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

shaz_mum_of__2

Nyk

chook looks great !!

Are the boxes lightproof /see thru if see thru line with some black plastic orold compost bag if using for spuds/roots otherwise they are great

some ideas for other gardening recycling here

http://meanqueen-lifeaftermoney.blogspot.com/2009/02/its-been-lovely-day-today-quite-spring.html


had a no spend real money day as had some vouchers from enviroph0ne to spend at homebase got more spuds blueberries compost and a fig and some stripey tomato seeds

this garden is going to be bursting out the seams at this rate!

I am aiming for self sufficiency in veg except onions and fruit except bananas from may to christmas and maybe beyond


Shaz

slowlyfading

Just quickly popping on - had an amazing evening, even if i didn't sleep much due to it being quite uncomfortable! - here's 2 pics from yesterday!



^^ the desert




^^ The little one is my tent lol :rotfl:

shaz_mum_of__2

Just found this great site

http://www.instructables.com/green

Loads of mse stuff


great pics taka its a bit surreal the tent in the desert but great

Shaz

skint_chick

taka - do it! I'm in the same situation and I did my Masters part time while working in a job in the same field and it was scary impossible. Looking back I'm not sure how I did it - I worked a full day and then went to libraries/local government centres etc evenings and weekends. It meant I didn't have much of a life -most of my days off from work were spent studying/writing things up. I love the subject so it wasn't a huge issue but I also feel I should have committed more time and effort to it - although I did get 68% for it so didn't exactly do badly.

Do you have kids/OH? I'm really excited for you - my next step is doing my PhD but I can't decide between full and part time either. I like my job and I don't want to leave a permanent job and I'm scared I will fail miserably at the academic challenge so i can't decide what to do??

Frugaldom

Great pictures, [STRIKE]Taka[/STRIKE], and not a camel in site! :rotfl: Love the little tent! Hope you are having a super time out there with warm weather - it's cold and wet here today. OOPS! wrong name, sorry, I meant SlowlyFading

Shaz & SM - I'm going to use the tubs for small things like spring onions, baby beets, beans and peas, I think. I'll line them with bin bags to blacken them out a bit just to be on the safe side. I set up a container growing section and a square foot secion on my blog site and now that I see the variety, I'm thinking that I really need to concentrate on getting thisngs going that we eat a lot of all year round. Now considering the possibilities of constructing some sort of temporary shelters to fit a couple of tomato plants in each as I really don't think we get the weather for them outside. In saying that, I am trying a few cherry tomatoes in baskets outside this year.

sophiesmum_2

Lovely pics SF - not every day you get to go camping in the desert:j , hope you are having a lovely time with your dad xx

slowlyfading

lol i presume Nyk and skint_chick mean me, but thanks! I go home tomorrow so i'm off to bed as its half 9 here and i have to be at the airport by 6am eeek. so i'll speak to you all on sunday probably!
sf xxx

sophiesmum_2

Good evening frunchkins:D
Friday again:j looking forward to the weekend to get started clearing another corner out for my veggie growing. This weekend I hope to put up lots of hanging baskets,put together 3 of the basket towers, clear room for a raised bed, move two cold frames and move my potato grow bags - and hopefully make the raised bed and get it filled ready for square foot gardening. I will be running amok with OH's drill and power saw:j

Managed 4 no spend days this week:j cable DD today or would have been 5:rolleyes: ,also managed to get 5 a day every day:D ,swim every night, and have lost 6lbs too:D.

My mum has got Riverdance tickets for mother's day off my brother so I have been asked to go with her to Liverpool in April:D , think I will combine it with a day out in town and a meal as my Mother's day pressie for her.I'll have to book a day off work.

General frugal aims for today;

• storecupboard lunch and tea with oldies
• reduce, reuse,recycle one item-furniture to recycle plant
• do something nice for me - sauna and jacuzzi later and shower with my sanctuary goodies:D
• do something nice for someone else- cook tea for oldies
• fitter not fatter - swimming later
• make plan for square foot gardening planting

Todays frugal meals;

• scrambled egg, mushrooms
• tuna mayo, with HG sprouted seeds
• roast chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, (roasties for OH)

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

Expenditure or additional income
£82 DD for cable ,broadband , telephone





Remaining target cash for first 6 months food spends - £224.06 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)

Brighton_belle

Great pic SF. The advantage of sharing difficult times with each other here, is we get twice the pleasure when someone has something go well for them.

The good news to day is I got a free packet of salad leaf seeds in the post today from Lakeland. The bad news is it came with a very seductive new 'gardening' catelogue which I am now in thrall too and fighting the belief that if I just bought this this and this, I would grow lots of veg and remember to water it all with no prob:D .
Perhaps I need to work in the [STRIKE]garden [/STRIKE] back yard this weekend and see what I can do with what I have got.

Another dilemma is a door step call from local dairy trying to get me to sign up to milk delivery. I really want to support local businesses and especially british dairy farmers who get treated disgracefully in general by the supermarkets and we are losing our heards and becoming more and more reliant on european milk with all it's attend loss of self sufficiency/travel pollution,environmental implications as well as losing the way our countryside looks. But when I compare prices, they are so much more expensive than asda. What to do..._pale_

sophiesmum_2

I got the catalogue and free seeds this morning too BB;) I threw it in the bin quickly to save me from temptation:rotfl: :rotfl: - kept the seeds of course;)