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

liloandstitch

Thanks for the dig in info, I have applied for seeds for me, and also for DS through the cbeebies site.

Thanks everyone for the really helpful info, I rarely post even though I participate, but I always read every day.

The laundry gloop is fab, and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone. The only thing I have found is that I need to make sure it has melted before putting it in. I now add some gloop to a jug and top up with boiling water, give it a good swish, and add it to the drawer as the water is running. This works brilliantly. I had one go when the soap left marks on a black shirt and I had to rewash the whole batch - no probs since I tried this. It is SO cheap, and really good. I cant believe I didnt try it a long time ago - and the clothes are really soft as well.

Lilo

batcatz

Hi, I haven't posted on here much, but get the daily digest. I'm gutted as I've been scammed. I've posted the thread here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=30788949#post30788949

Keep an eye on those bank statements!

rozeepozee

pagangirl wrote: »

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

I wonder how many people on here ending up eating the same things due to the tempting posts about them. (I'm sure there was a book recently published about htis I can't risk anything so sweet at the moment, pagangirl but once this pregnancy and my gestational diabetes are gone, am gonne have to give that recipe a try!

I doubt people are ignoring you intentionally BTW. They probably don't have an answer to your query or have missed it due to skim reading (which is the only way I manage to keep up with this thread).

Thanks for your insights nyk. Helpful as always.

lynzpower

or a straightforward wage packet to pay the bills... but most people I know who are living like this either have debts or do nothing but complain about their husbands, cars, kids, pets, jobs, childcare, cost of living, need of a holiday... I gave up trying to understand it all years ago and just accept that society is diverse and someone, somewhere is trying their best to keep all of the people happy all of the time whilst pulling their hair out knowing that's impossible.

Yup thats me alright

Have to say I've had a rough few days to be honest and not feeling too cheerful

I jsut feel so trapped really- lately more so than ever. we live in tied accommodation ( thats why its so cheap and we have practically zero bills) so on the plus side Ive been focsusing on the light at the end of the tunnel, saving as much money as possible, so that when we move on and start a family ( which we want sooner rather than later) we wil have substantial deposit, or cash in the bank so I can take adequate amount of time off etc.

We have had the offer of another accommodation from my employer. Basically it is in an idyllic location and is a farm. It has views to rolling countryside- yet It is on the tube network, and it is truly lovely. But we would have to pay a higher contribution to bills and would tip over to paying almost 600 a month in outgoings, when we only pay 300pcm on accomodation now ( for OHs share basically)
PLus we would have to pay for removal costs, and probably some new stuff ( ie our bed wouldnt survive the move) We would be spending at least 600 just moving :eek:

I have been literally turning over with myself over this for a few days, we know where it is roughly and is ion such a lovely area we could never really afford to live there - or so we thought , have looked on rightmove and have seen a house - not quite as big!! But a 3 bed family house with 60foot SF garden, would work out if we have the full 50k we target in savings at 650 a month.

So we have gone through a whole range of emotions - wanting to live there! Yet realising its further away from work so less time at home, more expenses on travelling- every spare penny we save now is a step closer.

So with heavy heart we have put the farm idea to bed. I feel very sad. Worse that I will be visiting the farm through work, and I know I will feel jealous. Silly really isnt it.

Needless to say while all this turmoil has been going on, frugal living has gone out the window- not massively, but Ive been doing "extra food shops" for a fiver here and there for no reason. :wall:

Anyway, Im hoping to take my mind off this, by us dealing with home homey stuff here.All this talk of moving has made me drastically re-evaluate the clutter in the flat, and we will be moving at some point so weve decided the time is now to streamline our belongings. I have gone through the book case in the lounge and identified 2 carrier bags of books for charity shop. We have quite a lot of large bags of stuff we didnt sell at the car boot and some of it was quite good so will sort that in a bit and hopefully take it to CSD and ragrecycle tomorrow.

We have to take jazzie to the vets for her blood test but that wont cost us anything and I have works van for the weekend so no fares to pay. I have taken out the M&S salt beef from the freezer, Ill boil that for sandwiches through the week.

The top up shops yielded just ingredients, buttermilk (not sure why i bought this) sunflower and pumpkin seeds, flour, bit of veg. Im heading over to the grocery challenge as from her on in I need to be on the straight and narrow or Ill never come in under budget for march on food shopping.

