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

Savvy_sewing

cha97michelle wrote: »

Morning frugang.

Haven't posted in a little while as i have been signed off work with depression and didn't feel like i had much to add to the conversation even if i was still being fairly frugal.

However, i noticed today that my 1st courgette had flowered so that brought enough of a smile on my face to make me get on a bit.

Frugal activities this week - i spotted a bag of reduced apples in the supermarket this week - not exactly cheap but it was good enough to snap up to try out the dehydrator i got back in April for my birthday. I made a tub of apple crisps and a tub of banana chips. I'm finding the apple chips were lovely, so i have got the dehydrator on again today making some more. The banana chips were less good, and i am wondering if this was because they were fairly brown bananas so they taste a bit funny to me.

sophiesmum so glad to hear you and your DH are ok. Hopefully it won't set you back too much in all of your plans.

nyk that potato idea looks great. We have potatoes growing everywhere it feels, so that would be good to let us grow some other stuff too. Sounds like a good plan for us for next year.

I think i am going to need you guys more than ever. I am seriously considering packing in my job as it is making my depression a lot worse and it is affecting my health and my relationship with my family too much. So i need to really look after the pennies as they are coming in at the minute as there might not be any more coming from me in a short while.In my head i am going back in September, and working till Christmas, but i will have to see how my health withstands that and will plan accordingly. I know i survived when i was on maternity leave but we still had savings that we dipped into, so i think even more of a thinking cap on to see what i can do.

Michelle x

Sorry to hear that you are suffering from depression. I am also on Fluxotine for depression. Its hard to get the oomph to do anything.
Please try to stay in work until you find something else, (when your well enough to go back). I was "let go" from my job, in January and although my doctor has signed me off until mid July I felt and still do feel lost without the work. I know that it was unrealistic of me to think that my job could be held open for a year, (nearly), but it also makes me feel a bit useless, and at the bottom of the heap!
I have been listening to Paul Mkenna's confidence CD, and am slowly starting to see the brighter side of life. I have changed my life over the last few months, and the change is going to be a challenge, but I already am beginning to enjoy some of the changes. But I do still miss the routine of going to work.

cha97michelle

I'm trying not to make a snap decision on a bad day. I know work is making me ill though, and i had time off with depression before the kiddies came along.

I've got to put my kids and husband and my own needs first. Life has been tougher than it need be for past few months.

To be fair to myself, i am giving the anti-depressants chance to kick in, and then i will try once more to see if i can do it, and if it is still not right i have to do what is best for all concerned.

I'm thinking i will do my cv/career least damage if i am leaving to look after my boys for a while. I can do whatever job when the time is right then. I have been happiest in the past doing very menial work for a bit of extra cash.

I will have a look out for the paul mckenna CD as it probably would not hurt me. Thanks for the suggestion. Good to hear from someone else in a similar position

cw18

((hugs)) for Michelle - hope things improve for you soon



Been to Mr T this morning (spending my Mr M voucher for this week), and can't I just tell that this challenge is rubbing off on me :T :T :T

To use the voucher I need to spend £30, which only a couple of years ago would have been a mid-week top-up shop!! The last three weeks I've done DDs shopping at the same time, and her share of the receipt has been over half (was almost all of it last week). Today all she needed was new toothbrushes for my GDs (a whopping 63p for 2) which meant I had to spent it all on my own :eek: DS had asked me to pick up some blades for the razor his elder bro' gave him, but I nearly passed out when I saw the price - a tenner for 8 !!!! So I scanned the shelves for an alternative, and now just need to convince him that Mr T were out of stock of the ones he wanted. In the end I got him what looks to be a pretty close equivalent, but as it's a Mr T branding it was £2.50 for the handle with 3 blades (so still cheaper than 3 of the other blades), and extras are only £2.60 for 8 So I've stocked up on several items I don't need right now (including 2 packs of loo rolls which were 16 for the price of 12 - so may just have enough until the end of the year now), and after picking up £1.26 worth of goods in the freezer clearance my bill came to £31.70.

