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

angela110660

As my daughter is a vegetarian we often make a large pan of veggie curry for her using a sauce mix as she prefers it to homemade with either her veg or frozen "chicken". The remains are frozen up into portions for her and they always come out great and just as tasty as fresh.

Frugaldom

Good morning

It's lovely and sunny here this morning, first load washing done and about to get hung out and then I'll decide what's to get tackled next.

SFT, I LOVE the sound of that cottage and, assuming it's structurally sound, you can't possibly let it go. We have 3 storage heaters here along with a wall-mounted fan heater in bathroom, an electric convector heater (bought from Arg0s) and an open fire. Water is heated by immersion/electricity but I got a timer fitted so it's set to use only cheap rate electricity during the early hours to provide hot water for the mornings. A one hour boost gives enough for a quick bath at night. I'd ask about electricity tariffs as you should either be on Economy 7 or, better still, Comfort Plus, which gives you a low rate all the time for storage heaters. Since moving here in November, I have spent the following:

Electricity - £620
Coal - £140 (coal box is 80% full)
Logs - £120 (log store is £60% full)

I know that adding up the above = £880 for 6 months but the next 6 months should be much less, as the heaters won't be on and the fire will only be lit on chilly days. That is to heat the house full time, as 2 of us work from home, I cook every day and I have hot water every morning.

mama67

Deleted_User wrote: »

Hello All!

Woke up today feeling fluey and horrible... went to Doctor turns out I have mastitus!! :rolleyes: So have been told to take paracetomol and nurofen.... Just want to get back to normal now! I had such a good healthy pregnancy and have just felt rotten after having her, keep getting ill.

Daisy is doing well now, putting on lots of weight now shes being bottle fed (such a fatty!), cant remember if I posted it before but when she was weighed on Mon she'd put on 10 oz in 4 days. She was 9 1b 12 on Mon!! Good for both of us now shes on the bottles but not very frugal £7 a tin and shes nearly gone thru a tin in a week! :eek: But I'm tightening the belt everywhere else!

Looking a bit brighter on DH's work front, has had a few enquiries and has a few people to phone about casual work. Is definatly starting up on his own tho, the email address has been set up and leaflets and all that will be printed in the next week. He's got 2 weeks left of being employed and we're out in the big bad world!

I do like a challenge tho! Thanks for all your good wishes and kind comments xx

Might be too late now but when i had mastitis my midwife told me to put frozen cabbage leaves inside my bra.

Some enzymes etc in the cabbage help to fight this.

lilac_lady

Still here, still struggling to stay on track but finding it hard. I think I'll have to stay in a lot. I threw out all my old containers for dried goods and bought new ones - half price at Morrisons last week. I know it's not very MSE but when I open kitchen cupboards, there they are, all new and matching instead of 30 year old containers. How sad is that?

I must not buy things
I must not buy things
I must not buy things

Brighton_belle

Really sorry to hear you feel so poorly loupy - that must be hard with your lovely new baby to enjoy ( and all the work that comes with it). Hope you start feeling better soon.
sft - everything crossed for this cottage, sounds perfect for you.

I spent yesterday bulk cooking and need to make a giant rhubarb crumble in the moski today as have been i've a bundle from a friends lotty.

I'm in a terrible 'want to spend money' mood. I've been so laid back and 'non spendy' for months but these last few days I've been chomping at the bit to spend spend spend.
Anyway, I haven't frittered anything away I'm relieved to say but I have bought my very first digital camera on ebay for under £20 which I'm very excited about and think it give me a lot of pleasere as I have various projects in mind and it means I can share them online with friends more easily. I deliberately bought the same model as my OH (who needs his for work so is'nt available) so he can show me the ropes and teach me how to down load on to my lappy etc:j as I'm a bit techno phobic:o.

I've also got my eye on a bike: I want to get out and about more this summer when ever the sunshines - we've got 8 miles of cycle path along the seafront and I want to use it this year, particularly with the change of pattern in our lives with OH now at work on 5 (changing) days of the week. It feels like a time of fresh challenges and habits. I have a 'drop handle bar' bike, which I was going to use(I did cycle touring years ago and have never been able to let go the bike but it is long unused), but it's too uncomfortable to use with arthritis in my neck and wrists so I'm exploring dutch bikes where you sit very upright to see if they would be much more comfortable. So not unwise spends and would be life enhancing. Still mulling that one over as I want to be sure I would use it, and it wouldn't be a one use wonder.

Sophiesmum - can I add to the chorus to TAKE IT EASY for the next few days: not a concept you easily embrace I'm sure:D.

kerron7

Hi, loopy i have had mastitus 3 times twice needing antibiotics and it isn't very nice. I second the cabbage leaves in the bra however i don't think it helps to fight the infection just cool the area. Hope you feel better soon.

Not doing to good really with the challenge, try my best though to kerb spending however when you have 4 children and they all need shoes at the same time it can't be helped.

Well done to everyone on the challenge , keep it up.

Kerron x

Fat_Fairy

re the cabbage leaves - i wouldn't use frozen ones, use fresh white leaves and the enzymes draw out the heat and infection. I have used this method on animal wounds aswell, works a treat!.

savingfortravel

Lilac Lady and Brighton Belle-Every now and again we have to treat ourselves. I actually think a level of consumerism is ingrained in all of us, its hard not to feel the urge to spend every now and again BUT the difference with the people on this challenge is (as Nyk pointed out) we are spending money on what we really want..
Lilac Lady: You have spent just a little money on practical objects which you really appreciate..the previous containers did last 30 years!! They have done well!
Brighton Belle: I totally agree that these purchases would be so life enhancing. Just think what you will gain from your investments.
I love photography and whenever I have been to Brighton I have been so impressed by the wonderful light you have.
Personally I think its a fantastic hobby to have..in a creative way and to record key events in our lives. I have wonderful photos from all the countries I have visited and since I accepted digital (resisted for a while like I did with mobile phones) the quality and amount (not being so worried about developing costs) of photos I have taken has increased/improved.
I can't actually ride a bike (my hippy parents asked me if I wanted to learn and I didn't so they didn't pursue it) but I plan to learn this summer. Cycle paths are wonderful initiatives and if/when I do learn I will embrace it. What fantastic exercise! My best friend lives in Australia and she has a philosophy that if its dry she's outside.
I love this forum exactly for these reasons...that so many people are making a difference to their lives through careful money management and intelligent choices (I'm hoping that could include me ..have neglected my signature for a while but still of track).
Can't wait to hear more ...love reading about everyone's progress..I'm a complete addict.
SFT

redglass_2

lilac_lady wrote: »

I threw out all my old containers for dried goods and bought new ones - half price at Morrisons last week. I know it's not very MSE but when I open kitchen cupboards, there they are, all new and matching instead of 30 year old containers. How sad is that?

Lilac_Lady, I've bought loads of these too! In fact I bought a few more today. The old ones I had were all different shapes and sizes and jumbled higgledy-piggledy in the freezer,:mad: but these are solidly made and stack neatly, plus some of the little ones are exactly half the size of the big ones (again, good for freezer stacking). So they are more economical as regards space. I think they are a sensible purchase and we are clever girls.

Brighton_belle

savingfortravel wrote: »

Brighton Belle: I totally agree that these purchases would be so life enhancing. Just think what you will gain from your investments.
I love photography and whenever I have been to Brighton I have been so impressed by the wonderful light you have.
Personally I think its a fantastic hobby to have..in a creative way and to record key events in our lives. I have wonderful photos from all the countries I have visited and since I accepted digital (resisted for a while like I did with mobile phones) the quality and amount (not being so worried about developing costs) of photos I have taken has increased/improved.
I can't actually ride a bike (my hippy parents asked me if I wanted to learn and I didn't so they didn't pursue it) but I plan to learn this summer. Cycle paths are wonderful initiatives and if/when I do learn I will embrace it. What fantastic exercise! My best friend lives in Australia and she has a philosophy that if its dry she's outside.
I love this forum exactly for these reasons...that so many people are making a difference to their lives through careful money managements and intelligent choices (I'm hoping that could include me ..have neglected my signature for a while but still of track).
Can't wait to hear more ...love reading about everyone's progress..I'm a complete addict.
SFT

Thanks so much for such an encouraging post sft. I feel even more excited now. I deal with quite a lot of illness and varying levels of limitation and it is easy to feel life is passing me by and I'm looking to use the camera to log all the small but significant things in my life that do make it special. I'm also feeling particlarly positive about this summer and this feels part of it.
As for the bike - I doubly appreciate the encouragement. It is easy to feel it's a bit extravagant, as I think I need to spend a reasonable amount to get a comfortable ride. But I think it could greatly add to my quality of life to cycle along the sea front in the sunshine regularly. It doesn't matter if I didn't plan to use it any more than for that. I'm not a natural outdoor kinda gal but I do get enticed and uplifted by sparking blue sea and sunshine and really, it's there for the taking on my doorstep.
Good luck with learning to ride - can't imagine what that would be like for an adult. I can remember my mum teaching me when i was six - she didn't believe in stabilisers and she use to grip the back on my saddle and run behind:D.