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

Frugaldom

Ooh, well done on the sewing machine find, SM! That's brilliant!

I'm just about to haul everything out of the kitchen to see if I can scrub up the floor vinyl a bit more, as it's so expensive to replace. It's far too wet outside to consider doing anything remotely connected with the garden or poultry project, other than collect eggs as they get announced, so indoor jobs look best. No signs of the chicken coop yet.

slowlyfading

Afternoon everyone.

Only had a short shift at work today - 11am til 3pm so that was a nice change. It wasn't too busy either, which wasn't as good as it doesn't go as quickly Today has been nsd no 12 this month, so my target of 14 seems in my reach this month - so much better than last month. Its been easier not to spend this month though, I'm not sure why!

Got some sad news. Bf's grandma died at around quarter to 7 this morning. His dad was there with her, so at least she wasn't alone, but its still sad. The funeral is next tuesday, and I don't know if I'm going to go or not - the bf hasn't said he wants me there, and i can understand if he doesn't, so either way, it'll be a sad day. When someone dies, it always hits hard about how we're not around forever, and it scares me slightly.

Tomorrow won't be a nsd day, as I need to find a birthday present and get some other bits and pieces. Tomorrow night we're going to see Wind in the Willows at Mount Grace Priory, so that'll be nice hopefully, fingers crossed that the weather is nice as its an outside production! lol so if it rainining I don't think it'll be so fun.

Nyk, congrats on the free breadmaker! How exciting!
SM, congrats on the free sewing machine!

sf xx

loveNYC

What a lovely post - I am thinking about getting an allotment myself, sounds so nice...making jam and bread. Do not doubt it is hard work but rewarding and therapeutic. My best friends Mom and Dad have had one for years....I am going to speak to them about it later. Thank you for the reminder and the inspirations to do something about it.
Bonus is it will save money too!!

loveNYC

What a lovely post - I am thinking about getting an allotment myself, sounds so nice...making jam and bread. Do not doubt it is hard work but rewarding and therapeutic. My best friends Mom and Dad have had one for years....I am going to speak to them about it later. Thank you for the reminder and the inspirations to do something about it.
Bonus is it will save money too!!

SFT_2

Hi Everyone!

SM-Can't believe you've fulfilled your dream and got those beautiful chickens. Just shows how this forum makes dreams come true.
CW-Hope you're ok. x

I'm sitting in a cafe, looking out onto the central plaza of Antigua and its beautiful cathedral. Mr SFT is eating breakfast. We are using the free WiFi service of course. I have a bag full of filled baguettes next to me as I had really poor food on the flight over.
Have a mixture of feelings about returning home. Loved relaxing and exploring Central America. Seen/done some amazing things which I'll never forget. But now itching to get the plane journey over-we fly Guatemala city to Panama. Then Panama to Madrid. Then Madrid to London- and see my roof and organise my finances and most sad of all....start blackberry picking!.
I am delighted that our final Central American GC money saving reached $468. It would have been very easy to have frittered that away on drinks. Did treat myself to some souveneirs and buy presents at a co-operative yesterday. I don't feel bad treating myself because its so rare.

Mr SFT climbed his volcano and saw lava flow. He's got a poorly tummy today so I hope he is ok for the flight.

So I'll be back on soon. Sorry I can't read the posts at the mo but best wishes and hugs to all. Thanks for all the lovely messages and I hope I haven't been too boring!

SFT

taka

SFT - Hope you have a good journey back! Glad you've enjoyed yourselves and its very impressive saving while on hols! How on earth could your travels ever be boring? I love hearing all about the wonderful things you've seen and done! :T :j I hope Mr SFT feels a bit better soon - travelling with an upset tum is not nice...

sophiesmum_2

Have a safe journey home SFT, have enjoyed your travelogs lots:D:D:D

sophiesmum_2

SF - Sorry about bf's gran, xx

mama67

Don't know if any of you have seen this thread before but thought it loooked handy with alot of us getting into preserving in a biggish way.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1420503

skint_chick

Mooloo - I'd say sewing classes would be very popular. I've enrolled in a dressmaking and tailoring class at the local college -15weeks at 2hrs a class and cost £70 - not including materials. I'm keen to make my own clothes because they'll fit better, be more individual, and long term be more cost effective and more environmentally friendly. Is there a free ads section in your paper for events - it's usually a good place to start to see if there's any competition!

SM - good work on the sewing machine - I got one from Freecycle from a pensioner who couldn't see well enough to sew anymore - and downloaded the instructions from the manufacturer's website so I didn't get stuck with all the settings and stitches:D

SF- I would say to your BF that if he'd like you to go you're available but if he'd rather it was a family thing that you'd like to contribute to flowers/donations - he probably hasn't thought about it or might not want you to see him upset.

Garden plans are on hold for this year - it keeps raining every time OH gets round to thinking about clearing the land - but his dad has offered a large patch on their farm for me to grow veg so I'm going to give this a try first. Mostly because clearing the land we have and fencing it will cost around £2000:eek::eek: so we'd need to be growing A LOT of veg to ever recoup this and with working full time I'm not sure how much commitment I can give it however much I want to be self sufficient. I'm hopping if it goes well I might be able to convince him chickens, rabbits, and the odd farm animal are the way forward:D Going over at the weekend to assess what they have in their shed to see what I'll need to buy apart from seeds.

Lost 2 pounds at Slimming World:D despite a Pizza Express last week (one of the new healthier ones with salad in the middle). Wasn't at all impressed with India Knight's thrift book - I could have written better just from doing this challenge - she is just too posh - and I know she's not batch cooking chilli or spaghetti for her work lunches every week:rolleyes: