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

ifonlyitwaseasier

howdy peeps,

well have spent a little but it's from my GC budget

did buy a new coat but thats being paid for by my folks for my b'day (in a couple of weeks)

have to make bread today, use the bm to mix as i suffer with bad wrists so can't knead properly or i'll suffer for it, that and the cats would be nosing about at the bowl.

might make the lemon biscuits too as they sounded lovely and i'm actually a little fed up of chocolate (you'll never hear me say that again!!)

tc all and yes i think i might have figured out how to get to my recipes!!
Cheryl would you pm how to upload to google docs then i can chuck them up there for everyone TY EDIT - cheers

ioiwe

Thriftkitten

Yay kids are back at school THANK GOD! Love them really, just couldn't eat a whole one in one sitting!!!
Frugalling list for today.
Put yesterdays chicken in slow cooker, peel spuds, old carrots and chick peas for soup for the weeks lunch.
Make a crusty loaf.
clean out fridge
get some ironing done
Plan next weeks grocery shop according to meals
Bask in the quietness of the house.

Kiwisaver_2

Glad to hear the weather is improving as I have been fretting about my mother, she's not been out for days and sounds like she's getting very near the end of her supplies.

Very frugal day here, leftover beef for sandwiches at lunch; and lazy dinner of leftover beef with Christmas pickles (blow your head off HM pickled onions) and a few chips for dinner, followed with a bit of yesterday's cheesecake.

Had very itchy fingers and feeling very weak willed today. For some reason I woke up thinking about something I would like; the anything I could have if I had the money scenario. It was nothing very exciting; I can honestly only think of one thing I would like (Jamie's Ministry of Food) and two things I need (Washing Machine and the cheapest of cheap UK mobile phones). I shall resist it for now, as I had a note left by the Postie to say that I have a parcel that needs picking up, a late Xmas pressie, so I will toddle down and collect it tomorrow and try to forget about 'wanting' anything else.

Have a good day folks I'm off to my bed to dream about a new washing machine. :rotfl: I'll tell you the story of my WM and why I really must get a new one, some other time.

debtmess

morning all

kids off here today as ds1 and 3 ill (again)

added up total spent since 1st jan and its a woppping £211.33 most of that is direct debits though still have milk bill, phone bill and mobile phone bill to pay, i may try and offset my mobile bill to what i make on ebay as im still kicking myself for entering into a contract

today should be another nsd i will draw out weekly amount tomorrow to last untill next monday but really it should be fridays since start of month was friday 1st, i cannot imagine spending £80 between tuesday and friday but if i do change to friday thats a nice amount for my savings jars

my mince has not defrosted mush since yesretday ive left it out on the side hopefull i can use it later, half will go into a cottage pie, im going to then use a 4th for a spag bowl and the rest for mince and rice, 6 portions of cottage pie (or 2 large) will go into freezer for 2 more sets of meals

need to make my chicken soup today have some leeks carrots and mushrooms that have seen better days,with lentils, a sweet potato and a normal potato we should get a nice filling soup, not sure if milkman will have any bread today so ive held off making a loaf untill later

holding out with asda till friday morning we should have enough in untill i have to go by then i should only need fruit/veg eggs and some breakfast cereal but the boys are due to be at there dads this weekend comeing so will judge by how much we have left, buying only what we need seems now to be a better option that keeping a full storecupboard as i am hopefull something will come up rental wise though nothing yet on when i can view the 2 flats that i rung about last week:rolleyes:

have a good day x

LilacPixie

BLAH it's cold today. i am debating switch the heating up or take lappy and books to bed to study.

it will be a spends day here. DD for mobile due off but tha is it. I am surprised how well i am doinging with food. Almost half way through month and spent only a third of he esimated spend.

cw18

Having had a reasonable 'defrost' day outside yesterday, we now have sleet coming down !!!

The parts of the drive that still had small (and very thing) patches of slushy ice are now incredibly slippery too


Going to be having an interesting shift at work today - and possible tomorrow as well. I had a 'jippy tum' over the weekend, which only started to clear up at lunch time yesterday (after 24 hours of not eating, which was good for my grocery budget if nothing else :rolleyes2 ). I assumed that I wouldn't be allowed into work, as I handle unwrapped food, but wasn't sure how long I'd have to take off.

Phoned in at 8:30am (officially had until noon to call in sick, but was very aware that for 3 hours of my shift I'm the only person in the bakery, so wanted to give them as much notice as possible), but have been told to go in. They'll apparently find someone from elsewhere in the store to cover the bakery on my shifts (until they deem me clear to return to it), and I'll be covering their area in return - so I guess I'm stacking tins/bottles, as these areas (according to official government/H&S type guidelines I've read on the 'net) aren't considered 'high risk' for the recommended 48 exclusion from work after the last 'episode'.

It'll be nice to see how another part of the store operates, but I'd much rather it wasn't under these circumstances

Can't say I'm happy (from a customer point of view) about being expected in today, but as I don't qualify for sick pay yet (and am still on my 13 week trial) I'm also quietly pleased not to be losing pay or having an 'absence' on my records yet

Anyhow, must go get my uniform ironed....... I'd like to get there a bit early so that we can deal with any paperwork before my official start of shift (I know there'll be some kind of 'fit to return' form, as we have notify these episodes even if they happen at the start of a period of holiday and we're well clear by the time we return).

ChinaTea

The snow has finally started to thaw a bit here although we keep getting a short shower of the stuff. DS came round yesterday and dug the car and drive out, only because he wanted the car though. Hopefully will get out tomorrow if the weather holds off. Haven't been out since last Monday so plenty of NSDs except for £10 on a sample pack of raw cat food to be delivered today or tomorrow. If the cats like it the food bill for them will be so mucher cheaper. Tries them with some chicken wings yesterday, they sat in a row watching me get them out then all 3 kept walking round them and sniffing then all sat in a row again refusing to touch them. You'd have thought I was feeding them poison the way they went on. Put the rest of the box in slow cooker with veg that needs using to make soup for me.

Have not had a good weekend, no energy at all and yesterday only managed to keep awake for half hour at a time. I'd been to the GPs before Christmas as was having problems with numb legs, went for MRI. GP said he would ring if there was any problem, but got letter to see neurologist 23rd Jan instead. At least if there's a problem it will get treated hopefully.

Have been looking into LETs and didn't think there was one any where near here, was surprised and pleased to find there is a group in the town 8 miles away so going make some enquiries about joining. have a couple more things to go on Freecycle today and a box of stuff to list on ebay. Hoping I can keep away long enough to take photos LOL.

So far this year have spent £9.62 of budget. Also had gas statement from EDF on average have used 55p per day over the last quarter not inc charges Well pleased with this especially as I have a pre payment meter although the thermostat has only been between 12 and 14.

XSpender

DH is having second thoughts about VT his car as mine would not move anywhere in the snow at the weekend (think it is to do with having wide sporty tyres) and his was like a land rover and was no problem at all. I will need to work on him I think as this could save us about £100/month.

Also discovered I will probably only get 6 month payment break from IVA not 8 as hoped so will need to tighten belts even more to cover the 2 months payments when I will be on mat leave still so I do not have to return to work earlier than I want to.

I have booked an online delivery with Mr S for the end of the month using my £10 off voucher and spending over £100 so I get free delivery. I need a lot of frozen veg as we eat a fair bit and stocks will have run out by then and have stocked up on tins, toiletries and loo roll etc. choosing as much value or on offer as possible.

I noticed how much less waste we have been producing as this weekend when the bin men didn’t turn up because of the snow we only had one bag in our bin after a week. It would have been less if I was composting still and could be bothered to make a special journey to recycle plastic as they don’t collect this from us. I think I will start doing this again this week.

Frugal tasks this week are:

§ Stick to meal plan created for the rest of month
§ Cost out some of our common meals as I have no idea how much they cost to produce
§ Buy more fruit. I have a real thing about fruit and salad at the moment and the huge amount I bought on Friday will be gone by Wednesday
§ Load all the rest of the CDs and DVDs on Mus1c Magp1e and post parcel from last week
§ Aim to have 5 NSDS for both of us
§ Make a decision about swapping broadband supplier
§ Fill up freezer no 2 with bags as forgot over weekend
§ Take a meter reading on a week day and a weekend day to see what our average usage is and then see how I can cut this down

All this talk of sewing machines has got me thinking. I want to make a padded headboard for our bed for when I have to feed the frugalmite at night. My Mum has an old one I can copy and I would have asked to borrow her machine (not that I have done any sewing in years) but it will mean a 2.5. hour round trip to get it but I have just remembered my friend bought a fancy one from QVC about 8 years ago to sew a hem on a piece of voile for her downstairs loo window and it has been in her loft ever since. I think I will ask her if I can borrow it.

I am so pleased that the snow is melting at last!

Fishcake_Random

Afternoon all,
I have had an active one today, I'm just waiting for a lod of baby clothes to finish and then I can air them dry. While I'm waiting I've started knitting a pair of socks for my OH's friend in his team colours. Apparently he always complains his feet are frozen when he watches his team play so OH suggested getting me to make him a pair, should be a nice amount of wool left over for some elephants to.
My first elephant is finished I'll post a pic soon as OH has taken batterys to work with him lol.Its been a really enjoyable project to do and not to fiddly so I intend to make a few for gifts etc.
Hope you are all having a happy frugal day
x x x x

[Deleted User]

Today I've got some bolognese gently bubbling away. Hiding inside the free-range beef are carrots, some quorn mince and a few lentils. I used a third of a jar of Ragu sauce and half a glass of red wine. The rest of the sauce goes in the freezer for another day. If we are not too greedy, I will be able to freeze two two-people portions for another 'another day':rotfl:

I've also gone back to having a bowl of 'must be used up' veggies next to the cooker. Hubby shares the cooking with me, and if they are left in the fridge, he forgets about them.

Happy frugalling to all. Thank goodness MSE is my home page - it's so easy to forget to be frugal and then the greedy supermarket trick me out of my hard-earned cash:beer: