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

sophiesmum_2

Glad you finally got your bike BB:j hope you will take lots of pics for us of the places you see whilst riding it - seaviews perhaps:D

Yes BB back temporarily in the land of supermarket bargains but counting down the days till we head "home" again - two sleeps to go

Skint_Lynne

Hello,

I've not posted over the last few days as I've been busy with work. Yesterday I was in Blackpool, today, Sunderland and will be in Darlington on Friday (Glasgow on Saturday:j).

It's a lot of travelling and they are now starting to mess me about re: money. They're not coming up with the payrise which was promised after the 3 month time period had finished. I'm not taking that, so I'll just move on when I can, I've got an interview in a couple of weeks anyway. I'm an honourable person, so I'm not settling for people messing me about.

They've moved the goalposts again too, my area is now Scotland, the North East of England (down to Northallerton) and down to Blackpool on the west side, that's a lot of area.:eek:

I'll try and get a trip down to Blackpool again for when the sisters are off and they can have a day out with free travel, although I felt a bit sad when I was there. Everything is a bit shabby there now, a lot of places have closed down, so it's not like it was when I was a wee girl. The last time I was there must have been nearly 20 years ago, it's really changed, for the worse unfortunatley:( (sorry if I have offended any Blackpool residents).

Nearly forgot, congratulations on the exam pass shaz, and hope you are okay slowlyfading. xx

cw18

Not a Blackpool resident myself, but DH was born and bred there - and his brothers and his sister still live there.

I remember loving the place the few times we went over when I was a child (more than close enough for a day out, but not something we did often), but once I started heading over with DD (so about 25 years ago) it had already lost it's shine

Frugaldom

Good morning frugalers,

The sun has left Frugaldom and it's overcast, murky and very warm here. Hoping for a shower or 2 to save having to water the garden but also hoping the rain doesn't come to much as I have some tidying up around the raised beds to do - after one of the hens found a way in by squeezing between the greenhouse and the garage!

Appropriate responses everywhere - I had just typed out a full reply and then hit the backspace to delete a smiley I got wrong and it lost most of my message :mad: Note to self - DO NOT USE THE BACK BUTTON TO DELETE A SMILEY

patchwork_cat

Spent A LOT of time in Blackpool in my mid to late teens and to be honest it always had its shabby feel. It was all about where you went. Wonderful place to live near as a teen - oh the nightlife! It was just the grockles that made going into town difficult!
As a local out of season it especially felt run down and it is very early in the year, yet, a lot of places may not have opened up yet. If anything this recession will be good for our own seaside resorts.

lilac_lady

I've calculated (what a nerve to use that word when I look at MrDT's chart) that I've (a-hem) overspent a bit up to the end of May. I'm not too worried as I've actually made a better task of budgeting than I thought I could.
The warm weather makes me want to stay in my garden as much as possible so I've had a few extra NSDs recently. Herbs coming along nicely, pansies, lupins etc blooming so all's well in my simple garden world.

June will be a "walk as much as possible" month so I should use less petrol. Freezer and cupboard full so MAY be back on track by the end of the month.

Skint_Lynne

patchwork_cat wrote: »

Spent A LOT of time in Blackpool in my mid to late teens and to be honest it always had its shabby feel. It was all about where you went. Wonderful place to live near as a teen - oh the nightlife! It was just the grockles that made going into town difficult!
As a local out of season it especially felt run down and it is very early in the year, yet, a lot of places may not have opened up yet. If anything this recession will be good for our own seaside resorts.

Yeah, I hope that they do well this year, especially if the weather is meant to be nice. I think that we would not need to go abroad at all if only the weather was better.

Just wondering what a grockle is though, I've never heard of that one!

I was in the Tower Ballroom on Monday, it was a shame as it is a beautiful and iconic place, just so run down, with bits of masking tape holding the carpet together. Mind you, I wouldn't want the bill for a new carpet for that place.:eek:

patchwork_cat

Grockle is a holidaymaker as opposed to a sand grown un! - a local. Soup yesterday was nice very butternut squashy, but a bit grainy I think we pulerverised it a bit too much. Am going to make thick veg soups more of a thing any recipes gratefully received! Excellent way of ensuring 5 a day and cheap and filling.

mama67

Here you go Nyk, i'll list what we use the tatties for; bear in mind though I am feeding a pre-teen boy and a teen age boy who both have hollow leg syndrome.:eek:

1. mash
2. chips
3. jackets
4. roast
5. creamed
6. boiled
7. dauphinoise
8. rosti
9. cottage pie topping with cheese
10. garlic mash
11. horseradish mash
12. in fish cakes
13. fish pie topping with cheese
14. hm tater tots
15. hm crisps
16. wedges
17. scallops
18. mashed potato patties
19. bubble & squeak
20. cauliflower and potato curry

cw18

patchwork_cat wrote: »

Grockle is a holidaymaker as opposed to a sand grown un! - a local.

I can't remember when I last heard anyone else use the phrase "grockle" -- and it wasn't until I met DH that I met the "sand grown un" phrase (something he was very proud to be)

Been to a big Mr T today (using another Mr M voucher). Total bill was £48.99 :eek: But I then get to deduct £35.20 which is DD's shopping - which brings mine down to £13.79. Then I can deduct £2 which goes against my 'anything else' budget (a couple of £1 DVDs), and then I deduct my £5 voucher -- so an actual spend on groceries of just £6.79 :T Didn't pick up a few items on my list as they're "stockpile" items - and as such can be bought if we jointly fall short of the £30 requirement while I'm spending vouchers