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

FrankieM

Morning everyone,
Thanks cw18 for that budgeting info. I know it wasn't aimed at me but still helpful.
nyk the ferrero rocher thingys, are 5 scanbran softened with a little water, 2tbs nutella/choc spread and 2tbs golden syrup. Mix it all together and make into balls and chill. Though I've made them with crushed ryvitas and choc spread and just done it to the consistency I like. They are yummy and better than going to corner shop for chocolate.

I've just got normal stuff to do today. I'm trying to follow flylady. Not the one in OS but the original. The OS one is just too much cleaning everyday and if I get into Uni I'm not going to have time. So today is Home Blessing Hour. I also need to do a bit of baking and if the weather clears I'm going to do an hour i the garden. I'm really struggling to motivate myself in that area.

Hope you all have a good day.

Frugaldom

savingfortravel wrote: »

Nyk-Just found that we do have a local LETS group and that Mr SFT could offer Computer support for credits. He is going to call the group leader tomorrow. That would be fantastic!

Stupid question time-Where could we get tarpulin from? We are quite exposed here at times and it might be handy to keep wood dry. Your logs look very professional. Not sure ours will look anything like that.

I noticed you have grown garlic. Quite fancy that as we tasted amazing garlic in France. What was your's like?

Also is it worth growing lettuce like you have? I always find it very expensive to buy so tend not to.

SFT

:jBrilliant news about the LETS group, SFT, you'll be amazed at what you'll can think of to offer by way of trades - I'd never have considered making stuff with eggs prior to that, it wasn't until someone mentioned never having the time to make proper homemade soup etc.

Tarpaulins - I got mine from Amaz0n last year, just do a search for them and you'll see the Silverl!ne ones for less than £2 each and they are great. Easily tied down as they have the metal eyelets but I'm going to try and get some of the bungee ropes so I can hook mine right around the log store so they can't get blown away - must remember to look out for them soon.

Garlic growing - I'm still using my own homegrown stuff, haven't bought any this year at all and we use quite a bit of it. The cloves were very small but it has been worth it. I just planted a dozen small cloves (not bulbs) into a large pot outside the door. They're due to go in soon, as they like to go through a frosty winter before starting to grow.

Lettuce - love growing the stuff! Haven't bought any lettuce this year and am not planning on buying any ever again. It grows all year round in my big plastic tub with its plastic bag hood. OK, it grows REALLY slowly at this time of year but it went right through winter last year no problem and supplied us with salad leaves all through summer. I'd still be getting them if we hadn't had a little incident involving hens & ducks making their way onto the patio and into the lettuce tubs! :rolleyes: I have moved my covered tub of seedlings to the back door but may put them into the greenhouse for added protection this year.

FrankieM - thanks for ferrugalrocher info but excuse my ignorance - what's 'scanbran'?

Edited in - it's OK, I found out what scan bran is and I'm not likely to have any of that LOL

FrankieM

Hi nyk scan bran is a slimmingworld thing and yes its dusgusting. I've not tried to as the ferrero rochero things before but I can't throw it away and I refuse to eat it as it is! I'd personally just use ryvita.

Well, I'm having tea and jam tarts at the moment. I've vacuumed and done washing. The weather has brightened up, so I'm going to wait till it clouds over again before I make my excuses to not go out into the garden!

Savvy_sewing

Ansoff wrote: »

Mooloo

I have just joined but feel you have every right to have a phone and what more could a caring parent do but allow their children to make mistakes and be there to pick them up, dust them off and let them go again.

My thoughts are with you and your family.

Thankyou.
Dont manage to get on to the computer at the weekends when am either at BF's or he is here. He doesnt really like me talking about my life on the web. He is very private. As its mostly annonymous I dont feel the same.But respect his opinion when he is around. So leave my posting until I am on my own.
This morning I am vegitating in my bedroom.
BF sorted out the TV arial, and we can now watch TV in the bedroom. As the heating here is storage heaters. My room has been getting lovely and warm during the day.....but nobody uses the room in the day? This is one of the things I do not understand. The way that storage heaters work?
Anyway i have brought up the laptop, and am staying warm upstairs. It is also lighter in the bedroom then it is in the sitting room. So I am saving by not having the lights on. (Cottage has only got wall lights. so 5 bulbs if I use the lights). I also have log fire. So saving my wood until later.
What I need to do is to find a way of doing my craft/sewing and keeping warm too. But I draw the line at bringing the sewing machine up to the bedroom. I would be stepping on too many pins. As i have a tendancy to drop them.
Just realised that I havent had any breakfast. No wonder I am hungry. So time for a few pieces of toast with some of my homemade jam.

bails

Oh yes, forgot to mention that! Well done on the LETS SFT! When I had a look I could think of lots of thing we could offer, and I'm not exactly full of skills! Hey, maybe we could have a long-distance LETS between you me and Nyk if we ever need anything?:rotfl:

Just finished my preparation for tomorrow at school so off to get it photocopied and have a shower (the water's WAY too cold in the mornings!). Haven't caught up completely as don't want to hog the only computer here.

