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

aeb_2

LilacPixie wrote: »

AEB - have you tried baby led weaning?? and yup I think your odd, understandable the feeling of hope last time etc but still odd. I preferred childbirth to pregnancy and one of those was an induction

I wasn't so keen on child birth, my first four were all induced so that took the edge off it for me. The triplets weren't - no space, I think they pushed each other out!

Baby led weaning - I shall continue to feed as long as necesary. For one thing I've never bought any bottles or equipment and wont start now. I think with three it might need to be a little more structured than it was with the first three or there wont be enough hours in the day:( They can all drink with a straw now so that's a start. They have all eaten a little (teaspoonful) of sieved apple, carrot and pear from the garden so far. They wont get much more than that till six months but I can definately tell they are getting ready i.e. waking a bit sooner.

cw18

I loved being pregnant - other than the morning sickness with my first (didn't last as long as it has for other people), a blackout with my second, and dizzy spells with my third (like I had in the lead up to the blackout with the second, so always took them as a sign to stop what I was doing and lie down until it passed)........ and having to get up due to a 'need' many times a night in the last few weeks :rotfl:

The best part was the early 'butterfly' movements - wasn't so keen on the full pressure turns though!!! Liked to see the hands/feet moving, but it wasn't always comfortable :eek:



Haven't done a great deal this weekend....

• Made up a batch of chille (one meal for this next week, then 6 more in the freezer for the next few months).
• Got the essential groceries I needed yesterday. Passed through Mr M before close tonight (was passing, so called in) - and amazingly came out without spending a penny, not even on Whoopsies :T
• Finalised (I hope) my shopping list for the garden so I can really get stuck into my f&v growing. DD reckons she's going to be helping herself to some of the results - but unless the crops exceed the best I could get (according to the blurb on the seeds etc) she'll be told to go grow her own
• Picked up a bird feeding station...... our £S didn't have any, but the local B&Em had them reduced from £9.99 (the A!di price) to £7.99 - so I got it from there and saved myself a couple of quid. Have taken the cost of that, a couple of feeders to hang from it and some peanuts, seeds and fat balls from my birthday cheque.
• I also got myself a nice set of screw drivers from my birthday money (just need to un-bury my empty toolbox now, so I can store them safely). It includes a load of sizes (and shapes!) I've never owned before, and many's the time I've not had 'the right one' for a job and had to make do. No excuses for not getting on with some of the small jobs that need doing around the house now

I still have £14+ left of my birthday cheque, but have decided against the ornamental bird bath that tempted me in A!di on Thursday..... partly as it will use up more of the garden (and I'm already using up a chunk for my SFG boxes), partly as I'm not convinced it wouldn't tumble if the dog decided to leap at it, and partly as there is a water dish on the feeder pole - so a separate water source isn't 'essential'

Talking of water sources - I've ordered a couple of water butts so I don't have to use metered water for the garden. Didn't have space for the larger size I would have liked, so have ordered 2 'space saver' ones instead (on a multibuy offer via my water provider - after a couple of hours of checking prices of various bits this seemed to be the cheapest and I was losing the will to surf any more). My main upset was discovering I can't collect the water from the bathroom, as it actually drains into the pipe from the toilet as best I can tell (guess there's a 'no return' valve where they connect up). As such I'm going to have to install one to the side of the front of the house (total pain as the water will be needed round the back!) and the other just round the back right alongside the static side of the patio doors.

crystals2632

nsd yesterday, and today have 20 quid left till wednesday its fine if I dont go out, but I will surely go stir crazy if i stay in again tomorrow. so wanna save the 20 quid but dont have a hope. joined readitswap it and posted all my wish book list. had suprise visitors who off loaded there stuff on me so may sell I am hopless at selling though.what I got very large china ornaments some are so large theres no room may take them to the boot sale next sunday.

BigMummaF

babyboysmommy wrote: »

....a chocolate biscuit cake.

Not heard of this one..any chance of the recipe please? Anything with 'chocolate' or 'biscuit' would certainly raise the eyebrows, but to have both in the same reference will have The Offspring whooping like cowboys at a hoe-down

rozeepozee

I do not enjoy being pregnant - Cheryl and aeb, you are so lucky. I am not one of these ladies who "glow" during pregnancy, especially not this one, growing two babies. However, I thank my lucky stars every day that I have the chance to do this. I have the most gorgeous little boy and two girls on the way who are all very wanted babies (this pregnancy is an ivf one as at 41 my body is in its autumn years of breeding!). I don't get anything as delicate as butterfly movements with these two - they sometimes feel like they're having football practice in me there's so much kicking. They kicked my newspaper off my tum at the weekend :rotfl:

Fishcake my due date is 7th May but there's no way I'll get to that date as these babies are already big, so they'll probably arrive early to mid April. My FIL was born on 1st April, so it wouldn't be so bad if they were to share a birthday with him. I'd just like them to be developed enough that they don't need special care. I think of pregnancy as a bit of a marathon - to be endured - and the home stretch is the worst bit! I take it this is your first? I hope you enjoy motherhood as much as I do. It's the hardest thing I've done and sometimes I've really struggled but as far as life satisfaction is concerned, sharing the raising of a family with my partner has been the most satisfying thing I've ever done. And I was once a career crazed workaholic who spent 14 hours a day in the office and vowed she'd never have children. How times change! It's also made me frugal - I realise the value of relationships and the need to conserve the planet for our future generations.

