above for garden space in return for veg. Its not saving anything from landfill and it is not "without strings". In other words anything given on Freecycle is given with no return,completely free.
Ive just joined a group though which may be able to help:
http://www.justfortheloveofit.org/index.php

If your Freecycle group has a cafe site they may possible allow a post asking for allotment space in exchange for food but not on the main site.

Went to Mr M yesterday as I was passing-just to buy baked beans and clementines!
Every time Im near I shall buy the 4 packs of baked beans Im allowed. Also went in the pound shop and got 40 plactic plates for the cat food(I hate plates with cat food on)altho I generally use any takeaway carton possible. As Ive been good tho Ive got little in the way of plastic trays. Darn it-I really should have kept the margarine tubs Ive just thought!!! I also bought a zebra striped dustpan and brush for the crumbs on the table-the pattern is handy as we cannot mistake it! Fed up keep shaking out the cloth and removing everything from the table. Must remember to renew library books tomorrow or they will cost me and it would be nice to get to the pool for a swim-already paid for-either with my free swim voucher-or with the card I bought last year. NSD today. Tomorrow evening Im off to the theatre but it was paid for last year and free lift there and back with my neighbour. So-somehow or other Ive managed to go out without spending. Got a new bathmat in the sale at work for £3 instead of £8 but it was with my company vouchers so again-free.

Frugaldom

Hi guys,

Angelatgraceland, sorry, I mixed up Freeshare, Freecycle and LETS. I use Freeshare and Freecycle but I'm now looking into joining our local LETS at the moment, as it is an exchange system.

I listed the tumble drier on Freecycle, along with other stuff, and have now been inundated with requests! :eek: Hopefully everything will be gone by tomorrow lunchtime. :T On an even better note, I think I've managed to get a book case / shelf unit! :j I may, soon, have a proper pantry!

Skint_Lynne

Evening all,

I'm just in, not much to report. Just back from costco with mum and sisters, we spent quite a bit between us, but will get a lot of dinners etc from it. I got her to buy their washing powder which is great value. Ive had mine from October and there is hardly anything out of it. It is nearly the end of the month and I am going to collate my spends soon. It will be interesting to see how I have gotten on in the first month.

Speak later frugalies. xx

angelatgraceland

I have a bookcase in my garage I use for all of my tins and jars as Ive little space in my kitchen. I also dry my washing there on 3 or 4 airers-well-until almost dry then I finish off in tumbledrier.
I dont like drying it in the house as it can make the house damp. However-not the case if using a dehumidifier as my brother dries all of his on airers and just leaves the dehumidifier on all of the time-he has no room for a drier.
I think I must look at Freeshare also as Id like to swap skills-just never sure what mine are!

sophiesmum_2

Have decided to hang out for an allotment and grow what I can within our grounds for the meantime, have made a space in one of storage places where we keep our garden furniture and going to house chicken house in there - for a while
I have found a shady corner out of sight and an area of wall which I can use for attaching more baskets to. Going to implement the fence post hanging basket system too so will post a pic when we get round to doing that. Need to maximise space as much as possible. OH has used his gardening vouchers to buy some seed potatoes and potato growing bags so that bit is sorted, I was going to use some of the supermarket recycle bags for this - the growing bags are similar size, material etc just a little stronger that's all.
These are like the ones he has got
http://www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk/?PAGEID=20670&STK_PROD_CODE=1090-5882&CTL_CAT_CODE=M16111

While I was mooching in garden earlier I discovered some of my leeks still growing in a pot and a few beetroots in another, going to get out there properly at weekend and see if any of them are worth harvesting - I thought we had cleared all of these, must have missed a few.:rolleyes:

cha97michelle

Evening everyone

A NSD here again, and my child tax credit went in, so happy days. I was out a good bit of the day at my parents house. We went after lunch, stopping off at the duckpond with some stale bread first for some frugal entertainment.

I took an ice your biscuits kit that DS was bought for xmas, so that entertained the boys for a bit. My sister fed my boys their tea, and i have had all my cuppas made for me. In return my DH went to their house after he finished work to help my mum submit her self assessment online (annual tradition i'm afraid). He's not back home yet, so he must be starving bless him, and he will have had to do a detour as the road home is closed overnight while they repair the verge.

I found out my other sis is pregnant again. Only early days, but i already have great plans of decluttering some baby stuff that way.

that's about all from me. Food has been from previously cooked meals, and i am drooling at some mini-fruit trees online. I am seriously tempted, but will see.... 4 for £20 didn't seem bad.

And mum got me another savings tin after i admired hers. It is huge - bigger than a tin of baby milk. I don't know what i will start saving in that one

Boomdocker

savingfortravel wrote: »

Boomdocker-Hope the boiler's ok.SFT

Sadly it looks likely to be replaced next Monday. To be honest its lasted 14 years so we can't complain. Should cost £1700 which is not bad after shopping around. Was lucky enough to be recommended a local Corgi guy so hopefully should all be resolved by middle of next week.

whitewing

Morning!

Had a nice day yesterday but not a very productive one in terms of what I actually wanted to do so will have to catch up a bit at the weekend, and today if I can.

Am going to try a new strategy in the kitchen. Happy with doing a monthly shop but DH is complaining that stuff like fruit juice always gets drunk too soon after the monthly shop. And if we're in a rush we don't always get good combinations within the budget, eg we'll have loads of fruit/veg but virtually no meat. Which means we can't decide what to cook so we pop to the local shop instead. Plus portion size is still a problem for me. So, at the weekend, we're going to clear out one of the kitchen cupboards, put in 8 boxes (one per day) and do rough meal plans into each box. Then, for example, if the juice for the week is used up, we know that we still have juice for the following week. I've no idea if this will work but it'll be fun to try.

Enough rambling...I'll be lurking later.

xnatalie81x

With the end of Jan now approaching and no more spends for the rest of the month (yeah i know only 3 days lol) i have got my total for the month (as sig) which i am pleased with as 100 was for car tax stuff. So much for spreading it over the year he he.

Am absolutely inundated with food thanks to a £10 shop and another order due 4th as had to use my £10 off by the 4th!!!!!! So will have enough food now until end feb....... WOW! And have ordered enough nappies and wipes to last almost 3 weeks. All i need is milk and a few fresh bits. Freezer is groaning under the weight of 3 roast chickens, 3x800g mince beef and soooooooo much more - both fridges are pretty full. Definitely need 2nd freezer

So a highly successful first month for me (average max spend mth is 666) and feb will be amazingly low with no 100 for car and a very low shopping bill (i'll guesstimate 100 at most for the month including the shop on 4th feb - nappies are the killer) Have also done loads of teaching cover and have committed to clearing student overdraft first with any savings from grocery budget going towards that. Along with a payment a day (prob 20p a day as won't miss a £1 every 5days) - have put debts in priority order for any additional payments and this is the first one to get the 'treatment'

Am very much on target for 8k for the year, or lower and am very excited to say i may well be debt free by as early as dec 2011/jan 2012!!

FrankieM

Morning everyone,
Its grey and murkey here, not that that makes a difference to me today as I've got loads of paid work to do so won't be going anywhere or anything but that!
DD2 made a pasta bake yesterday so thats dinner for the kinders tonight. I'm having odd bits of leftovers for breakfast, lunch and dinner today. At least it'll get used up and not thrown out.
Hope you all have a good day...