The Compact Challenge 2010 (formally "Need help for a challenge")

pink_numbers

415SanFran
How was your trip to London? Yes I do think you are crazy to go into London on new years eve! I really hope you and your friend had a wonderful time. Did they still have the Christmas lights up? And yes, wine is totally food!

I felt awful today, I'm not sure what's wrong but my lungs are so sore and so hard to breath. That however, didn't stop me from going to the yarn shop to buy the white yarn for the blanket. I've now crocheted two rows (out of eleven), and am pleased with the way it's looking. I have however realised that this is a long term project, you know, the ones you do in between sane-sized projects! I have my eyes on making a bag with some cotton yarns soon.

So here we go, start of a new year, and 365 days of not buying anything new! SCARY! Are you going to have exceptions to the rules?

Alison Funnel
Thank you How is your no new toiletries challenge going so far? I must warn you, once you do such challenges, it will change the way you look at things so much that it won't be long before you'll be joining us in this challenge

415SanFran

Hi Alison,
I stopped buying toiletries about 6 months ago, well just shower gels not the whole lot, if you are like me and get bored with the smell after 3 uses it helps if you have five or six on the go at the same time, rather than trying to use a whole bottle of something that you really don't like for the next goodness knows how long.
I also have a favorite one that I keep as a treat as it was very expensive and makes my skin lovely and soft, for when I am going out or just want to pamper myself.
Hopefully I will get down to where I have two open, one for everyday, and one for special. But that will take about 2 years at this rate.
Now to make some head way in the lotions,,,aaaahhh

415SanFran

ow Poor Pinky! Are you feeling better today?
London was WONDERFUL and, and, and, guess what, I had a NSD:T:grin:

We were supposed to leave here at lunchtime, HA, we ended up late as, one of the people had to go and buy grapes, she is Spanish and it is tradition in Spain *Spaniards have NO concept of time* that you eat a grape with every chime of the clock on the countdown. I was the only English person in the group funnily enough The fact that I haven't lived here half my life didn't seem to count, Also we had to pick up 4 people from 3 different locations. So the last person to be picked up decided that as we were late already we might as well eat there, it was now about 3pm.

So we actually got to London about 6 and parked free in Camden town. All the market and shops were still open and we looked around but no_one bought anything. From there we had a free bus into the city. *ING savings paid for ALL the transport in London last night, free tubes, buses, the lot* So we got down to Leicester Square, again just walked around a little, Mr America kept looking at his watch we noticed, and kept saying we had to find a particular street, as were all tourists as such it was like the blind leading the blind, and to make things harder a lot of the streets had been shut off by the police, who were out in force I might add. *good to see*
Anyway, we find this street and he says "come on" he had pre_booked a restaurant apparently a month ago, an Indian place, really good food with a champagne drink. We all offered to pay our share, but he wouldn't hear of it.
After the meal we walked, and I kid you not we WALKED for MILES as London had everything on a one way system for foot traffic, but we saw all the sights/lights as well, very pretty all light up, never seen it before, none of us had.
We ended up on the Embankment just across from the London Eye.
There was a lot of people there but not to the point of pushing and shoving, more of a very busy bootsale. Well midnight came and we eat the grapes then a bottle of Champagne and plastic cups appeared out of his backpack. *that man thinks of everything* . But the best part for me was that on the stroke of midnight almost like it was timed it started to SNOW it really was wonderful.
I was a wonderful night out that I will never forget. :j

415SanFran

OK well today is the start of a very new way of life for us.
I'm sure we will have to make the odd exceptions along the way, but I have not thought of them right now as I think that the things we have stessed about might not happen, but there might be things that hit us that we haden't thought of .
But I will be honest with you, and I will discuss it with you first, as you may see a way around this that I haven't thought of. Two heads beeter than one kinda thinking here.
Happy New Year to you and your's

pink_numbers

wow! Your new year's eve sound FABULOUS! and how on earth did you manage to park free in Camden????? I used to live in Camden, but I never knew of a free parking space. It was so nice of your American friend to take you guys out to dinner, and as for the champers and plastic glasses, are you sure he's not a GIRL? He's far to prepared to be a boy!

I had a quiet evening in with the cats (OH was working), and started a crochet bag (as you do!) I rang my mother in Japan at their midnight, to wish her a great new year. With 40 minutes to spare before midnight, what does my mobile decide to do? yup, DIE. so I rushed online to order a mobile phone, so that is the last thing I bought brand new.

Today, I decluttered the bedroom and the living room. I am going to be decluttering a lot this year. I found that the less stuff I have, the more I treasure what I do have. I am writing up a list of 52 areas around the house I would like to declutter this year. Technically, that would be one area per week, but I am not going to be fussed about it, as long as I do all of them in the year.

Two heads are definitely better than one! OH reported this afternoon that the head on the hose split (typical!) and totally forgetting that we were on the compact challenge, told me that we had to get a new one. So I replied, "yes, when we find it in a car boot sale". Poor man.

I have to confess, I've never been to a car boot sale! I frequent charity shops, but not car boot. Do you have many where you live? I must look some up in this area, but I don't think I will bother until I NEED to get something. Otherwise, I am just tempting myself to buy stuff I don't need.

