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

bails

Mooloo, I've been reading back over the new thread and really feel for how much you're struggling at the mo. I know some of what you're going through myself and it is incredibly hard. One thing I found was that I would get overwhelmed with all the things I was trying to do to help myself and was actually less productive/more stressed as a result. What about picking one thing that feels really important and focusing on that to start with, then building up from there? Lots of us only started with little changes and then kept adding things in to up the frugal stakes. Whatever you decide, I really hope things become easier for you soon xx

findingmyfeet

morning all,
looks real scary around here this morning, we live out in the countryside its freezing cold and all the fields are covered in a strange looking mist/fog . sun does look about to burst through though.
This week my head is bursting trying to think of more ideas to cut costs , hubby came home yesterday a bit miserable and it doesnt look like theres going to be much chance of overtime at work for the next 6 months or so. Least the jobs fairly safe though, but the overtime has been helping us sort our lives a bit quicker. He has been working saturdays for months to help out. Still it will be nice to have him around more on a weekend as lots of jobs are waiting for him that i cant do.
The veggie patch really needs attention ready for the winter but today im too cold, determined the heating isnt going on yet.
last night made cookies and they are lovely ( only sampled a small piece) but they are heaven, think i might include some in my xmas goodies give away.

have a nice day all of to think and sort my head more....and get dressed!

cw18

findingmyfeet wrote: »

Still it will be nice to have him around more on a weekend.....

Make the most of being able to spend time together.

DH and I worked 'opposite shifts' for a number of years, and - after combining that with his pub trips and my out of hours support (a lot of which was actually when he was at work anyway) - we hardly ever spent time together as a couple or a family.

I had expected to be making plans around now for term-time holidays together without kids (as youngest was 18 this year), but I'm now left wishing I'd made more of an attempt to live frugally years ago as one (or both) of us could probably have worked less hours, giving us more time as a couple - and possibly even some of those holidays.

Frugaldom

Good morning frugal friends

Thriftylass - I hope your MIL's condition isn't too bad and that her condition improves.

SFT - I have a budget of around £1,500 for the year's coal, logs and electricity. Coalman has just left here saying there will probably be a price rise next month so you were wise stocking up on 10 bags at a time but what a price difference! :eek: I'm buying the cheapest coal available at £115 for 500kg and my logs are £40 per load/sq metre but then we do live in a much colder area, so probably need twice the amount of folks down south and only earn half as much, so there has to be some sort of allowance for that somewhere, I hope. All I can say for sure is that I WILL use up all of my £1,500 allocated to fuel/heat/light and that's not including the kindling sticks, cones and paper bricks. An open fire is a fuel-muncher.:rotfl:

I've just done a quick review of my freebie scratchcards as that's now a full year since I signed up for the Butl!n$ ones. Over the period of 12 months I have won & withdrawn a total of £86.50, so it has been worth the daily log-ins (despite my having forgotten on a few occasions). It's such a shame that the others switched to a points system, so I gave up on that. :rolleyes:

Grandma - I haven't LETS traded for anything cooked other than from a person/kitchen I know (who also has Food Hygiene Certificate). For trading out the way, most people who order from me have visitied the house, seen the kitchen and know me, plus I made sure to get my Food Hygiene Certificate, as required. So far my 'spending' has been on bed & breakfast for wedding visitors, slabs for hen runs, veggies, fruit and now I've booked a handyman to build me a kitchen unit and construct the gazebo in the garden before winter. Perhaps you could be the one supplying the cooked goods and trading them for other stuff you need, like handcrafted goods, gifts, cards, jewellery, garden or house maintenance etc We even have a shepherd who'll sheepsit for locals, a registered childminder, several qualified therapists and a caravan park if anyone wants to come visit - Shaz?

thriftylass

nykmedia wrote: »

Thriftylass - I hope your MIL's condition isn't too bad and that her condition improves.


