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

sophiesmum_2

Good afternoon frunchkins:D
Belated birthday wishes sft and sf hope you both have enjoyed your celebrations.
Today has been fairly quiet and relaxed here and has involved the following





Breadmaking, marmalade making, mince pie making, chicken watching, cuppas with frugal neighbour, and putting up the xmas tree just about sums up my day

shaz_mum_of__2

OOh SM very Glam tree , love the stars on the tarts too I do mini mince pies with a little blob of marzipan in the bottom then the mincemeat and topped with a pecan nut (no lids) i am not a big pastry fan and these suit my taste better. I think the recipe was in A g00d f00d magazine a few yrs back .

Got mine up today its red and gold themed with gingerbread men and cinamonn sticks ...........smells all christmasy . Written out some cards (bought in last yrs sale)and DS (8) is writing his out now (sm@rt price ones )

Got my yearly loyalty bonus from my energy supplier £105 in total on friday too so that will be going in my mortgage overpayment account my student grant is due on Jan 4th and i haven't spent septembers yet so savings looking healthy considering the time of year

Have a trip to the asian grocers planned as i have run out or am low on most spices but have picked some bay leaves and parsley from the garden to dry.Must resist bulk buy bargains whilst in there!!

also picked up some cheap fresh cranberries at the market yesterday(50p for 500g) so will make some sauce for christmas with them nearer the time (i assume they can be frozen as you can buy ready frozen ones ?)

Long hot soak needed so see you tomorrow

sophiesmum_2

Cranberries freeze fine shaz
Still witing for my bundt tin to arrive so I can get making cakes for pressies, and turnover some of my flour stash.

shaz_mum_of__2

I am so jealous SM is it the xmas tree one nigella use?

Frugaldom

Hi guys, belated birthday wishes, sorry I've had problems logging in here and don't know why.

SM's mince pies taste delicious! Not anywhere near as much done here today - no cooking at all, washing all line dried, just airing to take the dampness out of it now, and the livestock attended to before the next lot of gale force winds hit us.

If I don't post, you'll know my connection is playing up or else whatever glitch is upsetting my MSE account is playing up again. Trouble is, I can't even read the posts without loggin in here, fingers crossed.

sophiesmum_2

sophiesmum wrote: »

Good evening frunchkins:D
I have been having a bit of a spend with some of the remaining budget.I splashed out £31.18 on a fairytale cottage bundt tin which I have been drooling over for ages (Shaz will understand ) but in my defence I will be using it to make about 7 fairytale cottage cakes as part of xmas gifts, plus one for us and one for frugal neighbour's house, so it will earn it's keep. I may need to start a family tradition of cottage cakes every xmas :rotfl:(although the sunflower one looks quite good too )
I also spent £18 stockpiling toilet rolls for next year from costc0, and picked up a few bargains there for another £2.Remaining budget now stands at £147.30

For anyone who hasn't a clue what I am talking about it is this one;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/B000G0OZHI/ref=dp_image_text_0?ie=UTF8&n=11052681&s=kitchen

Shaz - it is this one, knew you would be the same,:rotfl: lol - it's a chef thing!

shaz_mum_of__2

OOh sm The one i want is this one ...http://www.amazon.co.uk/Holiday-Tree-Cake-Tin-Platinum/dp/B002LD18AA

Didn't see one on my euro break but i did get a cherry stoner, a can crusher ,some babboo sald hands and some mini pots with spoons for condiments:o :rotfl::rotfl:

Blairweech

Hi all,

Have had a great weekend - put my tree up Saturday night with OH, wine, mince pies and Xmas music...which was a great way to spend an evening I now have bright red hair, had it dyed again Satuday, Unfortunately I have quite a bad cut this time which rather mars the gorgeous colour :mad:

Made a yummy roast chicken today. And mince pies last night, but they all got eaten Went for a lovely walk today as well, along the river (which is ridiculously high/fast cause of all the rain we have had)

Now I just enjoying the candlelit atmosphere in my living room. Will make tomorrows lunch soon, then head to bed as have another early start tomorrow.

Shaz: I am very impressed with how you manage your uni course and all the fabulous things that you do at home as well!

slowlyfading

just a quick hello. had a really nice birthday morning at home this morning, and then travelled back to uni this afternoon. just can't wait for the christmas hols now. hope everyone has a good evening xx

Skint_Lynne

Lost my post.:mad:

I done lots of cleaning today, I can't be bothered typing everything in again as I can't stand it when a long post just vacates the screen.:rolleyes:

Shaz, I'll let you know if I am down that way again. Otherwise, I shall see you (and everyone else), at the frugathering next year.

Will check in later folks, have a great evening. xx