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

Frugaldom

Good morning

Dull and drizzly morning here but I guess the dry weather had to end sometime.

Tomato growing - I planted the first of my pepper, tomato, rhubarb and pumpkin seeds in January, all indoors to start them off and then outside under glass. We live in a frost pocket, so there was ground frost until mid/late May, then glorious sunshine until mid July and very changeable since then. It doesn't help that there was no garden but the whole tale is contained within the threads so I won't bore you with the details.

Sorry you're still feeling ill, Lingo, hope you are at least managing to get some recuperation time in bed.

Just cashed out another £10 from my free scratchcards - how is anyone else doing with these?

CW - I think Ald! work is something you really, really want to do, I could never do that. Our 'local' staff that got brought in are like grim faced robots who can only recite memorised monologues, they whizz the items through and practically throw the stuff at you and then inflict a plastic smile on you as they grind out a fake cheery 'thank you'. Please don't turn into one of them if you get the job, they are like the Stepford wives gone wrong. :rotfl:

Blairweech

Hi all,

I have been reading but not taking notes, sorry. HUGS to those in need, congrats, good luck etc as appropriate

I am sick, I have a bad cough and a slight cold. Not sick enough to take time off work though!

This month, I kept a note of my income/outgoings for the month.

4k challenge amount: £355.60
Total amount spent: £1168.77
Grocery Challenge amount: £120.05

Those figures include the £50 shop on Saturday :rolleyes:, most of which will last for the next fortnight. I did not have enough stuff in for lunches to last the week though, so decided to go at the weekend.

My total income for the month was £1128.37, which makes a deficit of £40.40. BUT, again that includes the mammoth shop, so I am not too concerned. Especially because I have managed to save £315 (over a weeks wages) this month :j :money:WOW that feels good!! I am matching my emergency fund and my house deposit, and I feel so much better for it.

And I just started on my UCAS application.Progress is being made!

cw18

nykmedia wrote: »

CW - I think Ald! work is something you really, really want to do, I could never do that. Our 'local' staff that got brought in are like grim faced robots who can only recite memorised monologues, they whizz the items through and practically throw the stuff at you and then inflict a plastic smile on you as they grind out a fake cheery 'thank you'. Please don't turn into one of them if you get the job, they are like the Stepford wives gone wrong. :rotfl:

The staff in our store are great - and never averse to a bit of joking either around the store or at the tills (possibly 'cos they recognise me now!)

Been into a couple of other reasonably local branches, and have found most of the staff very friendly and helpful - so sounds like you've just got a naturally miserable crew

cheerfulness4

The staff at ours are fine too.
Its the Nettos staff around here that are awful. Definitely scary. :eek: You feel embarassed at interupting their deep conversations but cheekily expecting them to check your shopping out. :rolleyes:

taka

pennib wrote: »

Thats a really nice necklace and I,m sure the recipient will be delighted. I've never done jewellery making, apart from daisy chains :rotfl:is it cost effective, although I guess the best part is getting a one off.

It really depends on what you want to do and make! If you want to string beads and maybe make some wire shapes then its fairly cheap to do (depends on the cost of the beads etc) and you don't need many tools - pliers and wire cutters/snips being the main ones if you want to work with wire or scissors (and patience :rolleyes:) + beading thread/tiger tail/fishing line/stretchy thread of some variety if you want to string beads or premade shapes.

I wanted to make jewellery with stones set in so I decided to go to classes to learn how. I started out going to a council run evening class that had loads of tools so I just needed to pay for the class + ~£5 for a starter pack of metal and bought what else I needed from a local shop when I got a bit more confidence. I was unemployed when I first started so my total budget for the the class for the term was ~£16 including the cost of the class! :rotfl:

When I knew I enjoyed it I started to buy some tools so I could do things at home - some I kidnapped from my toolbox, some I bought 2nd hand from a local tool shop (they have a rumage section of really random 2nd hand tools so I had a good rummage and found loads of useful stuff), others I have been given for birthday/xmas gifts or I've bought them new over the years so I've got quite a bit now. I have a table (well a long piece of wooden worktop on legs really :rotfl:) set up in my boxroom specifically for jewellery making.

