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

purplevamp

Afternoon (just :D )

SL - I've put some dry clean only items in the machine before, one was a coat. I put it on the handwash setting. It survived . I bet yours a really comfy coat. I've only used a dry cleaners for my wedding dress.

smiler34 - Try making extra money, ebay, amazon, scratchcards, etc. Like shaz says join the grocery challenge, or have a look to get some ideas.

Deleted_User - :T that's good news on the mortgage and on the SAHM part. 2 weeks will fly by :A (with just a little bit of :eek: )

:bdaycake: Happy Birthday sophiesmum's dad


Today I have spent the grand total of £68.93 . Took the kids to the cinema and saw Bolt 3D, luckily I had 2 free Odeon tickets so that only cost £6.80 for 1 child ticket. (Adult ticket would have been £9.20 :eek: because it was 3D), got them some sweets, popcorn, drinks & sausage roll before which was £5.43.

Whilst down that way I got 3 tickets to the upcoming Mickey Mouse Magic Show in April - £54.50. The rest was bus fare!

redglass_2

Smiler, welcome to the thread. I don't think anyone has said this yet - you don't have to count the work petrol in your budget. You might want to do an all-inclusive budget to fit your own circumstances, but often we have no control over work-related stuff so it's OK to leave it out. I don't include anything to do with my computer or my car.

Sophiesmum, what with all the healthy things you do, :Tand the bargains at Boots,:T words fail me! I'm not worthy...! :rotfl:

jtb2412

Evening challengers !

Hope everyone is ok - going to catch up in a bit. Huggzz for anyone that needs one :grouphug: .

Have spent some money today (first time in ages !) and it seemed really odd . Popped to the garden centre this morning as we want to liven up the front of our house (currently under the influence of huge conifers that are going to be cut down later in the year). We wanted some colour and created two flower beds under the windows and popped in loads of primroses. I also got some nice pots and azaleas for by the front door and the improvement is fantastic ! Looks really nice and welcoming now.

We also bought some more seeds (a gardener can never have enough seeds you know ) and some compost which was a fab bargain (four 75 litre for £10 :T ).

I've also been online and ordered DH some Dorset Naga chilli seeds for his birthday, although I'm not sure what he'll do with them as they're the hottest ones in the world apparently :eek: .

Had a few bits to get from Mr S too and ended up buying some wine for ourselves as a bit of a reward for all our hard work on the lotty today - going to have to knock this on the head though, it's costing us a fortune ! :rotfl: Am well over on GC budget this month now :mad: and I've got to do some more shopping before the end of the month. However, once all the fruit and veg start producing, then our grocery budget will come down loads, so i'm not too worried (at the moment !)

Had our last tub of HM spicy carrot soup for lunch today - chest freezer is starting to look very empty ! I might just get it defrosted this week if I can be really organised and refrain from buying any bargains .

Think that's it for now, sorry for rambling (must be the wine - hic !) :rotfl:

Have a great evening everyone ........ off to catch up ! xx

whitewing

sophiesmum,

I'm still around (splitting my time between here and the Lapland thread). I'm reading most threads; someone's got to keep an eye on redglass, lol; (redglass, sorry that this BF didn't work out but now you've got your shed there will be no stopping you!)

Still exercising, losing weight v slowly but I'm pleased with progress, my business has been very busy this last month, which is great but a lot of work. Not sure if the special offer is going to help long term, but still having a better time than last year. Still trying for a baby too (a year of trying now), but I'm not so bothered at the moment if I don't catch as I would rather have one born March onwards next year than in the winter. Que sera sera.

Feel much better this year in general about money, even though we've less of it! Had a lot of compliments about work in Feb and that has made me feel good about myself. Long may it last!

Love to everyone here.

looby-loo_2

Good evening, I've just been catching up with everyones news. Congratulatins on the new jobs and fittness and whoopsie buying.

looby-loo_2

[QUOTE=jtb2412;19032371]We also bought some more seeds (a gardener can never have enough seeds you know ) and some compost which was a fab bargain (four 75 litre for £10 :T )[/QUOTE]

Where was the compost from?The best I've seen was 3 for £10. Was it a chain? Thank you

angelatgraceland

Skint_Lynne wrote: »

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

I did this last week with my dds coat which is a wool mix. I put it on a 30 deg wash with liquid detergent, 800 spin and the wash cycle lasts 30 mins.
Your risk of course but we didnt get anyshrinkage. we hung it on the line, then on a hanger on the curtain rail to dry.
Now I did once take a coat to the cleaners-they shrunk it!

looby-loo wrote: »

Good evening, I've just been catching up with everyones news. Congratulatins on the new jobs and fittness and whoopsie buying.

