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

Frugaldom

Mooloo, I would prefer not to go somewhere than go alone, so you aren't alone there, iyswim.

SFT thanks for the dates, comparisons won't be a problem. Along our hedgerows we have blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries, brambles/blackberries, sloes, haws, rowans, rosehips and elder, so there's quite a lot to forage. I'd never heard of rowan berries being poisonous but my gran had a tree in her garden and used to make rowan jelly. I had, however, been told that hawthorn berries (or May berries) were poisonous but, according to R!chard Mabey's 'F00d F0r Free', we can use the berries and the leaves. There's certainly plenty of gorse about here, was it gorse flower champagne that Hugh the feathery guy made on his programme? Oh, speaking of which, my elderflower champagne is coming along nicely and is getting quite a fizz. It's a fortnight since I made it, I think, so it should be ready for sampling. Will let you all know the verdict.

Need to pop next door and square up the finances with frugal neighbour, who was getting me some rice & sugar. Both these items are extortionate here - they only sell tiny bag of rice and sugar is 94p per kilo now! :eek:

Brighton_belle

Got loads to catch up on:
I’m certainly up for the idea of 2010 frugal meet – I have enough airmiles to catch a plane from Gatwick to Glasgow/where ever:D.

Kittikins – so glad your mum is ok. What a horrid scare. And you sound so much happier and confident since 6 months ago. Your travel aspirations sound wonderful. I think sometimes bad experiences do goad you to go for what you really want, where as if life plods on ‘okish’ you never change anything or take the extra risks to ‘go for it’. And I'm glad you have been able to see past your ex's put downs:mad:.
Shaz – thanks for great sw recipes. Lynne – I’m an SW fan and lost 2 stone 2 years ago. I agree , in the meetings there is a lot of talk of pkt food, as that seems to be how a lot of people live. I just ignored it and worked out my own meal plans based on their principles that really do work if you stick to them. I‘m a red day fan myself. We never have cottage pie with potato any more – use mashed swede/carrot and celeriac combo and it’s delicious. I rarely have carbs with meat meals now – I feel full without them and have them for snack at other times of day.
Lynda – hope your nan is doing ok.
Patchwork – hope you got through last primary day ok. On another thread members are talking of dealing with some parents renting limos to pick up kids on last day on primary :eek:– what’s left to look forward to as you grow up.
Nyk – how’s the cal burning record going?
CW – sounds like you had a good celebration of your DS’s 18th. I’d take it out of extras myself, not food budget: it was a good thing to celebrate. Hope you have settled the bill matter with your dad in a way you are happy with.
Sft –hope you are feeling better – your posts were so different from recently it was obvious you felt lousy. Hope the quote comes in and doesn't make you laugh...hysterically
Charlie’s angel – well done on tackling debts. Be proud of yourself:T
Mooloo – going along to some local events is a good way to start. It is hard going by yourself to these things: I started over here 10 years ago and joining things was the way I gradually made friends and felt part of life here.
Taka – well done on 11lbs lost so far. A great start.:T

I’m having a rest day today as wiped after a heavy day yesterday taking a friend of OH’s elderly mother to visit him in hospital far away. A job well done though and I’m glad to be able to give something back when I have been helped in the past when ill. And she insisted on paying for petrol, which was unexpected and unlooked for. But she was insistent so we conceded. Came home via OH parents and were unexpectedly fed and given a bag of goodies: gooseberries, mince, cheese, sausages etc. Will make a gooseberry pie today or tomorrow.
Dinner in SC. (An indian chicken dish Lynne which I will serve with roast butternut squash and cauliflower rather than rice, so all sw red)

Blairweech

Nyk - Was there a recipe for veggie lasagne? I am trying to increase my vegetarian repetoire
SF - Glad you had an amazing holiday , and that you resisted the temptation that is a Mulberry purse (when I get tempted, I think about how many hours I have to work to buy the item and most of the time it is not worth it - this approach only works if you loathe your job however )
SFT - Shouldn't the problem with the roof have been picked up in the survey? I think you should be able to get a good deal, as obviously businesses are particularly hungry for cutomers atm (or they should be!)
Mooloo - That is a shame about your local lunch, but good news on the coffee morning! I hope you make lots of new friends
Kittikins - I echo everything which BB says, she put it far more eloquently than I could!
BB - That is :eek: about parents renting limos for primary kids...when I left primary, we all got given a thesaurus, which got signed by teachers and friends etc. I still have mine and it is lovely to look at it occasionally


Well, I did a very silly thing last night and drank way too much Frugal beau and I went to Tavistock carnival - free night out, then came home and had dinner and a drink. He was fine but I invariably wasn't as I cannot drink like a normal adult! So, today I am feeling slightly delicate.

