Live on £4000 for a Year, 2009 Challenge, part 2

savingfortravel

Hi Everyone
Hope to catch up with more of the thread later.
Our news is that our moving date is looking likely to be 12th june not the 6th but it was going to be the 20th so I won't complain.
So 16 days to go. My parents are being very kind to us but I do feel a bit restless, especially when the weather is so lovely outside and I just imagine what it would be like at the cottage. Still musn't complain about 16 days should I aeb?
Had a good low spend day today. Got to see lots of wildlife whist completing a risk assessment for a school trip. Went to Pizza Express for Orange mobile phone lunch-2 free garlic breads, buy 1 pizza get one free and our Times gift card paid for the drinks and the other pizza. Then went to see Star Wars (Mr SFT will always be my no. 1 but Zachary Quinto has to be no.2) on Orange Wed. So food and cinema should have cost over £40 and infact cost just £7.70.
Off now to watch Springwatch. My parents have got a Moorhen nest in the stream at the bottom of their garden..so I'm just waiting for Chris Packham to turn up!!
sft

Boomdocker

Skint Lynne 28. Frittata

lingojingo

Skint_Lynne wrote: »

I have really changed my way of thinking with lots of things, just by reading what others do. That's the beauty of being a member of this thread, everyone has different ideas to bounce off of each other.

Although someone personally may choose not to add up all their receipts, you will see the results elsewhere, I know I do. It's for the best to stick around methinks.

Well said SL, my sentiments exactly. I've learned so much from all sorts of people on here, and although not all of it is possible or to my taste, it's always interesting reading how everyone else is managing.

I've lost track of my spends lately, but still have cash and a positive bank balance as we get to the end of the month, so must still be doing something right.

I'm hoping to get rid of my cc debt by the end of the year, this time last year I wouldn't have believed it possible on my income. I really enjoy my job, but was looking at going back to the NHS, with all the unsociable and long hours, as I thought i needed to earn a lot more after OH left, as child benefit and tax credits will soon stop. Now I know I can manage, so thank you all :T

I might still switch job once DD settled in uni, but that would be to afford to live near my Mum and rest of the family, rather than just to make ends meet here.

lingojingo

looby-loo wrote: »

All this talk of eggs reminds me of my A Level in 1975. There was always a question about one of the protien foods. You had to structure your essay to include everything you knew about the purchase, nutritive value and cooking of the food

The question was:- Write on eggs.

As far as I remember there were 9 different uses of eggs in cooking, e.g. thickening, coating, etc

OMG I did O'level in 1975 and there was a question on the different uses of eggs in cookery. It was surely the hottest day of the year and I was thinking you could fry an egg on my desk :rotfl:

mollymunchkin

Another one for the list:

29. Hollandaise Sauce

Or just look on here: http://www.eggrecipes.co.uk/egg/asp/recipesearch.asp

Skint_Lynne

mollymunchkin wrote: »

Another one for the list:

29. Hollandaise Sauce

Or just look on here: http://www.eggrecipes.co.uk/egg/asp/recipesearch.asp

Hi mollymunchin,

I had a look on that site to help me along with the list for Nyk, but I only skimmed it.

I'm glad that my list has attracted so much interest.:T

Frugaldom

OK, before we all get totally confused by what's been said, I had better post my own list so there's not a problem with duplicates. I should probably have copied it in here to start off with but I appreciate all the suggestions that have, since, been posted. Here's what I have so far:

100 Things to do with Eggs

The list, so far:

