Live on £4,000 for a year - 2009, Part 3

cw18

*** waves to Bails ***

((hugs)) to all those needing them due to illnesses (anywhere in the family) or due to problems

:T for all those geting prepared for the months ahead (stockpiling cupboards and preserving etc.)



Finally decided to go for the £5/month option on my mobile - so called them this morning, and it took longer to switch to that today than it did to ask to move to PAYG while being giving all the info on this option last week :eek:

Got the letter from Child Benefits I needed to retain my Council Tax single person discount until September 2010 last Friday, so have been through to the office with that this afternoon. I could have done it by post (stamp would have been cheaper than petrol - even using Recorded mail to be sure they got it), but decided I'd rather deliver it myself before they start sending me increased bills from next month Despite having to queue this time (no-one else there when I last time) this job was a lot quicker this time around......

taka

:hello: Hello travellers! I love that we are getting updates from all over the planet! I was reading Michael Palin's Himylaya book and thinking about you, Bails, at the weekend! Do we get to see your blog at all? I'd love to see what you are up to! I love the sound of all SFT's travels too - loads of spectacular birds and scenery! :T Not jealous at all! :rolleyes: :rotfl: Its making my trip to London seem very, very boring! Sob...

TTDB - I hope you find somewhere you feel safer and happier soon. That doesn't sound a good situation at all.

Its been a funny week this week - I'm not enjoying work at all and seem to be being taken for granted and I feel exceptionally grumpy too which isn't helping! Roll on my hols...

Forgive me for I have sinned... I have bought a completely unnecessary netbook! I have a desktop PC at home but the only place I have space for it is in a tiny internal box room which feels like I am stuck in a cupboard with little daylight when I'm in there. Its fine if I want no distractions but a bit depressing the rest of the time. So with my new toy I can now sit on my sofa/ use it at work meetings/ when I am elsewhere etc! Its fab :happyhear :rotfl:... and entirely paid for by my "qu!dco/ t0pcashback/ surveys/ lunche0n vouchers/ found money/ £2 etc" fund plus a bit from my parents as an early Birthday pressie so entirely cost neutral so it has no 4k challenge impact! :j

I just need to find out if my Brother and his GF have have bought me anything yet... (he was asking my parents if they knew of anything they could get me ~a week or so ago...) If not then a case for it would be fab... If they've already got me something I've almost got enough amazon vouchers to pay for it anyway - just £2.34 short so I think I can find that! :rotfl:

My Dad wanted one too so we clubbed together and managed to find a £50 off code and introduced him to the wonders of topcashback! :rotfl: I also found out that my parents have finally started using MSE! :eek: (Finally! :rotfl:)... Is it wrong that I feel a little self concious posting here now incase they work out who I am... Ummmm... hello parents if you are reading this... :hello: :eek: :eek: :rotfl: :rolleyes:

lyndasharp

grandma247 wrote: »

Ahh but the greenhouse will save you money in the long run. put some stuff in for Autumn and winter if you get it soon. Lots of veg will grow its just they hate to be cold AND wet. so by growing under glass you control how wet they are.

I spent a little bit more on my budget today to get some watercress seeds as W1lkos now have most of their veg seeds half price, and it doesn't sound like it needs loads of water to grow (which is what I'd expected, given the name). Will try growing it inside before I get the greenhouse!

Our most successful plants seem to be chillies at the moment, though I am getting very excited about the little courgettes that are appearing. They are seriously hot chillies, so can't put more than one in a meal - might have to start giving some away!

Hi Bails and SFT, glad all is going well, your trips sound amazing.

TTDB, that must be horrible for you, I can understand why you'd want to move!

grandma247

Lyndasharp If you fry the whole chilli you will get flavour without all that heat. Don't forget to dry some or freeze some.

Frugaldom

:hello: Hi Bails, great to hear from you. Don't forget to let us know the link for your blog as soon as that's up and running.

Hope your mum gets well soon, SL, and enjoy your trip to Orkney. Hope you get the chance to have a look around whilst there.