Hugs to anyone who needs them too, I might be depleted but I still got plenty xxxx

Blairweech

Annie - Thanks, I just applied and was successful :j Usually I am too late.

Nyk - Am glad you posted re: the smallholding debate Thanks for congratulations on my debtfree-ness, sadly its only for a few months until I have to take on a student loan.

Had a fairly good day today, went on a training course withe the JobCentre. Lunch was provided Anyway, it was all about your personal skills, goal setting, writing your CV etc. Very informative and motivating.

As it was an all day thing, have not done anything else. Got my deposit back from my cottage, so will put that into savings soon

NualaBuala

Hi frunchkins :wave:

Hurray it's Friday! Not that it makes any difference to Frugaldom, I guess there are no days off from livestock!

Pagangirl, I rarely know the answers to questions, usually I'm the one asking them!

SF - hope you're ok - your last few posts sound like you've a lot going on. Big hugs to you. Big hugs all round to anyone who'd like one in fact

Lynz, sorry you've had rough week. Sounds like an emotional rollercoaster. But it sounds like you'll be able to keep saving more money this way and that will help you own your own dream place some day.

Batcatz - sorry to hear about the fraud. Hope you get your money back.



I finally remembered to have a go at doing baked spuds on the open fire. Fingers crossed they'll turn out ok - they're wrapped in lots of tin foil and sitting in an old foil container. It's a very low fire so will probably take ages. I'm having banana and walnut loaf for tea as it needs using up.

Very pleased as I had my first go at using dried chickpeas and they turned out fine (but they were quite stinky while cooking I thought). This will save me a good bit of money. I made a big batch of hummus and it's so much cheaper than shop-bought (I'm a big fan of M&S's but can't afford to buy it much). I'm not sure I'd say mine is nicer; it is delicious though, I think I'll tweak it a little next time. Am going to give falafel a whirl too, that will be another cheap dinner. I'm trying to expand my repertoire of vegan/veggie recipes.

Off to stoke the fire and check on my spuds.

Have a lovely evening everyone - I'm watching Gardener's World to try to garner a little expertise!

grandma247

Thanks Annie for the link. I was successful. I didn't bother last year and we were so busy anyway I probably would not have had time to sow them. I am surprised we grew as much as we did.

NualaBuala

Had to post quickly to say the open fire baked spuds were a success! :j Thanks a million Frugaldom, I think it was you who told me how to do it. Now I know it works, I might make it regular thing. I had planned to eat one and keep one to reheat for tomorrow's lunch but they were so nice I scoffed both. They were small though, honest!

knithappens

Hi , just popping in to say I am still alive, i am back at work part time, but with the kids etc it has taken me a while to get back int a routine, and not pass out from tiredness in the evening.
Plus my netbook is back up and running after dell messed up my order and i had to have ti replaced. I am still on track and paying off my debt slowly but surley, and stickign to my budget, yayyy me. Going to spend some free time today reading through back posts and updating my blog

XSpender

Thanks for the info on ISAs Cheryl. Opening the accounts will be next weeks task.

Received 4 x £10 off £50 shop vouchers for Mr T yesterday so decided to use the first of these last night only £20 spent on food, toiletries and dishwasher stuff, the rest on a stair gate with a fiver off, a going home from hospital outfit for bambalino and some new makeup from my 'pocket' money. Will use the other vouchers over the next three weeks as I went to stock up on basics and easy to prepare foods for when the baby arrives. Still need to get fruit but only buy that from Mr M as I like the quality there.

Forgot to take my old foundation so bought a shade a bit too light but will mix it with a darker one I had for my wedding when I was tanned to get the right shade.

Nephew's 18th on Sunday so at his Mum and Dads for a family lunch this afternoon, pub dinner with my DM and DSD and staying at their house tonight so Mum's lovely Sunday lunch tomorrow. No cooking for me Yeah:T

I have a few errands to run before we set off this morning including taking the library books back, cleaning the inside of the car as it is not fit for passengers in the back, ironing, bag packing, buying a stamp to post a birthday card, filling the car up and trying to style my hair after I had it cut into a new style on Thursday.

Best get cracking. Have a lovely weekend.

XS x