So food shop = £31.70 - £0.63 (DDs) - £2.50 (razor) - £9.86 (loo rolls) - £5 (voucher) = £13.71. What's interesting (to me anyway) is that this is only14p more than I spent on food at Mr T a fortnight ago and is 74p less than I spent at Mr M three weeks ago - so it looks like my shopping is finally balancing out (last week was particularly low, at under £7, as DD wanted a lot of shopping so I didn't buy anything I wouldn't need between then and now)


And for the first time ever (that I can remember) I've not had to fight to get all my freezer stuff away - even with the extra I bought from clearance And I think I still have the space to get some vanilla ice-cream in there...... The cheapest at Mr T looked awful, and the next one up (£1.40) was dearer than the A!di alternative which tastes fine (99p). So I picked up a mint choc chip (which we both like) but left the other until I'm next down the road for milk....

taka

cha97michelle wrote: »

I'm trying not to make a snap decision on a bad day. I know work is making me ill though, and i had time off with depression before the kiddies came along.

I've got to put my kids and husband and my own needs first. Life has been tougher than it need be for past few months.

To be fair to myself, i am giving the anti-depressants chance to kick in, and then i will try once more to see if i can do it, and if it is still not right i have to do what is best for all concerned.

I'm thinking i will do my cv/career least damage if i am leaving to look after my boys for a while. I can do whatever job when the time is right then. I have been happiest in the past doing very menial work for a bit of extra cash.

I will have a look out for the paul mckenna CD as it probably would not hurt me. Thanks for the suggestion. Good to hear from someone else in a similar position

((((Hugs)))). Please make sure you take your time with whatever decisions you make. If you are anything like me when I was depressed, making major decisions was very difficult and I distinctly lacked self confidence in my ability to do anything... Anti-depressants helped me no end at times (although they do take a few weeks to kick in). I was on fluoxetine.

A book that I found really helpful was this one. I still try and do some of the CD mindfulness exercises that comes with it every day/few days intersperced (sp?) with other similar things. I did a very similar course through the NHS based on this work in conjunction with my ED treatment (as depression was big part of my problem too). I was very, very sceptical about the technique but found it surprisingly useful...

SM - Glad you're both ok! That sounds scary! :eek: :eek:

the_cat

Hi everyone

Have not 'spoken' for ages but still read through as often as possible. Confession time for me though - I have completely lost track of the spending totals for the challenge. The trouble is, we have decided to do some decorating and general upgrading of the house and I have bought 'bits' from the supermarkets as well as elsewhere and all the totals got so muddled that I have given up trying to work out what goes where. Am trying hard to abide by the principles of frugality though!!:o

Cha-Michelle
Have a (((hug)))
It sounds like you need one at the moment. Life is too short to do something that is making you both ill and miserable and affecting your family too. I think you are sensible to take your time in making a decision and the summer holidays are a long enough break for you to see if not working is the answer for you.
As an extra thought, would it be viable for you to do some cover teaching instead of a full time position? I presume that a lot of your work load is lesson prep/ monitoring students etc which must add a vast stress to the actual teaching. Only a thought as a friend of mine with small children does this fairly successfully

bails

Just caught up. :eek::eek: SM, so glad you're both okay and I too say s*d the money!

Cha michelle, big hugs from me too. I appreciate Mooloo's comments about feeling useless not being in work and I also know how insanely difficult it is to teach without your full health, let alone with a young family as well. My personal thought is that your job at the moment is bringing up your family in a healthy and happy environment, frugalising your household budget and maintaining a happy home. As a career driven person it's taken me a long time to see what I do now (this minus the children at mo) as a valuable occupation, and it is down to this forum and Nyk's perspective in particular that I've been able to accept this. Take your time to make the decision that is right for you, your health and your family and remember, stopping work now doesn't mean you can never return. You're right, a career break now with young children will be easy to explain on your CV and also I learnt from an assistant head friend of mine the other day that you're under no obligation to explain career breaks on your CV. Take care of yourself and keep posting for support xx

As for me, having overcome the frustration that periodically arises from being off work (which I think would be a lot less if I had chosen to leave work BTW Michelle) and seriously considering not going away so I could start work again (I know, I know :eek:), I have been luxuriating in a cafe's wi-fi this afternoon with a coffee and a chocolate muffin, researching cheap flights to Kathmandu :j Having had my wobble, I'm happy again that going is the right thing to do for me and us now and work will be here for a long time when I get back. That said, I am also excited by a charity I've researched in Nepal that I'd love to do some volunteering for...;)

Welcome back Jamiedodger, and others who have been lurking!

