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

mama67

sophiesmum wrote: »

sft - It is in post 2262

Cheryl ((hugs)) never an easy decision to make, but better than letting your dog suffer longer:(

Erm I appear to have just sent in another £20 order to approved foods but i will be receiving £170 worth of stuff for that and will be sorted for ryvitas, soup and couscous for the year (at least) Nyk make room for some sea salt croutons somewhere, I was 29p short of a nice round number so added 29 cases of croutons for 1p each lol

In other frugal news I helped Nyk declutter her kitchen by rehoming two boxes of recipe cards thanks Nyk!
Hello my name is SM and I have a cook book/recipe addiction lol - smuggled them into cottage so OH wouldn't roll his eyes at me again.

I had some of those croutons in my last order, they are nice to just nibble on as a snack.

homegrown_life

Natalie - I'm so glad you're feeling positive about it all. I'm sure it will all work out well for you. Your swim school sounds great and I bet it goes from strength to strength.

I can sympathise with the costs of rent though, it's my biggest bugbear at the moment. I know I shouldn't get annoyed as I know I have to pay something for a house whether it is to a bank in interest or to a landlord but ugh - when I look at the yearly amounts!! Scary! And it is so high that it will take us so long to get onto the housing ladder if everythign stays the way it is with high deposits needed. We'll get there someday though. Might have a browse on Rightmove later...

CW - sorry to hear about your dog.

XS - sorry to hear about your redundancy but pleased you're positive!

Made my marmalade yesterday, OH said it tasted good :T Made 5 and a half jars and I'm not sure we'll eat *that* much. I made 2 normal and 3 and a half with whisky in it so will give father in law a jar of normal and whisky as a Fathers Day gift and hope OH eats the rest! I'll have to develop a liking for it too. It's one of those things I always look at in books and really want to try even though I know we'll not eat loads of it!

I made some bread yesterday, 3 loaves where I'd normally make one and yum it never tastes so good normally! I must've done something right!!

Also bought remainder of food I'll need till next tax credits (on Friday). My budget is officially £30 a week and I've just gone over it at £124.21 for this 4 wk period but that did include an approved foods order and some marmalade. To be honest I can't quite believe I've kept it so low!! Hope I can continue it. I know I normally spend around £40 - £50 but that includes toiletries etc.

Had a NSD today even though I came home from work with bread. I traded my Dad some dog food that AppFoods sent me (for free or by accident!) for a loaf. Must get on with that LETS application!!

Slow cooker bean stew tonight and a lazy day I hope.

Take care everyone x

kittiej

Just spent £12.64 in Lidls. So that's £97.44 of my budget gone.

I'm just waiting for my gas and electric bills to come online from eon. They're going to be big with the winter weather. Hope they won't be too big! and I need more diesel next week, oh no that's going to come to loads of money lol.

I can't really keep up with all the posts on this thread so I shall just send everyone a big *hug*

candygirl

Woohoo have had another a NSD today, and have just revamped my soup into a pasta sauce by adding chilli n garlic to it:p:pHaving that for tea topped with cheese, and a salad:p:p
Got some gorg clothes of my friend inc lots of brand new bras, a swimming costume, a summer mac and a zillion t shirts:T:TShe wouldn't take any money, so we are having a meal out and i'm paying;):D
Boo has gone down for a nap, so am chilling for a few mins, and hope to get some sleep tonight as she's teething really badly:eek::eek::eek:

rozeepozee

A bit of advice please!

I've seen some mentions of boiler insurance cover on here. The cover we got with the boiler we had installed last year ends in Feb and I've been quoted £5.99 per month which sounds fairly reasonable as it also includes an annual service, but the cover only includes the boiler - not the radiators or other pipework. It also doesn't include the cost of replacement of the boiler where it's beyond economical repair but I'd hope this isn't an issue with a young boiler.

Does anyone have any recommendations for boiler insurance. There doesn't seem to be a "compare" type website where I can be directed to the best/cheapest cover.

TIA

I've skim read the posts but can't type more as my backs killing me today from my pregnancy bump

Kerry_Woman

Saved my Mum some money with the food shopping. Got 3 meats for £10 in M&S. Quorn mince for £1(got 4) in Sainsb..... In Sainsb..... got free food storage container, they were giving them away to remind people to use their leftovers for another meal. Hopefully most of the food I got will last us 2 weeks.

Got wastebasket liners with recycled material used to make them. Also applied for the CoOp membership card. Also updated the spreadsheet. Put some plastic bags in Asd@ recycled bin.

KazLA

I've been reading this thread for hints and tips and to keep me motivated in my quest to spend less and be more frugal...

I only manage to read about a page or two a day, so struggling to keep up, but thought I'd mention a couple of things that may be of interest (sorry if they've been said before)

I signed up to a £1 trial of Which (as I needed some help in choosing our next car seat) and came across an interesting article in the magazine on washing powder:

They'd tested 19 washing powders, for stain removal, colour fading and whiteness, Ariel Bio came first with a score of 81%, but Lidl's Formil Bio at half the price (£5 for 60 washes) was 2nd, with 74%, beating Daz, Persil and Ecover.

Aldi'a Almat powder was 69% (only 1% lower than persil), but not sure on the price...

Definitely going to get my powder at Lidls next time I need some.

The other thing that surprised me today was the bargin I got in Thorntons - Butter tablet reduced from £1.69 to 49p because it was out of date! There was also large boxes of toffees down from about £4 to £1.25. Didn't expect to see bargins like that there and will definitely keep an eye out for more.

Hope someone finds this useful!

JayneC

Hello all,

Lots of inspiring stuff to read. Have been working late last week so not managed to keep up with reading the thread. Have caught up mostly now though, have to try to keep up now!

CW sorry about your little dog

Natalie - pleased things seem to be reasonably sorted about your housing and great news that your swim school is doing so well - well done

Mum offour77 - sorry to hear about your dad, hope things aren't too bad, sending hugs

Well I've been naughty today and decided to have chippy tea. DS and DD are have just gone to get it. Still we don't do it very often, so I'll not be too harsh on myself. Have managed to do reasonable teas all week despite being late nights/ early mornings almost every day. I need to get better at batch cooking. I can do baking ok but not so good with actual meals. I do sometimes make extras when I can but doesn't always work out that way.

Will do a stock take of freezer and cupboards and do list for shopping. New month for me so can do a bit of stockpiling.

WEnt to B&Ms yeasterday - there's not one nearby but passed one whilst out and about on my travels so called in. got quite a lot of store cupboard stuff and a few household bits.

Anyway off to eat my fish nad chips now, see ya soon x

rozeepozee

I've just discovered there are comparison websites for boiler cover - but the cover I'm being offered is the cheapest - presumably as it's such a new machine - glad I remembered that I have boiler insurance for the first two years as part of the installation though because when I checked the small print boiler sevice isn't covered and I nearly ticked the box to add it at a cost of an extra £60!

aeb_2

Hello

Runny tummy all round here so a completely disorganised day, you know, when they are very little and you wonder where the day went when you are still in your dressing gown at 5 pm and can't see the work surfaces or the floor - well that is me today, all chilling in the playroom/kitchen and where ever I look there is a child, a baby or a cat in amongst the heaps toys and waiting washing. Third lot of nappies in!

Marmalade - I had forgotten all about that, next year I think. I love marmalade tart.

RozeePozee - the back ache will be worth it I promise:T even on bad days

Natalie - Great news about the swim school and the planning, such a shame you're not nearer, I'd like to have my pool put to good use, but alas, it will be at least two years as it needs major work (also cosmetic work but I can live without that). Decisions - it has a lovely painted wooden structure housing it but it is rotting. Logic tells me double glazed UPVC/plastic is the way to go but I like the idea of natural wood look. More research when the time comes I think. Also a very old yet productive grape vine growing all down one side which I would want to keep, although the previous owner said they do tend to fall in the water!

NSD today, boiled water and rich tea biscuits for tea:D