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

Vixstar

Good luck its rewarding when its done

Skint_Lynne

Hi,

I've not been posting much, but still reading. DH is home this week, so I'll be cooking at home. I got some meat and sausages at a farm shop in North Yorkshire on my way home on Thursday, so will be using these during the week. It's great quality and reasonably priced, so it's all good there.

Still watching what I'm spending, but hoping to improve next year when I do the all in challenge.

Had lentil soup for starters tonight and am just waiting for the stovies to be ready, around another 20mins to wait.

Will check in later. xx

Brighton_belle

shaz:eek:.
SM - think I'll look up the ginger beer thingy. I remember my mum having a gingerbeer plant in my teens. It was quite hot stuff compared to shop bought I seem to recall.

Busy day cutting up odd bits of wood I have [STRIKE]scavenged [/STRIKE] frugally saved from the streets to make shelves for our old double wardrobe, and now my mosaic & clock stuff is all neatly stored away behind doors:j:j. It makes our front 'everything room' less messy which I like as well as extremely practical to work with. I can now see my desk again:j. I just need to hinge the doors so they fold open as there isn't room to open them both outwards.

Lunch HM sweet pot soup.
For dinner I managed to make a stirfry out of left overs and used half a pckt of fresh thai green sauce from the freezer that was previously on special offer at Mr A and I stretched it twice as far by topping up 2 halves with HM yoghurt:A.

Tomorrow I hope to spend on creative projects, as OH is off doing vol conservation work for the day.

Well done on getting a pay rise Lynne, even if not as much as you wanted.Not good on the new boss front - hope you get something else soon.
Well done on the decluttering SM - does it ever end do you think:D?
It's wonderful to think that you have plans well on course for the life you and your OH want.
Nyk - isn't there a kids book based on your never ending pasta - the magic porridge pot, or something like it:rotfl:
sft - hope you are having a good time in Rochester. You are so good at working out deals to have these lttle trips

sophiesmum_2

BB - I have new criteria for decluttering now - basically if it won't be going with us oop north it doesn't stay lol - will save a lot of hassle next year;) Things are looking much more streamlined already:D

Link to ginger beer
http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2007/05/ginger-beer.html

Brighton_belle

That's a great idea SM. I do try and think when in the 'as yet not fully tamed' attic, that if I was moving tomorrow and wouldn't take it, then get rid now. Just been up there again - there is so much still to do, but forcing myself not to get side tracked into another mass sorting project ...yet.

I'd love to have someone energetic and ruthless come and spend the day with me up there and I could get it really straight. Trouble is, things like the the wood I have turned nto shelves today would get chucked in such a ruthless clearout. Oh what's a girl to do:rolleyes::D.

Thanks for the ginger beer link.

Frugaldom

Good morning

Hoping the weather has improved and will stay dry as I have a washing on - the laundry basket is a bit like the porrage pot, BB, it just keeps filling up endlessly, not helping having a spare set of bed linen to get dried after DS had his pal staying for a couple of days. Blow wind, blow and shine sun, shine.

Have done my back in again, so am unable to do much today until painkillers kick in and HS puts in an appearance. Most frustrating and making me wonder how on earth I'll manage simple things like getting dressed when I'm old if I can hardly do a thing for myself now! Very scary! Must lose weight, get fitter and keep all the arthritisy bits oiled & mobile - sitting at a computer certainly doesn't help so you'll know what's happened if I go AWOL.

This is day 4 of my quest for non-buying of groceries but it's looking like I'll need a few odds and ends this week, stuff like toilet rolls, milk, corn flour and cereal. I'm tempted to make everyone eat toast, porrage, or eggs at breakfast time. Now here's a neat trick for spinning out a homemade loaf - don't slice it. :rotfl:Has anyone else noticed that it lasts much longer if you don't slice it for anyone else? DS and HS seem to have some sort of aversion to slicing! I know I used to laugh at my ex attempting to slice cheese, as he was so bad at it that I banned him, but now I'm wondering if it's a man thing? Does the male of the species, in general, have a problem with slicing? :rotfl:

Managed to make a rhubarb crumble last night - defrosted the last of the rhubarb from freezer and had a bag with the surplus crumble from previous crumble-a-thon session, so that's one more tiny space in the cold box.

The kitchen window now has it's fleecy curtains and I also made one for the back door. Having seen the results, I now need several more fleeces. SM - has your A$da got any of the cheap ones everyone's talking about? I'd really like to do other windows now, as well. Even DS agrees and that's saying something!

Christmas is looming whether we like it or not, so I have started (at last!!) my great online bargain hunt. DGD loves to be the same as her mum and, if you remember, I got DS a pink laptop for her 21st birthday. I've now found a mini pink laptop for kids, the half price offer came via email yesterday from P!xman!a and......... oh it's pouring rain now!! :mad: Sorry, the noise distracted me. Anyhow, I checked cashback site and they offer 3% and I paid with cashback card to get another 1% so it looks like the £30-40 'toy' will actually cost me £18.35 including p&p :T

Whilst in bargain hunting mood, I checked out €van$ after seeing codes on MSE offers & vouchers thread. Jeans are on 2 pairs for £30 and they had 14's in stock, so... used a £5 off code, AND a free delivery code, went via cashback to get 8% there, saved another 1% from paying by CC and the 2 pairs of jeans are costing me £21.86 including P&P :j £1.92 ashback has already tracked, so I know the order has been accepted. :T

sophiesmum_2

Brilliant bargains NYk :T:T:T

re fleeces - A's have them for £2, think the ones in ours are all cream coloured but may be brown too Similar size to the primark ones, let me know if you want any picking up for Fri.

Brighton_belle

Sorry to hear about your back Nyk. Yes - I have to firmly not think about the future re such things. I've had one bout of complete disability xmas 08 and it is very scary. I'm sure losing weight can only help so well done for trying to tackle that with another cunning plan.
Gluc0simine is suppose to be very good for joints - I know several who have been helped by this but of course, suppliments are expensive.

As for men and bread cutting - my OH cuts bread with engineering precision and it is me that is banned form the job as mine alwys turn out wonky and then 'the whole loaf' is off kilter:rotfl:.

Got a viewing for the room in 5 mins - always a little nerve wracking (for them too I expect).

Frugaldom

SM, cream fleeces would be fine, I really don't mind what colour they are, all the bedroom curtains are cream here anyway as it;s all I had to fit the windows I have searched various sites and cannot find any cheap fleeces anywhere near here or from anywhere that it's worthwhile getting them delivered. Ik€a have them at £1.69 but they are for store collection only. I also did a search for local A$da stores and it says that the nearest is only 24.5 miles away! :rotfl:I pity the poor souls who believe that, as it's about 35 miles. Perhaps these sites assume we can fly? :rotfl:

HS put in an appearance and asked if I wanted to go into town shopping! :rolleyes: Will leave it up to your imaginations the response that got. :rotfl:I'm off to do some more online bargain hunting, at least that doesn't hurt anything except the plastic (which gets paid in full every month).

Frugaldom

Brighton_belle wrote: »

Got a viewing for the room in 5 mins - always a little nerve wracking (for them too I expect).

GOOD LUCK!! I hope it's someone really nice and friendly and frugal.