I've been catching up in the garden but no one would notice yet. I made mango chutney, Lidl mangos @ 20p and intended to do a car boot tomorrow but didn't get sorted out in time. In Australia they have 'yard sales' where everyone just puts their stuff out on their drive on a pre arranged day and buyers drive or walk round to visit each house (a bit like open gardens here) I wish we had that here. It sounds much easier than loading it all into a car and emptying it out in a wet field and standing in the cold for 6 hours. We have lots of walkers and tourists passing our house but thinking about it I put a tray of lovely cooking apples out 3 weeks ago and only 12 were taken so there wouldn't be much hope for my junk.

I must put the wrong books on @m@zon. I listed 24 and 0 sold. Some were only 10p!

If I sit here any longer I shall fall asleep, good bye

Oh good-those mangoes still only 20p? I shall buy some more then-and make more chutney too cos it really did come out the best ever!
Re Amazon-have a look down your list where you can manage your inventory or some such similar term.
You could have a garage sale(if you have a garage) or you could advertise it as a garage sale and put it down the side of the house or something? Ive seen ads many times for these in the local free paper. Only thing I will say is-be very careful if you do this and have lots of helpers. Security is a must-and don't tell strangers too much about the stuff inside which you are not selling!

jtb2412

Looby-loo, we got the compost from a local garden centre (biggest indoor one in the country, and it's right on my doorstep ) - between Worthing and Rustington if you know the area? Don't think they're a chain but will PM you the name in a minute, there may be others ! Great bargain with the mangoes too looby - wish I could get them for 20p ! And you can't beat HM mango chutney

Is there any news on Bails puppy yet? Can't wait to hear !

Smiler welcome to the madhouse lol ..... nah, it's not that bad, honest . Looking forward to hearing all about you and your progress

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SM'S DAD ! Many happy returns xx :T Seems like you got a good few bargains at Boots SM - I must admit, I do miss bootsing but I can't possibly squeeze any more goodies in my bedroom atm ! Once I've got rid of a few bits for birthdays etc, then I might start up again (Shhhhhh don't tell DH !)

loopy (keep getting you muddled up with looby ) - well done on the mortage reduction - that's great news ! :j

Nyk looking forward to seeing the finished duck house, and the curtains . I'm quite glad I can't sew otherwise I'd never find enough hours in the day to do things ! Already setting the alarm for tomorrow (I know, it's Sunday :rolleyes: ) to get in greenhouse and sow my next lot of sweet peas. If I don't, then i'll not get them done for at least a week (Mum and Dad coming to stay next weekend :j so won't get much gardening done for the next week or so).

To quote Skint Lynn = The challenge is about having a good quality of life for as little cash as possible, and not about depriving yourself of anything. Thank you for this Lynn :beer: , a nice quote and very true - I sometimes need to remind myself of this .

Shaz glad to see the Amazon is going well (and thanks for popping a post up on my thread earlier, will get round to updating it shortly ).

Sorry if I've missed anyone, am still reading back ! :eek: :rotfl: You lot can't half natter :rotfl: .

xnatalie81x

Decided to blow the budget today and take son and neighbour swimming as they have been so good. Thought 1.40 for car park 7.00 ish for 3 of us to get in BUT car park money refunded when use centre (thought it was just staff) and the receptionist recognised me so got in free VERY HAPPY - from April will get gold card so can use all facilities free oh and borrowed neighbours car and they said not to worry bout petrol as took their son. She also looked after dd and ds2 - had great fun

Sarah147

Had a bit of a lazy day today so my "to do" list will have to wait til tomorrow. My sister and nephew popped around so I ended up making train tracks and building boats out of stickle bricks did manage to go to the football though and we won, the £6 entrance fee the only spend of the day (was strong and resisted a cheese pasty!).

And on the way back the sky was the most beautiful shade of red, it was glorious and, even better..... totally free!



And Take That are on the telly, what more can you want in a day?!