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

Frugaldom

Good evening, just having a quick catch up before going my evening foaging walk

CW, you know me so well, I was just thinking how untidy that figure looked and wondering if I could somehow magic the spare change to Bails to round it up to the £130

SFT, if you live in a safe area and someone knows where you are then you should be fine. Has anyone got a dog you could take for a walk? Oh, and it's my making the elderflower chalpers, MrDT's doing the white grape wine at the mo.

SM brought me my arch for over the garden gate and also got same for herself, so both houses now have arches over gates and are just awaiting plant life. I brought back several cuttings of honeysuckle from last night's foraging, so these have all been planted for rooting and I'll keep my fingers crossed these grow. Meanwhile, I'll train willow up mine. I really must drag SM out foraging one of these days, I'm sure she'll love it. Then we'll be sneaking out ahead of one another to collect the cones, blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries, sloes, elders, haws and brambles. And we each have a copy of Richard Maybey's, 'Food for Free'. :rotfl:

Off a-foraging again, catch you all later.

savingfortravel

Back safe. Stuck to roads (busy tonight..3 cars passed :rotfl:), saw a lady, a bit older than me also walking, stopped to chat about how beautiful the surrounding area is. (she was like the ghost of the future..touched me, meeting her) and then I crossed a cornfield watching the skylarks around. At the each of the field there was no exit (despite it being a footpath) so I climbed under a fence and got out to the road via some farm buildings. I swear that the farmer has removed/covered up the footpath sign..naughty, naughty. My legs (I was wearing shorts are covered in scratches :rotfl:).

Now watching next part of Trevor MacDonald. x

sft

Nyk-You've got an arch like us!! (sorry)
Got a hawthorn tree in our garden full of berries-can that be used in the kitchen?

Blairweech

Hi all,

Andromache - Glad to hear things are going well
Ram Murdock - Congrats on your house purchase: j

Have had a good weekend - went to the cinema to see Ice Age 3 last night (sooooo funny - it really cheered me up). Also went up the lottie both days and got a lot more cleared - it is about 3/4 done now. Have planted carrots and beans, fingers crossed for growth! I was offered the use of a rotavator for £15, but I asked my gardening friend and he said if I rotavate it, it will just chop the weeds into a million pieces - ALL of which will grow again immediately. Plus I find it quite therapeutic digging it, so continued that way. However, it is extremely stoney ground, which is slightly annoying - I have made a little wall out of all the stones, as slug defence #1! (The theory being that they don't like rough surfaces??)

I will be making another spreadsheet for my 'everything else' category in a minute, to see where the funds are going, then reading some fruagl blogs I expect. Might watch a film

Have a good one!

taka

:eek::eek::eek::eek: Its absolutely tipping it down... with HAILSTONES! :eek::eek::eek::eek:

Thought this was summer :rotfl: Oh yeah... its a scottish summer... expect the unexpected! :rolleyes: :rotfl: Oh some thunder now... :eek:

Frugaldom

Good morning

Taka, we had a brief shower here last night but this morning it was coming down in buckets, I'm sure it was hail at one point. Thank goodness the worst of it was past by the time I went to let the feathered friends out to play - it was only pouring by then, so I got drenched. It's still very warm, so it was quite refreshing. (Still haven't searched for/unpacked my waterproofs.)

Ram, hope all goes well with the new house and that you get moved in by umm, I've forgotten when you said - August?

SFT, YES! We now have garden arches over the gates just like your cottage. I'm aiming for that country cottage look (in a semi-detached-bungalow?) but the flowers in my garden will mainly be veggies. Hopefully, though, by next year my mini-orchard will be beginning to look like a mini orchard. I'm tempted to grow some real flowers around the front door but it seems daft when the hens & ducks have the run of the place.

