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

cw18

Think my last two visits to the hairdresser have cost me £20-£25 a time, and was for wash, cut, colour (2 colours of highlights) and blow dry. I got them 'on the cheap' by agreeing to be a 'model' for a trainee to learn on. Last visit was at the end of last October (from my last proper pay-cheque), and the one before that was about 3 years before that.

In between I 'do it myself' !!!! I have long hair, so I can get the back to the front - and I self-trim :eek: I just can't jusify the £25+ it would cost me at any of our local places - and I have a choice of at least 3 within easy walking distance.......



I have a set of clippers, so have done the boys myself for years. Elder DS now does his own, but younger DS comes to me every now and then and asks me to do his

Frugaldom

Wot's a hairdresser? :rotfl:

All kidding aside, my next door neighbour is a mobile hairdresser so I'll ask her how much it costs for a haircut. I seriously cannot see her charging £5 but if she does, I may splash out big time for DD's wedding next week. :rotfl:In my life, hair styling is like cosmetics - neither are essentials, so why bother soending money on them when I could spend it elsewhere - like on a horse or a chicken or a duck or something.

Went into town with SM, had to hitch a lift from her as HS's car had a flat tyre! (He's not best pleased as he juyst got the car back from the garage on Tuesday after getting a full set of new tyres fitted. :rolleyes:) Ald!'s 29p veggies didn't last long, they seem to have done away with the super 6 here. They did have some celery at 29p and some apples & oranges at 49p but there certainly wasn't the usual 6 different items all prices the same. Some were 69p and 79p. Glad I made the most of it while I could as that's probably the deals done. Also bought 2 bottles of cider vinegar, which I use for feeding to the hens, but the glass bottles will be an ideal size for sloe vodka. :T No other bargains worthy of mention.

Washing never made it outside as it's been raining sine I last posted this morning. :mad: Going to have to light a fire to get some heat about the place to dry the clothes now, although the temp has managed to creep up from 14 to 16 degrees. Humidity, on the other hand, is at 78% and that's with the dehumidifier going 24/7.

I managed to get 7 jars of jelly out of my 3kg of blackberries but it's an od assortment of jars. 4 were extra large and the rest smaller than the standard jam jars; I reckon they'll average out, though, and there was enough left over for a little half jar to have with toast at breakfast time.

thriftylass

cw18 wrote: »

In between I 'do it myself' !!!! I have long hair, so I can get the back to the front - and I self-trim :eek: I just can't jusify the £25+ it would cost me at any of our local places - and I have a choice of at least 3 within easy walking distance.......

I do my own too, only went to the hairdresser 5 times in my life I think when I had short hair. My mum used to cut mine now I do it myself. I got quite long hair ( about 5 inches past shoulder) but I even tought myself how to cut proper layers (love the internet ). I always want to go but I can never make myself go and pay £20 as it never turns out the way I want or maybe I just don't explain it properly .

cw18

Nyk, I've been to A!di this afternoon - and they've already changed to the September Super 6. Apples, Oranges, Kiwi Fruit, Leeks, 2kg spuds and ???? for 49p each. Annoyed as I went down for tomatoes for Old Dowerhouse Chutney thinking they'd still be 29p, but had to pay 59p :rolleyes2

grandma247

Blairweech wrote: »

Tried some experimentery cooking last night - bought 50p diced chicken breast from Mr M and was feeling very uninspired as to what to do with it. So, chucked it in the casserole with onions, curry powder, tin of tomatoes, bit of water and some seasoning....did not turn out very nice though, very bland (apart from the spicy 'taste'. Shame, as this idea is used by student cookbooks, and I know Black Saturn uses it as well. Oh well, OH still ate it, bless him! Also tried making Naan bread and it turned out like a rich tea biscuit Maybe I should just give upQUOTE]

Nooo don't give up its just a matter of learning what you like the taste of. I like cumin so I add extra to those cheapie jars of curry sauce. Add something then taste till you get what you like.

Frugaldom

Hi CW, yes, the 29p specials didn't last long, but I got the apples and oranges. Didn't see any kiwis and I still have leeks in the freezer from last year's homegrown ones. I reckon they'll keep me going until this year's grow and I still have loads of potatoes to dig. The best bargain I could find was the 29p packs of celery, which they must have had left over from last week.

I've just had to light the fire so I can get the clothes dried overnight. My jacket that got soaked yesterday afternoon when out berry picking is still saturated, so what chance for all the wet washing? Logs are just starting to blaze, so that should help warm the place a bit. Despite the miserable wet day, the hens have been very well behaved and we've had 8 eggs so far today. I picked up a little carton of margarine in the supermarket today, so I may go and bake some quiche and then I'll probably make some pasta this week. Couldn't see any coconut in the shop, so I'll hold off with the lemon curd until I can make more macaroons with the leftover egg whites.

grandma247

I got a great tip for cutting layers into long hair. Stand with your feet apart and bend your head over so all the hair falls forward and cut a smile shape from one side to the other. When you stand up straight and put your head up you get layers. I could not believe how easy it was and got very unexpected compliments from someone who said keep it like that it looks good. I have heavy wavy hair and it looks lifeless when its all one length.

sophiesmum_2

Have just finished batch cooking some minced beef to stock the freezer with some easy cook meals for when I can't be bothered cooking.Grandma I do the same with the cheap Mr A curry sauces etc, just add extra spices, veggies etc until it is how we like it, at 4p a jar or so it is a really cheap base and I get to use the jar afterwards
Now have an assortment of freezer meals including beef and veg curry, beef stir fry veggies,cottage pie, bolognese, spicy pepper bolognese, mince and onions with potatoes, spicy mince, a beef sweet and sour dish, and a potato layer bake. Also have enough bolognese left for tea.Need to stack the freezer neatly now:rolleyes:

The_Saver_2

Sophiesmum - please, please, please still be online

Wow!!! That is really impressive. Can you point me in the right direction for these recipes:-

spicy pepper bolognese
spicy mince


Thank you

TS x

sophiesmum_2

Hi Saver
I don't really use recipes as such just add things as I go along until it tastes how I like it. I basically started off with a slowcooker full of minced beef and cooked it overnight with some diced onions. Then I use this as my base for all the other meals and just add the different sauces, veggies etc to make the different meals. The spicy bolognese is just the mince and onion base, with tomato puree, chopped toms,some sliced peppers,sliced mushrooms, a small amount of chopped pepperoni,touch of cumin, chilli powder (or chilli puree)to taste and some garlic puree.
The spicy mince is the mince base, extra onions,sliced mushrooms, chilli powder to taste, a little paprika and chopped peppers.You can also add veggies to it if you like. We usually have it with a jacket potato or rice.:D

Just try a basic recipe and add your own flavours with herbs and spices tasting as you go along, it is really easy.