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

savingfortravel

Hi Vixstar
I THINK 100% HOMEMADE WOULD BE TOO DIFF ICULT if I'm going to give them things they want. Was thinking a mixture of useful/homemade gifts
I'm not very crafty now. Although that's probably through lack of practice as I'm quite a creative person in my job.
Mr SFT is a very good cook so anything like chutney recipes or anything sweet would be great.
I will be making wildflower, puppy and a 'green theme/self sufficency' style calendars for various people.

My sister would love raspberry canes but they must come from a shop, right?

sf-How's the course going?

SFT

slowlyfading

Afternoon everyone.

This weekend did not go as planned at all. The BF called me about quarter to 8 on friday night saying he'd broken down on the motorway, and that he'd called the breakdown cover but didn't know what time he'd arrive. His engine just cut out as he was cruising down the motorway at 70mph :eek: He finally got here at just before 10, having had his car towed to a garage just round the corner from uni.

Saturday morning he got up to get to the garage for 8:30am and then was sat waiting in his car til almost 10am for it to open. Was beginning to think it wasn't going to open at all, but thankfully it did. Said the timing belt had snapped, which in turn had caught parts of the engine on the way. So, not good at all. He rang back in the afternoon and said that it was going to cost £990 to repair. :eek: ouch. The BF is getting it done, but its been an expensive journey, and he hasn't been in the best mood this weekend, with obvious reasons.

His dad has been to collect him this afternoon, and I'm going to drive his car back next weekend. He had only put me on the insurance on thursday, so that was good timing. It only cost £19 for me to be added, which was great. But not the best. Obviously I didn't get to go home, but will do next weekend instead.

So, a mixed bag of feelings this weekend. I'm finding this course harder than I thought I was going to, and I'm not even on my first school placement yet. Everytime the BF leaves I cry I blame it on the fact I'm not sleeping well, haven't since I got here, but it is hard to see him leave. Its not that I don't like it here, I do, but I'd rather be with him any day of the week.

Today's been a nsd, mainly because I a) hardly have any money left until my bursary comes in next month and b) haven't been in the mood to go anyway, neither was the bf.

I'll be happier tomorrow, I hope

SFT, I'd go to France if its already booked. You are great at finding ways round everything, and the M & S vouchers will be handy - there's some lovely food there, not that I ever buy any!
Bails, I'd get married sooner rather than later, 3 years isn't that long in the grand scheme of things, but as others have said, a million things could change in that time. Have fun with the elephants! I'm SO jealous - seeing girafes and elephants in their natural environment is on my list of "things to do before you die" and I hope you have the best time ever.
SM, its nice to see you posting, and all those cakes look gorgeous. I'm trying to do a healthier eating plan, but seeing those make me want to make some little fairy cakes! I. Must. Not.

Have a good evening everyone x x

savingfortravel

slowlyfading wrote: »

Afternoon everyone.

This weekend did not go as planned at all. The BF called me about quarter to 8 on friday night saying he'd broken down on the motorway, and that he'd called the breakdown cover but didn't know what time he'd arrive. His engine just cut out as he was cruising down the motorway at 70mph :eek: He finally got here at just before 10, having had his car towed to a garage just round the corner from uni.


x

Thank goodness your BF is okay... No wonder you want to be together. Hope you feel better about things soon. I'm sure once school starts you won't have time to think of anything else.
Take care

SFT

Vixstar

SFT these are probably obvious but homemade sweets packaged in the kilner type jars that are available from A5DA for £1 or other similar jam jars. And for the cook a recipe journal/notepad where you could include several favourite recipes and then leave pages for him to add more (although that may be more suitable for a woman)

It's not too early to discuss homemade presents as they do take a while to sort. Making my brother a homemade union jack cushion. he one he's seen in Deb's cost £60. I've maged to get the fabric to make two for £9 and a cushion filler for £8 - probably could've got it cheaper but there aren't any good fabric shops round here.

shaz_mum_of__2

well seing as sophiesmum was showing off her baking i fel justified in showing you my tea



proper homemade pasties with homemade pastry total cost for six this size and five snack size ones £3.53 would have been cheaper with whoopsie lam but the only other lamb i had was morroccan spiced which might not have been quite so nice

Had a busy shopping/st at home day also made soup,lemon and poppy seed cakes and just finishing some marmalade

Then it's an evening of knitting and back to Uni tomorrow (and my grant has arrived and gone into my ISA .........yay)

We too have car trouble SF but a bit less traumatic at £250 for some pipework for the air con. we werent going to bother but we intend to keep the car a while as it is our caravan towcar and better to be safe and cool and relaxed ....especially when towing 1.4 tonnes down the motorway!!

savingfortravel

Thanks Vixstar for your excellent suggestions. I'll beable to use both. Hope your cushion goes well. Sounds brilliant!