Laptop still broken but it was working yesterday so hopefully they'll have it sorted again by tomorrow! Photos are apparently saved, phew!

Frugaldom

Mooloo, storage heaters work on the basis of charging up and storing the heat during the night on cheaper rate electricity and then slowly releasing that heat through the day to keep the chill off the place. When and how much heat they release is dictated by the settings, as most normally have 2 dials. On mine, the dial on the right is input; this is like the thermostat in that it determines how hot the heater will get, the higher the setting, the hotter the panel will get when it's charging up and the more electricity it will consume to do so. My left hand dial determines how quickly the stored heat is lost, so I keep mine set at lowest so it just trickles out all day. The colder it gets, the higher the input needs to be, but they cost a fortune to run on high. Depending on your power supply, the heaters can be boosted at the cheap rate during the day, too. Hope this helps.

Edited in - my 3 storage heaters were switched on last week and set at low on the output and 4 (mid) on the input. Over the past week, electricity has cost me just over £30 plus whatever I spent on coal & logs. Winter is well on its way now. I've also had to plug in an ordinary electric heater in kitchen to keep the chill off the place as the storage heater in there doesn't work.

grandma247

Nyk There is some info here http://www.garlicfarm.ca/pdf/growing-garlic.pdf
on getting good garlic, Scroll down to garlic flowers,this is what I want to try this year to see if it makes a difference. I am pretty sure it will because the formation of flowers takes a lot of the plants energy.

Lots to do today. 4x spag. bol. in the slow cooker and yorkshires in the oven. I am cooking them ahead and have already made twelve and packed four to a bag for freezing. I want to do some quiche and some other baking plus wash the bedding and vac upstairs so will catch up properly later.

Savvy_sewing

Thanks for that information NYK. I will have to look at them properly and see what the settings are on, and adjust accordingly. I havent read my meter reading for a few days. Started off well, but then in my messy chaos of life I lost the peace of paper I was filling in. Better start again tomorrow.
I havent had a bill from the supplier as they are disputing my reading and so I am waiting for the first bill to appear. I am only paying £50 a month on my electric so I better rethink my budget!.
I have been over spending on everything this last week or two! oops.
Need to pull me into line if I am ever going to be able to join this challenge fully!.
H
I have my DGD, (aged2), which was not planned for. Her mum is ill, and the social worker was abit concerned. So I am exhausted. Had a marathon cleaning session at twin1's before taking her shopping and then coming home with the little one. She isin to everything. Luckily I have a wire fire guard to put around the wood burner!!
(Mind you the dam thing keeps going out!.).
When she is asleep (God willing) I will be looking at the budget again!.(And that meter!).

grandma247

Mooloo could you tape the paper to the inside of the meter cupboard or a kitchen one? Don't do too much kids are more tiring 2nd time round. I hope your daughter gets well soon and that you stay well.

Frankie have you got some gardening books and mags? I find if I spend a few hours or even days reading them I can get myself in the mood to go and do some gardening even if the weather is not good. You might even be able to get mags from freecycle.

savingfortravel

Bails-Thanks. I just can't wait to get signed up now. Mr SFT is waiting for a ring back but might try the area leader again.

nykmedia wrote: »

:jBrilliant news about the LETS group, SFT, you'll be amazed at what you'll can think of to offer by way of trades - I'd never have considered making stuff with eggs prior to that, it wasn't until someone mentioned never having the time to make proper homemade soup etc.

Tarpaulins - I got mine from Amaz0n last year, just do a search for them and you'll see the Silverl!ne ones for less than £2 each and they are great. Easily tied down as they have the metal eyelets but I'm going to try and get some of the bungee ropes so I can hook mine right around the log store so they can't get blown away - must remember to look out for them soon.

Garlic growing - I'm still using my own homegrown stuff, haven't bought any this year at all and we use quite a bit of it. The cloves were very small but it has been worth it. I just planted a dozen small cloves (not bulbs) into a large pot outside the door. They're due to go in soon, as they like to go through a frosty winter before starting to grow.

Lettuce - love growing the stuff! Haven't bought any lettuce this year and am not planning on buying any ever again. It grows all year round in my big plastic tub with its plastic bag hood. OK, it grows REALLY slowly at this time of year but it went right through winter last year no problem and supplied us with salad leaves all through summer. I'd still be getting them if we hadn't had a little incident involving hens & ducks making their way onto the patio and into the lettuce tubs! :rolleyes: I have moved my covered tub of seedlings to the back door but may put them into the greenhouse for added protection this year.

Thanks Nyk-Some great advice there. Not sure we'll manage the lettuce without a green house (left ours behind at last property). Garlic sounds really good though, so we'll be growing some.
Waiting to hear back from LETs man. Could work out really well as Mr SFT only works 2 days a week. He obviously would prefer to offer computer support but would do anything within reason.