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

BigMummaF

mommyof4 wrote: »

Hi everyone. How do I get cw18's spreadsheet? it sounds fantastic?
....panasonic breadmaker....Never had one before but after reading all the great posts about how good they are, decided to blow my Christmas money on one!

ok.. off to put stuff in the slow cooker for soup later on..:j
....

The Offspring paid for mine for Mothers Day two years ago & it is by far, the best 'gadget' I possess! There's a thread dedicated to the panny if you'd like it, & you've spurred me to go make some cheesy bread for tonight's supper Now if only I could get my little darlings to appreciate the sc & hm soup...:o

trex170104 wrote: »

....
Looking at my figures I've reaslied the biggest area where we need to try and cut down is gas and elec....any other ideas on how to reduce these....

Sneaky Ways to help eke out everyday things & Preparing for Winter for lots of tips on keeping costs down are just two places I would strongly recommend you take the time to read through. I've loads of others for gift ideas, packed lunches, recipes etc if anyone would like something...

grandma247

When we took over our first allotment it was like a jungle as it had not been worked in a long time. Black plastic sheeting was our best friend. I would probably use wet newspaper and straw nowadays. we covered the beds and as we dug them we covered them again so weeds were fewr and we planted through the plastic for a couple of years. This was necessary because by many standards the allotment is huge. Three times at least, the size of one we had in the south.

mooomin

Morning all!

Well yesterday I did washing, tidying, dishes and inventoried my toiletries. Who in their right mind would have 7 shower gels? Especially when that's the emergency ones, I also have 6 premium shower gels (ie cost a bleeding fortune ) The list of what I have is going to go inside my diary to help me resist temptation!

Today it appears to be snowing again so its another inside day for me. I'm going to inventory the cupboards and freezers, make spag bol for dinner (with lots going into the freezers!) and sort out some things for Amazon/Ebay.

Only spend today has been £10 to BingoBrita!n - I was enjoying that loophole and deposited £10 to allow me to withdraw winnings without realising the withdrawal rules had changed. Bah. £50 minimum withdrawal now and I'm not playing anymore! I'll chalk that £10 up to experience and close the account. I did check figures though and still made a profit from the time I was with them :j

1st NSD yesterday. Spent a lot of it doing housework and trying to get the place in some kind of order. I also watched the end of Doctor David Tennant (Sobbing quite a bit towards the end I have to admit!) and then snuggled up with Mr Fresian to watch a creepy Swedish vampire movie called Let The Right One In. We decluttered a box of Maltesers watching that

Hope everyone has a lovely day!

FrankieM

Morning everyone,

We have taken our decorations down and the house feels back to normal.
The freezer and cupboards are pretty bare but I'm hoping to hold out on grocery shopping until monday and then I'll be back to my weekly routine.

Going to a friends for coffee and banoffee pie this morning so I need to wake up the kinders and get things moving!

Will catch properly later. Have a good day.

cake21

skintjenny wrote: »

if you have a pc you should have a piece of software already on your computer that does this, its called a 'snipping tool'

I have a pc and I can't find it...can I have the idiot's guide please? :D

grandma247

flying_fresian wrote: »

Who in their right mind would have 7 shower gels?

A good few of us on here:rotfl:
I have loads more than that but only buy when they are at very reduced prices. There are four of us so we get through a fair bit.

mooomin

grandma247 wrote: »

A good few of us on here:rotfl:
I have loads more than that but only buy when they are at very reduced prices. There are four of us so we get through a fair bit.

That's only for me though Mr Fresian has another four that I've bought him

I really think I need this frugal challenge

I'm also preparing a bag of clothes to return to the sales after trying them on again last night. I don't need more clothes in the meantime. Honest. :A

cw18

mommyof4 wrote: »

Hi everyone. How do I get cw18's spreadsheet? it sounds fantastic?

Spreadsheet can now be downloaded - instructions here

If you have any problems with that, drop me a PM with your email address

but only £5 (on diesel). I wouldn't normally put in such a piddling amount but was furious that the price had risen by 2p per litre locally so am eeking it out until I go further afield to fill up.;)

It's likely to have gone up everywhere, as VAT went back up to 17.5% yesterday.

cw18

cake21 wrote: »

I have a pc and I can't find it...can I have the idiot's guide please? :D

I'd never heard of the 'snipping tool' before, so went on a hunt round my laptop last night.

On mine it's under

>All Programs
>Accessories

But as I'd never seen it before (and first used King Kong when I was on XP), I suspect it may be something new from Vista upwards

cake21

cw18 wrote: »

I'd never heard of the 'snipping tool' before, so went on a hunt round my laptop last night.

On mine it's under

>All Programs
>Accessories

But as I'd never seen it before (and first used King Kong when I was on XP), I suspect it may be something new from Vista upwards

Thanks muchly, that's exactly where I looked first, don't feel so silly now
I'm on XP and don't have it, so you're probably right.