SFT

taka

((((Hugs)))) SF... I'm glad your BF is ok. Boo about the car repair costs though! Sorry you're feeling a bit low... I'm sure its just cause you're there and everything is still new. Hopefully it'll change when you get let loose in a School and are doing something more than the theory.

Bails... Enjoy the Elephants - that sounds fab!

I challenged myself to make some jewellery this weekend - its for a friend's leaving pressie - I hope she likes it. :eek: Its not as good as I'd have liked but I didn't realise how rusty I am! I haven't done any for well over a year, closer to 2...



...Think I need to practice my photography too... the lighting sucks... Oh well I enjoyed it but I think I need to sort out my stuff! I couldn't find half of my tools! :rotfl: I love my new toy... a circle cutter! Insert silver sheet, line up with appropriate sixed hole, insert cylinder and whack it hard with a heavy hammer = 1 perfect circle! :j Yep... I know I need a life... :rotfl:

cheerfulness4

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

proper homemade pasties with homemade pastry total cost for six this size and five snack size ones £3.53

Those are perfection on a plate! Your pastry looks scrummy. Any chance of your recipe please?

Frugaldom

GOOD MORNING FRUGALITE FRIENDS

Hope you are beginning to feel better, Lingojingo, guessing you're laid up in bed surrounded by aspirin and hot blackcurrant.

I'm in agreement about the France trip, SFT, it's the roof repair that was unplanned, not the trip, so make the most of it. The roof will still be there when you get back but the opportunity to go to France may not be an option once the serious saving begins again - make hay while the sun shines, I say.

SF - glad the bf managed to get through the dramatic car incident without any real damage done other than to finances and metal box on wheels. You'll be fine - if you are meant to be together then things will work out that way regardless of how much you want them right now. Don't lose sight of what's most important to you in the long run; make the most of your course and the opportunity of making more new friends - one can never have too many friends, even if they do just keep you up to date online afterwards.

SM's choc cup cakes tasted lovely, so she's about a half dozen less than in that photograph now! YUM!

I managed to get the hedge trimmed yesterday, then watched the hens and ducks play in the potato patch. They had hours of fun, scratching and digging, all I had to do was nip out each time they unearthed the spuds and pick them up to add to the collection indoors. My little feathered tattie howkers are back out there now. At this rate, I'll have a sackful of spuds in no time. :T

Last night I baked a fruit loaf in the breadmaker, not the cake type, the large bread loaf with fruit type. I reckon it must have cost all of 20p to make using ordinary, cheap plain flour, so that's been noted for making again as it tastes lovely, especially with homemade jam whilst it's still warm. Tempted to try the Aberdeen butteries today but using margarine (no butter in this house) but DS has his pal visiting from tomorrow for a few days, so I should really be concentrating on making stuff for 2 x 20 year-old fitness addicts. Hmm... how unhealthy can buttery, bready pastries be? O could just add a tomato or something! :rotfl:

Ooh! Last night, we ate the first of the homegrown tomatoes! About a dozen of them eventually turned red and they taste so much better than the bland, watery things you get in the shop. Tempted to grow just a couple next year despite saying I wouldn't bother.

grandma247

nykmedia wrote: »

I managed to get the hedge trimmed yesterday, then watched the hens and ducks play in the potato patch. They had hours of fun, scratching and digging, all I had to do was nip out each time they unearthed the spuds and pick them up to add to the collection indoors. My little feathered tattie howkers are back out there now. At this rate, I'll have a sackful of spuds in no time. :T
Ooh! Last night, we ate the first of the homegrown tomatoes! About a dozen of them eventually turned red and they taste so much better than the bland, watery things you get in the shop. Tempted to grow just a couple next year despite saying I wouldn't bother.

I Love it:rotfl:. your very own potato pickers and you don't have to pay them.

The secret to getting your tomatoes earlier is probably to sow the seeds early. January probably and keep them cool but not frozen and water little keep on the dry side once they come up as its wetness that helps kill the seedlings. Also if you can get hold of a cherry variety called lidi they are hardy. We were picking in november in an unheated greenhouse! They are yellow and about the size and shape of grapes and they grow in large bunches. The taste is heavenly. We were not able to find them after but I found that thompson and morgan had them this year but we did not place an order because we could not spare the money but will def. get some for next year. My son says they probably will have them on ebay so off to find out in a mo.