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

taka

((((hugs)))) to Bails and Mr Bails...

Skint_Lynne

Condolences to Mr Bails and bails, look after yourselves and take care. xx

savingfortravel

:santa2: Merry Christmas to BB and Mr BB. Hope you soon feel fighting fit!:rudolf:

sft

Skint_Lynne

BB, good to hear from you and glad I made you laugh. Sometimes, I wonder if I am a guest at the oddball hotel because of the relatives/friends that I have. Wayward DH is upstairs lying like a burst beach ball as we speak, today was his turn at the cheeky juice.:rolleyes:

And....................people ask me why I don't drink.:rotfl:

Have a good evening everyone. xx

tryingtodobetter

Bails - Sorry to hear about OH's Grandfather, my thoughts are with you all at this sad time.

DdraigGoch

SL, you are amongst fellow guests here!

Just to say that if anyone needs to keep children [and adults of similar mind, that'll be me then...] occupied for a while then this kept me happy for ages

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=28123035#post28123035

and, yes, it's me putting the link up. Sorry for all the wasted time to be! The Light up the Christmas Tree kept me busy for ages...

rotfl

MC all
atb
DoF

[quick translation: Merry Christmas all, all the best, Duchess of Frugonia - lols [and I'm sure you can work that one out]

taka

DdraigGoch wrote: »

SL, you are amongst fellow guests here!

Just to say that if anyone needs to keep children [and adults of similar mind, that'll be me then...] occupied for a while then this kept me happy for ages

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=28123035#post28123035

and, yes, it's me putting the link up. Sorry for all the wasted time to be! The Light up the Christmas Tree kept me busy for ages...

rotfl

MC all
atb
DoF

[quick translation: Merry Christmas all, all the best, Duchess of Frugonia - lols [and I'm sure you can work that one out]

Do not click the link if you don't want to waste loads of time... :rolleyes: ... the same Xmas tree game (and others) are also on the noradsanta.org site and it is horribly addictive... :rolleyes: :rotfl:

So what did you do over the holidays Taka? Played light the xmas tree and avoided my to do list! :rotfl:

Blairweech

Bails - My thoughts are with you and your OHs family at this time. BIG (((((hugs)))) to you


Work is still diabolical, and after managing to get home tonight (took best part of an hour to do 7 miles), I got stuck on ice in the courtyard :mad: Managed to shift the car round to the back yard, but need to leave at about 8 tomorrow for my interview. So, if I cant get the car out, OH is going to come and get me but I would have to walk about 4 miles to the main road. If I still cant get the car out tomorrow night, it looks like I will be spending Christmas on my own as wont be able to drive to parents. I am highly distressed at this thought.

BigMummaF

DdraigGoch wrote: »

Sympathies and condolences to Bails and Mr Bails. It's horrible any time but at a particular festival is always more difficult. Please give him a dodgy hug from everyone on MSE£4K and from all of us in Frugonia.

On a more cheerful note, I've just taken out from the freezer my bogoff/whoopsy Christmas dinner ingredients - one turkey breast joint [half price], one Welsh beef joint [whoospied to less than half price], one garlic basted chicken [ditto], two turkey legs [special offer], bogoff frozen veg which worked out cheaper than fresh *rolls eyes at the silliness of things such as this*, a Christmas pudding bought well in advance, cream [whoopsy and soft peak whipped for freezer storage], dried milk bought on special offer for the bread sauce/custard/rum sauce, potatoes on special offer, and mincemeat for the mince pies to be made with "the best mince pie pastry" - bogoff - and to have apple and brandy/wine/port/whatever added to it just before use.

Thanks to everyone, particularly NYK, for the support and friendship shown on this thread, it's truly inspiring and such a help for everyone, even those of us who don't post much, to know that you're all here, rooting for us all and passing around good tips and help.

Happy Christmas and a prosperous and, more importantly, content New Year in 2010.

Can I just say that this post would have been almost identical to one I could have made..thanks. We too are doing a budget banquet of sorts The majority of the food has been bought when on offer /FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][COLOR=SeaGreen][SIZE=2][FONT=Trebuchet MS][SIZE=1]& a lump of beef in readiness for NY[/SIZE & the prezzies sourced from all over, including charity shops for the 'labelled' clothing

((HUGS)) to Bails & family. SIZE=1]I lost an uncle on Boxing Day one year..[/SIZE I'm one of those people who believe Things Happen For A Reason although it won't always be obvious at the time. The memories of all you have achieved in the short time you've been on your Journey will help you through the darker moments I'm sure.

cw18

Been to Mr M and A!di this morning, and now have the last of what we need (plus a fair bit of treat stuff I fancied) for the next few days. Managed to spend a whopping £26.66 on food ( :eek: ), which means my GC budget is now getting close to the wire - especially if younger DS makes it to Mr M (as promised - he prefers this option to washing the pots from last night ) this afternoon and picks up some decent Whoopsied meat items


Annual overall budget is now showing [strike]just[/strike] £94.60 left from my £8k.......


After budget adjustments I did at the end of November, I'm now showing a 20p overspend against presents (spent 90p this morning) and a £16.12 overspend against 'everything else' (caved and bought some fleece lined slipper boots in A!di this morning - reduced from £4.99 to £2.49 - as my ankles have been getting veeerrrry cold this last week).

These are offset against £3.34 left in Toiletries/Cleaning, £23.33 left in Groceries (gonna be a close one), and £84.25 left in Petrol (can't see me needing more than £60 of this - even allowing for the price rises since I last filled up in October)


Fingers firmly crossed I can stay within the £8k as a bottom line, but no great shakes if I nudge over - mainly as I've now included the £72 spend on 'work items' (trousers, shoes and iron), plus I had to tighten the belt everywhere to cover the £650 vets bills and an increase in the cost of dog food..... all of which came in the latter months of the year, giving me less time to claw back from elsewhere than I could have had.

The main thing is knowing that it IS possible to live (not just survive) on a LOT less money than I would have believed possible a few years ago, even with the unexpected thrown at me :T :T :T