I like doing sterling silver jewellery so the silver isn't overly cheap - silver is ~55p+/g currently - I probably used ~4g+ in the necklace + the cost of the chain + a few pence for the apatite bead + ~30p for the box so it all adds up. Silver has doubled in price since I started in 2001.

I also have a bit of addiction to pretty semi-precious beads and stones (Tourmaline, garnet, amethyst, citrine, jasper, onyx, carnelian, peridot etc) - I have a couple of £100s of pounds worth now... :eek: :whistle:

I completely, completely lost my confidence doing it a couple of years ago when I was ill but I want to start again. Part of my holiday at the start September was to get some inspiration from the museums etc and to go to a jewellery exhibition/fair (where I bought even more beads and stones... oops ).

The pendant was the 1st proper thing I've done in a long time and sort of feels like another milestone in my recovery (even if I was still to scared of failure to do any soldering or stone setting ).

I'll stop wittering about jewellery now... its obvious no-one else is interested...

ilovetea

TAKA.
I'm interested,jealous, but very interested. That pendant is beautiful,the sortof thing Iwould willingly buy as a present or for myself. Have started in a small way making jewellery but don't have the confidence to go to classes.
Keep making the jewellery,it's beatiful.

ilovetea x

liloandstitch

I think the necklace is beautiful too - totally unique and hand made with love

Lilo

cw18

taka wrote: »

... its obvious no-one else is interested...

says who

and a 'one off' piece of jewellery has to be a very special present to receive - a lot more thought gone into it than a piece bought from the shops, plus no chance of putting it on only to find every other person in the room is wearing the same piece !!!

Brighton_belle

haven't been around much for a few days as I finish off the decorating. Decorating has certainly helped the fitter not fatter campaign as I am 2lbs light this week:j.
Taka - I thought your pendant was stunning and a quality piece of work and I'm sorry I wasn't on sooner to say it. In fact I was going to give you a right old telling off for not getting on with more of it asyou clearly have a talent here. And it is fantastic that this is another step in your already significant recovery:T.

Big mumma, thanks very much for that fanatstic craft forum list - really helpful
shaz, that pasty looks soo delicious - I am more of a savory girl myself than sweet, so boy was I drooling.
cw - good luck with the job app. The good thing about having to rejig your budget, is having abudget in the first place means you now what needs to be adjusted straight away:T
I've just been to the dentist: check up is now £45 but at least after our dental costs discussion in Jan I have eeked this appointment out to 9 months rather than every 6 so I am saving £45 every 18 months.
The business who rents the offices above ours was chucking things out today, so I recued a computer stand thing, some box files and a foot rest:D
Not been overwhelmed with applicants for the room - I think we may have just missed the rush back to uni (though we would only want a mature student. I'll give it til the weekend than may need to lower the asking price.
Employer has just readjusted my pay for the last year so I have a lump sum back paymen of £304 coming my way tomorrow:j: very timely as I have just taken 2 weeks unpaid leave.

Must do Sept accounts soon.

sophiesmum_2

Taka - your jewellery is gorgeous and very professional, I could never achieve anything like that.I'm sure it will be treasured by whoever you give it to.
I have a friend who is heavily into the gemstones and jewellery making, sheis only 30 but has ms so is quite limited in her choice of hobbies. She recently made me a bracelet with lots of different gemstone drops on it, each one was chosen to help me feel better and she wrote out what the healing properties of each were for me. I will always treasure it as I know the thought and patience and effort that went into making it, I'm sure your friend will feel the same about her gift too.
There is a great diversity of creative talent lurking in this thread, from card making and scrapbooking, mosaics and clockmaking,writing, sewing, jewellery making,gardening, baking and preserving :T:T:T well done everyone:D:D