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

thriftylass

BigMummaF wrote: »

That's scary about your card _pale_ Doesn't matter how much it was for, it's still not nice knowing someone had access to YOUR money. I've not heard of R3S so would you mind explaining please? I'm a bit of a numpty where IT is concerned so I want to protect myself as much as is possible. TIA
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Sorry I meant RBS as in the bank. I don't know if other banks do that too, but once you put your card details and the security code into the website of a shop and press "confirm purchase" it comes up with an additional window to put in a password that you arrange with your bank. Sort of validating again it's you and not someone who got hold of your card (credit or debit card).

Frugaldom

Hi guys, hope everyone who was under the weather is feeling better, BB, hope your lurgy disappears soon!

Going to pop into town later for a bit more LETS trading, managed to trade for some homemade mincemeat from someone, and then I'll have a walk about the shops with HS, who hasn't even started his Christmas shopping! :rolleyes: I need to pop into charity shop in the hope of getting a belt for my jeans. BigMumma, sorry to have to say this but I reduced my portion sizes and have lost almost a stone, so quantity of food consumed certainly has some effect on body size. If I wasn't so lazy, I'm sure it could have been much more than that but I keep falling for the mincepies, extra coffees, hot chocolate & marshmallows, cakes, biscuits and sweets that float about the place at this time of year.

The kitchen heater did come on last night but has only heated up at the top. Giving it another night to see if it heats up more but it's shot my electricity useage through the roof having 4 heaters on - over £6 used on the meter since yesterday! :eek: I am NOT happy about that!

Got a chicken slow cooking, so that'll take care of a few meals. Hoping to get some pressies wrapped and put under the tree this afternoon but I still haven't managed to try to repair my newly acquired sewing machine to make any cushions. Maybe later.

thriftylass

BigMummaF wrote: »

No account is made of my genetic history which truly baffles me; I have my dad's wavy hair & mum's eye colour so why should I be a size 12 when none of my family were?
Sorry. but I hate the attitude towards folk who are deemed to be outside the considered "norm" for any reason.

Genetics contribute but only as a matter of half a/a stone or so, the rest is still down to food and exercise. I've seen it in my parents. My dad was 17 stone (107 kilos) for ages and all in his family/generation are bigger. He just lost 3 stone by certain lifestyle changes. I also got an aunt who runs around all day and doesn't eat much but is massive, so I know there are exceptions (thyroid problems, PCO syndrome etc) but they are very rare. The increase in obesity in the last ten years can't be down to genes as they don't change that fast and suddenly.

Sorry I don't mean to say genes aren't the cause/contribute in your case but usually they're not solely to blame.


P.S. I'm a scientist.

grandma247

Thriftylass my friend had her card details used by someone and it turned out a machine she regularly used had an attachment on it that took her details. The bank were very unhelpful at first but she had worked for the cab so knew what to do and got the money back. It was over £70.

I found that certain Carbs make me put on weight so I try and use low glycemic index foods such as Basmati instead of long grain rice and wholemeal bread instead of white but being careful how much of it I eat. When you are over 40 you do not always process the carbs properly so your sugar levels go up and you put on weight.

thriftylass

grandma247 wrote: »

Thriftylass my friend had her card details used by someone and it turned out a machine she regularly used had an attachment on it that took her details. The bank were very unhelpful at first but she had worked for the cab so knew what to do and got the money back. It was over £70.
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I'm glad your friend got that sorted. Mine was a credit card which I only use online three times a year for flights etc and the bank actually phoned me and offered straight away that I get that money back. So hats off to my bank.

I've heard/seen of those attachments before and usually look closely at the machine before I use it.

grandma247

My friend is in her seventies and did not notice but she found out the same thing had happened to others on the same machine.

cw18

tiddles wrote: »

cw18 wrote:

I've now got to figure out how I'm going to collect 42kg of dog food in a one hour lunch break tomorrow.

Cw - I have a feeling you can arrange for the parcel to be redelivered at a time that suits you - I hope so anyway!

unfortunately not if they've left it at the PO, only if they take it back to the depot

didn't take car to work this morning, but had meant to grab it and do a quick circular on my lunch break. called in on the way home, and the queue was horrendous!!! so I managed to queue jump to ask a quick question, and I've arranged to go down just after 5:15pm when the postmaster will give me a lift out to the car with them then so I'm not taking the car into work this afternoon either, but will have to make sure my 4pm clock-out happens no later than 4:30 (so I can get home, deal with dogs, jump start car and get there on time)

just finished eating, so need to head back to work now......

sophiesmum_2

Topped my electricity key up with £60 and have set aside £23 for two bags of coal to top up bunker again before xmas so £83 to come from budget which leaves very little left until the end of the year.
On the positive side though storecupboards are full and my approved order has just arrived with stacks of pulses etc, toiletry stash now has enough of everything to last next year through, and xmas is sorted completely so no stress there.

taka

BigMummaF wrote: »

There was something similar on..probably breakfast news again ..& things like this makes me so :mad: It's not bad enough that skinny joes feel they have the right to sit in blanket judgement & tell folk "Eat less & you'll loose weight--it's not rocket science!" that now the bods are looking to make a quick buck out of it too. WHY can't they make healthier food CHEAPER, rather than putting a tax on other stuff For my family, counting calories comes way down the list of priorities after 1) saving the pennies 2) checking salt levels 3)sugar, & for others 4)E-numbers on the few pre-packs I may buy. It so annoys me that people class over-weight with an addiction similar to alcohol for example, when the truth of the matter is you cannot avoid food! You don't need to drink booze, take illegal substances or gamble to survive but you do have to eat!
If I were unfortunately to suffer from anorexia etc I'd get help from all manner of places, but as it is I get dismissed as a glutton. No account is made of my genetic history which truly baffles me; I have my dad's wavy hair & mum's eye colour so why should I be a size 12 when none of my family were?
Sorry. but I hate the attitude towards folk who are deemed to be outside the considered "norm" for any reason.

I absolutely hate people being rude and "sizeist". There is no need for that kind of disrespect at all. :mad:

Genetics will help to determine things like your body frame and where you accumulate body fat, but that only goes so far... For the vast majority of people over eating (often portion sizes being too large) plus not enough calories being used up during a day = weight increase. I do have to agree with thriftylass that genetics does have a role, but it is a small one although conditions like thyroid problems can definitely have an effect.

I am morbidly obese and I have been unlucky enough to have had an eating disorder on and off since I was at secordary school. For me eating and abusing food really was an addiction. Food was a kind of escapism; from feeling really low, having no self confidence and really hating my life. For that small amount of time I was eating something it was a total escape from everything - that feeling (or rather lack of any) was and is absolutely addictive psycologically. It wasn't so much the food itself being addictive but how if made me feel (at least initially anyway) very much was.

Mine is an example of taking it to extremes, but a lot of people will grab an extra spoonful of something, a cake, a bar of choc, a snack or similar (eg a glass of wine to wind down) after a stressful /bad day or as a treat to make themselves feel better... it is really, really common. All these things add up. I am not saying this is something that you do, but it is really easy for this to become habit and come to rely upon it to make yourself feel better.

I think a lot of people these days have somewhat dissociated themselves from what is in food (and from food preparation too), and have no real idea of what exactly a proper portion of something is. They may be eating too much while believing they are eating a health balanced diet unfortunately.

P.S. I'm a scientist too!

Savvy_sewing

Think BF had had the decorations for years and years, and probably chosen by exwife. He has kept all the other things but the purple baubles.! But they are well homed again now! He doesnt normally change much at all!. I have tried to get him to change some of the things around the house for 5 years. (Like the completely matching kitchen accessories, from toaster to kettle, plate to bowl with all the same pattern.) But now its just when something has worn out that it is finally replaced.

I came home with a bag of belts, bits of jewellry and some clothes that his DD was getting rid of. Perfect things for the twins, and Biggest of Mooloo. There was a handbag not used, and Biggest of Mooloo was over the moon to have it!. Some of the things I am going to be able to wrap as presents for the christmas stockings. (If I ever manage to get around to making them.).
Social worker promised to ring me by 12.30. So I am going to ring her, as she still hasnt rung!. How unusual is that.
Forms arrived for a Community Care Grant, claim, so I am going to see if I can get help this way? Even if it does take weeks to be dealt with, as far as the HMGov told me.