Tonight is first workout of week 3 of my C25K challenge and, thankfully, the sun is shining. Just waiting a bit longer to make sure they've finished moving cattle again, as there have been quite a few past today, and then I'll get on my running shoes! (OK, so they are bright pink trainers bought from eB!d or €Bay last year, but I can't warrant the expense of proper running shoes.):rotfl: On the frugal 'get fitter, not fatter', I have started halving my portion sizes to see if this helps but I had a small packet of crisps whilst DGD and I harvested the rice crops on our faceb00k farm.:rotfl:

Ddraig says hello to everyone and apologises for her inability to post, but her Internet connection has decided it doesn't want to play. She assures me that she'll be back soon.

lingojingo

(((((((((big hugs))))))))))) to TTDB and anyone else who needs them.

Thanks for the link to the site with photos of where SFT is going Nyk, it's lovely to be able to see what it's like, I almost feel like a fellow traveller.

Glad everything's going well Bails.

I'm off to Swindon tomorrow for a week, visiting family and friends, and probably won't have internet access, so have a good week everyone :wave:

sophiesmum_2

NYK -I am admitting defeat on the c25k challenge, I am not built for running in any way shape or form.Walking - yes, swimming , fine ,weights, no problem,even rowing machine okay, but running will beat me every time, can't see me ever making it past repeating week one of the challenge over and over again.
Had a few extravagances the past week that I don't usually eat (fish and chips etc:rolleyes:) so heading back onto the low GL eating again and will also be cutting down portion sizes for everyone in the household.
One day I might NOT look like my avatar :rotfl:

Grandma - bottled stuff looks fab:T:T
Bails/sft - loving the travelogs

grandma247

scroll down this page to see what 300 calories looks like in different foods.
For quantity it looks like cauliflower is the winner:rolleyes::rotfl: Noo tomatoes are

slowlyfading

Good evening everyone

Had a n spend day today, which is good. I've been at work as well, and it was SO hot in the bakery today, its madness. I try and drink as much water as I can whilst I'm there, as I can get too hot and feel ill, and today wasn't as bad as it can be, but even so, its still mad! I can't wait to finish there in just under 4 weeks, it'll be so nice to not have to go back (hopefully!). The bf says that I've been a bit down lately, and I do think that working there has a great impact on how I'm feeling - I really am not enjoying it anymore and so the sooner I finish, the better

Other frugal things, I had been planning to buy a pedometer, but I found one in my drawer the other day! :j so I've been wearing it each day to see how many steps I average. So far its been around 15,000 each day so that's better than the recommended amount so I'm pleased with that. I've been trying to get fitter, and lose weight, and I haven't really lost any weight so far, but I'm hopefully getting a bit fitter. Its frustrating when the scales don't go down, but I'm trying to do it the healthy way this time

grandma247, I love tomatoes, so that's a good thing!
Taka, am loving the sound of the notebook - what make is it?
Bails, lovely to hear from you!
TTDB, sorry to hear things have been so rough lately and i hope things get better x
BBwhat kind of cake did you make? and how exciting for you to talk to Bails!
SL, I hope your mum is okay. x

sf xx

Frugaldom

Hi guys

Grandma, brilliant link re the food, it's made me decide that cauliflower growing is the way to go - tomatoes just aren't interested in coming out to play here so I'll need to buy them, same with the peppers, no joy there either.

Taka, I somehow missed your post yesterday, but that was brilliant about the notebook! It's like getting it free when you look at how it was paid Well done!

SM - You know you are welcome to come out walking with us anytime you're around. Rain, hails, sleat or snow, I'll fit it in every day. There's also a gym and swimming pool in town and I have access to a friend's home gym. I'm sure she wouldn't mind you coming with me.

SF - I'm having problems trying to shift weight despite daily exercise but didn't know that until HS bought scales last week! I did the wrong thing by stepping onto them - now I know I have GAINED 3lbs since cranking up my 'get fitter, not fatter' challenge by incorporating the C25K running programme! (I know I need to develop my muscles but I want the fat to just melt away quickly.) According to pedometer I do over the minimum daily recommendation of 10,000 steps, so it has to be something else, like what I eat. I could NEVER work in a bakery because I'd eat all the freshly baked anything that came out the ovens. :rotfl:Good luck with your dieting but don't forget that a strenuous job develops more muscle, which is much heavier than fat. Some of those tiny looking Olympic athletes actually weight about 14 stone and their BMIs fall outside the normal, what is perceived as healthy, ranges.

Washing ready to go out now, catch up again soon.