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

Kittikins

Wow shaz that's fantastic! I think I'm going to end the month with £90 left which is totally unheard of

I've been lurking and not posting recently and am reasonably in budget, doing a bit of a Marru in changing my diet to more healthy foods, but of course have loads of things like white rice/pasta in my stores....so the aim is to gradually introduce wholeweat pasta, maybe do a mix and match so that DD doesn't get a culture shock! Really trying to eat less processed foods and what I've read about chocolate seems to have turned me off it which can't be a bad thing!

enjoyfinancialchallenges

MOLLYMOP....I've just got rid of the mice I had in my upstairs studio by using Rat & Mouse Killer. I was told not to move too much stuff in the room so the mice kept to their usual runs in the romm and place some jam jar lids with some bait in them around the edges of the room which I did.....about 6 if I remember correctly. Then I just topped up the lids when I saw it had been eaten until that stopped, I left it down a bit longer though just in case I had missed some supermouse or other. It went on for about 3 weeks( I think but certainly no longer) and at the end of it I hoovered and cleaned up all the poo and wee they left :eek: and sprayed and airated the room and its all done.:T I still need to fill up the holes the builders left from putting in the pipes when they did my loft conversion, my DS1 has advised me to use wire wool which they cant eat before I use a filler and I will try that.

Just to put some humour into this whole yucky business I still knock on the door before I enter just in case I catch sight of a resilient mouse but so far all is fine with no visible or other signs of them.

The bait cost me £5.99 by the way at a garden centre but I suppose its available elsewhere just in case you dont have one near.

grandma247

Good morning all.
Well done to all those that will have money left at the end of the month.

We have been using any spare money we have left buying woopsied meat so there will be no surplus for us yet. I am getting a bit excited and frustrated now because the big loan only has a few more weeks to run then we will have an extra £50 a week. It can't come fast enough. I keep trying to figure out ways of paying it off quicker but unless there is more overtime in the next few weeks it is unlikely.


Pips mum your little boy is beautiful.

cha97michelle

Morning Frugang,

pipsmum he's gorgeous. I only had a quick look though as i am feeling rather broody at the moment, and i don't want to get myself worse. My two bruisers have been to baby clinic this morning, and weighed 36Ib6oz, and 25Ib7oz. No wonder i feel so shattered each day from carrying those two around. I've just moved DS2 into the second size car sear and he looked so grown up today.

We are planning a NSD. We have to visit my Dad as it's his birthday, and also my BILs today. It is also 9 years today since myself and DH got together, so i have a box of Brazil nuts from AF for him. ;)Cheap but nice treat, although i am going to abstain as i am starting to worry i won't fit into my work suits at the end of March.

Otherwise, we plan to pop to the duckpond on route to my parents so DS1 can have a run around and we can dispose of some old bread. Very cheap entertainment and they both love it. My parents will provide a sarnie for the boys for tea, and i will make some yellowfin tuna in ginger (AF) plus noodles for myself and DH tonight. It will all be ready in 3 minutes. Perfect.

I am having a serious spending urge on something that we saw for the boys at Costco. It was one of the wooden activity frames - it had 2 swings, a trapeze type swing, a slide, a climbing wall, a picnic table, a treehouse type den. Really hard to describe, but it was absolutely amazing. Unfortunately it was £1250. We are thinking though that we might ask both sets of grandparents and other relatives that give them presents if they would give us some towards it as we think they would love it and would get so many years use out of it, and then us put the rest to it as a christmas present. DH luckily rules my spending a bit as i would have got it last weekend when we saw it, but he encourages me to research more and actually ask people before we jump in. I wouldn't dream on going mad and spending this much on myself, but when it comes to boys things i get a bit crazy.

http://www.argos-sports.co.uk/mall/productpage.cfm/Argos/as9126/58013/Action%20Carisbrooke%20Playing%20Wooden%20Climbing%20Frames
This sort of thing, but this one was honestly much better. Anyway, on that note i am going to sneak off with my tail between my legs and not spend anything. :rolleyes:

