the daydream fund challenge thread

choille

'Least LIR fessed up so I wouldn't have to take the rap.

I'm eating LIDL coconut minis which taste the same as the Thank You buttons but don't have as many calories - so LIR will get fat, so fat we will start to call her Big LIR.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Hope everyone had a nice crimbo..

glad i havent been around the last few days, otherwise i would be scoffing the 'thank you' buttons too...

quiet christmas here....

only a few little pressies for me this year...( told everyone to save their money, including hubby and the boys)

had a money saving tin form youngest ( as requested by me)
a bonsai tree from eldest ( Lidl finest, and cheap;))
chilli grwoing kit ( 5 diff types)
P'js off parents( as requested, as my old ones are now got a big hole in the back end of the trs:rotfl:)
Best of Thunder 3cd set from hubby..( love thunder)

This year i am not going to bother buying seed potatoes for growing in the pots/bags, I personally dont find there is much diff in quality or yield...plus as i am not growing them directly in the ground if they do get deseased then at least it is contained...


I have told hubby and the boys i am going to be super frugal come the 1st January.. as i am now running to try and keep still finacially.....I have been making the most of the reduced food etc in the supermarkets on christmas eve and yesturday....so my little upright freezer is now full to bursting....

We were going to buy a med size chest freezer a few weeks ago, sorry i didnt now,as i could have bought alot more reduced meat etc...so will buy one in the next day or two...

Anyone started buying their seeds yet?

Davesnave

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

Hope everyone had a nice crimbo..

We were going to buy a med size chest freezer a few weeks ago, sorry i didnt now,as i could have bought alot more reduced meat etc...so will buy one in the next day or two...

Anyone started buying their seeds yet?

We had a quiet Christmas with just 3 of us, as our DD1 spent the holiday with her future in-laws. We did meet up for a meal out though, as their holiday place was only 45 miles away.

I think we did far too much traipsing around, so the 'getting ready' was out of all proportion to the two days of fairly modest consumption. Next year....:rotfl:

I've not bought a new freezer since 1977, but we have 3 secondhand ones if I count the fridge freezer. The most modern one came with the house, as it was probably too big for the vendor's future needs. My main grumble is that it's on a plinth, so I can't get to the bottom of it. Maybe I need a plinth too.

Looking at seeds, but not buying yet. Our whole veggie garden has to migrate to the other side of the central path now, alongside the big polytunnel. It will mostly be deep beds, so we need to get cracking on that right away.

I will have a few seeds to post out to you folks, if you want them. When I get organised I'll tell you what they are, but it will only be a couple of varieties. My cucumber seed harvest failed completely.

rhiwfield

Busy run up to Christmas and very busy Christmas Day, but quiet and settled now, with batteries recharging.

2011 was a make or break year financially, we needed to convert long term savings to income and live on results. The frugal ways learned over last few years helped a lot, and we're now in balance, with reserves if needed. But an unpleasant illness sent a warning that you never know whats round the corner, and to avoid hospitalisation meant a major dietary change.

Anyhow, in 2012 we plan to organise the buying and selling a bit better to ensure that we make a half decent profit on the antiques and collectables, we'll break even this year after all costs and fees without really trying

Garden should tick over, no potatoes given this years blight that got to tubers, and we've got most of the seeds we need so very little stuff to buy in.

lostinrates

got a length of the brambly hedge that RPA wanted to go cut back....all dh's work of course. If he gets the other length done we'll have done half of it....till next year! Please with that progress, but the remaining ''hedge'' looks very dicey now and will need significant bulking up. I'd like to put some (wild) roses in there, we have some already.

On the side of the ditch the brambles have come out we'll have a row of trees with the propect of burning in the future... probably ash, though I'd love chestnut I just can't find them cheaply enough.

choille

Sweet Chestnut goes really well from the fruits - the conker things.

I have several that I've grown in pots

alfie_1

evening all.......

i hope you are all having a well earnt rest while you are "thinking seeds" !!

i want to get an area for my veg this year that will A] escape beaks ! B] and be managable for me incase im not as fit as id like to be....
i have an area that runs the length of my house bordered by the big wall [5ft with railings on top so not solid] that surrounds the front/side of the garden. its about 40ft long by 12ft wide. its south west. good even light with max sun at midday. my idea is to anialate the weeds etc,blanket it and put woodchip down and grow all in tubs in patterns on the area. i do have a grape vine in a tub by a pillar but has had NO attention as its an overgrown forgotten so far area !!.... oo oo oo iv just had a thought! i have a huge black rigid plastic tank thing about 8'lx4'wx3'd....what can i grow in that?? mind you im gonna need a ton of soil to fill it !! OR i could have water lilies in it ??

iv been to lunch with a lovely old boy [85], his wife sadly is very poorly,has been progressing over last 10 yrs and he struggles [has carers in every day tho] anyway he is paying a local farmer a kings ransom to store his old classic cars. some beyond help others up and running... [armstrong sidley??] anyway hes agreed for me to go there friday to photograph and try "baying" the "needs restoring" ones as he can now neither afford or be able to restore them himself. he offered me a % but i said no. i would do it [if i sell em somehow/where] for a little 1950s dinky caravan he has...it is SO SWEET !! door at the back ,looks like its been chopped in half. i want to restore it back to how it was with authentic 50s materials etc [take note rhiwfield !] anyway i hope i can shift em for him... cant tell you what the cars are cos i wont know till friday !!

Davesnave

rhiwfield wrote: »

2011 was a make or break year financially, we needed to convert long term savings to income and live on results. The frugal ways learned over last few years helped a lot, and we're now in balance, with reserves if needed. But an unpleasant illness sent a warning that you never know whats round the corner, and to avoid hospitalisation meant a major dietary change.

Hmmm......concerning finances, the only thing I know at this point is that our income fell short of expenditure by an amount in four figures, and I don't mean, like £23.75! Loss of interest on savings makes a big difference.

We are reasonably frugal, but my DW has never known real hardship and takes no pleasure in treading lightly on the cash pedal, whereas I scrimp on everything, except food, and I actually enjoy it.

So 'getting into balance,' as you put it, isn't a likely scenario for us anytime soon. That's bound to have consequences. Luckily, in just over two years time I will be coming into some money, colloquially known as the 'Old Age Pension,' and although I don't feel terribly eligible, I've a feeling it will probably save our bacon! :rotfl:

I've already made a few long term decisions about this place,which haven't gone down too well, but more of that another time. Suffice to say things could be worse and we came within a gnats nadgers of buying a couple of properties that would have seriously lost value in the past couple of years. That makes no difference, of course, if one doesn't have to sell, but your observation about the unknown is pretty relevant there too! :cool:

lostinrates

choille wrote: »

Sweet Chestnut goes really well from the fruits - the conker things.

I have several that I've grown in pots

wow...would bagged ones from the greengrocers be ''fresh enough'' do you think? I shall find some tomorrow and pot up with hope!

alfie_1

lostinrates wrote: »

wow...would bagged ones from the greengrocers be ''fresh enough'' do you think? I shall find some tomorrow and pot up with hope!

CONKERS ?? in a veg shop ??:undecided or do you mean chestnuts ,like we cremate and eat !!