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

shaz_mum_of__2

Nyk

we got the aldi trees last year and got about 16 apples on them..................expecting more this year

Do we get to see pics of the kitchen project?

Shaz

purplevamp

SFT - We'll probably see Bolt, or Hotel for Dogs, it's up to the kids really. Enjoy your play tomorrow.

MrDT - I take it you like soup?! :rotfl: Is it all in date? If not how good are the out-of-date foods, this is the one thing that is putting me off buying from AF.

LollopyBear - I agree that if your friend is going the same way then car-sharing is just as good as public transport, if not better and more reliable. Also :mad: for the freezer. I hate waiting for things to arrive, and they always turn up at the end of the alloted time, never the beginning.

smiler34 - :hello: see you next week!

I've been on ch££ky b!ng* all day (it's been running in the background so I could get on with other things) and have managed to win £1 :j , I didn't supply any card details and it accepted me! Will have to see if it's worthwhile doing as some of the "jackpots" are as little as 20p, whoopdi doo!

sophiesmum_2

Good evening frunchkins:D
Quck post before I go off for my swim and jacuzzi:p
Not much happening here, did a fundraising coffee morning today and made a little over £400 for local hospice which wasn't bad for couple of hours. Cooked tea for oldies tonight and ate with them.

SFT - hope all goes well with the house

SF - glad you had a lovely night last night, have a great time with lovely BF - hope you are staying well

Bails - not much longer

General frugal aims for today;

• storecupboard lunch
• cook tea for oldies and eat for free
• reduce, reuse,recycle one item-bag of foil to guide dogs,furniture to hospice shop
• do something nice for me - going for chill out sauna and jacuzzi
• do something nice for someone else- cooked tea for oldies
• fitter not fatter - swimming later

Todays frugal meals;

• frozen berry smoothie
• broccoli and stilton soup, hi bran crackers
• shepherds pie, broccoli,cauliflower, cabbage - HM rice pud for OH and oldies, sugar free jelly and cream for me

Fruit and veg portions;
2 fruit, 0 pulses,4veggies,:D

Expenditure or additional income

No spend day:D


Remaining target cash for first 6 months food spends - £246.34 left from budget of £400 for first six months.
Extra income generated £152.43 /spent £33 / left £119.43

LollopyBear

purplevamp wrote: »

LollopyBear - I agree that if your friend is going the same way then car-sharing is just as good as public transport, if not better and more reliable. Also :mad: for the freezer. I hate waiting for things to arrive, and they always turn up at the end of the alloted time, never the beginning.


I've been on ch££ky b!ng* all day (it's been running in the background so I could get on with other things) and have managed to win £1 :j , I didn't supply any card details and it accepted me! Will have to see if it's worthwhile doing as some of the "jackpots" are as little as 20p, whoopdi doo!

Thanks Purplevamp. The freezer STILL hasn't arrived. I phoned them up and apparantly we are in the time slot that ends at 9.45pm. *sigh*. As it is 9pm already it looks like your prediction is right!

Well done on the b!ng* :beer:

Sarah147

The chippy on our estate has changed hands and re-opened under another name. To celebrate they were offering free chips for all. Went and waited patiently in the queue and despite them trying to flog me extras like sause and pop, I remained strong walking away with a lovely tray full of chips! They were absolutely delicious! And even more so for the fact they were free :T

Skint_Lynne

Hi everyone,

Not much to report, the job is going well, I am getting a lot of appointments which I am pleased about, I'll be doing a lot of driving around which gives me the opportunity to hopefully get some food bargains if I am in rural locations, ie, big bags of potatoes etc from farm shops.

I didn't spend anything today so that is good too.:D I'll do a bit of shopping tomorrow night probably, see if there are any bargains to be had. I might get myself down to t's on sunday morning as that seems to be when they reduce stuff. I just need to get past the professional whoopsie hunters.

I got a loaf from morrisons recently for 9p, one of their instore baked ones, and it was one of the nicest breads I have tasted. I'll be looking for another one of these soon.

I will need to get cooking again as I really haven't had a lot of time, I like to be organised for that. This house needs gutted as well, it is a mess, if I take it easy and do a room at a time, I will not need to rush before DH comes back, it will just need a general clean then.

I have my lodger staying tonight, he will be in around 1am. He twitters like a budgie when he comes back from his night out, and for the rest of the week, he says hardly anything. That's young brothers for you.:rotfl:

MrDT

nykmedia wrote: »

DT, I'm impressed by your soup savings! Does that work out cheaper than making those same quantities? I've placed another order with them, too, but not expecting it until next week because of all the delays. I missed the fresh orange offer but, hopefully, everything else I wanted was in stock.

Good question, appeals to the math saddo in me. In short, the answer is yes, it's cheaper. Here's my working:

400g tin of soup - ingredients: water, potato (24%), chicken (8%), mushroom (6%), cornflour, veg oil, wheat flour, milk, cream, salt, sugar, herbs, garlic, spices, some flavourings etc.

