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

redglass_2

Welcome, Chika! :hello:
CW18 ( I think it was you who asked?). I've found I can freeze skim milk in unopened (ie full) plastic bottles. The bottles swell a bit but I haven't had one crack yet. The bottle comes out a bit grey and weird-looking and takes ages to thaw but the milk tastes OK. Milk with more fat in it might not work so well, I haven't tried.
Good luck with the cyst, Grandma.
DdraidGoch, loved the official welcome to Frugonia.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Frugaldom

Good afternoon all, just catching up with all that's been happening in MSE-land and STILL pondering over the amoun I spend on electricity - why is everything electric?! :mad:

Now, about this homemade wind turbine... we need a 12-year-old advisor to talk us through the project frugally. Something like that might power my garden shed with enough to run a lightbulb.

So much to say, so little time to say it, so once again, appropriate responses, hugs, commiserations, best wishes, good luck and congratulations all where due.

ALMOST finished the kitchen project to the best of my ability without spending much money. One day it would be nice to afford a woodburning system for cooking, heating & hot water but impossible when in a rented house. It might be possible to get a small Rayburn at our own expense but, again, the chances of that happening are very slim and we may not be in the house long enough for it to pay for itself. I'll content myself with a larder and walk-in pantry plus whatever I can produce from the garden.

'Duck house' starting to look more like a duckhouse than a wrecked kennel, hen house beginning to look more like a hen house than a wrecked kennel and I have 10 days left to find out if any of the eggs in the incubator hatch successfully. Lettuce seeds sprouting everywhere, rhubarb shoots looking healthy, rhubarb seeds have sprouted (long term project) and I'll be potting up the first dozen cherry tomoato plants grown from seed, this week. I'm amazed that so many people are able to get sacks of cheap veggies, yet we live in a rural area and I can't find anything like that. Friend (about 250+ miles away) gets her carrots, cabbages, onions etc for £2 per sack and the best I can get is about 50p for 500g! :mad: I'll 'invest' in a few more local turnips, as I can get them for 50p just now but I really need to find a much better source for my veg than a trip into town to the supermarket. If I need to move house again before this garden is in full production I think I'll move to a flat in a main town and live a relatively simple and cheap life on 'whoopises' found within walking distance every day.

Need to finish some work then go get more logs for the fire. Coal man due tomorrow, which means I have used almost 3 bags in 6 weeks! :eek: (About 82p per day after latest price increase, but expecting another £1 per bag increase soon!) Logs have lasted 5 weeks, so far, and I think I have enough left for another 2 to 3 weeks. If I could manage to reduce the price of lighting the fire to about £10 per week and get electricity down to £25 per week this would be great but it is just so difficult that I may need to increase the heating budget for next winter at the expense of something else. Trouble is, I don't know what! :rotfl: Please don't take my play money away, I NEED new chickens and ducks and more fruit bushes. :rotfl: Oh! Just remembered about all those willows I have planted - if they all grow then it'll save on fire-feeding bill.

sophiesmum_2

Good afternoon frunchkins:D

General frugal aims for today;

• storecupboard lunch and tea
• reduce, reuse,recycle one item- unwanted gifts to raffle at work
• do something nice for me -an hour just chilling after work
• do something nice for someone else- food parcel for DS3 and housemate
• fitter not fatter - treadmill and swimming

Todays frugal meals;

• frozen berry smoothie
• poached egg, tomatoes
• More xmas turkey, wholegrain rice, peppers, onions, mushrooms,broccoli

Fruit and veg portions;
2 fruit, 0 pulses,5veggies,

Expenditure or additional income

life insurance DD £14.49

Remaining target cash for first 6 months food spends - £244.96 left from budget of £400 for first six months.


Extra income generated £152.43 /spent £51.35 / left £101.08
(tortilla press/flour £33, boots pressies £18.35)

SmlSave

Hi everyone :hello: Just popping in to say hello and gosh isn't it close to being two months already!

I planted some seeds yesterday :T 6 leeks, 4 peas, 8 onions, 4 chilli's and a line of radishes And I spent £1 on some seed potatoes today.

I'm not sure how the food budget is doing so far this month :think: Lots of little spends that will no doubt add up :rolleyes:

I hope everyone is well and while I am keeping up with the thread I don't post much and so would like to say a big HELLO and THANKS to you all :beer:

Brighton_belle

cw18 - I regularly freeze semi skimmed milk without a second thought. Never had a bottle split.

