FRUGAL LIVING CHALLENGE 2010, part 1. (Living on £4,000 a year)

Ansoff

Hi

I am so cross, I just wrote a huge post and it's disappeared, grrrrr!!!

I have had 2 NSD this week, yippee.

I ventured out into town today, I needed to get vegetables, milk, bread and other supplies. Mr T was so very busy, the shop assistance said it was busier than Christmas, every till point was open with queues at every one.

Had to go to the vets today as 2 of my dogs have hurt themselves in the snow, they have pulled the ligaments around their knees. DH paid the vets fee of £98 for consultation and the painkillers they need. We have 4 dogs so we don't have insurance as it is too expensive.:eek:

I also bought some boxes to start sorting out yet another part of the house. I managed to clear 3 drawers in the utility room. DH thinks the drawers are for dumping anything in. I found drawing pins, straws, screws, broken door handles, 20 alan ? keys etc. So pleased 2010 is my year to get organised and sorted. I have cleared out 2 big storage cupboards, using flylady tips. We can hang coats up and I even got a shoe rack. I cannot believe the sense of acheivement.:T

We have a few goals this year, many to do with the house and we have started one already, yippee!!!

Sorry for the long post, got carried away. I lurk everday but don't post as often as I should.

Hugs to everyone who needs them. Hope everyone is keeping safe and warm.

Ansoff

aeb_2

I'll try to keep to basics tonight. Many thanks for all the kind comments and support. All very kinds - believe me I'm not always perfect, but luckily no one is here to see the chaos most of the time.

Frugal things I did today
Made soup from 'the bottom of the fridge' (I really need to go shopping - will go to the village on Monday)
Made a pork casserole in the slow cooker which will make 10 dinners. Added some oats - thanks for that tip it thickened it nicely. By the way I buy a boned pork shoulder and chop half up and freeze the other half and it's very cheap and virtually no waste. Rind gets chopped up for the birds. Oh, and I wrap clean nappies round the slow cooker to air the nappies and insulate the slow cooker - swap them over every hour:rotfl:
Raspberries frozen from the garden served in 8p instant whip for dessert with a biscuit.
Watched Thomas and Bertha video's from the 1980's - fantastic! all afternoon then looked at the Thomas books. No idea where I got them from. Bedtime stories sorted for a while.

Sewing machines can be found for a few ££ at car boot sales. A while ago I collected 5 hand ones for a tfsr who reconditioned them and sent then to a charity in Africa because the women could set up a little business. Here it is:
http://www.tfsr.org/how_you_can_help/volunteering/sewing_machines/
If sewing machines become fashionable they will miss out.

Debs08

Finally I have caught up with all the posts, started thanking people but each time moved to the next page I was disconnected, frustration won the day and i just kept reading.
Cheryl thanks so much for the spread sheet it is working like a dream, did cause a few hurt feelings with my husband as he thought I was saying he couldn't budget but now all is calm once he saw what it was all about. Now I note every penny spent the spending has plummeted.
aeb Your story is really wonderful and although you say there is often chaos at least it is organised chaos. I know things can seem daunting sometimes but really try to enjoy your littlies as much as you can as they will grow so quickly. If you ever need to talk please contact me, I had 3 small children when I went through a bad patch and some times you just need someone to talk to that is out side the situation and you probably will never meet.

To everyone else thankyou for all the tips and advice,it really is great to read your encouragement for each other

Just a little about my family, there is my DH DS1, DD1 and DS2 and myself. 10 years ago in SA my DH was diagnosed with cancer, we lost our business, our home, savings and investments. In SA there is no free medical so the choice was food or medical care. We chose the care and I feed my family out of the dustbins behind the stores (food was not stored as here) I also homeschooled my kids as we could not afford school fees (no free schooling) and worked all the other hours I was given for money. My dad eventually lent us money to come here ( as I was so worried about the safety and future of our children) We arrived in England 5 years ago with suitcases and £1000. Fortunately we found work within days and had soon paid my dad back, my husband has finished his degree to bring his SA degrees up UK acceptance, DS1 did his apprenticship and is now in the MOD, DD1 has completed her Eng Lit degree and is now doing a MA in teaching Eng Language, DS2 leaves for the MOD in March.

My DH was made redundant at the beginning of last year and has been unable to find work and is retraining at the moment. Things are really tough but as I keep saying to the family we are better off then we were 5 years ago. The only debt we have is a mortgage and an education loan.

Today we drove to Leicester to take my DD1 back to uni and to see my DS1 off as he leaves for Germany tomorrow and may be going to Afgan before we see him again. My DS1 paid for everything so only spend was the parking and petrol, it was so worth it to see him again.

Budget is a no go, we spend as little as possible so it is just a case of recording where the money goes

whitewing

You have made me realise again how lucky we are.

Debs, did your DH get the 'all-clear' yet?

cw18

Debs08 wrote: »

...... and to see my DS1 off as he leaves for Germany tomorrow and may be going to Afgan before we see him again.

My DS1 also leaves tomorrow to return to Germany (flying from B'ham). No idea when/if he may be sent to the front-line, but he is hoping to be home again for his 21st "booze up" (even if a few weeks late celebrating, as it's more likely to be Easter than mid-March for his next leave)

Debs08

Whitewing My DH has the all clear now thanks
Cheryl I wonder if our sons are traveling together, DS1 leaves B'ham at 5 tomorrow night, he is going back to Cele he is in 2 Royal Anglian

cw18

Think DS1 said 5:50pm? Hohne, 32 Eng Rgt

cw18

Ansoff wrote: »

Had to go to the vets today as 2 of my dogs have hurt themselves in the snow, they have pulled the ligaments around their knees. DH paid the vets fee of £98 for consultation and the painkillers they need.

Missed this on my initial skim-read

((hugs)) for the dogs...... hope they recover quickly, and you don't end up with any more vets bills soon !!!

moo2moo

Good morning all. Have finally managed to sit down and amalgamate all the scraps of paper I've written reminders on into a spending diary to cover all my outgoings to date. The ridiculous amoount of ice on the roads is keeping my spending down on everything other than heating fuel.

Blowing up the oven is also keeping my food bill low as I'm having to cook everything in the slow cooker so am only using the cheapest of cheap cuts of meat and stretching the leftovers to make soup for the following days lunches which the children are actually grateful for when they come in from sledging.

Have spent the last three weeks attempting to keep up with the ladies on the Flylady thread which has resulted in a much tidier house than normal and one thats, rather remarkably, staying that way. Have a huge pile of decluttered things to E-bay or freegle and am finding that all the extra housework is keeping me much warmer than sitting around wrapped in blankets by the fire does.

Hoping that tonights gale force winds and snow showers don't occur as the DDs really do need to go back to school tomorrow. We've been fortunate that they've only missed two days so far.

JAMIEDODGER

hi all and nyk:)

would like to join this challenge again, still working on budget atm. been writing all spending down on paper as my laptop has broken. i am insured but waiting for the claim forms to come through the post of which there hasnt been any since tuesday because of the weather.

will continue to keep track of everything until i can get back on those spreadsheets. will update target for year then x