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

sophiesmum_2

Hi 2ndtimerounder nice to know our male contingency is still sticking it out on the challenge:D Mr DT has already checked in

Skint_Lynne

Hiya,

I'm just in from a jewellery party - what a waste of time!!! They were an odd bunch, this sounds rude but some of them I think had just been let out for the day.:rolleyes:

I have been to a lot of churches but this is the weirdest lot of people I have ever met. This one lady had a load of stuff in her hand and then another one came along and checked her and said to me 'she won't be buying anything'.

I ended up getting annoyed - I am never like that, but sometimes our patience gets tried I guess.:o

I'm up at 6am and back down south for the day, no rest for the wicked. I spent £1.15 today, so not that bad.

I hope I get on tomorrow before the forums go down, if not, I'll see you all on Sunday. xx

sophiesmum_2

Have a good weekend SL, pity about the jewellery party, must be frustrating when you get one like that especially when you have been working during the day too and could have been at home chilling instead.
Did you take the sisters with you today???

Frugaldom

Buzzbox wrote: »

I hope you folks all ordered your free vegetable seeds from BBC's website to help with the soaring food costs!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/digin/apply_for_seeds.shtml

Brilliant spot, Buzzbox! I've just applied for mine, many thanks for pointing out the link. :T

I have switched off the storage heaters! :j That should save just over £1 per day, which isn't to be sniffed at over the next 7 months or so until the heaters need to go back on again. :T I can kindle the fire on chilly days just to take the dampness off the air and keep some background heat but will still need the hot water but this is timed to come on during cheap rate.

Not much to tell today. After making my mistake with the chicken pie filling, I'll try it out and send a pie to DD's, as there's no point making just the one. CW, do you think this stuff would freeze alright once it's made up? I have never tried it before and SHOULD have read the full description before ordering it. :rotfl:

Been working since about 7ish just in case the skies clear to let the sun through. Hopefully, I'll get a delivery of wire mesh this afternoon so we can finish fencing this weekend. I really hope it's going to be good weather!

cw18

Nyk - I've no idea about freezing it once cooked - it was something I was wondering myself, but as I really plan to use it as a Chicken Supreme with rice (the way my Dad always used it) I'll probably just rehydrate and cook what I need each time

TBH, I have no space in my freezers for anything else!! Nipped into C0-0p last night, and they had 7 bags of their tortellini in clearance at 50p/bag - and those (having been split into meal sized portions) have taken up the last of the space :eek: They suggest that a bag serves 2, but I've been getting them to do 3+ each - but by dropping just a couple of tortellini a time I've managed to stretch these 7 bags to 25 (!) portions.... and I still have a 750g bag of carrots to dice and freeze before they 'turn'

jtb2412

Hi everyone

Nice new shiny thread ! Thanks NYK xx

Things still ticking along nicely here. Busy with the garden still especially as the weather has been so good here for the last week !

My gardening spreadsheet is up and running and I'm enjoying seeing the savings go up and the spending staying stagnant so hopefully we'll offset it all and more besides.

I got my Gas and Elec bills in for this quarter and despite turning the heating down a degree or two and trying to be careful of usage they're both around the £200 mark :eek: I know I could save money if I paid by DD but I refuse to do it after several mistakes with taking wrong amounts out THEIR END and me suffering because of it. However, my summer usage is very low as the heating is off, we cook on the cadac outside most of the time instead of the gas cooker, the lights aren't on as long and the TV stays off because we're enjoying the beach/garden . I've looked at switching but my supplier is still the cheapest for us so what with prices starting to come down i'll stick where I am and hope for the best I think .

We picked up our 1/2 lamb last night (£40) from a 'friend' here at work (she's great !) and our piggie should be ready very soon so food costs should be well down this month (they need to be !) I've not had chance to meal plan this month yet as we're away next week visiting family so won't bother until I get back. However, I've had a quick look and I think the lamb alone will last us about 2 weeks, there's loads ! Storecupboards are full and by the time we come back, we should have some nice fresh salad to pick :T .

Taking DD1 out for lunch today (she finishes school at 1pm) because she's worked really hard on her coursework this term and got some great marks. I'm happy to reward her for her efforts so going to have a look around in a minute to see if I can find some vouchers for lunch .

Nice to see everyone is doing well and hello to the newcomers :hello:

Might not get chance to post until after Easter weekend now, so I hope everyone has a happy and peaceful break.

TTFN xxx

Frugaldom

Hi fruguys and gals, don't forget to check your premium bonds online - I just did and have won another £25 just in time for the end of the tax year - so I can include it in my interest beater! :j

Still heavy fog and very chilly here, so the fire's lit and was just having a nice cup of hot coffee. Have a good day, everyone and thanks, CW, for the info on the chunk chicken filling - I'll just weigh out what I need. Have you ever tried making it into curry? I'm off to weigh and soak then cook some for tea tonight.

SmlSave

Thanks for that Buzz! I've just ordered my seeds.

Feeling very disorganised at the moment so all you with a bit of free time feel free to come over and give me a kick!

To Do:
List contents of kitchen
Go food shopping
Finish digging garden
Order beads
Order stamps
Paint Place cards
Organise Study

I'm sure there's much more but can't think of them at the mo.

March was my lowest spend month this year thou Hopefully its a trend setter

cw18

Nyk : I've only ever had the chunky chicken "as is". I've never seen it anywhere since my Dad used to make it on Brownie Pack Holiday (back when I was a Brownie!!! Mum was Brown Owl, and my Dad went as the cook). I wouldn't personally try making a curry with it, but for the simple reason I don't eat curry If it's as good as the one I had as a child it's makes a very thick and creamy sauce, but the important thing to remember is to shake/mix the bag contents before taking out the portions you need. (I remember my Dad stressing the importance of this, and it says the same on the bags)

shaz_mum_of__2

I was thinking chicken a la king with the pie filling ie chicken in white sauce with a splash of sherry with finely slices mushrooms and peppers and maybe using a stock cube instead of plain water

with white and wild rice

will be monday i think but wil report back off to pick up ds for 2 weeks leave tomorrow so busy busy


Been food cupboard tidying due to AF order arriving and need to stop now its really not funny .....................i could feed us all for months !!!

so i am concentrating on stockpiling cleaning toiletries and paper products this month and just picked up 6 fl@sh sprays in our c00p for 60p each and also 4 x 6 B0untie kitchen rolls for £1.99each at a local discount shop




Shaz