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

shaz_mum_of__2

nykmedia wrote: »

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

I didn't buy any though i found some smartprice stuff i keep for cooking at the back of the cupboard

Not very frugal day due to car repairs but £56 cheaper than the quoted price unfortunately the exhaust has fell off the other car now £100 it never rains .........................

Cheryl good buy on the doggy food and thanks for the turkey heads up its the £12.99 one with a cranberry stuffing its lovely they used to sell them all year round but only at xmas time now ....................had one of the 3 bird things and wasn't overly impressed

Sophies mum - so exciting to be a full time frugaller hope it all works out for you

BB - nice one on the desk , your right about uni fun but hard work especially with family life too but hubby is supportive/helpful so not too bad i never thought at 40(in December) i would be on my second year of an honours degree i hated education when i was younger but love learning now

Got a round of doctors appointments this afternoon so better get a wriggle on

mama67

nykmedia wrote: »

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.

Nyk, actually make my dough in the breadmaker overnight and then bake off in the oven whilst still on Economy 7. Don't like the shape of the loaf from the breadmaker.

I worked out that on Economy 7 my breadmaker cost 5p for the dough for a loaf and then the oven cost an extra 8p so approx 15p then cost of ingredients.

In the daytime on peak rate electricity the breadmachine was 12p for the dough for a loaf and then the oven was an extra 20p so approx 35p and then ingredients.

Even if I had to do it all at peak rate electricity i would as the bread is far better (blows own trumpet here) and much more filling than the shop bought stuff.

hth

cheerfulness4

I haven't put the monitor on mine since last winter but we recorded 5p electric for a 'normal' loaf and 1/2p for a dough cycle.
I'll have to get DH to re-programme it with any price rises as that's scared me now. :eek:

Having said that - love playing with it. I'm wondering if it wasn't an accident that its gone missing. The male folk in the house were tutting loudly and saying I was obsessed last year as I went round monitoring everything in sight feverishly.

sophiesmum_2

Mine came in at around 4 - 5p for whole cycle of loaf in the breadmaker when I checked usage recently at cottage.:D We have a pre pay meter there so I just unplugged everything else while I checked it and that was the actual cost in money to me, will possibly be less for other people as that isn't a great tariff rate either.I only did it out of curiosity though as I would still make my own not taking power usage into consideration as I prefer the home made bread too mama67.I also like the convenience of not having to go out regularly shopping for bread.

savingfortravel

Finally found you guys! Thanks Nyk.

Enjoying a fire in our fuel burner-wood given to us by a friend and paper bricks burning nicely.

We are also going for minimum spend on Groceries this month (until France). We are eating from the freezer and larder. Also trying to use up our M and S vouchers. However we have already discovered they don't sell the range of foodtypes we are used to...i.e. no veggie gravy. So we may end up spending about £10 on other stuff.

Tomorrow we are staying at Medway Youth Hostel for a night. We are paying with our Tesco clubcard vouchers. My mum is coming too. We are going to spend the day in Rochester. Visiting the Cathedral (donation only), walking the Dickens Trail (50p for map of route at Tourist Info) and the Guildhall Museum (free entrance-to read a bit about Dickens himself). We are taking sandwiches for lunch. Will support the hostel by buying our evening meal there (very affordable prices) and mum is treating us to breakfast at the hostel the next day. Again this was all booked before the roof but we are just seeing it as another opportunity to test our frugal minds.

Have a great weekend all and I'll catch up when we get back on Sunday.

liloandstitch

Enjoy yourself in Rochester sft, it is a lovely place, really picturesque.

Lilo

Vixstar

Nyk I don't know if you've heard of him but I visited Nigel Grounds' gallery on Skye recently, which was a mistake, as I fell hopelessly in love with his art but his paintings are very pricey which I suppose can only be expected of someone whose work is in Prince Charles home. I'm going to save up my "free" money and maybe some of my own once I've finally bought a new home, and buy a piece of his.

Frugaldom

Good morning

Wow! Vixstar, those are expensive paintings, couldn't you commission one locally in similar style for just a few hundred pounds rather than into the thousands? (Can you tell I know next to nothing about art? )

Hideous weather seems to be downgrading from torrential, horizontal rain and gale force winds to blue skies and gale force winds, the feathered friends can now get blown dry after being soaked. Hope you have better weather for your weekend away, SFT

Day 3 of my no spending and food supplies are still being organised in advance, It isn't quite meal planning to the degree some of you manage but it's planned from the night before when I take stuff out the freezer. Tonight will be lamb chops with homegrown potatoes and veggies plus I have some stewed rhubarb to make a pie or a crumble. My portion control went a bit out the window last night with the lasagna but I had to use it up rather than throw it out. It was made from excellent (though I say so myself) homemade pasta sheets. Not sure what to do with the other 10 meters of the stuff I have rolled up in the fridge though. :oI may need to make cannelonni, spaghetti, ravioli and anyotheri I can think of! :rotfl: Tagliatelle for lunch anyone? Please bring a friend. :rotfl:I just cannot believe how far 3 cups of flour and 3 eggs can stretch - literally! :rotfl:Yep, I think I like my pasta maker.

SM thanks for the breadmaker running costs info, can't remember if I mentioned that. At 47p for the cheapest available (tastes like cardboard when toasted) loaf then I am sure home made is much more economical in the long run, especially when it's a 10 mile round trip to go buy bread.

sophiesmum_2

Good morning frunchkins:D
As weekend plans for cottage have been scuppered, due to bathroom not being finished, I am stuck here but have decided to have a decluttering/sorting out weekend so OH best watch out:p as he has a habit of taking over every available space with "stuff". Also going to make a dozen jars of lemon marmalade and a batch of yoghurt once I have been out for some more uht milk for stores.
Hope you all have a great day:D

Nyk - glad the pasta maker is working out, good to have another kitchen person on board will bring the blender this weekend then you can diversify from pasta to breadcrumb coated foods lol

Blairweech

SFT - Oh, I am jealous - I adore Rochester, I could spend the whole day poking around in the shops up there.

Don't know what to do today really - OH has gone off to help a friend clear his garage, so I have another day to myself. Hm, decisions. Wil try nipping into Tavy to get the shopping, then yet more Ebaying. It does seem to be going down - very slowly, but it is!

I am also writing my personal statement for uni :rolleyes: Trying to relate the engineering I have already done to agriculture is pretty difficult

Need to change the bed too, and have a shower