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

slowlyfading

nykmedia wrote: »

Hi guys! I am Reading MSE on my new iPod Touch!
HS stunned me by getting me one for Christmas and I
now have it connected via our wireless broadband!
It is awesome! I can have MSE any place in house now! :-)

Oh wow, how fab!

Brighton_belle

nykmedia wrote: »

Hi guys! I am Reading MSE on my new iPod Touch!
HS stunned me by getting me one for Christmas and I
now have it connected via our wireless broadband!
It is awesome! I can have MSE any place in house now! :-)

ps I got non frugally spoiled! I guess the savings made elsewhere were great!

Sounds fantastic and well deserved appreciation... I have absolutely no idea what an iPodTouch is however:rotfl:
SM - what a wonderful gift to each other your family gave - the freedom to be where you all wanted to be.
Great to hear that you both had a non gift pact and it was right for you too. I am suprised how great it feels. I think this is the way for us to go in the future. SFT - it's a shame your sis doesn't get it, especially as you say you are actually funding her son on a major expedition.

Planning to spend the next week trying declutter and simplify... AGAIN!!! Too much stuff.

bails

:rotfl::rotfl:at Nyk getting an iPodTouch, it seems so contradictory to your lifestyle and totally wonderful too :T Well done HS (is that OH yet? )

It's lovely to hear that for the most part people had the Christmases they wanted, rather than what is expected of us :T We also didn't give each other presents and it was really lovely not to receive anything, and I don't feel that I've 'missed out' at all.

SFT, your sister's reaction is hard, and so confusing above all else, as how can she possibly consider you tight? The important thing is that you and Mr SFT know what is important to you and you stick with that - there are many who would bow to expectations to save face, and yet you have stayed strong in your beliefs :T Perhaps it would help to feel sorry for your sister that she is trapped in the consumerist way of thinking x

And yes, BB is of course right - we aren't cutting our trip short (hence the expensive flights). I thought OH might want to and was ready to do whatever he wanted but he is determined to continue our trip, so we fly out of here on the 6th (27 hour journey :eek: so land on the 7th) and return here on the 17th. We had already fully paid for our Tibet trip (over $1000), which we've luckily been able to postpone, or perhaps we'd have taken a different route. So the adventure will continue

I am a little jealous of all the preparations for the start of the new challenge, and look forward to joining you all when I'm back :j

Right, off I go to research my new sideline in Nepali crafts

BigMummaF

savingfortravel wrote: »

SM-Only blemish of my Christmas day was the look that my sister gave to her partner when I told her about the small amount of practical gifts Mr SFT and I gave each other. She has received a new phone, gold necklace and dvds herself. Unfortunately she thinks we're tight..ironic since it's her son we're taking to S.Africa and we never scrimp on anyone else's presents.
It cut deep but would only start a family row if I'd said anything in defence of the way we chose to live (like you guys). Need to develop a thicker skin I think

And I do love her

sft

Meant to say we went for a lovely 6ish (I've no idea exactly) mile walk from our door today. Saw a beautiful heron close up and drank soup huddled up on a bench in a little village. First part of our walk along our country trail complete! The weather was too good to waste.

I thought your sister was a bit of an OS gal herself too One of my pet bugbears is intolerance but that is a rant best left to another place Are you still taking your nephew to Pearl Harbor[atrocious spelling :mad:] cuz my geography is about on par with my tekkie skills & I can get lost in r'owse :laugh:
I am so envious of your ability to walk such distances as my body lets me down whenever I attempt to take Pup for a w-a-l-k. [We spell everything but the time is coming I'm sure, as he understands sign language now ] I don't want to take preventative measures as I'll then end up having to take remedial measures to counteract :doh:& I don't like taking anything in the first place! I'm not making any sense I know but believe me, at this time of the morning you'll thank me for respecting the delicacies of my condition as you tuck in to your brekkie :rotfl:
Safe Journey Bails & sorry you have to make it IYKWIM.x

savingfortravel

BigMummaF wrote: »

I thought your sister was a bit of an OS gal herself too One of my pet bugbears is intolerance but that is a rant best left to another place Are you still taking your nephew to Pearl Harbor[atrocious spelling :mad:] cuz my geography is about on par with my tekkie skills & I can get lost in r'owse :laugh:
I am so envious of your ability to walk such distances as my body lets me down whenever I attempt to take Pup for a w-a-l-k. [We spell everything but the time is coming I'm sure, as he understands sign language now ] I don't want to take preventative measures as I'll then end up having to take remedial measures to counteract :doh:& I don't like taking anything in the first place! I'm not making any sense I know but believe me, at this time of the morning you'll thank me for respecting the delicacies of my condition as you tuck in to your brekkie :rotfl:
Safe Journey Bails & sorry you have to make it IYKWIM.x

That's another irony..she made the most beautiful hampers for us all from foraged fruit and raved about how much money she was saving (and I was very proud) and then went on to spend hundreds on the children (which I can't comment on as I know nothing about the peer pressure faced by 13/16 year olds these days) and her partner/herself.

:rotfl:Pearl Harbour was his original choice..but then he saw a trip to the Zulu battlefields and that was it..and a Safari as well.

I've just found out I've got the beginnnings of Oesoarthitis in my left knee so I'm being stricter about exercise now (generally use my head rather than my body) hence my challenge which will probably be completed on 20+ walks (of about 6-8 miles each). I know how lucky a person is to have their mobility so I won't take it for granted..sorry to hear your body is letting you down :mad:

Nyk is talking a Tekkie language I don't understand either

sft

Frugaldom

bails wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl:at Nyk getting an iPodTouch, it seems so contradictory to your lifestyle and totally wonderful too :T Well done HS (is that OH yet? )

NO! :rotfl:

BB - the sleek little gadget is a posh MP3 player that has a colour screen for pictures, videos and for reading emails & accessing Internet if you are within a wireless connection area. We have a wireless network here, so my smart little gadget is picking up the signal and allowing me to read emails and surf the web. It's amazing, it has a touch screen rather than a keypad! HS did say he'd thought about getting me the iPhone (exact same but on a mobile phone, I presume?) but he knew I wouldn't be happy paying a monthly contract and never using the phone part. :rotfl: I've set up my signature on new gadget to say, "Sent from my frugalpod" so I can show off on Faceb00k the way all these Blackberry users do. I guess a Blackberry must be similar to an iPhone or iPod Touch. I'm still learning by the day!

Edited in - just discovered it's also a mini electronic filofax, calculator, photo album, alarm clock and dictaphone!

Brighton_belle

nykmedia wrote: »

NO! :rotfl:

BB - the sleek little gadget is a posh MP3 player

er... and one of those is..?:rotfl:.

grandma247

An interesting article on the effects of the recession in America here

Frugaldom

Brighton_belle wrote: »

er... and one of those is..?:rotfl:.

Like a tiny Sony Walkman without tapes or CDs? :rotfl:

whitewing

Blimey, nyk getting all technological. And I can't even put the television on without enlisting the help of DS.

Scary article grandma. DS' dad was down yesterday - he's very knowledgeable about global financial matters -and he says that lending is going to be clamped down on under new regulations. I think people will survive surprisingly well provided they change their mindset. (Although of course there will be an unfortunate part of society who really do find things very tough). Thank goodness for these kind of support forums where people can discover they are not alone, and can be inspired.