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

FrankieM

Hello again all,
Well today I've been trying get my campervan dry. I'm wanting to hammerite the floor but its still a bit wet cause the rubbers around the windows leak. I may have to bite the bullet and spend the £300 to replace them.

Other than that, not done very much today. Had to spend £20 on fuel but no other spending.

Having chilli tonight with some leftover baked beans from breakfast this morning. May force a glass of wine down with it!

Regards making a meal from the garden....I stumbled across some potatoes and carrots that were in the raised beds last week but unfortunately they were only good for compost. I'm just going to have to wait till next year now, though if we put the house on the market I may have to grow things in pots.
Do you think veggies growing in raised beds in the back garden would be a selling point??

Does anyone know how student loans work? I know that you don't have to start paying them back until you're earning £15k a year but does anyone know how the interest works? Do they accrue interest when you have finished the course or before?

Blairweech

Hi all,

Frankie - Well done on getting on your course!!!! :beer:

SM - I love the picture of your chooks, they really make me smile

Nyk - Would just like to say a big woop woop to you for chaperoning us all around the boards

I am not feeling so hot at the moment, have had my passport application rejected twice now. I am meant to be leaving on the 28th Jan, but it is now so tight I'm not sure I'm going to make it. I actually burst into tears in the PO the second time, thankfully OH was with me and managed to calm me down. I rang my Mum and told her, and I thought she would be really angry saying I have left it so late, its all my own fault etc, but she was actually really nice about it Anyway, will be going into Plymouth tomorrow and get another photo. Try again on Monday

OH is out at a friends bithday tonight, so I am just chilling out on my own. Will do a bit of online Xmas shopping etc

Hope everyone is well x

sophiesmum_2

Good evening frunchkins

Got my baking done earlier, the stuff from the garden and the cheese from the freezer made a lovely quiche, big enough for 3/4 meals for me and OH, so will freeze the unused portions after lunch tomorrow. i used more of the cheese,onions and pastry to make a cheese, bacon and potato pie for the freezer which will do another two meals for us both. The last few onions and a bit more spinach was chucked in the remoska with some sausages to cook , half for tea tonight and the remains will be added to yorkie mix in the remoska to make a toad in the hole for tomorrow's dinner. Another lot of pastry went into the freezer for another day.



I picked up some reduced packs of cranberry and white choc chips recently for 5p each so later tonight I will be making some muffins to use some of those and then some cookies with the cranberry,white choc and some macadamia nuts added - yummy:p

On a funny note my OH who is older than me,bought me this today for the kitchen :rotfl:


Enjoy your evening everyone, off to finish dinner now then snuggle down for x factor

Ansoff

ANSOFF
Please can I join

xnatalie81x

I love my daughter - she is browsing the tesco catalogue and shows me something and says 'can i have that for my b'day' - so i look - a doll, playmat, carrycot, bib and summit for £20.As i have no crimbo pressie i think ok - get online (10% via TCB) and type code in COMES UP AS £12.50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! with cashback looking at £11.25 - love my daughter

Eldest son has brain training for 12.99 for ds which he will love. Just youngest to buy for now - hoping the total for all 3 under £40 this yr - plus some santa bits from £1land

sophiesmum_2

xnatalie81x wrote: »

I love my daughter - she is browsing the tesco catalogue and shows me something and says 'can i have that for my b'day' - so i look - a doll, playmat, carrycot, bib and summit for £20.As i have no crimbo pressie i think ok - get online (10% via TCB) and type code in COMES UP AS £12.50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! with cashback looking at £11.25 - love my daughter

Eldest son has brain training for 12.99 for ds which he will love. Just youngest to buy for now - hoping the total for all 3 under £40 this yr - plus some santa bits from £1land

Great bargains :T

savingfortravel

Had a nice restful day. Mr SFT has been looking after me.

Still feel a bit weak but hope to go out tomorrow. Want to visit T*ptree jam factory tomorrow and pick up some individual xmas pudding for my co-workers at school. They are £1.90 each so pretty good value.

Then in the afternoon will pop over to mum and dad's. Mum always cooks me a delicious fruit cake to take in on my birthday (this Thursday) so we'll pick that up and I want to drop some S*insburys vouchers off for her (she shops in MrT where they accept them).

So that is the plan...just hope I'm well enough.

whitewing-Congrats on OH's naturalisation (am I being nosy in asking where from?) and great that those Mr T vouchers are coming in handy.
SM-What great photos you've posted today. The cheeky chickens really cheered me up. I can just imagine you sitting on those chairs in the sunshine, glass of wine in your hand. The food looks delicious. Looking forward to joining you and Nyk in some garden challenges next year-although the eggs may have to come from next door.
FrankieM-Congrats on getting on the course.
XNat-Congrats too on your new business
Blair-Sorry to hear about your passport. Hope you get that sorted out.
Nyk-Aren't little children wonderful? Love spending time with them. x

xnatalie81x

sON'S DS GAME WAS ACTUALLY 11.91 AS HAD SOME MONEY LEFT FROM DOOYOO VOUCHER CHANGE up earlier in the year - youngest sons b'day tomorrow - got him dvd which i actually go paid 4.60 something for buying - from price minister when tcb gave £5 to join and had money off voucherr thingy

Plus have chinese on it's way here - we are lending a friend one of our cars as his is broken. He needs it for work - chinese delivery - so free dinner mmmmmmm chinese hooooooray!!!!!!

Vixstar

xnatalie81x you're on a roll with the bargains today, I've been getting the odd free delivery code and cashback and thought I was doing well. Loving £land for Santa bits but unfortunately not having much luck for bits for my mum there which is what I need.

Have been lax with spends recording this month but it can't be too bad judging by how much I've managed to sweep from my account in to savings and emergency fund and this month's spends have included two train tickets to the north west and Inverness. Think next month should be pretty good too as I'm pretty much there with Xmas shopping and have no meals out planned for the first coupe of weeks which are usually my spending downfall.

VIXSTAR in for next year please Nyk. Although I may have to split my year up with two different budgets as I will hopefully move house sometime and my cost of living will change somewhat. Hopefully downwards. I promise to contribute more next year too.

Frugaldom

Well done XNatX! and well done SM for getting all that cooking and baking done, most impressive and umm... maybe I'll sneak round to yours for a cuppa tomorrow after DGD goes home, just in case there are any white choc chip & cranberry muffins needing sampled! :rotfl:

I eventually found a way of using up the bag of plums that nobody wanted to eat - they got stewed then baked with sponge over the top - YUM! I can highly recommend it, especially with custard over the top. (Don't tell the lose weight thread :shhh:). Glad a few of you have decided to give the 'meal from the garden' challenge a go as I love it! It's like foraging on your doorstep! DGD helped my with the chickens & ducks today but she was most amused when we pulled up a REALLY wonky carrot that she said looked like the bit of the cow that's attached to its legs! Use your imaginations until I can get a photo of this wacko-veg uploaded. :eek::rotfl:

Another rubber chicken (store bought, not from garden) was started last night, so there'll be another pot of stock in the slow cooker by morning and there are now 3 cartons of cooked & chopped chicken in the freezer for pie/curry/stir fry/sweet 'n' sour or similar.

DGD also helped plant the garlic for next year, so that was another good job done. We spied a few bits and pieces that could still make a meal, so there could be another garden meal mini challenge coming up soon. I'm guessing it'll involve eggs, chard, potatoes, somewhere and err, beetroot and turnip. LOL