Today's frugal simplifying tasks:

1. seal orange paint on kitchen cabinet doorss (kitchen now very orange and I love it)
2. Refix door handles when dry.
3. 1 hr creative writing.
4. start March grocery shopping list.
5. Have a NSD
6. Look at charity shop box of goodies and laugh at the thought of one day actually delivering them

EFC - glad you are feeling a lot better: hope the improvement continues -you've had a rough few weeks.
2ndTA - well done of the chard front and general fitness levels.

I'm toying with the idea of planting a few cherry tomato seeds. Bails had a look at my tinsy backyard and thinks it has pot potential for veggies. Can you grow lettucy type things indoors? (to avoid major slug problem). Not sure if I have the energy to see this project through so still umming and arring. I'll see if I can get OH on board with the idea.

Frugaldom

Brighton_belle wrote: »

I'm toying with the idea of planting a few cherry tomato seeds. Bails had a look at my tinsy backyard and thinks it has pot potential for veggies. Can you grow lettucy type things indoors? (to avoid major slug problem). Not sure if I have the energy to see this project through so still umming and arring. I'll see if I can get OH on board with the idea.

BB, I'd plant a handful of lettuce seeds into a windowsill size tub and then when they have grown enough, just use them as salad leaves on a pick-as-you-need basis. They soon replace the plucked leaves and if they don't get dried out or wilted, they should grow all year round. (As will most herbs.) :j Yeah! Another frugalite home-grower. :T

andan

Hi guys, sounds like everyone is doing well with the challenge. Not much to report, other than that i am ticking along with this challenge. I am doing well at getting my food and utilities down and so far have only spent £50 on food this month, my cupboards are still jam packed and most of that was stock piling!

Next month i intend to start growing my own which i hope will help the bills further. I currently haven't worked out how much free money i have generated, somewhere in the region of around £300 but i will not be working that out properly till the half way mark.

At the moment i am just focusing on using fthings up such as beauty products, old cleaning products, free samples, turning gas and elec down and getting rid of things i don't need or finding another use for it.

bails

Sorry peeps, I can't find the lead just now and OH won't be back til half 10 tonight...

Now need to get a dog carrier of some description for the car as I've just discovered she really doesn't travel well - she crept under my seat so her bum was out one side and her head by my feet as I drove, was almost impossible to get her back out :eek: I've never had this problem before as all our dogs have been in the car since tiny and love it, will happily sit anywhere. Anyone got any recommendations for types of carrier please? I'm thinking of going that route rather than bars so we can easily put it into any car she needs to travel in and will feel safe, but do let me know any experiiences you've had, good or bad, with any method. Also, does anyone have a crate for their dog at home and what do they think of them? Thanks guys.

Right, off for a rest as I went to visit my pupil this afternoon as he loves dogs. They've asked me to take her to lessons so will see how it goes - would be great if she can help.
SFT, I forgot to ask earlier, you mentioned giving up teaching in a few years to get some work-life balance and I was wondering what ideas you had (as I'm in the same boat, just a few years down the line already )?
I love the willow planting you've done Nyk, it's a project I've made a mental note of for the future so will be keen to see how it turns out.

Pips_Mum

Hello Everyone

I need a bit of advice please.

Is it cheating if I amend my budget?
I had really underestimated how much having Baby Pip was going to cost each month. For example Baby milk powder costs nearly £8 a tub and we have 1 a week!!:eek:

So can I either take out baby items from my £330 a month budget or up my monthly limit?

x x x

cw18

Pips Mum - I spotted (at least last year) that a lot of people with children did £4k + Child Benefit (this year an extra £1040), and I'm sure some also added on their CTC as well. So now you've added an extra mouth I'd say you should certainly be adding extra to your budget



Thanks for the info on freezing milk -- may give it a try when I have space! Yep! My freezer is crammed full again!!! Went to Mr T this afternoon, and bought what I knew I needed for the next 6 weeks (less the fish in butter sauce - looks like they've discontinued the value one as there wasn't even a shelf ticket for it ), but also bought frozen brocolli and cauli. I've been buying these in Whoopsie, then blanching and freezing -- but the frozen prices worked out cheaper (especially the cauli). And I got a larger bag of peas than normal (usually 900g-1kg, but they had B/Eye 2kg bag for less per kg than Mr T own - we're not fans of the value, but use them when "needs must").