Blairweech, I merged my everything else spreadsheet with my household one and now run it all together so I can see how my £4,000 is doing if that was all I had to spend. I add in any extra cash earned so that it's reducing the overall spend and HOPE to find myself with a zero balance by year end, making all my 'everything else' spending cash neutral. At the moment, if I had started the year with £4,000 and was deducting every single spend from it (bar rent/council tax), then I'd only have £1,475.42 left to last me the remainder of the year. It would be brilliant to make the entire year cash neutral, but that's going to take time and a far more organised and productive garden than the 2009 version.

Skint Lynne - it's summertime (it is!) and we're looking forward to seeing you visit Frugaldom very soon - I hope it's going to be a sunny day, otherwise you'll be totally bored sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee/tea/whatever.

Rain = indoors working, paperwork, housework & cooking, so I've started making soup. I have the vegetable stock made. DS questioned it a bit when he saw broccoli, pea pods & turnip being used but has, since, been made taste said stock and approves. Carrots are all grated and there's coriander in there, so it has the makings of a plan somewhere. :rotfl:

shaz_mum_of__2

Just a quickie

Skint lynne - are you sure your dryer is actually broke ? Most have an overheat facility whereby a switch at the back of the machine pops out to protect the thermostat , then once it cools down it will let you push the switch back in .............mine is like a plastic button about the size of a 50p on the bottom at the back

Sorry if you already knew and tried this


Shaz

lyndasharp

Will look up the lentil burger recipe later. It was very frugal though, and made around 40 burgers for probably £5 of ingredients (maybe less?). We now have a freezer full of burgers, and I expect we'll be completely bored of eating them by the end of the summer!

slowlyfading

4 days! :j :j getting a bit excited

i'm off to work now, have a great day everyone

sf xx

bails

cw18 wrote: »

all except for Nyk who likes nice round numbers :rotfl: She'll be wanting to know why you couldn't have made another £1.94 to make it a lovely round £130 :rolleyes2

:rotfl::rotfl:I hadn't thought of that! And interestingly I was proud of the 6p rather than wanting to round it up - that's how unexpected the amount was; OH thought we'd only made about £40!
The rest of the stuff has already been dropped off at the charity shop and now I'm itching to get started on Round 2 but unfortunately need to be patient until the house is let. Another viewing today and one on Wednesday, looking forward to it being sorted.

Congratulations on the house Ram :T bet you're over the moon!

Yes please to the lentil burger recipe too Lynda, we really don't enjoy processed ones and I'm determined to make our own once we're back. I really feel like becoming an 'Earth Mother' - could this be an early nesting instinct? :eek: Or just wanting to provide for my family, whether that's 2 or more of us, and keep life simple. This morning for example, we had no fruit to put on our breakfast so I just popped down the garden and picked some more gorgeous redcurrants - as I was doing it, I was thinking ' now THIS is what it's about' :D

SFT, since you've moved into your dream cottage, you always sound so serene in your posts, like you've come home at last. It's so wonderful to have been part of that process and witness your happiness, so thanks for sharing it with us x

Funny about the arches - at Glastonbury this year we helped our friends make some willow arches in the Healing Fields and all I could think about was you guys and Nyk's future willow farm :rotfl:We would like to take down the (broken) arch we have through to the bottom part of our garden and replace it with a willow one next year :T Could I plant willow Nyk and train it into an arch? How long would that take if it's possible? Perhaps I could pop up to Frugaldom next year and get some, to extend the Frugaldom connection?

4 days and counting SF :j

Anyhoo, I really need to get on and make sure the house is up together for the viewing and take the dog out as well so I'd better scoot. Have an awesome day everyone xx

Brighton_belle

great news Ram:T.
This morning I have given the freecycle shelves a 2nd coat of paint (I have been reminded why I prefer Matt to satin, so less messy.) so they now match our walls rather than being scruffy and a clashing colour that makes me winch. That will harden enough to be loaded with books from tomorrow:j.
Don't know how I 'm going to spend the rest of the day yet. Industriously I'm sure.
Looking forward to the lentil burger recipe too Lynda.