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

shaz_mum_of__2

hmm thanks cw ..................the question was never asked and the benefit letter doesnt state a type so still confused

Time will tell

Thanks
Shaz

sophiesmum_2

Good evening fellow frunchkins:D

Felt very isolated today, my home broadband was playing up and I had to clear out the office ready for painters so couldn't get on there either:eek:. Home seems to be okay again now, hope it stays sorted.Just picked DD up(that's her on the pony), weather was okay then




but chucking it down now.I love it up at the farm it's a great get away place and even the ride up there destresses me. I've even been toying with the idea of asking farmer if he has a little corner of a field to rent out for veggies:p
General frugal aims for today;

• storecupboard lunch and tea
• reduce, reuse,recycle one item-recycled large picture from flat into communal corridor
• do something nice for me -
• do something nice for someone else- picked up DD
• fitter not fatter - treadmill - swimming later
• do next coat of paint on drawers
• try not to murder any decorators:rolleyes:

Todays frugal meals;

• blueberries, HM yoghurt
• tuna,black olives, onions,cucumber
• cheese and broccoli omelette,

Fruit and veg portions;
1 fruit, 0 pulses,4veggies,

Expenditure or additional income
No spend day yesterday
Gym membersip DD out today £32



Remaining target cash for first 6 months food spends - £230.46 left from budget of £400 for first six months.


Extra income generated £152.43 /spent £69.23 / left £83.20
(tortilla press/flour £33, boots pressies £18.35, hanging baskets and brackets x 6 £17.88)

cw18

I'm sooooo NOT a happy bunny with 'the big river' :mad:

On 16th Feb I ordered a DVD from them, and added a book to the order to get over £5 which gave me free shipping. The DVD wasn't one they kept in stock, but I was happy this was going to delay delivery until the middle of March.

Half an hour ago I picked up an email from them saying they've "been unable to locate a copy of the DVD, so have cancelled it on the order". But it then continued to say that "if the order had been eligible for any special offer, then this may no longer be the case"

So I went to check the order, and sure enough they've added on £2.75 postage :eek: But they've also changed the order to 'preparing for depatch' which means I can't cancel it on-line -- and their phone lines closed at 6pm !!!!

To add insult to injury I then spotted there was also a 41p vat charge on the order -- so I've had a dig around the site. All I can find (and it calculates to the correct amount) is that it you order anything that is 'vat'able (ie. my DVD, but not my book) then you pay vat on the full postage -- over and above their listed rates.

So they've not only applied the normal postage for one book, but they've also added vat to it as the original order included a DVD :mad:

It actually means they'll be charging my card 3p more than the cover price of the book !!!!!!!!!!!!


I've fired them off an email to say I don't want the book if I have to pay postage -- and I shall try and phone them as soon as I have my GDs at school tomorrow. If it turns up I shall be refusing to accept it, and we'll see what happens then :rolleyes2


ETA: Just had an email back from them, and they say to contact them after I receive the despatch notification -- and they will then refund the postage. Must point out the incorrect vat at that point to be sure I get it all back, but at least it looks like a good result this time

thriftylass

Our only main heat source the electric fire has packed in just as it is getting colder again :mad:. Initially we thought it was just the fuse, then the plug but we think the actual fire is broken. Great...We were planning on getting central heating anyway later this year but I think for now we have to replace the fire (which I think we wanted to keep anyway as an alternative). Have to look around now to find a cheap one. Although maybe I can stall a bit because I noticed the halogen heater we borrowed uses less leccy , handy especially since hubby regularly falls asleep with the heating on (hopefully CH will have a timer) .

Frugaldom

IT IS SNOWING!

Very heavy snowfall here after a wet & windy day that included torrential rain, dry interludes and severe hail storms. In between blasts, we did get a tiny bit of repotting and more shed insulating done. Just sat down to watch a programme on BBC2 but no reception because of the snow! :rolleyes:

Sophiesmum, I'd love to have my own land but have always had to rent. It's getting more and more difficult to find anything, even to rent, but given half the chance, I'd ask your farmer friend. Good luck!

In Frugaldom over the past 24 hours:

Repotted 'Big Jim' the pepper plant
Planted some Big Jim seeds,
Set a tray of peas on cotton wool to germinate
Set a tray of runner beans on cotton wool to germinate
Got the wire for fixing the garden fences in preparation for hens/ducks
Arranged for 18 more hen eggs to start them off in incubator this weekend
Baked a large mince pie
Looked out marigold seeds saved from last year's flowers, will be planting these soon.