Michelle, x

BigMummaF

Hello. I don't think I had a chance to commit to officially signing up before we got virus-etted, but I do read whenever the poota lets me
I was wondering if anyone could explain mysupermarket.co.uk to me please? I have used it to make up my little black book of prices, but keep finding discrepancies twix shop & site. For instance, I was supposed to be going to our closest MrA this week, which is a good 45 minute drive each way, so made sure I did 'the check'. Instead tho, we ended up at the local MrT & I went to get some dried mint...on the site it was showing £6 per100g but on the SEL it was £5.50. Does the site charge extra because it's an on-line shop & offers 'points' do you think? All I know is, it's knocked my faith in my thinking I'm doing everything I can to get the best prices for the basics. Isn't it enough to have to use good electricity on these comparison sites without then having to double-check their information :mad:
I've got my head on this week/month/year...sorry ....but it must have something to do with only No1 offspring still being in employment. No2 has today received the paperwork & Redundancy is now complete, while mine was just before christmas & No3 a while back now. I'm keeping everything X for a good growing season because the odds are against me before I begin No windowsills; black thumbs as opposed to green fingers & not a clue what I'm supposed to be doing :rotfl:but I'd like Iceberg Lettuce & tomatoes of some description at least.
So, if you don't mind, I'd like to work towards sorting out a workable budget by using your excellent ideas but not actually catagorise until later in the year. Grocery is not too much of a problem because I cook from scratch & cleaning is either :starmod:drops or white vinegar, & I use i-measure every week to frighten us into tighter control of the utilities :eek:
Thanks for listening. x

bails

Hi everyone, it's the same old story here I'm afraid, I've read everyone's posts and caught up but now have no time to post!
:T to everyone who has spare money at the end of the month, especially Shaz's £600, v impressive!
Maybe you could use humane traps for the mice and then transport them far away to live another day?
Can anyone tell me how I make a withdrawal fromTAB bingo please? I know it's a real hassle but I can't even find the withdrawal button, it doesn't appear when I click on my account
Hope to catch up again later, off to teach this afternoon (it is interesting that there are so many teachers on here...) and then the gym as it's free for OH tonight Doing well with leftovers and manky veg, having some lovely meals. I agree with SM, I think menu planning is the single biggest thing I can do to reduce our spends, eat healthily and waste less time/energy so that's my all-out aim for March (I will manage it and I will get OH on board!)
Have a lovely afternoon all x

lilac_lady

I have a birthday present to buy today so will still be spending in February. I'm also going to get stamps and some flowers for a neighbour who's not been well. The last time I was given roses from M & S they were very disappointing. They rotted before they came into flower from the buds so I'm going to buy some from Mr Ms. I've told my family that I never want expensive bouquets from a florist (sorry if that's your job!) and that a small bunch from a supermarket means just the same to me.

I think I'll still be below the February target spend but if not, I'll have to tighten up next month. Hope you're all going well.

grandma247

BigMummaF wrote: »

mysupermarket.co.uk

I don't know anything about this site but I do know that supermarkets have different prices depending on where they are. Ones in poorer areas have slightly lower prices and ones in well off areas are high. I used to shop in the same supermarket as ours but in a different area when I lived in the south because the prices were significantly different.

candygirl

lilac_lady wrote: »

I have a birthday present to buy today so will still be spending in February. I'm also going to get stamps and some flowers for a neighbour who's not been well. The last time I was given roses from M & S they were very disappointing. They rotted before they came into flower from the buds so I'm going to buy some from Mr Ms. I've told my family that I never want expensive bouquets from a florist (sorry if that's your job!) and that a small bunch from a supermarket means just the same to me.

I think I'll still be below the February target spend but if not, I'll have to tighten up next month. Hope you're all going well.

We find that ALDI flowers last the longest, and are soooooo reasonably priced.I buy a lot of carnations and roses for Dads grave so go there all the time:D

Frugaldom

Mollymop5 wrote: »

I think I've got mice in my living room ceiling(more like elephants). The thought of them is making me feel sick.Can anyone tell me how to get rid? where would I put traps.would I have to lift the carpets and floorboards of the bedroom above? Going to ring landlord tomorrow but they might take a while and the thought of them being here longer is making me ill.This is the 2nd night I've heard them but there sounded like more tonight

Hi MollyMop, we get mice as well and local garage is forever getting cars in with wiring problems because they try to nest in engine space. We don't have a cat in the house, although there is one outside, and I have filled in all the gaps I can find so I know the mice can't get into the rooms. I'm using old wives' tale remedies for now - peppermint oil, cloves, bay leaves - the mice don't seem to like the smell of any of these and SEEM to have given up trying to get in. I don't have traps set, as I reckoned placing food in them would attract more than I'd catch, and I don't have poison down as I don't want anything eating a poisoned mouse or else it dying behind a skirting board and stinking the place out. If they can't source food anywhere then they should eventually go. Best suggestion I have (and was given) is to search the entire house for access points and then stop them gaining entry. Good luck