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

Brighton_belle

Wow, the last quarter:j. Some impressive figure work again for cw, Nyk and MrT. I am keeping good records but can't quite find the time at the mo to finalise then and get them up.
Shaz - sounds like it is great to be back at uni but hard work on the brain too. I love when people go back to uni, or completely retrain whn a little older. But then I met my OH doing just that:smileyhea.
I liked what someone said (I think sm but not sure) about the range of creative talent on here, and included the baking, preserving etc. It made me realise that the fact I am significantly more useless at that side of things compared to some of you,and just can't find the energy to prioritise that is really ok - that it the talent of some people, and mine is a different one. Having said that, all our meals are generally from scratch and I do some baking, & make soup. Also of course I am only feeding 2 of us and I have never been a cake, jam, lemon curd etc eater so there is a limit to how useful it would be to make loads. OH's mother makes chutney and jam and keeps us supplied and it is something she likes to give us, so I guess we are sorted anyway.

Today's wonderful frugal find... the redecorated lodgers room is now ready and waitng for a new occupant, the only item missing was a good sized desk and given the dimentions of the alcove, I was expectingh to have to pay out for one. Then walking to work today, someone was in the middle of moving out of a house and sitting on the pavement was a desk of perfect proportions with a sign saying 'please take for free':D. They helped me carry 200yds to my office and I'll bring home tomorrow. Got to do a minor modification on it but other wise it is perfect, and currently selling in argos for £56:T.

Mooloo -hope things calm down for you. It sounds like you offer a lot of support to your children.
thrifty - impressed with self haircutting.

Have managed to locate an iron holder(for storage) and a vacuum cleaner 'hose and tools holder' gathering dust at parents that they said I can have. All part of stream lining storage and making things easy to get to/use.

sophiesmum_2

Well done on your frugal desk find BB :j
I really want to start turning the spare bedroom/tool dumping ground of the cottage into an office/library/craft area but am holding out on buying a desk as I know when we move we will have two dining table sets so I will be utilising the table currently in the kitchen for my desk as it is the smallest.Some of our bedroom furniture will also be taken apart and used for shelving as it won't fit in the cottage. Means that transforming the room is held up though and it is currently becoming OH's dumping ground for all things tool shaped, a habit I will need to wean him out of:rolleyes:

Re the creativity, everyone has their own strengths, your stuff that you have shown us is amazing.I love the flow of your designs and the colours you use especially.Inside I am a bright orange , terracotta,citrus yellow kind of person, but I always end up playing safe with colours these days and end up with cream and a highlight colour although I have had the brights in the past.
I can have a go at most stuff with success of some degree but have a mental block and two left hands when it comes to knitting/crocheting.I'm still planning to try a bit of mosaic for the garden,I have a piece of marine ply which I am saving and might make a house sign, or a table top for the duo seat we have in the front garden, decisions, decisions - would be a good project for winter though when we can't do much in the garden.:D

cw18

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

Anyone seen if Ald1 have thise stuffed turkey joints in yet?

Shaz,

I was in ours just before tea, so had a peep in the freezers. They have the 'three bird roast' thing at £9.99, and a (looked a good bit larger) stuffed turkey joint at £12.99

Frugaldom

Good morning

It's now miserable and wet here with weather forecast for high winds - I guess autumn has arrived and SM will shortly find our what I mean about ferocious gale force winds and frost pocket living - get Mr SM some of those thermal undies from Ald!, I'm thinking of getting some for myself this year! :rotfl:

Well done with the freebies, BB!

Hope you're cough goes soon, Blair, they can be really annoying and last for weeks! Wasn't sure what you meant about the fridge, though? Do you work in a refrigerated area?

Shaz, I can spot chocolate at 1000 paces, I saw yours! :rotfl:

My mini challenges within the 4k challenge for this month are to NOT buy food other than absolute essentials and to start losing weight, so those will be the main focus of my attention. I also need to start bargain hunting for Christmas gifts, as these have failed to materialise over the past 9 months! Must get cracking on starting the hampers, but will be using boxes this year rather than baskets. Is it time for the sloe vodka yet?

mama67

I am still on track with my challenge spends, so although no significant savings anywhere, there are no major over spends either, things have been jiggled a little bit.

I did a freezer/pantry challenge at the end of the school summer holidays, it was very surprising what was in my cupboards that I had picked up thinking we might use, some purchases were from at least 2 years ago. The school had its harvest festival yesterday so any tins that were still in date but I didn't think I'd use were donated to that. All donations go to the Salvation Army.

Now I run a store cupboard with basic supplies in which get added to my shopping list as and when used, and nothing is bought on a whim. I do still buy meat on YS etc but then rejig my menu to accomodate it.

I still bake all my own bread and cakes etc just buy one cheap sliced loaf per week for toast as none of the family like hm bread toasted.

Frugaldom

Hello Mama67

My plan is to make all our own bread from now on but I do still pick up the odd whoopsied loaf if it works out cheaper than homemade, but I'll need to work out the cost of a homemade loaf now that I have the breadmaker that was donated by a friend. It has to be cheaper than switching on the oven That'll give me a bit of number crunching to do, thanks for the memory jog.

cw18

Had a call from the vet about an hour ago - type of "stones" confirmed, and recommended food is the one I expected it to be.

Price from vet for a 14kg bag is £58.72, but they have to 'special order' that size bag. Told him I'd be in touch if I wanted him to get it for me, but I was pretty sure I'd seen it cheaper on-line (which he confessed would probably be the case). Had seen it just under £53 a bag without spending a lot of time digging, but.....

I've just spent 45 mins checking search engines, price comparison websites, a couple of sites I've used before, and all related links through cashback site, and......

Have managed to find it (after 5% cashback) for £46.21 a bag - and if I order two at a time (8 weeks worth of food) I qualify for free delivery too :T This effectively means I get 3.5 bags a year for FREE compared to the price from the vet

By the time this lot arrives (best guess being Tues-Thur next week) I should be looking at needing 3 bags to get to the end of 2009 - so that's £138.63 to go against my dog food budget. As it stands I'll have just over £19 left in that section, and I won't need more than a tenner (probably a lot less than that) for food for the little dog......

Means I might be able to afford the new collar I need for the large dog (special 'anti-pull' one for walking - the one he has is on the smallest setting, and he managed to pull free of it on Monday :eek: ). I've seen it at £15 plus postage, so will do some digging early next week and see if I can get a better deal on that

Blairweech

Nyk - Yes, I do work in a refridgerated warehouse, should have said, sorry!

Off sick again today Can't move too much withought ensuing coughing hysteria.

Want to go to Tavy to to the butchers but slightly reluctant in case of having a massive cough (as happened yesterday in the Post Office)

I am still having the cheap vs ethical debate for my groceries - really want to start buying organic/free range etc but just not sure if I can afford it. Been looking at meat boxes, and at ~£45 a month, plus £20 for fruit and veg, I would need to keep basic spends really very minimal indeed!

Vixstar

All this talk of homemade bread I'm jealous! Think my next lot of "free" money (IYKWIM) will be put towards a breadmaker - or into my extremely expensive picture fund!

Frugaldom

Vixstar wrote: »

- or into my extremely expensive picture fund!

Do tell! I'm most intrigued as I may have missed any previous posts relatig to said picture - are we talking fine art investment or a bespoke piece that you'd commission?

Put the word about that you'd love a breadmaker, there's bound to be someone within easy reach that has one lurking, I've even seen them on Freecycle but was never quick enough to get one. You can also ask at local charity shops as they often get stuff offered that they can't accect for red tape reasons. That way, you can have both the breadmaker and the contribution to your extremely expensive picture fund.