Despite not having left the house, I have continued spending - phone bill was only £12 ish after receiving refund on overpayment from moving house and getting phoneline in here. Had to pay for the wire and have also ordered screening/windbreak for along the side of the duck enclosure. Thankfully, these spends are from my money-neutral challenge, so it's gone a bit over until I can transfer some cashback funds.

Snow still falling heavily here, looks very pretty outside but I don't expect to see any wildlife out and about tonight. :rotfl:

MrDT

Hi thriftylass, you can usually pick up the halogen heaters for about £7.99 in places like poundstretcher etc. They're cheaper than electric heated element heaters to run, but I find the glare a bit annoying. I also find that they give out loads of heat in the path of the light, but stray from that path and not much warmth. I also find that the room goes cold the instant you switch them off.

Fan heaters seem to 'heat the room' much better, and don't need to be left on as long. I guess the running cost balances out really.

I've considered giving one of those electric oil radiator things a go, but I figure by the time summer is over I'll have moved somewhere with central heating, so not much point now.

thriftylass

MrDT wrote: »

Hi thriftylass, you can usually pick up the halogen heaters for about £7.99 in places like poundstretcher etc. They're cheaper than electric heated element heaters to run, but I find the glare a bit annoying. I also find that they give out loads of heat in the path of the light, but stray from that path and not much warmth. I also find that the room goes cold the instant you switch them off.

Fan heaters seem to 'heat the room' much better, and don't need to be left on as long. I guess the running cost balances out really.

I've considered giving one of those electric oil radiator things a go, but I figure by the time summer is over I'll have moved somewhere with central heating, so not much point now.

Thanks. I think we'll replace our broken electric fire (bit like a fan heater actually) soon and you're right the halogen heater glares quite a bit (saves the leccy for the reading lamp ) and doesn't give the room much heat only were directed. We used to have a small oil radiator but it didn't seem very energy efficient for what it did. Hopefully it'll get warmer soon and we get central heating put in for next winter (money already saved up).

ram_murdock

Evening everyone!

First to sum up my February spends - Just over £40 left from my £330 budget but i had to order 300 litres of oil so will have to pay that this month and the £40 i saved last month will go towards this.

Cashing in all my cashback/survey money as looking to buy a new camera before i head away at the end of the month, hope the money doesnt take too long to clear into my a/c.

Congrats to the person who got their qype/virgin voucher sold on ebay - i'm going to put mine on next week and put the money towards my new camera.

Had a cheap weekend - only bought the sunday papers and teabags!

Oh forgot to mention on the weight loss topic.....i have now lost 9lb in total :j i got a silver 7 last week (lost 7lbs) and last night i got the new 5% sticker as i had lost 5% of my orginal weight! I'm really enjoying the healthy eating now and have to admit iate out twice at the weekend and still lost weight this week!

For March i have b/f bday, potential MIL's 50th bday [ideas please!!] and mothers day so from the outset looks like a big spend month.

On a positive note....only 23 days until i go away!! :j

Skint_Lynne

Evening everyone,

Not a bad day today, my appointment got cancelled, but I'd already arrived at the hospital. There was an emergency, so this could not be helped.

I was at the dentist tonight, so the broken tooth is finally fixed, though he needs to put a veneer on the front of it. It's starting to throb now, he was really tugging at one of my teeth, I think something was stuck.:eek:

Not many spends today, just a small amount of shopping. Spending the morning in the house tomorrow, then an appointment in the afternoon and a party in the evening, so a busy day ahead. I'm still toying with the idea of doing a bit of planting. I have courgette and tomato seeds from last year, so I might as well try them, but will be leaving it at that. I don't know whether to plant a couple of potatoes in a pot and let it do it's thing, we'll see what happens.

I'm knackered tonight, so might go for an early night. Speak later. xx

skint_chick

Things have been going well here - I spent £19.84 on food which will cover the next 10days. I made some chilli for work lunches and it cost about 65p a portion, and I also have some frozen organic salmon portions to go with the frozen veg we already have. I'm roasting a chicken Thurs night for dinner and I'm going to use the leftovers to make chicken and lentil soup, and fajitas for lunches. Haven't spent any money - apart from 50p on a Kitkat - in the last week. Tomorrow we're going for pizza for a mystery shop and then Orange Weds so will be spending £5 on cinema, and £1 each on sweets to bring with us.

I'm getting paid on Friday so have to buy electric. Bought tv licence on direct debit , and paid for my car brakes with mystery shopping money. OH is getting money for his birthday for a stag weekend away he's going on.

BB - your pic is stunning and congrats on feeling well enough to be out and about

Bails - good luck with the job