Not much doing today, will be putzing around the house. Just making chicken and chips for my lunch

Have a good one :cool:

slowlyfading

Blairweech wrote: »

SF - Glad you had an amazing holiday , and that you resisted the temptation that is a Mulberry purse (when I get tempted, I think about how many hours I have to work to buy the item and most of the time it is not worth it - this approach only works if you loathe your job however )

Lol that's a good plan, my job at the moment isn't that exciting

...when I left primary, we all got given a thesaurus, which got signed by teachers and friends etc. I still have mine and it is lovely to look at it occasionally

I got a dictionary when I left, which I thought was great at the time! lol :rotfl:

Kittikins

I was given an etymological dictionary for my 16th birthday and loved it I have a collection of dictionaries and thesaurusae (?sp) in English and other languages, lucky DD will never go short for reference material in this house! I hate the sound of proms for the end of primary, am not that keen for end of secondary school either, bah humbug! Why do we have to be so "American" about these things? (Apologies to any American friends on this forum....)

We're back home now, not quite sure how I drove home as my cold is making me a bit woozy, Handcross Hill was "fun" shall we say! But, we needed to get away as with me being under the weather, and my mum coming out of hospital, I didn't want to be around in case I make her sicker (I'm such a considerate daughter!)

I think I'll be going to bed once DD goes up and don't plan on going in to work tomorrow - it'll give me some me-time to sleep and hopefully do a month's meal plans for DD to use up some of the multitude of dented tins and things in the freezer and start looking at finances again to start making more concrete plans for future trips, music lessons for DD, house renovations.

Actually, on reflection, maybe being in the office would be more restful!!

savingfortravel

Well bill for lunch came to less than I anticipated. :j
Mum and Dad did take the money for our keep but tried not to. Would have cost us a lot more if we'd had to pay a mortgage or rent somewhere else.

Quote is in for the roof. Good news is the roofer emphasized that this has been a long running problem not altered by previous fix it jobs. Mr SFT is not able to find our house contract. He told me that he asked solicitors to put it in but without seeing this he isn't sure they did (this is an example of me wishing I'd done the dealings with the solicitor myself, as I would have made sure) but you have to trust others to do things surely. Whatever the outcome we can't fall out about it. The neighbours (lady who sold us the cottage lives 3 doors away) have already said they'd contribute. The roofer said asking for half would be very decent of us if we do have a contract. Since Mr SFT can't even find a contract at the moment I'm tending to think that we would be lucky for anything they can give us. This could be a very expensive mistake. The quote is between £2550 and £2750. :eek:

sft

Frugaldom

Hello again, managed to squeeze in a coffee break with frugal neighbour (SM) and hatched more garden & poultry plots. Mine are based on fencing, Sm's based on learning from all my mistakes. :rotfl:

BB, our nearest airport, I think, is Prestwick, so check those flights. Biggest peoblem is getting from there to here because I think most of you on here would be like :eek::eek::eek: at our nearest train station. Must take SM out there to show her the station and then I'll let her tell you from a town dweller's perspective what it's like. :rotfl::rotfl:

Blairweech - Veggie lasagne - it's just a throw it all in the slow cooker recipe, here's what I used:

2 tins tomatoes
1 sm tin tom puree
2 chopped onions
3 chopped peppers (the 49p mixed pack from Ald! super 6)
crushed clove of garlic (homegrown )
cupful of porridge oats
dessertspoon of mixed herbs
salt & pepper

I usually add mushrooms, too, but had none.

I do mine in slow cooker on low setting through the night (cheap rate). I then layer it tomato sauce, lasagne sheets, white sauce, grated cheese etc I served it with steamed broccoli, cauliflower and spinach beet - nobody missed the meat. I get enough from the above to make a total of 12 meals when made into lasagne, spaghetti bolognese, chilli (add a can of kidney beans and some chilli, and pasta with sauce. Frugaler and frugaler - I just freeze the basic tomato sauce and add the extras when making the meal.

