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

candygirl

NUALA I find using salad cream, instead of mayo makes coleslaw tangy:p:p

cw18

NualaBuala wrote: »

Another non-essential spend was a feeder for my feathered friends but I hope that the birds will eat the seed rather than the berries I grow so perhaps I can class it as an investment?.

I was seriously tempted by both the pole style feeder and the 'ornate' bird bath.....

Managed to convince myself they were definitely wants rather than needs - helped by the fact I'm sure that in one spot the box declared it to have a 7'4" height, but in another it said it was 6'1" above ground. As we have heavy soil I don't fancy trying to secure it at all

NualaBuala

candygirl wrote: »

NUALA I find using salad cream, instead of mayo makes coleslaw tangy:p:p

Candygirl, you're a genius :T - that's the exact flavour I'm looking for! Don't know why I didn't think of it! Don't think I have much left, will have to go shopping again!:p

NualaBuala

cw18 wrote: »

I was seriously tempted by both the pole style feeder and the 'ornate' bird bath.....

Managed to convince myself they were definitely wants rather than needs - helped by the fact I'm sure that in one spot the box declared it to have a 7'4" height, but in another it said it was 6'1" above ground. As we have heavy soil I don't fancy trying to secure it at all

Cheryl I was so tempted too. And I'm not sure it was frugal thoughts that stopped me buying - more the thought of lugging them home as I don't have a car. Well done you for being super-virtuous! :A

Erme

knithappens wrote: »

They sound great, i was stumbled by some when online shopping for reusable nappies for my bubba, OMG they cost a fortune for one, I remember my mum (born 1934) alwasy said they used rags and then soaked them so nothing new, just we have gotten so far away from frugality with convenience.

May give these ago when my period returns (breastfeeding at the moment) which should not be long as little one hase been weaning for ust over a month, already getting the dreaded PMT acne, so do tn think the wicked withc will be too far away, i have tried the moon cup but was very fiddly, not so bad when at home but not great when at work, and only one toilet to 2 floors of teachers, and everyone is trying to make a dash for it before lessons begin.

PAD today was 30.82 from music magpie sales, howeve pay am gonnn have to pay out big to day as my toilet is eaking, the plumber is calling around at 10, i finaly found a plumber that does not try to rip me off, but still this was an unexpected bill, argghh always happens when things are going so well, anyway onward and upward.

On a sad note my maternity leave finishes in 8 days and I am back in work:( good news i am only doing 3 days per week so managable, as i want to spend as much time with my children while they need me,

If ya really fussy about getting them whiter than white try 'any hand soap that gets bike grease off ya hands'. I say this cos I happened to have some radox liquid soap in (cost like £1 from poundland or somewhere ages ago) and a drop (you don't need anymore) on the really bad bits...leave for a few mins and they come up REALLY white....sorted If not the shampoo should do. I'm a soap nuts girl so freak out @ the thought of paying 75p for biological liquid...would rather use what I have in for now:)

moo2moo

Rather than buying containers for spuds try planting them inside old car tyres (free fom ATS, KwikFit etc.) then rather than earthing up you add another tyre to the top generating extra depth that way. You don't need to plant on a rotaiotnal basis either. Plant them all at the same time, the longer you leave them the bigger they'll be. Teres nothing to gain from staggering the plantings as the remaining seed potatoes will go leggy and soft and produce a lower yield if you store them unplanted for too long.

ceridwen

cw18 wrote: »

I use an on-line dictionary, and have done for several years

Means it's always up-to-date when new lingo gets added as well

Certainly on-line dictionaries are useful - but one cant trail a computer round the house in one hand and whatever book one is reading in the other hand. I spent some years with a good dictionary by my side whenever I was reading - until I had acquired a reasonable vocabulary (by looking up every word I didnt understand at that point). Boy - some books took a L...O...N....G time to read - but I progressed through from having to look up a dozen words per page to a few words per book gradually :rotfl:

Savvy_sewing

Not been very frugal at the moment. Bought some books on Amazon the other day. Then yesterday succombed to taking the family out for a drink! so thats blown the budget for the month, as I hadnt really got entertainment put down in the budget.
Will have to rethink that. Also try and learn how to take better photographs so I can actually sell things on the internet. My photography is terrible! Must try harder!

SavvyStudent_2

Rictus, brilliant on having a re-think about financing a car / van! The OH and I are saving up for a new car come October / November too, would much rather do it without finance, especially now since OH might be made redunant in June Yes, we could afford repayments now, but whos to say we could afford it 2 years down the line when the finance is still running - we'd rather save up and buy a decent little second hand car safe in the knowledge that its ours and we won't be struggling to pay for it for years to come, and not paying interest on it! Also planning to pay the insurance, tax etc in a lump sum so its less monthly. And hopefully get a discount for paying up front lol x

BigMummaF

moo2moo wrote: »

Rather than buying containers for spuds try planting them inside old car tyres....

My beloved Victoria failed the mot on the front tyres yesterday & the garage now charges for getting rid of the old ones..what won't be free soon They're asking £1:69 per car tyre which--I suppose--isn't too bad, but I was thinking I'd bring them home to use as planters but wasn't sure I could. Thank goodness they've had to order the size in & I saw your post before I parted with four quid I didn't need to :T Thank you!
Now can you just explain my apparent madness to the Offspring please