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

Thriftkitten

Hi Fishcake,
I think chasing the latest oil or lotion for stretch marks is a losing battle,
In my opinion, just keeping the skin as hydrated and flexible as possible will allow it to stretch and keep it supple enough to allow it to go back after, I would say that after a nice bath is probably the best time to slather something on yer tummy as your pores are open and the best chance of the cream getting in, I would use a nice thick cream also, I al.ways used coco butter, but not that expensive one made just for stretch marks, one that I found in an afro caribbean hair/skin care shop

Fishcake_Random wrote: »

Hey all,
Not been able to get on here for a few days and I've really missed you all!!!
Only had 2 spend days since 10th one was just milk and the other was a whoopsie shop for lunchbox bits. I spend just under £15 but before whoopsie price was almost £37 so I'm pretty chuffed. Plus I got 7 strawberry sundaes for 20p each which covers my current pregnancy craving for a few days lol. Also nabbed some loafs of bread for 11p each and a handfull of microwave pasta and potatoe snack pots things for 30p each, perfect for mini hot lunchs for OH in his cold shop and me when I'm busy with baby later in the year.
I still haven't managed to remember batterys for my camera but it is my big aim for tomorrow as I have some pennys left on an xmas gift card and argos have a clearence on them apparently. I'm also thinking about picking up the first issue of that crochet maggie for 99p just so I can get the hook and wool to play about with. I brought the first issue of the knitting one last year just for the needles and wool.
One for the lovely frugal ladies on here but any frugal remedies for stretch marks as mine seem to grow hourly and are so so sore at the moment, I've been slathering myself in various moisturisers but nothing seems to be working to well. I'm fed up with my OH calling me stripey lol.
I'm off for a nice bubble bath and to finish my Jodi Picoult book, its getting rather good!!!
X X X XX

Ches

candygirl wrote: »

Hey!I've nothing against them, and if you read up you'll see that I also have one;)

I am just a cantankerous old bid. (with a lime green trolley):D

homegrown_life

Twinkles08 wrote: »

This was my plan.Maybe if I downsize it will discourage me from spending.Just not sure if its practical as I have tesco and nector cards too.Mind you I've been grocery shopping online recently.This purse only has a coin section and a window at the side for bus pass/cards.

I dithered over getting a CK purse for my Christmas. £25 was just soo much for something I hadn't seen in real life (I have no shop near me). I ended up getting the £6 which I think is the same as you're describing. I like it, but it's small and I couldn't use it for all of my cards and stuff. Actually my purse was starting to overflow so I got that one to keep my grocery money seperate, I can keep my nectar card and any receipts to hand, and then I got the travel wallet thing (it was going cheap on AS0S) to keep all those annoying cards that I need but not very often like membership things and library cards. It is pretty and I do like it though, but I'm a sucker for pretty things and don't often treat myself!

Twinkles08

homegrown_life wrote: »

I dithered over getting a CK purse for my Christmas. £25 was just soo much for something I hadn't seen in real life (I have no shop near me). I ended up getting the £6 which I think is the same as you're describing. I like it, but it's small and I couldn't use it for all of my cards and stuff. Actually my purse was starting to overflow so I got that one to keep my grocery money seperate, I can keep my nectar card and any receipts to hand, and then I got the travel wallet thing (it was going cheap on AS0S) to keep all those annoying cards that I need but not very often like membership things and library cards. It is pretty and I do like it though, but I'm a sucker for pretty things and don't often treat myself!

This is what I'm thinking,like you it's a lot of money to spend on something you haven't seen 'in real life'Like you I love pretty things too!lol.Might go and see whats in my purse and how much I can whittle down.Thanks for your post hun

homegrown_life

no probs. I thought that £6 out of some Christmas money wasn't too much to try even if I didn't like it in the end. If you look on the ASOS site you can see better views of some of the purses (if they have any on the site, I haven't checked lately).

Shall have to update more tomorrow, am nearly asleep on my feet here. Hope everyone is doing ok.

DdraigGoch

I just can't keep up with you lot!!

Popping in to say hello and declaring yet another NSD - have had mostly these ever since the snow fell, thanks to a well stocked larder

Hope everyone is keeping well and warm, the snow's thawing a little around here. Condolences and congrats where appropriate [I really can't keep up!]

DG

JayneC

Phew finally got to the end!!! You go away for a couple of days and it takes hours to catch up, lol.

Edaniels and meg - so sorry for your losses take care of yourselves

minjara - I think the best cashback site is Quidco, I always use this one and also ipoints and nectar for things that aren't on quidco (eg amazon, ebay). Lightspeed is quite good for surveys, but there's loads of survey sites (I get bored though!)

sabs - well done on trading skills for dance classes for your girls, am well impressed!

F_F I've completely b*ggered my light fitting in bedroom by using low energy bulbs with dimmer. Won't work even with normal lightbulbs now, just have a bedside lamp!!Maybe one day I'll get round to fixing it...

Aril good to hear about your 11 yo having fun in the snow my 11 yo would rather stay in playing on his games console - had to practically throw him out of the door with his wellies and sledge!!

Approved foods - yeah I'm not that impressed tbh, it seems mostly junk food, although the fresh orange juice was good value but not worth ordering just for that!

SF well done

Knithappens glad you got sorted with your cot

Thrift kitten you may be able to order a new cup from the manufacturer or you can get them from cookware shops.

Nuala lol at amazero. good meesage am going to have a good look later...

Well I've gone over my grocery budget already. Went to Asda - don't have one near me but was out and about with work and passing so decided to drop in mainly for milk and F&V - bill ended up at nearly £50!!!! That did include the crochet mag and some silicon cake cases (that I'd been after at a reasonable price - only £2.65 for 12 so got 2 packs) and just got carried away with all the whoopsed meat, still my freezer is quite full now and shouldn't need mush next week. Anyway off to bed now, need sleep. Have to drive to Hull tomorrow (3-4 hour round trip), afrer driving to Harrogate today (5 hour round trip), Selby on Weds (3-4 hour round trip), Thirsk (3 hour round trip)Tuesday and Mansfield, newark and Derby on Mon (can't remember how long but 350 miles!!!) will be glad when Saturday comes. £140 in petrol this week - should get it back though...

Jayne x

liloandstitch

Twinkles08, I have the CK purse(£6) and have used it for over a year. I fit in about 6 cards, plus all my cash and use it all the time. My tesco and nectar I have on my keyring, so that saves a bit of space. I find I dont carry what I dont need with me, and my purse isnt the pigsty it used to be. The only downside is that I cant give it to my DH to pay for something, as its pink with stars on it, and he wont be seen dead with it! I love it, but will need a new one soon as I have stretched the card bit too much. The other thing is that I find that I always put my cards back away after using them, whereas before I would just bung them in my bag, rather than trying to find my purse again.

NSD here (YAY) I usually buy DS a drink if he forgets his at Tennis, and I wouldnt today as I left it out and he didnt pick it up, so saved £1.50. And we usually go to Starbucks first, spending over £3 on a coffee and a cookie for the littley. I just left later and didnt detour. So all in all, I am £5.00 better off than I would have been. I am quite proud of myself over that.

I also stuck up for myself with a medical secretary who was trying to book me with a different consultant to the one I had been referred to. I stood my ground and insisted she checked whether I should be moved to another, or be booked in as referred (she was only trying to be helpful). If I hadnt, it would have cost me £42.00 and over 5 hours in travelling time to see someone who wouldnt have had the expertise to help me.

Well done to SF in passing the exam, and good luck with the remaining 2.

Meg, so sorry for your loss, I hope you have plenty of support to help you cope.

bb - congratulations for whatever bails referred to.

Bails - sorry your field hasnt worked out, but glad you still have your dream house in the horizon. I hope your OH is coping okay with his family and the funeral goes as well as these things can.

Eyes are falling asleep now, so sorry I havent commented on any other posts
Have a good day tomorrow

Lilo

ceridwen

top_drawer wrote: »

I am really interested in joining a LETS group and I have sent them a couple of emails but received no reply. I am in Preston, Lancashire.

Jen

If you dont have a phonenumber for your LETS group to give them a ring instead (which is the best way to go) - then try making contact with their "next door" LETS group to ask if they are still running and ask for a phone number.

The administrators of a LETS group tend to be aware of which other LETS groups they have nearby and a rough idea of the "state of play" of them.

One possible way to find a LETS group contact number is to check out local "Green" events - they may well have a stall there at any major "green" event (as its one way we recruit new members). The owner of any "genuine" health food shop may know (ie NOT "holland and B******t or the like - but a locally-run one). The owner of any "alternative" bookshop nearby might know also.

*************************

Alternatively - if it turns out that there is no current LETS group in your area - then the guidelines as to how to start one up are available from LETSLINK and we'd be pleased to welcome another group into the fold if anyone wants to start one up. The basic how-to gist is that everyone pays a (small - ie less than £10 pa) membership fee (reduced to even lower if they are unwaged) and lists what services they are offering. At that point most people go "what on earth could I offer?". Answer - theres always something: housework/gardening/cooking/babysitting/housesitting/clothes alterations/lifts/surplus garden produce/etc. Everyone has SOMETHING to offer - even if they dont have some sort of skill marketable for paid jobs.

A membership directory is supplied to each member - listing what all the members are offering and giving their contact details.

A LETS credit book is given to everyone (ie our equivalent of a chequebook) to "pay" for the services and/or goods "bought". The two members who wish to "trade" together agree a suitable "price" in LETS credits that they are both happy with. Each LETS credit is deemed to be "roughly" the equivalent of £1. Regarding services offered - charges are usually an hourly rate in LETS credits. We have an "unofficial" minimum hourly rate in our group of 8 LETS Credits per hour (ie the equivalent of £8) and everyone expects to pay at least that amount for services required. My own experience is that, if anything, I end up telling the person I am "buying" services from that they have just quoted me too little and giving them more than they said they wanted.

LETS groups are run in an "open" way - anyone is able to attend a meeting of the Officers if they wish to. All "accounts" are open - and yearly members are given a list of the debit or credit balance of all other members (so that they can see that things are being done fairly/openly and hopefully offer to do some "trading" with anyone they see has a lot of debit in their account - to help them out). No interest of any description is charged on a "debit" balance. No interest of any description is given on a "credit" balance. It is understood that everyone is likely to start off by having a debit balance - as the usual way to start off is to "buy" something from an existing member.

LETS Schemes trade in both goods and services. The directory is to help people basically with trading services and the Trading Events are basically to give people a chance to "sell" things - baking/craft stuff they have made/car boot sale type stuff/etc and of course to socialise - so there is a lot of chat and some fixing-up of services required (we even have some services on the spot sometimes - occasionally a hairdresser member of ours turns up at one - and then a queue forms as she cuts peoples hair on the spot).

rozeepozee

Thriftkitten wrote: »

Hi Fishcake,
I think chasing the latest oil or lotion for stretch marks is a losing battle,
In my opinion, just keeping the skin as hydrated and flexible as possible will allow it to stretch and keep it supple enough to allow it to go back after, I would say that after a nice bath is probably the best time to slather something on yer tummy as your pores are open and the best chance of the cream getting in, I would use a nice thick cream also, I al.ways used coco butter, but not that expensive one made just for stretch marks, one that I found in an afro caribbean hair/skin care shop

Don't pay - get it on prescription! I went to the docs with a complaint about my uncomfortable itchy skin caused by my pregnancy bump and she prescribed me with Oilatum Gel for the shower and Oilatum cream for post shower and it's free cos of my MAT1B form