001. Boiled Egg
002. Scrambled Egg
003. Poached Egg
004. Fried Egg
005. Omlette
006. Souffle
007. Meringue
008. Lemon curd
009. Quiche
010. Eggs Florentine
011. Eggs Mayonnaise
012. Scotch eggs
013. Devilled eggs
014. Sponges
015. Custard
016. Pancakes - sweet or savoury
017. Crepe Suzette
018. Pickled eggs
019. Ice cream
020. French Toast
021. Fried rice
022. Egg nog
023. Mayonnaise / salad cream
024. Egg salad
025. Brioche
026. Flan / tarts
027. Egg Foo Yung
028. Eggs Benedict
029. Bread & Butter pudding
030. Coddled eggs
031. Frittata
032. Essen eggs (see Shaz post)
033. Huevos Rancheros (Ranch eggs)
034. Egg custard tart
035. Cherry Clafoutis
036. Egg and lentil curry (Delia recipe)
037. Piperade (a spicy scrambled egg with bits of bacon and/or chorizo)
038. Curried Eggs
039. Macaroons (whites only)
040. Mousse
041. Yorkshire puddings
042. Syrup or jam pudding
043. Baked Alaska
044. Caesar Salad
045. Baked eggs
046. Steamed eggs
047. Egg bread
048. Egg noodles
049. Pasta
050. Ravioli
051. Zabaglione
052. Hungarian Kiflies
053. Batter
054. Egg Biryani
055. Eggs Mornay
056. Chinese Egg Rolls
057. Creole Eggs
058. Kedgeree
059. Convent Eggs
060. Eggs in Aspic
061. Egg Cobbler
062. Egg Croquettes
063. Egg Fricassee
064. Egg & Bacon Pilaff
065. Egg & Tomato Gratin
066. Bacon & egg pie
067. Egg fried cheese sandwiches
068. Egg toasties
069. Hard boiled egg & chives/cheese/onions/cress sandwich filling
070. Egg Mimossa
071. Lemon Meringue Pie
072. Nicoise Salad
073. Toad in the Hole
074. Hollandaise Sauce
075. Flamenco Eggs

This is a mini-challenge that I started elsewhere, apologies for not posting the actual list sooner - it was started on my Frugaldom blog site as a result of someone not turning up to collect their eggs and us having 5 hens laying eggs every day now .

aeb_2

Hello, I'm still here and will read back later. Everything is OK and I'm getting used to the idea. My mum stayed until Monday so I [STRIKE]had a rest[/STRIKE] got lots done. She was able to give me some time to research and then order loads of stuff for the jobs that need doing and also to contact some trades people. My front room is filling up fast.

I have come to a few conclusions, the main one being that it is unrealistic for me to do as much DIY as I had planned and if I am going to live sensibly here I have to get it sorted out as soon as possible. I shall get people in to sort the plumbing, wiring, stud walling and plastering. My friends are coming in two weeks and he will do quite a bit, especially electrics but I have to get it set up so he isn't wasting time or working round things.

I had the great luxury of going to a car boot sale without the children. I think I was back before they noticed me gone too much. I bought a bag full of baby clothes, mainly 3 - 9 months, mostly from one stall. Honestly the lady had so much stuff her boy and girl couldn't have worn anything more than twice. Some was still in packets and she only wanted about 50p for each item. I gave her a bit more but £20 was still a bargain!:T

So I have to do things I can do. Or get the children to do;) I have found that 3 and 5 year olds are good enough at 'digging' when bribed with ice cream. They did a surprisingly big square. I had covered it with black compost bags earlier so there were very few weeds. Then I helped push sticks in and they planted runner bean seeds. Also more courgette plants, pumpkin, French beans, radish and lettuce. We put a net over the strawberries which are very weedy but difficult to step round. It was a nice day.

I have decided to keep the old window frames which are in good condition for their age, they just need a good clean and some need painting and a few panes replacing. There is only one which is a bit rotten. On one of the broken ones the putty was so dry it just fell out with a wire brush. I bought putty and glass and repaired it myself! Don't worry it was only about 9" x 7" and on the ground floor.

Sorry that is so long. Off to catch up with your news now

Skint_Lynne

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
Your list is sooooooo much better than my poor attempt. You had better get cooking, maybe some nice scones with lemon curd for when I visit frugaldom. xx

Edited in: Nyk, what is a coddled egg?

thriftylass

nykmedia wrote: »

Spam reported

:hello:Hello,

What does the above mean?

Haven't posted in ages and have pretty much failed in the challenge now for the first 5 months this year :mad:. The only positive thing is my saving are still moving in the right direction but not as fast as I wished. Also haven't really had time to catch up with the posts, but try to do that hopefully over the weekend.
I think I'll take a break, gather my thoughts for a while :think: and maybe hop on the wagon again in July for a personal remaining 6 months challenge, if that's ok with you. Otherwise I'll probably completely give up which I really don't want to do, but I just didn't have the determination recently. I'll still try to get my numbers together and might post them at the end of May. Hope all is well, speak soon....