BB - Calorie burning is so slow, but I'm charting it. Results so far:

Thursday - 13,208 steps, 5.89 miles, 436.8 calories
Friday - 10,046 steps, 4.89 miles, 338.5 calories
Saturday - 13,529 steps, 6.42 miles, 444.4 calories

As you can see, general walking doesn't burn many extra calories. Friday I forgot to clip on pedometer until I came in for breakfast. :rolleyes: I'm hoping to average 35 miles per week. It's only averaging about 70 calories per mile so, rather than set myself a mileage target, as I had been planning, I'm going to set myself a calorie target - burn an extra 2,500 calories per week. I don't count calories when eating because little of what I eat is homemade. Little and often I think is best, it's just that eating often for me is like every hour until I fall asleep! :rotfl:

Edited in - SFT I think that quote looks really GOOD. When you work it out over the next 10 years or whatever it will seem very little to recoup when compared to the overall cost of a house. I'd still haggle, though, for a lump sum cash payment on satisfactory completion of the work and get a written guarantee.

Lovely frugal neighbour just handed in half a homemade loaf, apple pie and some odds & ends that need using up before she drives down the road for work tomorrow. Can't wait until she's a fulltime Frugaler here, local LETS won't know what's hit it from our corner with all the foraging, over the fence swapping and home cooking/preserving. :j

savingfortravel

Been to see neighbour about roof. She looked a bit shocked at total. Left her with quote/letter to show her partner. At least she's planning to contribute.
We should be able to afford it. Crazy as it sounds-I still love my cottage. This hasn't altered my state of mind or made me regret anything. Am I mad?

Nyk-Had a nice walk along the lane with my mum this afternoon We spotted 2 walnut trees (one which overhangs our side access), loads of hazelnut bushes/sloe/blackberries. We have a huge hawthorn bush in our garden! Planning to cut it down in Autumn. What could the berries to used for?
Well done all on the lovely food gifts!

sft

Frugaldom

SFT - little book suggests hawthorn leaves in spring for mixing with nuts & salad or on a cheese sandwich, or made into a sauce, like mint sauce, for spring lamb. With the berries you can make hawthorn jelly, adding crab apples for extra pectin. Spring buds also, apparently, make a lovely pudding. Rather than steak & kidney, you would have hawthorn & bacon wrapped around with pastry. It sounds quite nice, may try that next year.

Getting ready to head out the evening stroll and will take my tub with me to collect some tiny gooseberries. Waste not, want not, there may be enough for a little pie or a crumble. SM was laughing at size of them, but I think it's just because they have gone wild. I'm sure I'll get those fruit bushes tamed for next year with a few hardwood cuttings to boot. Landlord apparently refers to me as 'slightly eccentric', but doesn't mind me pottering up and down the drive, bag in one hand, branch for swishing flies & midges in the other. I must look a fine sight. :rotfl:

bails

Hi guys, just popping in to let you know that we had an email today to say our placement has fallen through. OH is gutted and I'm trying to put a brave face on it for his sake but

Back later x

SFT, I don't think you're mad at all to still love your cottage. If you don't have a copy of the contract surely you can still get one from the solicitors? I sympathise about allowing others to take responsibility for jobs and the consequences of that...

Frugaldom sounds like it's coming along very nicely you two :T I picked my first frugal raspberry on the way home with the dog just now, it was wonderful! Shame I won't be around to make the most of them this year but hopefully Marru will come and pick them, as otherwise they will completely go to waste.

Our placement has been cancelled at the charity are having ongoing 'problems' with one person back here in the UK and so 'until further notice they are unable to accept volunteers'. We have no idea what this is about I plan to email our contact back tomorrow and go from there. I just hope we can find OH an engineering project somewhere or he will be despondent. In all seriousness, if we can't I'd imagine we'll be doing something like VSO sooner rather than later.

In better news, Dys0n are recruiting graduates at the mo so OH is going to apply for our return. No word on my application to the local school yet...

We're currently researching tents for 4-5 months above 4000m at points and winter conditions...I won't tell you the prices :eek: