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

Masomnia

Just done a pretty thrifty shop.

Resisted a few things, chocolate, biscuits etc. Tried to justify a bottle of JD for £15.99, which is great value, and very MSE as it would save money on nights out, but resisted given that I'm at least £100 over budget!

They had Heinz soups four for two pounds!! So I've got four and will be back tomorrow to stockpile more! Also I'm planning on going to superdrug in the week to stock up on first class stamps.

Happy with that!

Editted to add: Just done the sums, and I am £118.27 over-budget. Not so happy with that!

sophiesmum_2

Just been invited out for tea at 2 for 1 place by my swimming buddy after our swim so OH will be eating tortellini on his own and watching cricket in peace whilst I am out.

Had 5 no spend days this week so may even treat us both to a drink/dessert:D

Marru

Hello

Just came back from the walk to the shop. Needed some cheese, fruit and veg. No milk in the shop but luckily I can make some from powdered milk. DD is now scoffing off hot cross buns and I am hoping that the buns and a DVD will keep her going long enough for me to have bath.

Our frugal menu for this weekend:

Breakfasts: Cheese toasties (for me with pickle)
Lunch Sat: Fish and chips from freezer (left over curry from yesterday went to freezer)
Supper Sat: Oven omlette with left over rice, whoopsied fish and frozen peas hidden in it
Lunch Sun: Pasta with tomato & veggie sauce
Supper Sun: Potato mash with cheese sauce and sausages

I have done some searches about the lentil dahl and had some inspiration. I will put it on tomorrow in my SC and then just fingers crossed. I didn't get some of the ingredients from the shop today so need to improvise a bit. I also have ingredients for veggie soup. If I am really good I might be able to prep them tomorrow evening and throw in SC on Monday morning.

I am due to stocking up tinned stuff in L1dl and my local pound shop but that has to wait for now. I have started a shopping list for stock up stuff and it is stuck on fridge door.

Tomorrow really need to update my spreadsheets and signature before I lose track of things.

SM: You have made B00ts shopping into an art form. Well done you!!! Edit: Enjoy your meal out!!

Better sneak into the bath now while I have the chance.

Catch up later!!!

Marru

purplevamp

slowlyfading wrote: »

:hello: purplevamp, well done on paying down your overdraft

Thanks SF, it was quite hard to pay off so much in one go, but I know it's better than being stung for nearly £25 each month!
SFT - Thank you to you too

Thriftylass - so sorry to hear about your loss, I can't imagine how you are feeling. Please take care of yourself, we're all here for you. xx
Blairweech - :T Great spreadsheet, it really helps with sticking to a budget (and diet :whistle:), think I may start doing one again. Mine isn't as well organised as yours so I might have to "borrow" yours.

carbootcrazy - re: table salt, well that's the Council for you :rolleyes:

DD and I made some potato heads for school today - a mummy wrapped in strips of bandage with googly eyes and Little Red Riding Hood wearing a mini jam cover for a hat, googly eyes and a cocktail umbrella :rotfl: . Have also made some muesli flapjacks which are cooling as we speak.

candygirl

Had another spending day today:o spent £15 in morrisons and £4 in maccy d's so gonna deduct that from my total:D
Had yummy potate mash wioth cheese for tea, and am chilling out waiting for Harry Hill now, I love him:rotfl: :rotfl:
DD's met her new landlady and she's lovely, unlike the present one who's a cow:mad: :mad:
Am still looking on freecycle for a baby swing, but no luck so far:o
Have a great evening everyone :A

slowlyfading

Evening everyone!

Well, I haven't been anywhere today, apart from work so its been another NSD for me. I've only had one day in Feb where I've spent money! lol :rotfl: I'm liking this not spending lark, especially since I'm hardly learning anything at the moment. I've spent £20.06 in Feb so far, so I think I'm on track so far budget wise.

I'm feeling a bit better as well, hopefully this viral infection is starting to clear up. I keep drinking peppermint tea as it seems to be helping my chest, and i keep taking ibuprofen, so fingers crossed it'll all be gone soon!

I'm off to the boy's tomorrow night my best friend is also at her bfs (who lives in the same town as mine - they are best mates!) so we're all going for an Indian, so tomorrow will be a spend day, but a good one. Its so nice that we all get on so well and it means I get to see my friend more as well, as she's normally mega busy with uni and what not.

I'm so happy right now.

Sending big (((HUGS))) to those who want/need one

sf xx

Masomnia, sorry to hear about the girl and the message - something doesn't seem quite right there! Sending big (((HUGS))) to you, there is someone wonderful out there for you, it just takes the right moment to find them. xx

purplevamp wrote: »

Thanks SF, it was quite hard to pay off so much in one go, but I know it's better than being stung for nearly £25 each month!

Ooh much better than paying £25 a month! Enjoy the flapjacks

Sarah147

Hi all, finally back online after a couple of days away. Wasn't feeling too well Weds and Thurs but, on the upside, I did not spend a penny, which is fantastic stuff. It all counts. Feeling a bit better now so thought I would log on here and see what you all have been up too.

Found a lovely local restaurant last night that I have never been to before, packed to the rafters and big queues outside, and no wonder.... it is so cheap and the quality was fantastic. I shared garlic bread and potato skins to start with a friend, had a huge pizza for my main and downed two bottles of Peroni. The total? £9 each. You can't say fairer than that, the food was beautiful too.

Snow showers here today but still managed to get out with my sister and nephew and went to a local castle, we were the only ones there. The snow was coming down but he loved it and was marching around like a soldier, he's only two bless him. You don't have to spend a lot to have a lovely day out, we brought a frugal picnic along with us of course, who needs cafes?

Going to catch up with the rest of the thread now.

Blairweech

Hello all,

I have had such a funny week regarding 'relationships', all I can say is Men! :rolleyes: Fortunately I am spared the trauma of Valentines Day as it is my Mums birthday and I am going up there for dinner (she never goes out on her birthday as everywhere is overpriced, with too many people and rubbish service!)

As I was snowed in yesterday, todays 'overtime' will just turn into yesterdays normal wage. Had to go to Mr T to get fuel (it is double clubcard points) and bought another Cath Kidston shopping bag whilst there

Thankyou for the comments about my meal planner. It is the first time I've really done more than a week.

ChaM My lunches are usually packups or left overs from the night before, and my breakfasts are from a choice of toast/cereal/crumpets/boiled egg etc

I am using the lentil dhal from Delia but there is a similiar one on MSE (I think Glad posted it)

Chicken Cheese Casserole, from More-with-Less Cookbook

Serves 6

Cook and drain 3/4 lb noodles according to packet instructions

Fry:
5 tblspn margarine
1 small onion, chopped
3 tblspn chopped green pepper
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)

Add 5 tblspn flour, cook and stir until bubbly

Add:
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 tspn mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook and stir until thickened

Combine the white sauce, cooked noodles plus 3 cups cooked chicken or turkey. Put in a casserole dish and top with 2/3 cup shredded cheese, plus buttered breadcrumbs. Bake at 350F for 45 mins.

skint_chick

Evening everyone

Feeling quite pleased because I've only managed to spend £1.50 since Weds - on a trashy gossip magazine - I used to buy about 4 a week and haven't missed them but today really wanted one in the shop so I treated myself and after CSI I'm going to have a long bath.

I've been reading up on PCOS and I need to drastically change my diet to reduce my risk of (immediate) heart attack and diabetes. It's a low GI one with lots of veg and no white flour/rice/potatoes and no diet Coke :mad: or choc :mad: But I don't want to become diabetic (or die) so I'm going to throw myself into it wholeheartedly and try out some lentil/chickpea/wholegrain recipes. I also joined the MF wannabe challenge as I've been doing so well with overpayments on my mortgage and I want to keep it up. I worked out that with my new wages I can afford to reduce the mortgage to £136,500 by the end of the year -£10k off- and repay my family loan because the payments on my mortgage are so low right now.

Have designed a bag to make with Freecycle sewing machine so practising with OH's old work shirt tomorrow to make sure I know what I'm doing before I spend money on the material. Also have a 1960's clothes making book my mum gave me so will be dressed like a hippy from now on if I want new clothes :rotfl:

enjoyfinancialchallenges

Hi, I havent had time to post for ages but I do try to keep up to date with other peoples posts. It seems like there has been some tough things going on for some people, I do wish you all the best and just hang on in, life will get better and the sun will start to shine again.

Congratulations to all those who have shared achievements with the forum....well done.

I havent yet done my signature despite asking and being told how to do it, some times things seem to hard for me even to attempt!!!! Anyway I came out £5.00 over budget last month which wasnt so bad but I really must try harder in Feb because I want some cash left over to pay off the big bills I started the year with.

Talking of bills this last few days have been very expensive. First the zip broke on the jacket I wear when I walk over the fields on my frugal exercise jaunts so I will need to buy a new one. On Friday I broke my specs whilst I was polishing them, which means I shall be forced into getting my eyes checked because its three years old since they were last done and to be honest I had noticed that I couldnt see as well as I used to (maybe its a good thing in disguise) I will however have to fork out for new ones and they are usually expensive as I need all extra bits to be included (I wonder if I can get blinkers put on for when I go to the shops with my shopping list and come out with extras that seem to jump in my basket?). The next thing was that when I went to get a sewing table from another freecycler I found my car battery was flat, I think its fairly old so will have to get a new one after the weekend. My neighbour jump started the car for me so I did get the table and found out it also included the sewing machine as well which was a big plus.

Now I've written all that down it actually doesnt look so bad. My new credit card month starts on the 8th so I will be able to put most of my new purchases on it and that gets paid off in March. On the plus side I have three crocuses out in the garden and the snow is slowly going away, plus the sun shone today and I'm tired and have a nice comfortable bed to go to even if it is all alone!!

Goodnight and keep the frugal lifestyle everyone it seems to be paying off for most of us.