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

Frugaldom

Taka, I'd just buy a cheapo pocket wallet with zipped coin section, possibly from pound shop or similar and replace it when needed. But I'm a bit of a scrooge - last one I 'bought' was a LETS trade surplus to requirement from someone else.

babyboysmommy

It's been a good day. I posted off some books I've sold. It was 4p cheaper to send them by small packet rate so much to the shock of the cashier I chose to save the 4p rather than send them first class. In the past I would have spent the extra 4p but I figure look after the pennies...

I've got 2 bin bags to put in the textile recycling bin, 2 bin bags of things for a car boot sale & I've listed some books on Amazon.

I have bought some pet food (rabbit, guinea pig & dog) but bought much bigger bags as it worked out cheaper in the long run.

I have decided to work at emptying the freezer, all too often we go for what we fancy & things can get left in there for ages. It's mostly home cooked meals I've cooked & frozen but time to use up what we have before I start trying out some new & hopefully cheaper meal ideas.

XSpender

F_F I have low energy bulbs in my living room light fitting which has a dimmer switch and they flicker dreadfully and the swith buzzes unless I have them on full. I was too stingy to buy the special dimmer switch ones. Hope you are feeling much better today.

edaniels So sorry to hear about your MIL.

Shaz That bread looks gorgeous.:drool:

I have made some progress in frugalness today:

• NSD for both of us again
• DH walked to walk but as it is trying to snow again will be driving home. That will be under 8 miles we have driven this week between us:T
• Tried making my HM bread (70% wholemeal) with value plain flour and can't tell the difference
• Amended my end of month Mr S order to delete white bread flour and add value plain flour
• Sent off for 2 packets of free yeast
• Packed up parcel for MM worth £20
• Created a veggie spag bol pasta bake thingy with cheese and breadcrumb topping from the contents of the freezer as used the last of the pots last night and the end of the old sack were squishy
• Think I have found the key to read the meters which are on the outside wall. I have lived here 3.5 years and have never checked them:o:eek:

Must tie Mr XS to the chair tonight and get him to ring and change to 02 broadband.

I hope the snow stays away it has been lying here for 4 weeks now.

larmy16

I have one of these Sad lamps and that uses dimmable light bulbs. I bought a replacement one from Waitrose. They are also energy saving - I am pretty sure on this. The one I bought was 70 watt (equiv. to old 100 watt) Only £1.99 bayonet or screw in. Supposed to last 2 years.HTH.

Aril

Hello fellow frugallers:j:j
Just a quick one from me today as all is pretty quiet on the frualling front here:D More snow so small person off- he and best friend had free fun forgetting they're 11 and "cool" and building a snowman instead!!
My parents bought me a trekking pole at the weekend as a surprise- I got to christen it this morning so am once again very overthrilled:j I really am very simple!!
Topped up on milk but no other spends here. The pasties made from the left over roast pork that OH made were very scrummy and as he had too much filling it's been frozen and think might reappear as a component in froup this weekend!
I've found a couple more frugalish casserole recipes so will post in the next few days if people would like them.
Have a free fun filled and frolicsome evening!
Arilx

grannynise

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

This is my basic loaf made in BM from chappatti flour (40p kilo)

That loaf looks great -- did you use the standard breadmaker recipe or did you adapt it all?

taka

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

This is my basic loaf made in BM from chappatti flour (40p kilo)

:drool: :drool: :drool:
*adds chappatti flour to the to buy list if I ever finish current stocks of neverending strong flour*

candygirl

Hi frugal friends:j
Snow was forecast here today, so I decided to go to mr Ts and ended up spending £33:eek::eek:£21 of which is on food but got tons of bargs inc branston beans 89p for 4 tins;)Have decided I will look on madabout bargains each week and list the supermarkets and offers, then see which has the best offers on.Tesco won today:rotfl::rotfl:
On the way home to started to snow again, so fingers crossed it wont stick:rolleyes:Having said that I have enough supplies in to last me now for at least a week(I know I keep saying that)
Have fabby frugal evenings all:A:A

chika

Miss_Bubbles That’s a night mare about your freezer. Have you tried freecycle? There is normally a fridge freezer offered at least once a day on our local group.

Edaniels – Sorry about your MIL. Hope you and your OH are ok. There is a thread on the marriage relationships and families board about arranging funerals. There should be some moneysaving tips there.

Welcome to Mischa, Zoe and Babyboysmommy.

Taka – Accessorize have nice purses in the sale at the moment. I normally get a new one every January that lasts well. You should be able to pick one up for about a fiver. Otherwise TK Maxx have a good selection.

Today was the dreaded MOT day but I decided not to go as Hudds is covered in a sheet of black ice. I hope the other West Yorkshire frugallers are ok? I stay in Manchester for uni but my tried and trusted garage is at home in Huddersfield. I’m a bit afraid of using a garage that I don’t know due to the horror stories you hear. Also they one I use is really reasonable. Last year’s Mot was about £150 for the test and repairs. A mate at uni drives the exact same make and model car and her MOT had very similar failures and the garage she took it to charged her £670!!! It costs a bit more in diesel to drive there but the savings are massive.


Went to uni to study today which saved on having the heating on. I also charged up my laptop and phone while there (every penny counts!) I've had a couple of people call who want tuition for their children which is some extra money in the pot if I can find a spare couple of hours to fit them in.

Paulgonnabedebtfree

I wandered into my local 99p shop yesterday and the shelves were very depleted. I asked if they had been having delivery problems due to the snow. They told me they were closing down. A large (recently expanded) Poundland is nearby and there is a £1 shop close by in the other direction. The result of this is that everything must go by Friday and the 99p shop reduced everything to 50p. Unfortunately most of the decent stuff had gone by the time I knew but I did manage to get some cheap, low energy lightbulbs (60W equivalents). I don't know what they sell for normally elsewhere but hopefully I got a good deal. The stuff for next Christmas was even cheaper but I don't do much for Christmas anyway so I refrained from that bit.