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

cw18

Deleted_User wrote: »

I'm still here :rolleyes: waiting for baby! Had midwife appt yesterday, will have 'stretch and sweep' on Mon and then on Weds then if that doesnt work am booked in to be induced on 20th. So by the 21st I will have the baby :j :j

The baby's waiting for Friday - to share my elder son's birthday


And speaking of elder son -- having had him home from the Army on compassionate/Christmas leave from mid Nov to mid Jan, I then had him home on an unexpected weeks leave last month. Was told next would be 3 weeks for Easter, but unsure if that would include the week before or after Easter -- so have been waiting for confirmation.

Got a call from him yesterday afternoon (the grief I gave him about no direct warning of last visit clearly hit the mark) - and he's actually getting FIVE weeks, finishing this Thursday night and driving home from Germany on Friday. Hopefully means we'll see him for part of his birthday (and have saved on postage for cards/pressies), but how on earth am I expected to get anything done around the house when he keeps coming home like this :rolleyes2

Also means I've had to change the meal plans I had in place for what will now be his first three weeks home (not enough of some things in the freezer to serve three instead of 2!) -- and more drastically means I'll have to adjust my annual grocery budget (and hence drop another category!) as I'd only allowed for feeding him for 4 weeks throughout the entire year :eek:

Frugaldom

angela110660 wrote: »

We have been watching it too - don't you think it is a cross between Hugh Fearnley River Cottage and Ben Fogle on Castaway - especially the black dog. We don't think he is actually sleeping in that place though even if it seems so. Def think that kind of thing has been done better before - while on the subject anyone watching Coal House on BBC4 on Tuesday evenings? Really enjoy that show.

There's a BBC4?????? :eek: How far behind the times am I? :rotfl: We're lucky to get 1,2, ITV, Ch4 and 5, the reception is dependent on the weather so if it snows, there's no watching telly. Heaven only knows what will happen when they switch off the analogue and bring a digital signal to this area because I'm not forking out for a new digi box! Bad enough paying a TV license for part time viewing without having to pay anything else. :rotfl:

LoopyLou, you need to get into the garden and start pulling some weeds and brushing the paths, worked for me many moons ago. Is that what they mean by stretching and sweeping?

Sun's shining at the moment, washing machine's just finished, next load about to go in, let's hope I get it all dried today. :T I love the smell of line dried washing and the blustery winds make everything feel soft without using washing powder or fabric softener. That reminds me, I need to order more soapnuts and check back to see how long ago I bought the current bag. Brilliant little things, so they are!

Frugal chick doing fine, it's started to get tiny feathers at the end of its wings and has learned to scratch in the shavings.

tryingtodobetter

Hello everyone

Hope you are all well. I haven’t posted for a while, but I have been popping in every now and then to try and keep up.

I’m still sticking to the £12,000 all in budget, although this will be tough as we had to get a new car last month :eek: :eek: (well new to us anyway) Apart from that hiccup we have been doing quite well, I will post my spends so far at the end of this month.

DH seems to be more on board and he is embracing moneysaving whole hog at the moment. We have decided to up our mortgage payments again as this seems to make more sense than leaving it in a savings account making no interest.

DH and I have also been discussing buying some land (an acre or two) to keep some chickens etc. So we are on the look out and doing a lot of research.

NYK- Frugal chick looks very sweet

I will be posting my spends each quarter but I will try and post before then, if I don’t I will still be popping in to catch up.

TTDB.x.

SmlSave

Hi frugal chick *wave* and hedgehog

One day I shall also have chicks too

Thanks for letting me know that plastic bottles work ok for mini plant cloches nykmedia.

Hope the move goes well Mr D. Its typical that when you finish something in the house you always move to another!

Glad to see that DH has got on board TTDB, my OH has got better too recently.

Hi and bye everyone else ... I'm off to do some work

sophiesmum_2

Good evening frunchkins:D
Not much to report here, seedlings growing well - just waiting for more to pop that I started at the weekend. Stockpile still doing well and only buying veggies to top up, looking forward to summer when we can start harvesting some of our crops from the garden and save on the veggie shopping.Should be able to start using some of my indoor salad leaves, cress, and rocket soon though so that will be something to be going on with,along with the sprouted mung beans.

Must do something with the pile of lemons I was given the other day soon, probably some jars of lemon curd or marmalade just not had time lately:rolleyes: Still got lots of jars of jams, marmalades and chutneys from last summer left yet too:D and pies and crumbles in freezer. Lifted an apple and rhubarb crumble out earlier for OH and DD - nice having home grown fruits in winter:D

Is it just me or is anyone else feeling a bit frustrated at the moment with the lack of activity frugalwise. I feel like I am waiting to get going with stuff, the garden etc and sort of feel a little in limbo.Can't wait till the weather warms up and I can get doing stuff again. I think I will have to get everyone eating up lots of my batch cooked meals so that I can have a big cooking/baking session.:p

Catch up with you all later xxx

sophiesmum_2

Forgot to add,
Lakeland are now doing a gardening catalogue - going to nick a few of the ideas from that and adapt them for my veggie/salad growing.

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/browsebycatalogue?c=09_garden

Nyk - think it was you who posted the pic last year of a salad growing thing - like baskets on a stand. I have seen these locally for about £11 so going to get a few going with lots of mixed salad stuffs then I can have something to pick all the time. Might even have one indoors.
This sort of thing ;
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/3-tier-flower-fountain/F/C/potting-propagation-pots-planters-trays/product/51190

bails

Hi everyone, sorry not around at the mo but v busy this week. Will hope to catch up next week, OH and I are having a weekend together so no time then either! Hope you're all well xx

lilac_lady

My budget's been a bit knocked by my household insurances so I'll have to recalculate the rest of the month's expenditure and birthdays. I don't think I'm doing too well at the moment but if I didn't read all your posts, I'd be doing a lot worse!

1274

Haven't been keeping up with the challenge too well since paying off my mortgage, but on my new goals:

• :starmod:no crisps. Yes. But I have substituted a home made nuts and rasins mix. This is working out very expensive as my fave nuts are over £1.50 for a tiny bag, and I get three different bags and 1 rasins for lunches and snack for the week. This is over £5 more expensive than unhealthy crisps!
• :starmod:no ready meals. Yes again. Have made curry and spag bol in slow cooker. The curry didn't work too well as I left the slow on overnight by mistake (total of 16 hours cooking) so it's a bt dry but should be edible
• :staradmin no more than 6 coffees/teas per day. Not a hope!
• :starmod: no more than 3 alcoholic drinks per week. Yes. 1 last week and 1 this so far
• :staradminfitter not fatter 5 mile challenge - not even 5 minutes of exercise so far. In fact, my trainers are still in a bag in the top of a cupboard. Must try harder
• :starmod:live off £450 per month. Doing well so far, I have £328 left for March which should be plenty

Hope you are all well

Frugaldom

Hello all, nice to see some of the others popping on to let us know how they are and nicer still to see no signs of LoopyLou- does that mean she's gone into labour?

Sophiesmum, my salad rack/vegetable rack is a frugal, home made one


This was it at start when I just put it all together - freecycled hanging rack, freebie bread tray, planters carried forward from last year. I now have a basket full of lettuce seedlings and have just planted 3 lettuces and a cherry tomato into each of the baskets before covering the whole frame with a huge sheet of bubblewrap (free). I'm going to have peas growing up the trellis (gift from mum) and hope to have quite a productive little corner this summer. I pinched your idea of having the hanging baskets and still have space for one more, which will probably be strawberries.

Got loads done in garden today! It was such a beautiful day that I skived away from work/computer in favour of gardening! Got all my washing done, hung out and dried, got a load more seeds planted, transferred some lettuces to the hanging baskets and made a new raised bed for growing the greens. Oh, and I also planted 2 more lots of potatoes and onions plus transplanted my parsley. Everything has sheets of polythene or bubblewrap to protect it from frost and after such a beautiful day, there's a clear, starry sky with a near full moon, so it's still light outside, but very cold now!

Dinner was a rush job of chopped chicken with Mediterranean tomato cous cous and then I'd to light the fire just to take the coolness off the air. Shattered now, hope I can move tomorrow!

Oh, oh, BRB, Mr Hedgehog is in the garden! Photo opportunity!