Have you managed to get any woopsies today? I am just doing the shopping list at the moment, may go to the shops this weekend.

415SanFran

Ha Ha we actually call him "Inspector Gadget" because he is so efficient, never anything out of place, ow and get this when we came out of the manky nasty portaloos guess who had a bottle of water in his backpack! I am sure he is little (OK so a lot( OCD but lovely with it. Thankfully he also was carrying a spare hat! I wore a black knitted one and made him wear the "Elmer Fudd" looking one.
I swear that packpack was a bit like the Mary Poppins bag, useful things just kept coming that no-one else had thought of.
he also made fun of me when we passed the Monsoon shop, saying "look and weep" "are you sure"

I haven't been to a carboot for years now, not sure what is in my area, don't think I will dare go to one this year, I just know I will find something that I just have to have, and it will sit here for the next goodness knows how long. Well perhaps if I really NEED something..........and only take something like a couple of pounds. Poor OH is he good at gardening? Could it not be fixed in someway for the time being?
Japan ooow lovely. I LOVE to travel, Japan is on my "one day" list.
Funnily enough I am having tempura today with some of the veg, well mainly a broccoli that keeps looking at me accusingly every time I look in the fridge.
When you have family overseas a phone is an essential, in saying that I have virgin phone and it is cheaper to call my daughter than it is for me to call you. If I call you during the day it is silly money like 35p a min, so goes without saying I only use the landline during the day for calls to the school and the like, something that cannot wait till after 6pm. I can call oversea for about 2p a min any time day or night. But I was on the mobile last night, so she could hear the fireworks, then she called me back at 8 this morning, I had only been home about 3 hours, well she drop called and I called her back. But we were all on our phones from 11pm onwards at different times.

Are the shops open today? I didn't think they were. I have not even got dressed, still in my PJs here. My feet are still killing me, I wore my comfy clarks boots as well, one of my better deals off ebay and wear them with jeans all the time, but my feet are still sore, no blisters or anything, my walking limit is normally two miles tops, then I think I have been really good, I swear we did about 6/7 collectively, not much for both of the men, but us girls were flagging on the way back to the car, that was with catching the night bus back to Camden.

415SanFran

Hi,I have just found quido, I know, where have I been?
Never looked into it before.

I was going to change my insurance this year anyway, I bought it when I opened the bank account, but reading the small print, its not really that good at all. There are a few other things that I would use as well, at some point I will need another shop for basics might as well use that, and that alone would pay the 5 that I have paid to join.
Would you class this as a spend or an investment?
What do you think?

pink_numbers

What? You didn't know quidco????? well, I guess you haven't been in the country for long The only thing is, now that I'm not buying "stuff", I am really going to struggle to get any cashbacks from the merchants they list!

You can tempura broccoli? I didn't know that! I guess it's because it's an European veg, it must've came into the Japanese food later. My favourite tempura vegs are pumpkin (thinly sliced) and sweet potatoes (slightly thicker cut than the pumpkin).

Just came home from ASDA, which was horrendous, so horrendous that I had to state it so on facebook! You will be proud of me though, I bought my very first woppsie today! I wanted a bag of stir fry veg as a treat for us today, and spotted a family size one (twice as much) going for the same price I was going to pay for the little bag (50p). It's all thanks to you, you've inspired me to see woopsies as a bargain!

So that's just under £50 for our big monthly shop. we do one huge shop to last us the month, then top up with fresh stuff when needed. I'm very pleased that it came to £50, as I bought a conveyer belt's worth of food (you know what I mean, it filled the entire belt that you put stuff on at the till!), and there were NO junk food

Now I have to do my batch cooking, on the list I have:
saut! 2 pack of mushrooms
saut! a bag of onions
saut! 1 pack of leeks
make leek & potato soup
make stewed apples from 3 bags of apples for porridge

and then freeze everything.

(I just realised that this is totally off topic to the thread...)

How are you getting on over there?

415SanFran

I can say with authority, broccoli does NOT make for good tampura.
But the sushi ginger, wasabi nuts, and podded soy beans helped it to go down. Not trying that one again!

First ever whoopsie really? Waw, I'm amazed.
Of course if you are only going shopping once a month in the middle of the day, that would explain it.
50 quid is still very good though, with my silly diet thankfully not much junk food to be had, last night I really wanted something sweet, and I wolfed down a WHOLE 250g bag of pineapple chunks all to myself.

pink_numbers

ha ha ha so there IS a reason why broc tempura is not eaten in Japan!!

Done food processing for the evening, I made 12 portions of saute mushrooms, 12 portions of saute leeks, 24 portions of saute onions, 27 portions of apple sauce and 2 portions of leek and potato soup (by portion I mean enough for 2 people). I'm exhausted!!

Yes, it is quite difficult to find a woopsie at shopping once a month. Still, I'm going to make more effort to find them, as the stir fry noodles I made with the veg I got today was really lovely. I somewhat feel very silly for paying full price now.

of course, all these efforts are to distract myself from the fact that I can't buy stuff