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

whitewing

LollopyBear,

Would your OH be persuaded to do a shopfromhome/storecupboard challenge?

lilac_lady

ISOM, This thread is a brilliant way to try to set a budget and stick to it.
Some people will record every penny and others like me will be happy if they've not overspent their money pot each month. That's the beauty of Nyk's idea - one size fits all.

LollopyBear

Very possibly whitewing, if he keeps to this new attitude. He has mentioned wanting to do online shopping once a month rather than popping to Mr Ts every day. I've also thought about writing out a month's plan, ordering the ingredients and leave him to it! He would have the freedom to adapt and play around with it, but it would already be in the house. Because work is so infrequent at the moment (self-employed plasterer) he takes a great deal of his personal worth from providing the food as I take care of the bills. A bit of a delicate balance.

savingfortravel

Hi Everyone!!
Thinking of you sf.

Mrs Mc - Your pressies look great. How clever are you!!

Managed to use some money off coupons in Tescos yesterday and a lovely man passed on his car park ticket in town so we didn't have to pay. Does anyone make a list of money saving from coupons etc... Would be interesting to see what you would save.

Sound like everyone had a good, frugal time last night.

Lovely NYE with family...Super Charity Fireworks and then back to M and Ds for cards/dice for coppers. Booze leftover from Christmas day. Mum supplied the eats.
Enjoyed an enormous brunch this morning. Always feel a bit awkward saying I'll have left over food..Do check no-one else wanted it...Got bottle of diet lemonade, some red wine, carton of del monte orange juice, 6 eggs, 2 cooked sausages-OH can have in sandwich later... and (perhaps too frugal) some left over baked beans which I'm sure I can reheat.
Mum gave me some Quorn fillets but not sure what to do with those??

Doing well with my decluttering. Planning to do some selling on Ebay and proceeds can go towards challenge.

Will do some stockpilling tomorrow-on baked beans and porridge (good deals in tescos at moment).

Keep up the great posts all. SFT

P.S.
OH will be making some more Spicy parsnip soup as it was absolutely stunning (as Mrs Mc would say).

cw18

savingfortravel wrote: »

Mum gave me some Quorn fillets but not sure what to do with those??

I use these the same way as I do chicken fillets....... any chop and chuck in type meals, though my preference is baked (in foil)

Kittikins

Afternoon everyone

I've spent my first 99p of my £4k, on a far too small for the amount it cost me, pot of double cream for making icecream when DD wakes up. Bless her, she's 3 and three quarters (very important the 3/4, lol) and has only just given up on having afternoon naps on the 3 days we spend together....but every now and then she knows she needs one, her poor little face was so pale at lunchtime, I was pleased she suggested it rather than me "persuading" her.

Going to go out this afternoon to pick up a wildlife calendar and some magazines from a kindly person on Freecycle - up until now I've been treating myself to one or two magazines a month, but recently was given a few years' worth of "Junior" magazine and after today will have some Red/Marie Claire type things to read as well whilst eating mavilla icecream on the sofa. Bliss

Sitting here freezing in the grey afternoon light, can you tell it's the first day of new resolutions (to cut energy bills, so I'm not putting lights/heating on until I really have to?!?)

Blairweech

Hello all,

Hope you all had a good new year and are ready for the challenge!

I spent mine curled up in bed with flu, so I will miss out on 3 days wages this week (one day was treble time) Oh well. I did consider going in, but I feel so rough it is a struggle to get out of bed to go the loo.

So, not such a great start for me - unless in terms of NSDs . Got 17p interest on my current account today, so I have transferred that over to savings - every little helps!

Annie021063

Won't be going out again today so I can officially call this my first NSD. Went to our local woods this morning to meet up for a walk with family, spent 1 1/4 hours wandering round a frosty and peaceful setting - bliss. Home now, have found dinner in freezer and I am settling down to plan a SW menu for next weeks start of diet, need to make sure it's family/budget friendly.
Enjoy your day

lingojingo

Happy (and frugal) New Year everyone

DD and I spent the evening huddled in quilts feeling rotten, we're both full of cold (brought back from Swindon after Christmas). We both had to miss parties and no alcohol was consumed here last night DS went out in Manchester with his uni friends, haven't heard from him yet.

Can hardly speak today, but ok typing lol!
On the bright side, it will definitely be a no spend day as I'm not up to venturing outside.

Skint_Lynne

Happy new year everyone,

I've started today as I mean to go on this year. Spend as little as possible and try and avoid waste.

I've not been over the door yet, so no spending today and I have recycled the leftover mushy peas from last night, it has been transformed into pea and ham soup. I am really pleased with myself as I have been transforming leftovers a lot lately, and it is stuff that is perfectly okay, except I would usually have binned it due to ignorance/laziness. This is my new hobby, so I am throwing myself into it in earnest!!

DH thinks I am a weirdo (his words), but as I pointed out, each to their own, I don't criticise him and his hobbies, so told him to leave me alone!! No complaints about the pea and ham soup from him though, so maybe he will come round through time.

I'll go round to mum and dad's later to see what's been happening.

Speak soon. xx