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

Skint_Lynne

Hi all,

Just a quick post as I'm off to bed soon, was in Stockton on Tees today and then Gateshead before travelling home. I'm going to stop at Hadrian's wall some time as I pass it about twice a week just now, it's a good chance to see the place. I might be going to the Orkneys, it depends on what my boss says, but it would be nice to get there for free.;)

I'm having visitors next week, my uncle and aunt and wee cousin, they stayed last year as well. The wee fella is autistic, he is 9. They are coming for a dinosaur event at the SECC, he is so looking forward to it, he loves all that sort of stuff, and snakes etc. So, I'll need to get him a wee dino to get him in the mood for his concert thing. He has come on a lot, he's talking now, but he has always been very clever. He is very, very tidy, always putting stuff away, so you daren't leave anything lying around.:D

Not much cash spent today, £5 but I'm afraid it was an indulgence spend. Was in Sain$burys and saw a gardening set with a wheelbarrow for the wee nephew. He seems to be into gardening, likes following his dad around there and he waters the flowers with his wee watering can. Me and sisters halved for the set, he was so happy, his wee face lit up and he was using the rake in the house, he knew what to do with it.:p It did have frugal interests though as he will know how to grow his own from an early age.;)

slowlyfading

sophiesmum wrote: »

Hi sf - whose is the puppy? You thinking of getting a dog?

Its a friend of ours - they got it yesterday and its 8 weeks old! I'd love to get another dog, we had to have ours put down in december, but its not practical with me going to uni unfortunately xx

cw18

Re: proximity to airplanes.

I spent much of my life 'just up the road' from British Aer0space, and even in the latter years (with double glazing and all windows firmly closed) still couldn't hear the TV when they used the wind tunnels !!! I believe (from what my Dad says) we watched Concorde on trial flights before it was officially 'launched'.......

I now live right under one of the routes used into/out of Manchester Airport.... people I worked with asked how I coped with that (and the emergency sirens the other side of our back wall at all hours), but I had to be honest and say that after the wind tunnels I didn't really notice either :rolleyes2

2NDTIMEROUNDER

Hello to the frugal part of town.:) I have not posted for absolute ages but have kept abreast with everything that has been happening. Impossible to mention each one of you that has had tremendous success (paying off mortgages, moving house etc) but well done! Hats off to you and everybody else that has been doing well.

Myself, money wise I have been ok I guess during the past couple of months that I have not posted, no unnecessary or impulsive spending, grocery shopping kept to budget, zero on clothes since I have so many new items still unworn from past financially sinful life :eek:. Still cycling to work, have lost 2 stone since January without any real effort so very pleased with myself. I am saving 1 pound coin per day for an electric bike, I think I will be able to afford one towards Christmas so I am being excited. I have wanted one of those for absolute ages.

Only thing though that sent me off balance was a sh**load of medical expenses that had to be paid off privately and as usual with these things came out of the blue. I negotiated a delayed payment window of 1 month so that I would not struggle and thankfully they accepted. Whole mountain has been paid off now so hopefully nothing else will crop up because I have had enough of medical bills this year.

I have continued with small scale vegetable growing around the kitchen window. Growing all sorts of herbs too and I am having pesto almost every week now which I adore and is so expensive in the shops.:) Have tried to teach myself to cook a bit better as well but its an uphill struggle but will keep chipping at it. I will get there in the end says he, an undeservedly over-confident burn-all chef!:o


Have a good one today everybody. Speak later.

cw18

Congrats on the weight loss 2ndTR :T

I've seen an electric bike around here a couple of times, and must admit I was tempted for the hills :rolleyes2 However, I have a feeling that (for me) it would be another novelty item that soon sat unused :eek: Good luck on getting yours saved for though

at medical expenses.

Other than the animals this is something I've now escaped from. In the last month I've had both a dental check-up (with scrape and polish) and a prescription - but both the dentist and the pharmacy allowed me to sign a form stating I had a tax credit exemption even though the card hadn't arrived with me. Card finally arrived this last Monday (having phoned Tax Credits with my figures on 16th April), so that means nothing to pay until end June 2010 - and I should be entitled to a renewal next year, which means I'm covered until June 2011. Took advantage of the card on Tuesday, and went and got some free hayfever medication on a 'minor ailments' scheme one of our local pharmacies operates for those with exemptions. (My hayfever isn't bothering me too much, but I also use them for allergies - and I'm highly allergic to DDs cat!)

lingojingo

Brighton_belle wrote: »

Used to live in concorde flight path and loved it - windows rattled away but it was always so beautiful we never tired of it.

I grew up near where the prototype concordes where tested, they used to fly quite low over our house after take off/before landing. Also, when we used to swim in the river Thames (yes, perfectly possible near the source, where you can actually see the gravel bottom) the water used to ripple when concorde went over.

slowlyfading

Have a good day everyone

sf x

whitewing

I am really angry. This year, there are 6 days in August that the three of us could be together, without having a huge amount of preparation and catchup before and afterwards. So we kept this time free to potentially go on holiday.

DH has told me this morning that his sister (who I have never met) is coming over.

I am furious. We have sat here in silence for the past hour (working but not talking or being affectionate like me normally are).

I feel like giving up with budgeting and everything. I have to organise things so well that we can even do half the stuff we do, and nobody is grateful.

Frugaldom

2ndtimerounder :T:beer::T:beer: You are doing amazingly well, congratulations and nice seeing you back in the forum. Hope the medical expenses don't mean you've been too ill recently and good luck with the £1 a day savings. I do similar with £1.35 in lieu of quitting smoking, savings paying DD's wedding photographer later this year

Cute pup, SF Don't be too tempted and go puppy broody

CW - You didn't mention the hayfever! Now I need to replan your relocation to ensure it's closer to the sea so you're away from the harvesting. Could you make it a big place so we can come to yours for tea whilst at the beach? I'm thinking sort of Sandhead area, which is closer to the port and has glorious sandy beaches and is busy in summer because of the holiday park. You wouldn't mind the air base, it's hardly ever used by the aircraft, and the bombing range might be fun to watch during training exercises - we'd come watch from yours. (SM - pack a picnic, grab the factor 50 and bring binoculars :rotfl:

SM, fruits from your garden looking great! The stuff in your other garden is growing quickly, have watered several times as it's been so hot and dry here - spuds growing like Jack's beanstalk. even more compost needed methinks. :rotfl:

Sunny and warm here. Watered everything at 7am when feeding the feathered friends, need to go and collect hen feed and visit DD to hand in birthday pressie, (I got it in the January sales ) then get back to house and finish doing more planting. I've decided that swedes will make a good replacement crop for the raised bed of potatoes as soon as they are harvested. That will surely feed us for a year if they grow as well as the lettuce & peas. :j I am getting impatient to see if there are any potatoes in the plot! They are still flowering, so it's going to be a bit longer - time to germinate the swede seed.

Whitewing, I just saw your post. Didn't your DH even mention the fact that there were plans afoot for his sis to visit? Maybe his mum didn't tell him until recently and she'll probably stay at your MIL's. You could set aside an extended family day where you all do something together then have a meal at yours or something. Has your sister-in-law been to UK before now? (I'm assuming she's overseas if you've never met her.) Loads of potential for her and MIL exploring and siteseeing together.

cw18

:rotfl: at Nyk relocating me further up the road. Actually my hayfever (and that of elder son) is much WORSE by the coast Our last house was right by arable farms, and I rarely had problems from them. But I was bad at secondary school, where the playing field was right across the road from the beach......

We had 15 nights in South Brittany some years ago, and that was the worst 2 weeks I've ever had in terms of hayfever - especially the days we had stronger breezes coming in from the sea !!! That was also the one and only time elder DS had an asthma attack - at 2am, with the car locked in on the caravan park, and none of us speaking French to call for help :eek: Luckily we had inhalers for younger DS, so elder one was dosed up with those at 2am (and again at 6am), and by 10am as he was getting bad again we were sitting in a doctors waiting room.

Have you ever tried explaining to a doctor you don't have a language in common with that the prescribed medication you've been giving a child doesn't 'belong' to said child :rolleyes2 Luckily I'd had the foresight to take younger DS's passport with me as well as elder DS's, so I opened both, placed elder DS's hayfever meds onto his passport, and the asthma inhalers onto younger DS's. That got me 'tut tut' noises and a well waggled finger - plus a huge grin as he grasped what I was trying to tell him We then left with a prescription to get elder DS his own asthma meds.

When we got home I took him to see our GP, and explained what I'd done. Told her I wouldn't have dreamed of giving him his brothers inhalers had his brother been older than him (risk of over-dosing), but was actually told that the 'standard' dose is that low I could have without any risk at all - but that she wouldn't have been happy if we didn't have asthma in the family and had borrowed from someone else on camp !!