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

XSpender

I started reading the thread this morning and had to go and make pancakes after reading you all talking about them last night:o Lemon and sugar, delish!

I am not cut out for running a smallholding, especially after the disaster of GYO last year, but would like to live in a more rural area and keep chickens and successfully grow veggies but that is about as far as I could see us going.

More good news on the income basis as it appears when I take PILON I will get three months of my income tax free. Also my holiday pay and compensation for handing my co car back early will be tax free. I will be on mat benefits but better in my pocket than someone elses:)

I have a very silly question about ISAs that someone on here may be able to help me with as I cannot see anything on the ISA guide on the site. By the end of the year I will have enough saved to fill mine and part of DH ISA allowance. Do I open two accounts on 1st April and fill them through the year (first available biggish deposits 5th May) or wait until the end of the tax year and fill them?

I have never been in a position to save this kind of money before as always had debts so I am a bit of a novice and I want to put the money away so it isn't so easily accessable as my online banking savings accounts.

Spent £1.18 on 6m of girly wrapping papper yesterday . I now have enough male, female and christmas paper for the whole of this year and possibly next. Also got 2 cardis and a t shirt for bump. Will order the rest of his stuff through T0p cashback/m0thercare on pay day and that will be me allready for his arrival:eek:

I have not managed to have a NSD at all in March so I need to focus on this for the rest of the month.

cw18

XSpender wrote: »

I have a very silly question about ISAs that someone on here may be able to help me with as I cannot see anything on the ISA guide on the site. By the end of the year I will have enough saved to fill mine and part of DH ISA allowance. Do I open two accounts on 1st April and fill them through the year (first available biggish deposits 5th May) or wait until the end of the tax year and fill them?

An "ISA year" is the same as a "Tax year", so runs 6th April to 5th April.

You can invest up to the maximum at any point during that year, although there used to be some around that accepted regular savings only (ie. a set amount each week/month) though I think these have in the main disappeared now. So you can now invest either a regular amount at regular intervals, or drop in a 'lump sum' whenever you have some to spare. I have one, but since my first year (when I put in something each month) it's only ever been odds-and-sods when I had something spare. The sooner you put the money in the sooner you start earning the tax free interest on it though, so best to fill as early in the year as you can

pagangirl

Thanks to people on 'It's Tough Now' thread, got answer to slow cooker question. Sometimes feel invisible on this thread, cos no one ever answers any questions I ask. Never mind.

Went to BnQ yesterday, in the hope they might have a couple of odd tiles to use as slow cooker base - were they helpful - nooooooooooooo ! :mad: On way home, called in local bathroom merchant on the off chance - they couldn't have been nicer - guy showed me pile of odd tiles they didn't need and said help yourself AND wouldn't take any money for them Only took 2 large ones - restored my faith in people which is sadly jaded lately.

Got free recipe yesterday for Mars Bar slice - never heard of this one before.
Melt 4oz spread/butter and 4 x 54g Mars Bars together til smooth liquid. In seperate bowl put 3oz Rice Krispies. Pour liquid over, mix well and spread put on baking tray. Melt 200g Cadbury choc & pour over top. When cool, put in fridge. Sorry about mixed oz/gram but just copied from recipe. It was yummy

ChinaTea

Have just about managed to catch up with the posts.

Not much to report this week. Last weekend DS planted the fruit trees and shrubs and moved the tyres to a better spot so am already to go just need the weather. Lakelands gardening catalogue came this morning - way to expensive but there was a free packet of salad leave seeds in with it. I've filled in the online form for the DigIn seeds and it says they should be here soon. was really late getting these last year so wanted to be a step ahead.

Sunday as well as being Mothers day is DS birthday, he'll be 36 :eek:. So Sunday DS, DGS will be here for Sunday lunch. DS is veggie but he likes a roast dinner without the meat, he's veggie in the sense that he won't eat meat and hasn't since he was around 12-13 so it is just a case of not giving him the meat. We are going to have the Christmas pudding that never got eaten at Christmas. Think DGS is more excited about this than anything else as he helped make it and there is a 'silver coin' hidden in it, actually it's a 10p wrapped in foil. The birthday cake will be the same chocolate biscuit fudge cake that DS son has had since was 3 and DGS now has this for birthdays as well. So a frugal meal really, just need to buy some fresh veg and that's my spends for March done. Except that I'm taking my neighbour to Kings Lynn next week. I don't need anything but there is a good £land and TJHughes there as well as a good old fashioned fabric/craft shop so I shall only take £10 with me so I'm not tempted too much.

Off to get my cardi finished, want to get started on something else and like to finish 1 project before I start another.

Frugaldom

Hi guys, just popped back on to add this.

Pagangirl, I apologise for a lack of personal response to your question about slow cookers. This thread has been so busy that I've found the same problem myself, often, having asked about something and received no response. If I'm able to respond and I see the question, I do so, but time doesn't always permit me to exchange pleasantries with everyone. For me, that just isn't in my time budget, IYSWIM Anyway, if you are posting a question, try using 'advanced' mode and adding titles to posts so they get easily spotted. That way, if we're pushed for time and having to skim read, the bold text is seen easily. Just a suggestion that I hope may help. Or you could try the 'slow cooker' thread.

Off to make lunch now, then get into the greenhouse to start some planting before the sun disappears.

Fishcake_Random

Hello fellow frugals,
I'm officially back online at home!!! I can pretty much catch up all day now which makes everything so much more fun!!! I'm one of those people who need a bit of encouragement everyday lol and bump is now making moving about harder as I am officially full term!
Frugal things I am doing;
I have a little pot on my windowsill will some tomatoe seeds I'm trying to grow.
I have a second little pot with 2 runner beans to get started lol.
Tomorrow I will be making potatoe pie all day to use up a bag of aldis potatoes, pile of mushrooms and any other left overs lurking.
Putting washing out on the line almost every morning. (No point if i cant make a load)
Making a stack of cards for various occasions from stamps
Growing a baby lol.
Listing many books/films/games etc on amazon.

Just off to catch up with the last 3 pages of posts.
x x x x x

Fishcake_Random

The small holding discussion is really interesting. I used to think I wanted to do the small holding route but once I looked into it and realised it was a buissness rather than a lifestyle I knew it wasn't for me. My partner though supportive wouldn't help with anything animal related and is not a gardener by any stretch allthough he will always help with any "lifting" or "lugging" as he calls it and will water my baskets etc if I ask. So I would be doing things single handed.
My new fantasy/dream is to have a little house/cottage with a large enough garden for some chickens(maybe) and a decent veg/fruit patch so I can produce a substantial amount of things for ourselves.
OH dreams of buillding his buisness to the stage where he has several sucessdfull shops and can retire early and perhaps travel. By doing this challenge we are taking the first steps towards both our goals together and it feels fantastic to be doing it.

annie123

JUST IN CASE ANYONE'S NOT NOTICED DIG IN SEEDS NOW AVAILABLE:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/digin/


sorry for shouting

A_fiend_for_life

Thanks annie123 just applied.

savingwannabe

Huge thanks i have just applied too. This is my first ever posting. Yippee.
savingwannabe