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

shaz_mum_of__2

I have started a "lakeland please stock pressure canners thread "

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=21105997#post21105997

Sophiesmum - we will get one one day...lol


Shaz

lyndasharp

cw18 wrote: »

That's my elder son's 21st Birthday

Must be a good choice of day then The conference office said the hall was free, so we've got ourselves booked in :j

Frugaldom

GOOD AFTERNOON FELLOW FRUGALERS

What a busy bunch you all are!

Blairweech - as a potential smallholder, you should go to the annual agricultural show. They do tend to be pricey but once you really are farming or smallholding then you'll find your nearest annual show to be THE highlight of your year. It certainly is here, although last year's was miserable because of the weather

BB, I am sure you'll claw back any extra spends in time to neutralise the cost of the bike. It's for your own longterm health and happiness and it won't incur running up debts, so I think being that little bit over is still a great achievement considering just how little 4k really is nowadays

Redglass, I didn't know that about rhubarb until recently, either, but can't think of not eating it after June. I'm sure I'm still stewing it in autumn.

Purplevamp, like you, the bulk of my budget has gone of electricity plus I've filled the coal bunker a couple of times and am still having to burn logs when the weather is as chilly as it is right now. We'll make up for it in summer when the salad weather arrives, though. (I hope!)

EFC - I lived in rural Suffolk for a few years, that's where I was talking about buying my veggies from neighbour's front door - were YOU my neighbour? I lived very close to Gate 6, if that's any help, and there was a greyhound stadium at the opposite end of the village and it was about 15 miles to Newmarket town centre - trying not to give your location away, just in case I used to live around the corner from you.

Shaz, that's a good price for sugar compared to where we are. Our nearest suppermarket charges 93p and Aldi, I think, is 84p at the moment.

Buzz, my pepper plants took weeks and weeks to come through. They are only just beginning to grow true leaves now but are still tiny. They're on the kitchen windowsill, which gets the sun, but I don't have heating in there, so it's not that warm.

Congratulations, Lynda! Wow! Wedding date set already! Are you planning any little frugalmites of your own one day?

It's cold and wet here and I've had the fire lit since about 7.30am to try to heat the place up a bit. I'm almost half way through the log pile (no signs of nesting birds, thankfully) but am being very economical with the coal, so it should last a few weeks longer. I still haven't finished my accounts, so will leave them (again) until after the end of month invoices get sent.

Yesterday, I planted the free squash seeds into individual pots in the greenhouse and I've been mulling over the 'how to make ends meet' conundrum if prices continue to soar and interest rates remain near non-existant on any savings. That prompted me to do a cost breakdown of what I spend on eggs, pre-mini-poultry-farm. There are 3 adults here, occasional visitors plus baking, so I reckon that I could use about 2 dozen hen eggs per week. If those were quail eggs, I'd need 6 dozen! :eek: Freerange eggs are now over 20p each, battery eggs around 10p, so that's at least £125 per year, just in eggs! My 5 xbred hens should easily produce that over a year, as they each begin laying, so anything extra from any other hens is surplus and can be sold. As I'm planning on combining hen, duck and quail eggs, there's the potential for the mini-poultry farm to become self-funding this year.

DS might be away for a great deal of the time after August, depending on where he moves for work. At the moment, he's here fulltime and drives to work each day but a move is in the offing soon. He's already been assured that his room won't be filled with visitors, chickens or office equipment but I can't promise that it won't be used for storing bulk bought tins, jars and dry goods! :rotfl: Depending on how things work out, we may be reduced to a mainly 2-person household for next year's challenge, compared to last year with 5 but don't know if it would also mean an increase in the flow of weekend visitors. :rotfl:

Maybe I'll have a baking frenzy this afternoon, I fancy some sponges since typing about eggs.

shaz_mum_of__2

My eldest son (who is living a college ) complains his room has turned into a nucleur bunker there tinned goods in the wardrobe and loo rolls under the bed !!

Shaz

Brighton_belle

Blairwich - my OH introduced me to the South of England show at Ardingly (pronounced ardinglie) 5 years ago - his whole family go as they are from a country/farming background and I love it. I do tend to embarrass my other half by going "oooh, loook piggies/sheepies/ horsies" and rushing off it their direction though:D .I can't help it: I'm a deprived townie really.
The Ardingly grounds also run a separate small holder show which I really fancy: here's the link (not quite sure where you are in the country):

http://www.smallholdershows.co.uk/tigers.html

Thank Nyk for your encouragement -really appreciated.
Just had a fantastic walk along our sun soaked seafront - twice as long as the one last week and it felt sooo good to be alive. Picked up Mays bulk supply of lentils from the Inian grocers towards the end and got a bus home for the last bit, with my bought online cheaper bus ticket:D

Congrats lynda on setting a date. Look forward to heairng about plans for a frugalista wedding.

lyndasharp

Frugalmites aren't a possibility until after the wedding at least...

Frugal wedding plans are well underway! The chapel and chaplain are free, £120 for the organist and £150 for the special licence to get married there. Hall is free if we use their catering - around £35 per head for 100 people. A friend will do the cake. My dress was £80, H2B's outfit will be more like £200, as he wanted a full highland dress outfit anyway. Honeymoon will be a National Trust cottage, booked just 10 days in advance for my 50% staff discount - bit of a mystery holiday that one! We have a hairdresser friend and a florist friend as well. That just leaves the evening entertainment to sort out...

whitewing

Blairweech,

I went to the Bath & west show years and years ago and it was great fun. (Loads of freebie pens and stickers etc. Don't know about lately).

This may help reduce costs:

http://www.thisisdorset.co.uk/westerngazette/news/Buy-advance-tickets-Bath-West/article-939877-detail/article.html

Maslowe

Hi

In our area we have a wonderful show, Driffield Show. It really is aimed at the small holder or the breeder as they have animals everywhere, dogs shows, horse jumping and food tents.

It's a wonderful day out. I have been going for about 10 years and wouldn't miss it. You really feel part of the community. It's somewhere you can take dogs and nobody cares.

Congratulation Lynda you sound so organised. What sort of evening entertainment do you want?

Maslowe

thriftylass

Here’s my summary of spends during April :eek:.

I spend a horrendous:

Bills £47.00 (leccy's finally coming down)
Food £199.73 (went over when my picky friend stayed over for a week)
Stuff £269.96 (holidays, pressies, Wii fit, stuff?)
Night outs £161.50
Clothes £20.00
Total £698.19


But on the plus side I made some money from scratch cards, bingo, sales and interest (about £380), but I won’t deduct this as it went into savings. :T


That means I spend £2465 of my total 2009 budget (about half :mad:) although we’re only one third through the year. This is an average of £616 per month. This is rather bad but I also will have already reached 53% of my savings target for 2009 tomorrow. So I must be doing something right.

Although I’m not on target with the spending, without all of you guys for support it would be much worse. So a big thanks to you all.:j:j

savingfortravel

Hi Everyone!

Lots of good news on our thread.

Went for a splendid walk last night. Through fields and woods and the charming Spring Farm (home to hundreds of Free Range hens). Proud of myself as it is so easy to just vegetate after school.
Had a great day with the children today...what a wonderful class I have.
Music magpie cheques have started to arrive and have put some skirts on ebay which have watchers.
What does everyone do about unstamped stamps on envelopes?

SM Any news?
Bails Any news?
Lynda-My frugal wedding was perfect.

Take Care
SFT