I've just done a quick review of my freebie scratchcards as that's now a full year since I signed up for the Butl!n$ ones. Over the period of 12 months I have won & withdrawn a total of £86.50, so it has been worth the daily log-ins (despite my having forgotten on a few occasions). It's such a shame that the others switched to a points system, so I gave up on that. :rolleyes:

[B

Thanks. Unfortunately, she'll probably not get healthy again (evil C) it but I was hoping she'd have at least a few good months left without suffering. Hopefully she'll get a bit better and is able to go home at some point, although the chances at the moment are slim.





Re: the scratchcards, I stopped TAB now as they do only bonus money and I hardly win anything with it. But I found V!rG!n now, they still pay money and the withdraw limit is only £5.

moo2moo

NYK would it be more beneficial to invest some of your 1.5K heating budget in replacing your open fire with a stove. They seem to be much more efficient generating more heat from less fuel and they keep the house warm overnight too. Fitting them wasn't difficult either.

sophiesmum_2

moo2moo wrote: »

NYK would it be more beneficial to invest some of your 1.5K heating budget in replacing your open fire with a stove. They seem to be much more efficient generating more heat from less fuel and they keep the house warm overnight too. Fitting them wasn't difficult either.

We would have loved to do this but unfortunately the landlord wouldn't allow it so we (and NYk) are stuck with the open fire

sophiesmum_2

:Dgood afternoon frunchkins:D

Did a long post earlier but was timed out and it disappeared, that'll teach me not to copy it:rolleyes:
Can't remember everythingI put in it now but here goes,

sft - I love to hear about everyone's daily frugal doings it isn't boring to the rest of us frugalites, and we may just pick up a good tip or two.;)
bails - enjoying your tales of adventure too.
grandma - patties sound lovely - must have a go at them, I do lots of cooking with chickpeas too. I have about 6 tins of skinless/boneless red salmon left in my stores from last years stockpile, I paid 99p a tin - it is now £2.98:eek: so I need to get looking for some good deals too.
SL - hope the teddy bear cake worked out okay.

Not much happening here at the moment. have just recycled some more jars and egg boxes, and a rollerblind from mum's garage which I am hoping will fit the bathroom window at cottage as it is a heavy duty waterproof one. Tonight I need to drain off the ginger beer plant, make the ginger beer and bottle it into the small plastic water bottles I have been recycling for the purpose. I hope it works out okay as I love ginger and this would be a frugal way of producing a home made soft drink, which we would drink more of than alcoholic drinks. Talking of which I was sent a case of virgin wines recently as a thankyou gift so that should last us ages combined with my baileys mountain :rotfl:

Catch up with you all later

Skint_Lynne

Hi all,

I done a long post last night as well, then it timed out.:mad: The teddy cake turned out well, I have taken a photo if it, but could not find the lead to hool my camera to the laptop. I'll put a picture on when I find it, just hope that DH has not pilfered the lead, he has a habit of doing stuff like that.:rolleyes:

I will really need to get all prezzies looked out and figure what I need for christmas. I intend on doing some home made gifts like my famous tablet and will do chocolate slabs again, as well as some of the choc stirrer things that sm told us about last year.

I'm in the shop today, it's quiet as usual. I'm doing my other job, but looking for something else at the same time. It's good that I'm nearing the yearly point with my current company, it looks better on the CV.

Will check in later, after I have visited the birthday girl with her cake. xx

findingmyfeet

cw18 wrote: »

Make the most of being able to spend time together.

DH and I worked 'opposite shifts' for a number of years, and - after combining that with his pub trips and my out of hours support (a lot of which was actually when he was at work anyway) - we hardly ever spent time together as a couple or a family.

I had expected to be making plans around now for term-time holidays together without kids (as youngest was 18 this year), but I'm now left wishing I'd made more of an attempt to live frugally years ago as one (or both) of us could probably have worked less hours, giving us more time as a couple - and possibly even some of those holidays.

This is exactly how me and dh are now, i work part time not shifts but hubby always at work to keep body and soul together etc. Wanting to sort all money etc so we can finally live the life we want. We too are planning holidays without the kids etc. Very very similar ideas to yours, sorry yours didnt work out but i will certainly take on board your advice. We never spend enough time together always work or running around after the teenagers.
I've been thinking about your words allday... somethings cannot be bought can they. Thank you for your advice
xx