Costing up just the potato, chicken and mushrooms:
potatoes - tesco value - 2.5kg for £1.19 - quantity in tin 96g, cost per 96g = 4.57p
chicken - tesco value - 304g for £2.00 - quantity in tin 32g, cost per 32g = 21.05p
mushroom - tesco value - 750g for £1.36 - quantity in tin 24g, cost per 24g = 4.35p

That's a total of 29.97p (let's call it 30p lol!) per tin for just the potato chicken and mushroom. Add on maybe 5p a tin for your stock, flour, milk, cream etc? That's about 35p for 400g of home made equivalent.

Approved foods tins - 12p each

Ok so you could use cheaper chicken portions, but I can't work that out as I have no idea how much the bones skin cartiledge and other unused bits weigh. I'm still pretty confident it'd work out cheaper though. Maybe not if you grew your own potatoes and mushrooms and kept chickens...

purplevamp wrote:

Is it all in date? If not how good are the out-of-date foods, this is the one thing that is putting me off buying from AF.

They're past their display date, there's no use by date on tinned food. Loads of info out on the web. I'd be a bit wary if I found a tin dating back from 1948 in my gran's kitchen cupboard, would probably think better of it, but these things are fine

I had one of the soups for lunch and it was really good. Had one of the spicy sausage and bean jars (fasolka - a polish thing) with jacket potatoes for tea, bought as an experiment and wasn't sure if I'd like it (got 4 jars for £1, they sell for ~£1.80 each in the supermarkets), regret not buying more now - delicious!

Spent a lot on chocolate yesterday, but I can justify it as moneysaving It's about £6 a ticket in our local cinema, and these chocolates were 2 for £2.50. Send off the wrappers from 8 bags (cost £10) get 2 cinema tickets in return (value £12). So, we've basically bought a couple of cinema tickets in advance, with a pound off each, and got 8 free bags of chocolate into the deal As I was buying the tickets really, and getting free chocolate (not buying chocolate and getting free tickets), I'll be taking the cost from night out budget not shopping budget

Todays plan : Make a curry in the slowcooker, paint more kitchen cupboard doors (kitchen fully functional now, I can remove the doors and paint them elsewhere), maybe go out for a run (or maybe play playstation instead haha), and err, that's it so far! Have a nice day everyone

andromache_2

Wow, you are moving quickly on the house front, sft! Really hope it all works out as you wish.

I'm so sorry to hear about the bf being a let-down, redglass - I second previous comments that it is better to know now and that it isn't worth compromising in the long run. You seem admirably stoic about it but have some *hugs* if you need them. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the big meeting/interview taking place soon.

Nice to see you pop in, HH62. good luck with the job hunt when you get started

Glad to see you're feeling chirpier, sf - hope the stress levels at home are receding. Enjoy being with your bf

Congrats on everyone else's frugal successes :cool:

I've got a lovely social weekend happening; my friend from France whom I haven't seen in over a year has just spent a couple of days visiting me, and I have another friend and my boyfriend coming today as well so lots of trips to and from the station to meet them and see them off! I'm spending money feeding and entertaining them but not much due to my frugal grocery budget and it's lovely to catch up. I hope you all have a nice weekend too

skint_chick

Ended up getting a lamb korma delivered last night as my knee was swollen and I couldn't walk then I sprayed deep heat spray on it and found out I'm allergic to it:eek: It was delicious but not low GI and £8 :eek: :eek: :eek: Maybe it's been so long since I got Indian that's a normal price but I was shocked. Still have some in the freezer for next time I feel greedy though:D

Had a busy morning being frugal - went to Mr A for some lunches at work food- wholewheat wraps, whole chickens for £2, lots of fruit and veg and some food for OH at work. Also got frugal dry trim for £6 so hair is lovely for new job. Have a budget of £48 for hair for the year thinking I would go every 6weeks but kept forgetting. But I'm getting a wash n blow dry for my friend's wedding in April and it's £15 but I am wearing a dress my mum bought me 2years ago with shoes and jewellery I already have, and going to make a handbag for about £5.

I've also done all my filing, emailed friends to let them know I'm starting new job and rang Advantage Card to query replacement card not turning up. Have to put sealant round the bath now, then when OH gets up change the sheets and put the laundry on.

Skint_Lynne

Good morning,

I have been very frugal today and repaired my coat. This coat is actually a legend in my family, my youngest sister calls it 'the cape' as it is prone to losing buttons. It has been ripped under the arm for a while as well and my SIL wants to burn it. No chance, it is part of me and it is going to be around for a good while yet.:rotfl:

Today, it has had 4 new buttons sewn on and been repaired under the arm. All it needs now is a wash and press. It is actually dry clean only, but I think it'll be okay if I wash it at the woollen setting. Has anyone else attempted something like this, I would be devastated if 'the cape' shrank in the wash.:rotfl: I'm actually going to inform my SIL now about developments regarding the cape, I'll use my mobile as I have free texts and calls all weekend.

Will catch up later guys. xx