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

cha97michelle

DS is still poorly this morning so i had to send DH to the corner shop this morning for some lucozade and some digestives to try and sort his tummy out, poor thing.

We are having great frugal entertainment today though. My sister's SIL won a wedding via a local radio station which is today. She was dropped off at Gretna Green this morning at 7am with no money, and she has to be back at Doncaster for a 2pm wedding. for every 15 minutes she's late they take some luxury away like the champagne for the toast, her wedding dress, swap the chicken dish for chicken dippers, make her HTB wear a shell suit. So we have had the radio playing through the computer to follow her progress.

It will be spend day as DH is going shopping after work to pick up my greenhouse, but i have £20 of vouchers for the shop which i got free, so only about £10 to put to it. Then the garden can progress further.

nyk sounds like you are having fun with that garden

baby's names - all the ones we have heard about recently have older names. Edie, Daisy, Lily, saying that, most of my friends work in education and don't want to have to think about the naughty kids we leave behind when we get home and have to deal with our own offspring.

grandma glad you are ok

food prices - main ones i have noticed are milk and bread. Milk has gone up 10p for a 4 pinter, and bread went from 72p a loaf to 85. C.co mince went from £12.95 a tray to 14.00. I definitely need to get myself sorted and start making bread again, I've also been watering down our milk a bit recently when it is running low, or diluting the blue top for me and DH to use. Saves the journey to the shop for a little while at least.

I am going to do simple meals for us today. DS1 won't do more than pick, so i am not going to cook something expensive to then go in the bin. Beans on toast for lunch. I might do them an egg and chips for their dinner. Lots of starch.

Blairweech

Hello all,

LoopyLou - Big congrats to you and your family!

Cw - Thanks

Thankyou to all who suggested solutions to my cash economy problem...I think I will just run with it for a few weeks and see how I get on.

My gran gave me a cheque for £100 yesterday I did not really want to accept it, in case she thinks I cannot manage. It was towards my tyres.

Anyway, in a funny story I cleaned my car this week - it took 3 attempts to get it clean :eek: And I thought I would need new brakes, but turns out my suspension was just completely clogged with mud. Yeeeah.

Went to charity shops today and bought a new pair of blue jeans for £2. Better than spending £40 at Next for jeans (I struggle to find jeans anywhere else that fit). Also bought a book about 'How to buy and restore a country home' (trying to keep the dream alive ). However my find of the day was......

:j :T :j :T

A split pan (2) set for £5. Okay, I know I am just ridiculously excited about such a little thing, but it is all in the name of frugality. Plus, the fact they sell for £30+ on Ebay just sweetens the deal (I am actually planning to use it btw, not to sell it on before anyone thinks I am a complete mercenary)

bails

Afternoon everybody, just got back in and had lunch :eek: Had a cheeky beer with it - I know it's still early but when the sun shines Beer o'Clock is allowed to make an earlier appearance
I know what you mean about the names Cha, I think I'm going to struggle to think of any that don't remind me of [STRIKE]some little urchin[/STRIKE] someone's beautiful child I like the name Daisy too, was on the puppy's list actually.
Well done SL for adding up your debts, such an important first step in really getting to grips with your finances. I nearly had heart failure when I added up ex-fiance's, and then never had the power to sort them out I really hope he is clear of them now.
Had another lesson today so another bit of income :THad another useless appointment with Working Links today, I really don'et know why I bother. I had to go to town yesterday to pick up a letter which didn't have enough stamps on so I had to pay £1.06. Guess who it was from? Yup, Working Links :rolleyes::mad::rolleyes: They did refund me today but made no apology whatsoever...and this is a service for incapacitated people. I despair I really do.
Anyhoo, all else is good, Izzy (that's the dog's name, not sure if I said) is doing brilliantly and is starting to let the cats walk by her without reacting :j We had another gorgeous walk today and I met a dog walker with 6 dogs - maybe food for thought for the future?
Completely forgot to say, we've been offered some chickens when our friends in Wales move! The only thing is OH isn't keen...We're buyign our eggs from someone on our road who keeps chooks so I had a good chat with him the other day about it
Right, MiL is on her way as we speak so better get on with things. I'm on a 3-day course next week too so may not be around much, but I'll be back!
SFT, how are the wedding arrangements going? Not long now!
Have a great weekend everyone and have a lovely Mothers Day xx

shaz_mum_of__2

Nice to see you bails

I am attending W Links too i know what you mean ....what is the point??

I have been meaning to pick everyones brains about my son age 7 i know theres a few teachers he is really behind with his writing and i want to help at home but not sure how he has been diagnosed dyslexic so that explains some of it ....whats the best way to help him i feel i am punishing him by getting hiom to do practice at home as well as all the extra stuff he does at school

Even thought of paying for some tuition if it would help

Found a new shop today that sells all the approved food stuff so spent a fortune well a fiver on juices,sauces and cakes but saves waiting and paying postage

Lynne well done on facing your debts

Shaz

Savvy_sewing

Shaz I have a book called "The Remarkable Nutritional Treatment for ADHD< DYSLEXIA and DYSPRAXIA. It has a lot of information about ADHD but it has links to Dyslexia sites etc etc. It is now old, as it was 2002 when I bought it, but if you want to have a look, give me a PM and I will post it too you. Has some things about understanding, teaching, and other things other then the right foods to eat?
Take care, Mooloo

cw18

My elder GD (one of the youngest in Year 1 - her birthday is August) has always been a reluctant reader and writer... especially writer

I've been looking after her around school since they went back in January, and last month I bought a small blackboard (from ELC - has a whiteboard on the reverse I've not yet introduced her to) and a workbook from there that is really letter recognition.

She loves doing the book (now almost complete, so I've bought some workbooks from other sources to move on to), and now spends hours writing 'stories' on the blackboard. The stories are nonsense, but - because she can rub out mistakes and have another try without it really showing - she's now trying to spell words by sounding them out instead of pestering to be told how to spell them first. She used to slam work down on the first mistake and go off in a huff, but is even doing this less when writing on paper now

On top of this she has a whiteboard type thing (with wipe off pen) that I got from Q/Save for 99p. This has Koala Brothers on it (which she loves watching), but also has the letters in upper and lower case down the sides for copying - and lines to work between, including the dotted line part way up for where loops should sit to proportion the letters properly. I know the school don't use lined paper for at least another year, but she's finding it much easier to learn on it. (Just need to find a replacement pen soon, as it's getting sooooo much use)

I'm also correcting the way she writes her letters (eg. stem of d and b before the loop, but the loop of a g before the tail) and she's stopped getting annoyed at me for doing this - but more importantly she's actually remembering, as I've watched her do them correctly two or three days later without any further prompting.

And the other day after she went home, she got one of her reading books and started to copy it out - totally unheard of even 6 weeks ago :T

Best part of it is that she doesn't see it as doing extra school work anymore, yet in January when I tried to work on paper with her she did. So I think just the introduction of 'new' equipment and books has made it seem more like 'play'.

As for reading - she now 'helps' me read books to her younger sister (who I have Monday thru Wednesday). We either take it in turns to read bits, or she'll jump in when she recognises a few words on a page.

DD is seeing a difference in her at home - and has an appointment for parent/teacher evening on 24th, so it will be interesting to see if school are also seeing a difference

cha97michelle

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

I have been meaning to pick everyones brains about my son age 7 i know theres a few teachers he is really behind with his writing and i want to help at home but not sure how he has been diagnosed dyslexic so that explains some of it ....whats the best way to help him i feel i am punishing him by getting hiom to do practice at home as well as all the extra stuff he does at school

Shaz,
I am no expert in any way, but i had two boys in my form who were dyslexic, and they were able to concentrate much better when taking omega 3 supplements. I know you already serve a good diet, but it is hard to get this supplement from some sources so might be worth adding.

One of the parents had spent a fortune for their kid to have DDAT training. From what she told me about it, they had to do tasks while doing things like standing on a wobble board as it helped the brain to develop, but he did this at primary school level, and it was around £1100 about 5 years ago.

Something we have to do at school is to print all our work out onto a yellow/beigey coloured paper as it is supposed to be easier for dyslexic students to read. Also, Arial font in about size 14 is recommended. (I personally would chat to the school and see if they use some of this stuff, and i would experiment with some different coloured papers to see which makes it easier for your son.) I have also seen that if you know the colour that makes it easier for your child to read, they can also have a piece of acetate in that colour to put over white pieces of paper, then it is always easier to read anything provided.

If it were my child, i think i would look for some fridge magnety letters, or something similar, and do some games looking at the letters. There was that programme on channel 5 a few years ago where the woman was trying to improve childrens capabilities and that was a good method for certain kids.

I hope some of my rambling here was useful, and if you need me to explain anything better please ask. I'm not sure i am entirely coherent as i've been dealing with DS1 with the bottom end stomach bug, and DS2 with the top end tummy bug, thankfully both seem able to sleep, and were shattered so i am having a sneaky beer, and hoping to god we don't get it. I'm expecting DS2 to wake in the small hours as he barely ate, then was ill, and refused his bottle. Sensible lad, but will probably wake ravenous.

My frugal entertainment went well, my Sisters SIL managed to get to the wedding venue 25 minutes late, so her sacrifices were she had to walk down the aisle to Mmmm Bopp rather than the bridal March, and then they had to toast the happy couple with lager rather than Champagne. Thankfully, if she had been 5 minutes later, they were going to swap her dress for a bin bag, so she roared in on the back of a Harley Davidson in time. It sounded like they had a great day, and i can't wait to see my sisters piccies. It was really weird hearing my family on the radio. I personally couldn't have done this as it would have made me so stressed i would have not enjoyed getting married, but she loved it and i am sure there will be some great tales to tell the grandkids.

Anyway, some more perusal of the threads while i relax, and i'll try to get in bed before 10 tonight. See you all tomorrow. x

cw18

Meant to say -- not long back from my evening 'Whoopsie hunt', and the local S/flds have started their clearance sale.

Posters say 'everything must go' and 'up to 50% off', but there's not much in the sale (and especially at 50% off) yet.... but it looks like I need to start making more regular trips to check what's being reduced

Asked a member of staff about the closure (knew the last day is 15th April), and it's apparently closed for 12 weeks :eek: I had heard it was going to be a while, which had led to speculation they're extending before opening as a Mr M, but there's no planning permission application recorded on our local councils site so it appears this isn't the case. Twelve weeks seems an awfully long time to refit and restock the store as it is though

cha97michelle

cheryl,
our co-op shut today. I went last Sunday and got a few bits of salad and veg very heavily reduced. I was looking at some other stuff but i was walking with the double buggy and couldn't carry anymore. I popped back in on Wednesday and there was virtually nothing left. they seemed to mainly have kitchen utensil type stuff and millions of pairs of tights. I think you might have to time it carefully to get what you want as i can't imagne they will have much left by the last day.

The stuff they were selling off wasn't even that cheap, although i guess if it were something you wanted it was ok.

cw18

The C00p in the next town closes at mid-day tomorrow.... and reopens mid-week as a Sp@r (the only one I know of in the area - haven't seen one anywhere since we moved down here in September 2001). I didn't even know it was closing until I was in the area yesterday - and I'd been past it Friday of last week.

Just what stock they had for today and tomorrow I don't know, as there was hardly anything left yesterday (apart from bread and veg which had no reductions) other than sweets - but I have to confess I spent £1.73 on those (would originally have been £7.83!)