I wish you all a happy afternoon xx

ps I think I might do a 101 list too...

taka

bails wrote: »

As for me, having overcome the frustration that periodically arises from being off work (which I think would be a lot less if I had chosen to leave work BTW Michelle) and seriously considering not going away so I could start work again (I know, I know :eek:), I have been luxuriating in a cafe's wi-fi this afternoon with a coffee and a chocolate muffin, researching cheap flights to Kathmandu :j Having had my wobble, I'm happy again that going is the right thing to do for me and us now and work will be here for a long time when I get back. That said, I am also excited by a charity I've researched in Nepal that I'd love to do some volunteering for...;)

Do you have any spare room in your backpack for a stowaway? I'm currently reading Michael Palin's Himalaya book (£2 from Fopp ) and would love to go to some of this area... I'm soooo jealous!

Last time I saw my parents we ended up having a big discussion about all the countries we'd been to (inspired by SFT's list on her 101 in 1001 blog! ) and where we'd like to go. My Mum resoundingly won with the most places :rolleyes:.

Somehow the conversation got round to Machu Picchu. I'd love to go to there (especially doing the Inca Trail to get there). They agreed and joking (I think :eek:) said they'd like to do it too... and set a 2yr deadline for us all to get fit enough to actually do this. :eek: :rotfl: Now what they don't know is that this is one of my 101 in my 101 in 1001 challenge and I do actually plan to do this... :rotfl:

I... urm... just need to loose half my bodyweight and become far,far fitter (my current fitness levels of being out of breath climbing the stairs aren't going to get me very far on that trail - its rather challenging)! :rotfl: 3lb lost last week and pedometer now surgically attached to my person! A pic of Machu Picchu will be laminated and placed into my purse for a bit of inspiration (whenever I can kidnap their laminator next)!

bails wrote: »

ps I think I might do a 101 list too...

Another challenger! :j Are you planning to do a blog? Hmmmm... that reminds me... Must update mine :rolleyes:

Off home... oh poo its raining :mad:
<<<< A soon to be soaked taka :rolleyes: - I knew there were downfalls to uping the walking that I do :rotfl:xx

cw18

taka wrote: »

<<<< A soon to be soaked taka :rolleyes: - I knew there were downfalls to uping the walking that I do :rotfl:xx

Whenever I'm out and about in that type of weather, I just remind myself that lots of things shrink when they get wet.....

Can't say the scales are playing ball with proving the theory that it should happen to me, but I'm not giving up hope yet as I'm a member of the delicate side of the species (and we all know that delicates always shrink :rotfl:)

Pips_Mum

These -



Are now these -



[FONT=&quot]I did get the post Shaz, Thank you, I had already found a recipe that used Lemon juice though.
Its very tasty nom nom nom!!

How long will the jam last?
[/FONT]

savingfortravel

Michelle-I know exactly where you are coming from, depression is so common amongst teachers. I'm afraid education chews its professionals up and spits them out. I personally thought I'd burnt myself out last year but managed to keep to a better pace this year (I'm sure keeping up with this thread helped...positive,mutual support and focusing me that my life outside of work is just if not more important).
My point being that if its time its time...I wouldn't blame you, just make sure you make the decision when you're feeling strong, then its the right one and your hand hasn't been forced so to speak (IYKWIM).

I'm bailing out in 4 years come what may and changing direction (maybe further education for me..another degree or something/writing children's books, who knows..)

My news at 3pm this afternoon was not good with our moving date changing to Monday but I got on the phone and took control (thanks to my understanding Head who gave me free use of his study and phone-lovely man). ..was a bit of a b**tch if truth be known with the estate agents/solicitiors but at least it got a result..Managed to sort it out so we will exchange tomorrow now, complete Friday and pick up the keys..so looks like the online party is still on..EVERYONE IS WELCOME

I am quite proud of my country count but I am not a typical woman as I don't have kids to look after (and probably never will)....does it make me strange that my maternal side hasn't kicked in despite loving the children in my class (big kid myself) and adoring my nephew/niece..that just feels like enough.

So pleased the 101 challenge is catching on..I am detemined to start on the day we move in so can't wait. Would love a list of everyone's blogs as I'm sure I haven't got everyone's on my favourites.
Will also resume 4k when we move as we will finally be able to get a budget back in place.

I can't wait...

sft