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

BigMummaF

I thought the article was a rather poor attempt at a jokey piece of writing but then I guess I would as much on the list is how I've lived my life anyhoo Strangely enough, isn't a "sense of humour by-pass" label tagged to the nationality of the author..I'm not a big fan of pigeon-holes at the best of times & can't understand why folk place so much trust in the "information" they think they have about the occupants of such :huh: Look how many times the bad traits are high-lighted in the media, whilst the over-whelming multitude of the positives are totally ignored.
If you're a 'single' parent, no-one gives two figs of how you came to be in that position. It could just as well be through bereavement or a marriage breakdown as an ability to have children after every drunken one-night stand, but we are all classed as 'sex-obsessed spongers'. It seems fair game to make offensive & disparaging remarks if you carry more weight on your frame than fat on a greasy chip, without taking account of any under-lying medical situation. Mental illness means you're an out-&-out nutter who should be avoided at all costs & people who wear hoodies are evil thugs. Guess who's been watching the Grumpy Old series
Not sure of course as things may have changed, but you will probably have to wait a fair few weeks before getting your staff discount card Cheryl; there was always a 'probationary' period of maybe 13 weeks or more in the main two supermarkets for any concessions to kick in. Like-wise, the LAW was a 10-min break after working 4hrs so probably no tea break in the afternoon shift & could be only half hour total for the longer one. I do hope though, that this new period in your Life brings nothing but Good Fortune.
I'm experimenting today SIZE=1]have the medics on stand-by with industrial strength stomach pumps :undecided[/SIZE having done the chicken carcass in the slow cooker with the water [& peelings] from cooking the veg on Sunday. If the soup doesn't all get eaten today, could I freeze the remainder to have again another time do you think? I'm a bit wary with the chicken side of it
Sorry it's turned into the ramblings of a woman with too many opinions on too many topics:rotfl:

thriftylass

nykmedia wrote: »

Hi edaniels

"...the thin line between being mean and being thrifty.

One is clever and respectable. The other is nasty and unacceptable. So which one are you?
Signs thrift has turned into meanness include:

1) You say no to any spending before considering it - even when it's pennies.
2) You are happy to let others suffer in order to save cash - cheap toilet paper anyone?
3) You start going to extraordinary lengths to save very small amounts of money.
4) You start getting very angry about other people's spending habits.
5) You only ever buy anything if you have a voucher.
6) The price isn't just the first consideration, it's the only one.
7) Parting with money actually becomes physically painful.
8) You start to associate generosity with waste.
9) You stop giving Christmas presents.
10) You find yourself using the phrase Bah Humbug.

The above is in response to how the Germans portray the Scots, but until now, I wasn't even aware of their associating anything cheap with us, let alone their offending the SNP folks. Shows how much I know about anything remotely European!

Being German I have to apologise for my fellow country (wo)men. Actually it's not quite that bad although Scots are occasionally associated with thriftyness/stingyness back home (even in advertising: cheap = "scottish" prices) but not in a bad way where I come from as far as I know. Plus most Germans know there's more to Scots as they flock here in their thousands as tourists and I came to live here for a reason too, because I love the country and it's people (much friendlier and relaxed than the Germans .

Concratulation to new jobs, land puchsases and the like. I'll pop in later today to catch up properly and to do my numbers for October.

Frugaldom

Good morning

Mixed bucket of weather here today after my thinking it had the possibility of drying up! Washing's on but I guess it's another 'light the fire, stay snug indoors' type of day with wet clothes hanging around the place. :rolleyes:

I never posted the quotes from the news because they upset me, I was just adding a bit of debate to the forum - got to keep you all mentally active with some distractions from penny pinching, don't I? :rotfl: It's all down to WHY we do what we do and I reckon it's a very responsible thing to do. Me? I'm a meanie, as I've now paid off all the debts I ever had and am living like this to stay within my current means and build up some savings to stay ahead of the cost of living. Occasionally I have to ask myself, do I really NEED an ISA when I could easily spend that £3,600 on something nice, like expensive food, clothing, holidays or possessions. Less miserable still, I could easily give it away. But then there's the whole point of my not having filled my ISA yet! :rotfl: However, I was able to provide what I could for DD's 21st, engagement party and subsequent wedding when the time came without incurring any debts. Likewise when it comes to DS's 21st etc. Some may say that to have savings is to have too much in a world where poverty is rife and that wanting to own our own homes is just selfish. I don't know what's right from wrong, I just know that it's legal, therefor I shall pursue my chosen lifestyle that causes no harm to anyone else. If that means being classed as tight then so be it - rather that than any of the other possibilities. Didn't anyone else find it hilariously funny that cheap toilet paper was included as having the ability to cause harm? :rotfl:

BigMumma, I always freeze my soup. Meat can be bought fresh or frozen, cooked and then refrozen. It's just that if you freeze cooked meat and then make soup from the defrosted stuff, you shouldn't refreeze the meat, iyswim.

tryingtodobetter

Good Morning

I've got time to post as I'm waiting for Transco to come and sort out the gas regulator or something like that anyway.

The woodland is 2.5 acres (or there abouts) and is made up of both old trees and new trees. We got it by chance as DH had to deliver something to the current owners and they got chatting about our hunt for land to buy. It's still in the hands of the solicitors at the moment, why do these things take such a long time

I'm a bit confused by the whole scratchcard thing as I have only every deposited and played through the intial £10 for cashback purposes but have withdrawn free scratchcard winnings on more than one occassion.

Hope everyone has a good day

TTDB.x.

FrankieM

......slinks back in.....

Hi everyone...its been forever since I last posted here, though I have read the odd bit of the thread....

I really need to get my spending/saving/debt repayment sorted out and under control so I've come back to the fold...please be gentle with me.

I'm starting off by having a cash only month. I'm planning to not use the credit card at all. I can't guarantee my DH won't but me not using it is a start...it feels very scarey!

Frugaldom

Welcome back, FrankieM You're allowed to use your CC if you pay everything back within the interest free period and if there's a cash back element tied in - how's that?

I've now, at last, found a recipe that I really like for the breadmaker. It's a half & half loaf using half wholemeal and half white bread flour. It means we can have fresh baked brown (ish) bread every day without paying a fortune. Cheapest I can buy locally is 65p for C0-0p's own saver brand, but a homemade one costs much less than that to make and has no additives. Still loving my breadmaker and still loving my pasta maker, even if it is mainly lasagne that I make.

The sun came out briefly, so I hung out all the larger items of washing. Then it rained on all the washing! Sun's back out again, so let's hope the wind blows harder than any more rain falls so the stuff gets slightly dried! I'm now seriously considering covering the new pergola structure roof with a tarpaulin so I can hang the washing under it this winter.

Looks like I'll be quiche making this week, as I have a few duck eggs. Does anyone know if you can bake Quiche Lorraine using Edam cheese? I have a piece here that was 'whoopsied' to 80p and it would be really handy if I was able to use it, otherwise it'll be ploughman's lunches again for the rest of the week.

bails

TTDB, I've withdrawn several lots of money from the scratch cards too, I think they're just tightening up now.

Would love to see piccy of land...

Welcome back to those who have strayed...:D

Wonderful day here

tryingtodobetter

BAILS - I have pm'd you about woodland pictures

grandma247

nykmedia wrote: »

Didn't anyone else find it hilariously funny that cheap toilet paper was included as having the ability to cause harm? :rotfl:

Yes I did notice. I must be a terrible mother/grandmother 'cause thats all they get here.;)

We used one of those garden tent things (the name escapes me just now) in our little back yard a few years ago and it worked great for keeping the rain off the washing and the wind was able to blow the washing dry as there were no sides. We secured it to the walls with those fasteners for copper pipes and tied it down well with the ropes that came with it. It made a good sunshade for ds3 when he played out there in the summer too.

grandma247

Bails I tried to send you a message but your inbox is full