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

looby-loo_2

Good luck with the exam Mumzy - you know you can do it!

shaz_mum_of__2

Good luck mumzy

sorry to hear everyones troubles ,feeling a bit down myself ........i blame the weather

Got youngest son at home today with an awful cough ...................sounds like a dog barking /wheezing

Shaz

Janey51

Wishing you luck Mumzy.

Our snow has nearly gone...you soft Southerners don't know what a real winter is :rotfl:
I am going to get out of the house in the car for the first time since Saturday. Need more fruit so I'll see if there is any reduced veg as I feel a soup coming on
Funny how I never get fed up of soup.

Had another mega clearout yesterday when the snow was keeping me indoors so I now have a load of stuff to Freecycle or Ebay. TBH, I think I would rather Freecycle unless any of my friends want to stake a claim.
I will ring round this evening after 6 when my "free" calls kicks in.

I may have a guest for dinner to tonight so I think I will make kedgeree. I have never made it before but I found some smoked haddock in the depths of the freezer and I have all the required ingredients according to the recipes I have found.

Have a great day.

MrDT

You should already be on your way to the exam by now mumzy, so won't read this in time but - GOOD LUCK!

the_cat

Goodluck to SL and Mumzy
Sorry to hear your news SF and SFT
Hugs to everyone else

Well after last weeks disappointment about DS stolen badminton rackets, this week has restored my faith. School have been excellent, even offering to help out with the cost of replacement and police very efficient. Statements all taken etc already. Doubt if they will get to the bottom of it but fingers crossed!

Managed to win DS1 some some fancy trainers today too (worth about £60 :eek: ) and sold an item on ebay over the weekend. NSD yesterday and today just need to get parcel posted and maybe get some cheap batteries for torches - just in case Kids at home for second day running so no petrol used since Saturday. So doing pretty well.

Have a good day all
Cat

lingojingo

Heard on the radio this morning that the expected snow hadn't in fact reached yorkshire and the penines - strange as it snowed here sun night, yesterday morning and evening and overnight! :snow_laug

No buses till after midday yesterday, then they stopped about 5pm. DD foolishly went into town and then had to walk half way home as the bus was sliding down a hill, towards traffic lights and then a very steep drop :eek:, so the driver managed to stop and couldn't go any further.

Big hugs (((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))) to slowly fading and saving for travel, my thoughts are with you and yours.

Well done Marru and Skintchick, glad you both seem to have made the right decisions.:D

Good luck for today Mumzy, hope you managed to get to college and that it went well. Fingers crossed for the next couple of weeks Andromache.

Pips_Mum

Oh dear lots of sad news on here so hugs and loving thoughts and also good luck to those in need.

Nyk LOVE the snow rabbit I want one !!!

Snow is not my favourite thing as OH skidded in it yesterday and mangled the car. Insurance excess is £500 :eek: and really dont know where that is going to come from. Very relieved OH was not injured though as if it hadnt been for the crash barrier he would have gone down a 30ft drop.

Stay safe everyone x x

Frugaldom

Hi fruguys and gals,

Pip's Mum, I hope your OH is alright!

Good luck to everyone who has been/is going for interviews, starting/started new jobs, houseviewing, housemoving, renovating, decorating or just generally needing some better luck and extra support. Best wishes to all who have been poorly or have poorly family, and to anyone else who may just be feeling a bit 'down'.

Snow bunny is not from this year, he is from several years ago, but his picture gets dragged out every year in the hope of being able to build another one. Unfortunately I've never been snowed off work during the wintery weather, so have never managed to build another snow-anything since then. We still have no snow here despite last night's brief flurry.

I have rejigged my budget a little to reflect another price increase in coal that's due soon, so this is how it now stands:

Groceries - £1,095.00
Toiletries - £50.00
Cleaning products - £20.00
Electricity - £1,200
Coal - £150.00
Logs - £160
Internet - £240.00
Mobiles - £40
Telephone - £160.00
TV - £145
Clothing & Footwear - £75
Gifts - £140
NTS membership - £78
Travel related - £120
Insurances - £50
Livestock, Pets & Vets - £200
Garden - £77
Everything else - nothing budgeted
TOTAL BUDGET = £4,000

Everything else is what I plan to offset against cash back, vouchers, winnings, trading & interest payments with deficit coming from £4k budget or excess being incorporated into the 4k budget as part of a running total. The figure in my signature is after ALL spending, including life insurance/savings bond and home improvements. Longterm, I want to be able to balance everything into a cash neutral budget so I can convert all 'conventional' earnings into savings to buy a house.

February being 'kitchen month', I'm concentrating on that project until it's completed. I've just ordered another 3-tier kitchen trolley and set of 8 baking trays, both in a clearance sale with discounted delivery (£1.99). I went through cashback site and used cashback cc to pay. I am counting all of these spends as 'miscellaneous' in my budget so I always know how much extra I need to raise or how little I have for extras when there's no 'free' cash in sight.

Sun's shining here so I might pop another washing on and then try to get a bit more kitchen reorganisation done - only one box left to unpack as soon as I have space to put everything. :j

shaz_mum_of__2

Hi Nyk

been thinking of your kitchen and frugal storage ...................we have cup hooks screwed into the bottom of all our wall units ........some for cups some for utensil(fish slice etc) also had thought of using jars of lught stuff screwed into there too like hubby has in the shed with screws could use shelves for all the above too.
some nice uses of jars here
http://www.stonewallkitchen.com/reuse/SWK_reusing.html

http://www.stonewallkitchen.com/Content/images/reusespicerack.gif


Shaz

mumzyof2

Im back from my exam and it was really easily.. im so sure i have pasted. They had questions like what is the correct spelling for nessaccary. I dont know if it is spelled right but i know that it has two C's and two S's. I only know this because my tutor said remember it by 2 coffees and 2 sugars

I changed the front room round yesterday as my neck was fine.. and it was this morning untill my DD fell on way to nursery:D on ice in the middle of a car park so i bent down to lift her arms up and my necks gone again. Still on tablets so should be better once i rest. My class friends at college were saying i was walking like a old lady.. because i found it easier to arch my back:D

DD birthday tomorrow, not happy because i want her to stay a baby lol and shes growing up to fast!

OMG my tutor just rang me i got 36 out of 40!!! woohoo!!! Im going to be doing maths and then when ive done that i will do english level 2

Off to ring all my family now