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

bails

Oh no Nyk, hope we're not carrying it with us :eek: Hope your family aren't infected CW, v sensible to keep one house free to support the other if need be.

Glad you're okay SFT and SM, just checking.

I'm going to rejoin the GC once we're back as well SFT, helped me be more focused with it. I'm also going to get right into Weezl's amazing threads so we can eat healthily on a small budget, especially with home grown veg thrown in :T

Exciting news here :j I've been walking by this shell of a cottage for some time now...you know where this is going already ...and anyway the guy who's doing it up was there today so I asked him to show me round. It's literally falling down stone walls etc, just had a new roof though so climbing over the rubble he explained his plans, and it sounds LOVELY! I'd already talked myself out of it many times walking past (it's on one of my dog walks) as it seemed to have hardly any ground...and then he told me it comes with its own small piece of woodland :j:j The views are stunning out back, right out across the valley and he's putting in a huge bedroom window and patio doors downstairs to make the most of this. Well, of course, it's a ridiculous notion, out of our price range, a silly dream....so I got his card :rotfl::rotfl:He even mentioned he might do a part exchange if the price was right he's looking for 250k :eek: I took my dad to see it thinking he'd reel off what a ridiculous idea it was (his fallback position on any new plan) and thought it was lovely too! :rotfl:

cw18

Got my form from CT office this morning - so headed out that way with my latest letter from Child Ben, which states I get it until September. I was hoping this could be used to keep my single person discount until then (so 6 weeks, and keep the payment down in August), but was told it's not the specific "certificate" I need from CB Explained I've not been able to get through to them on the phone (keeps disconnecting me as they're too busy), so I've applied for an extension on-line - but I reckon I now need to give them a couple of weeks to process it before I can phone and chase/ask for the correct form.

The lady conceded this is probably the case, and also took on board my comment I could have budgeted for a temporary increase had I had more warning - but with car service and MOT due next week I'm going to be strapped for cash next month.

So she agreed to accept the letter as an interim measure as I'm using it for such a short period - and said there's no reason to suspect the payment won't be adjusted back down in time to reduce my D/Ded for next month as I've been 'so prompt' at getting the info to them...... round one to me :T But I need to be on the ball with the CB form now, as I have 5 weeks at the most to stop it increasing on 15th Sept - and can't get the form from college until 9th Sept


DD phoned me as I got to the CT office. GP is issuing meds for younger GD, and says DD and elder GD are either starting off with it or coming to the end (based on the fact they don't have temperatures which means no meds for them). They wanted someone to collect a prescription by 1pm, but as I didn't get the call until 12:40 (and was in the next big town over) there was no way I could make it - so I have to be up bright and early tomorrow to collect it all at 8:30am as it's half day today :rolleyes2 The hard part is going to be dropping the meds off while stopping my GDs coming for cuddles :eek:

taka

I hope your family feels better and is out of quarantine soon CW...

I'm loving all the travel plans going on here! I hope it all gets sorted out for all before you go Bails/SFT!

Kittikins

My general budgeting and travel plans are going to be greatly helped by the fact I've now done an inventory of the kitchen cupboards and know that apart from milk and fruit and once I've run out of flour, bread, I shouldn't do any food shopping until the end of eternity (or for a very long time....). It's shocking how much I have in stock, and at the moment only DD is eating real food!

CW - poor family, hope the girls get better very soon.

savingfortravel

Cheryl -Sounds like you've got the CT/CB in control..it is very frustrating when you do everything right and someone else's inefficiency causes problems.
Hope you get the perscription ok tomorrow. Lots of worry for you at the moment but you sound very strong when you post.

Taka-How are you today? Yes can't wait until we go. :j







Things I am most looking forward to are:

• Visiting the Panama Canal with Mr SFT. His grandad sailed along it during his naval career in the WW2 so it will be a special moment.
• Dipping my toes in the Carribean sea, maybe even a spot of snorkelling as we are going to a National park which has amazing sea life along its coast.
• Looking at Mr SFT's face when he sees a volcano for the first time.
• All the amazing birdlife and wildlife.
• Seeing Mayan ruins.
• Food and drink..I can't lie.

Bails-Anything is possible, especially when destiny is involved. You have walked past this cottage for a reason.
Did you see that I'm going to do a mini Grocery challenge in Central America?

Well mum and her friend came over. We went for a lovely country walk from our cottage to a nearby church. A tiny church which just happened to be open, lovely hollyhocks outside (might beable to grab some seeds for the front garden) When we came out the churchyard was covered with ramblers, some using head stones as back rests!
We had our lovely cream tea in the back garden and then went for another little walk around the hamlet.

Chimney sweep came round to fix our multi-fuel burner. Now ready to use, but advised us to warm up the chimney first. Then the roofer came round to show us tiles.

So now having a litte rest and trying to use up what's in the fridge for dinner tonight and tomorrow night.



sft

savingfortravel

Kittikins wrote: »

My general budgeting and travel plans are going to be greatly helped by the fact I've now done an inventory of the kitchen cupboards and know that apart from milk and fruit and once I've run out of flour, bread, I shouldn't do any food shopping until the end of eternity (or for a very long time....). It's shocking how much I have in stock, and at the moment only DD is eating real food!

CW - poor family, hope the girls get better very soon.

Kittikins-Are you going to keep a running total in your signature. That really helped motivate me on the Grocery challenge last year and is also helping with money saved for my nephew's trip next year. sft

grandma247

A quick picture of my bottled fruits before I pack them in a banana box under the bed. left geen gooseberries, middle 3 rows red gooseberries, next apple and gooseberries both colours then cranberries and finally blackcurrants. One jar was given to dd2 so only 30 now. I labeled the tops so I could see what was in them without disturbing them.

Frugaldom

Hi guys and gals, is it just me or has anyone else clicked to thank someone and accidentally hit the 'report this post' triangle that I hadn't noticed had moved until I clicked it? Maybe it's a glitch with my browser, will know when I sign back on here again later.

Frugal grocery shopping continues - I just picked another 4 cauliflowers from the garden plus the first turnip, more peas, garlic and a handful of raspberries that I've added to the foraged gooseberries to make a fruit sauce for tonight's sponge pudding. I've been simmering and blanching and freezing and generally playing between the kitchen and the garden for the past hour, just having a cuppa now.

Counting up the weeks since chick hatching began, I have several 'chicks' approaching egg laying age, so that'll be even more eggs to make even more meals, cakes and lemon curd. Just now, I only have the 6 old hens laying, but that provides enough for us and the lemon curd that I trade through LETS. By the end of summer, I could be getting a dozen eggs a day plus a couple of duck eggs, so I'm planning on making homemade pasta after reading how easy it looks to make all sorts of exciting thinks like ravioli, tagliatelle, fettuccine etc. I just need to make sure I keep stocked up with flour. Can't wait to try this. SM, have you got a pasta machine for rolling/cutting the spaghetti? I've been looking at some online costing under £20 and I'm tempted to dip into my £2 coin collection.

Grandma, I can't find the picture, I think you've missed out the link.

grandma247

I did something but cant seem to put it right

grandma247

It looks ok now is it ok your end?