Whoops - had my own little rant there....

New frugal behaviour: I've finally read my gas and leccy meters - what do I do now? Presumably I need more than one set of readings? Is there a website I input the figures into? The scariest thing was how fast my gas meter was going round :eek: I need to work out if I'm with the cheapest supplier I suppose? I have changed before but about two or so years ago. My fuel bills are one of my biggest expenses. Would be great to reduce them. It's still been way too cold here to have the heating off when we're home. Come on Spring!

I've just put the contents of my veggie shelf from the fridge into the slow cooker. I don't know what limp celery, leek, butternut squash, tomatoes, lentils, garlic, basil and lentil soup taste likes but I'll be able to tel you later - it's a bit of an experiment!

Kiwisaver_2

I've had a busy and very expensive day today. I had a day off work to wait for the plumber to come back with parts for the water heater. All fixed now, but not without wetting the carpet even more and leaving me with a further bill for $627.04 :eek:

Altogether it's cost about 350 quids and all efforts at drying the carpet seem to be in earnest and I've a million (dirty) wet towels hanging outside. It's all stinking, so I've lifted as much of the carpet as I can and removed the underlay, which I chucked in the washing machine with a good dose of vinegar and disinfectant. I've given the wet carpet a good wipe over with some vinegar, so we'll see how that goes, when it's a bit drier I'll give it a dose of bicarb.

I've put the bill on my credit card so I don't have to pay until mid-March, meanwhile I swear I am not spending any more unnecessary money until I can recover this unexpected cost. I listed more books today, now up to 35 and have to stop at the maximum of fifty before incurring any charges. I don't actually have that many more and we are down to the dregs now, some I've listed before that didn't sell, but worth another go before I give them away. I've listed $400 worth (reserve) and I may get a bit more than I'm asking for on some, I'll pray for some frenzied bidding. It may take a while and I don't care, I'll just keep re-listing them until they're almost for free. Two have bids on already and a few watchers, so at least that's something in the kitty.

I did take the opportunity to go to Binn Inn this afternoon - equivalent to the Weigh and Save shops. I can't get there when I'm working and I had heard they sold borax ( they didn't have any) but I am always amazed at the stuff they have. You can take empty cartons or bottles and fill with washing up liquid, white vinegar and anything else you can think of. I bought a kilo of Baking Soda and a kilo of Washing Soda for $4.00 (about £1.60) - considering I paid $1.20 for 400g Baking Soda at the supermarket last week.

I'm not even buying any food until my reward vouchers turn up - I'm quietly hoping they'll be here for Thursday.

cuddlymarm

Hi everyone

Just thought I'd pop by and say hello:hello:
We had quite an expensive weekend cos OH needed a new suit for work (we looked in the sales before xmas but OH couldn't find one that he wanted)

On the other hand my cupboards are now stocked back up so it is just a matter of keeping them that way.

I am trying to be super frugal over the next few weeks cos we are hoping to go away for a family holiday next xmas but when pricing it all it is definately cheaper to buy the flights, villa and car hire all seperately but of course this means that when we book the flights they will need paying for straight away ( this is where you struggle without a credit card but if we can't afford we can't have) and with it being over xmas we want to book early. So this is where MSing comes in . Not a penny will come out of my purse unless absolutely neccesary.

Anyway I'd better get on
Cuddles:rotfl:

grandma247

Kiwisaver ordinary salt removes smells. Just dump a thick load over the area and leave it a couple of hours then sweep it up and dispose, then dump a load more on. It will lift a lot of the wet too. Just keep doing it till you can't smell it anymore. Vacuum the last dry lot up. I did this when I had a leak from under a freezer on a carpet and it went mouldy. It worked.

crystals2632

nsd number 2, sister called with child 3 so babysitting. house is cluttered with big china ornaments including a big horse. still got my 20 quid. tune in to see if i make it to wed when it will go in the bank. im deffo on a mission now.

hey KIWISAVER where do you list all your books please thanks.

ChinaTea

NYK re rag rug: I have made these before using ay sacking I can get hold of, usually potato sacks, and any and all scraps of fabric. I have found that thicker fabrics work better. My dad started me off with instructions, he's 77 now , it used to be a family activity when he was a boy. He said that his mother saved all fabric that wasn't any good for anything else and old coats/blankets made the best rugs. Anyways I have used cotton fabrics leftover from sewing projects and found that a double thickness gives a better finish and holds in the backing better. Only thing is they are very heavy when finished bit so hard wearing.

It's been snowing since mid morning so after getting some housework done am staying indoors with knitting and need to do some baking and make bread. Waiting till later though as heat from the oven will heat the kitchen at the same time.

Finalised budget for Jan and have spent 9.97% of budget for year. Haven't decided yet whether this is good or not. Feb should be less expensive although no2 puss is at vets next week for annual check up and booster.