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

cw18

Oooerrrrrr!!!

Well, after "taking stock" of my life a few weekends back, I was determined to make some changes / try some new things - and that starts tomorrow!!

I'm off out for a meal with an ex-work colleague - and as I said 'No' to Indian (can't cope with the smell) I decided to be as flexible as possible about alternatives. When asked if Chinese or Italian was OK, I replied that Italian was definitely OK but that I was game to give Chinese a try (with a warning that I've never actually 'done' Chinese before).

Just heard that we're going for a Chinese !!!! So a totally new experience for me, with no idea on what to expect (just the memories of take-aways that late DH brought home that never appealed to me at all)




In frugal (or not so frugal) news, I've just placed my third App F00ds order this month - and am over budget on groceries for the first quarter (except for the fact I've moved quite a bit of that budget into my grocery stock-pile budget, and could have charged at least this third order to that as it's mainly flour of various types for making my own bread, roll and scones over the next ?? months)


Also got the good news from DS that the official end date for his course is late June, which means my Child Benefit (and, along with it, WPA and Tax Credits) should be paid until the end of August...... a huge relief after a week of it looking like he could finish at May half-term, which would mean losing them at the end of May

Skint_Lynne

Hi Cheryl,

I hope you enjoy your chinese tomorrow. There's loads of things you can get other than curries etc, if it is a buffet one, you can try a wee bit of everything.

My friend who I usually eat out with is a very plain eater, so I usually go to an italian or something with her. Every place we go, she gets a ham pizza. She is so predictable with her food.:rotfl:

Enjoy your night out. xx

top_drawer_2

hello,

Thank you Rozee for the health bars - these will be brillant for me as snacks as Im really trying maintain my weight (I lost two stone last year) but struggle with getting dizzy every 3-4 hours and needing to eat.

I have a bit of a dilemma - my contract phone comes to an end at the end of this month, I have been with three for the last 18 months on £22 a month which has often been plus that (usually £29 ish) due to only having 200 minutes and it not including 0845 no's. I am in a bit of a quandry with what to do - to go on a similar contract, get a new phone or go on PAYG which will mean I may have to buy a new handset or get the 3 Skypephone I have currently unlocked and possibly end up costing me more anyway.... I have a clue about mobile phone deals though have a look around it seems there are some enticing ones offering cashback/free gifts if I did it online.

I bought a shelf unit on Sunday and it arrived yesterday, I opened it and its self build and its a looooot harder than I thought it would be...... not a clue how Im going to put it together!! I'm so useless at that sort of thing ...

Jen

SuzyWuzy_2

Hi all,

Been busy here watching my seeds like a mother hen, I'm obsessed with their growth! I got my free RHS seeds today which I will save now for next year as I have loads on the go already.

I'm really excited as I have my first baby scan booked for Friday so we'll see the little one. We're going out to Pizza Express afterwards paid for with Tesco clubcard vouchers so a free meal! yay!

I'm glad the cost of petrol hasnt gone up too much as ours costs £190 a month in diesel to run, going to fill it up before the end of the month to keep costs down.

Aril - Hope everythings ok in your life. Sorry to hear things aren't going smoothly.

Jen- I really can't fault 3, me and OH got new phones from them last week and got a fab deal. My OH got a £25 contract for free 3 to 3 unlimited calls (to me ) and cross network unlimited (i think or a huge amount of ) minutes, unlimited texts. A bargain.I got a £10 a month one for free 3 tro 3 calls to him. I think it's worth you calling in to see them. I'm sure I read on Martins info somewhere on here about dialing a number first before you dail a 0845 number ?? Maybe worth a look.

Hope everyone else is good

Suzanne
x

jtb2412

sneaks back in and sheepishly says hello

Any room for a returning frugaller?

I'm not going to go into depth but I completely lost the plot in Feb, not sure why but a lot has happened here and I just didn't have time to log spends. Hence the spending then went up, when it should have been going down and I'm now having to reign myself back in now that I'm not working.

So, I'm back with a vengeance and ready to be an A+ pupil again :T. No chance of catching up with you all but I shall be reading from now on and I'm going back to basics and starting with Page 1.

Budget will be re-done and run from Apr to Dec. I just hope I can stay on track this time - someone needs to slap me if I even think about straying :eek: :rotfl:

I hope everyone is ok xx

rozeepozee

pagangirl wrote: »

Can anyone help, as have been diagnosed as anaemic - not sure what to eat, know leafy green veg is good, but no good for me as kicks IBS off !!! Any good ideas gratefully received.

I have been using spatone through out my pregnancy. I have a blood disorder common in people of middle eastern descent which causes me to be slightly anaemic so I routinely take one sachet but I've upped it to two daily and then added in an extra on alternate days as my iron requirements have gone up (obviously, with 2 babies, they're pretty demanding) this is in addition to the pregnacare+ supplement I've been taking :eek: Have to say these supplements were not budgeted for and they're expensive - pregnacare+ £25 for 3 boxes - a 3 months' supply (on Boots 3 for 2 offer) and Spatone is around the £6 or £7 mark for 28 sachets (so lasting me only just over a week when I take 3 a day!) in the health food shop. But I've got friendly with the lovely lady at the spatone shop. She's a twin mummy too and when she found I was buying 10 boxes because of a twin pregnancy, she let me have them for £43, so a massive saving on the shop price. Plus, I know of some women whose kindly GPS are willing to do spatone on prescription, so it's definately worth asking your GP, especially given your special circumstances of IBS - spatone is supposed to be extra gentle and easily absorbed.

top_drawer wrote: »

hello,

Thank you Rozee for the health bars - these will be brillant for me as snacks as Im really trying maintain my weight (I lost two stone last year) but struggle with getting dizzy every 3-4 hours and needing to eat.

I have a bit of a dilemma - my contract phone comes to an end at the end of this month, I have been with three for the last 18 months on £22 a month which has often been plus that (usually £29 ish) due to only having 200 minutes and it not including 0845 no's. I am in a bit of a quandry with what to do - to go on a similar contract, get a new phone or go on PAYG which will mean I may have to buy a new handset or get the 3 Skypephone I have currently unlocked and possibly end up costing me more anyway.... I have a clue about mobile phone deals though have a look around it seems there are some enticing ones offering cashback/free gifts if I did it online.

Jen

Jen, There is an alternative option to your mobile dilemma which should save you around £15 per month if you just get your phone unlocked (cost me about £5 at the car boot sale or market): I have an old old phone (it must be 8 or so years now) still going strong which I unlocked at the end of a contract and have been with o2 now on its Simplicity tariff (no handset supplied, they just supply you with the sim card) for a few years. There's no contract. I think you have to give 30 days notice if you want to leave. Earlier this year, I negotiated 300 mins for £15 per month (up from 200 mins at no extra cost) with 600 texts and unlimited o2 to o2 minutes (DP is on o2 too). In addition, if you're an o2 mobile customer, you can get o2 braodband for £7 per month. I'm intending to change from Orange (from whom I was in contract with - but it's terrible customer service) and then get my landline calls through Primus. Not sure about your 0845 issue (I hate 08 numbers and try and use the saynoto0870 website).

HTH

jtb I've had a terrible March which has put me about £700 over budget :eek: I was doing so well til then. It's been " unforeseens" like a secondhand electric bed as I'm practically housebound with the size of me now and can't get in and out of a normal bed without injuring myself and a camera in advance of the babies birth, vitamin supplements, plus tonnes more groceries (especially of the luxury variety like gradvalax and fancy meats...) as I'm eating for 3! I'm gonna really have to get back on the wagon come April and hopefully, now that it's car boot sale season and we have a spacious campervan, do a few massive clearouts at home and recoup some of the cash.

The good thing about not being able to move much is I'm not spending so much! Can't face/manage shopping so I'm now going to inventory the freezer and see what food we can make from what we already have in store.

top_drawer_2

Thanks Rozee - I never thought of just asking one of those phone unlocking places to do it - I was thinking I would have to pay Three £10-15 for the code! Your idea would also mean if my finances improved in the future then I am not stuck in a deal forever either.

Has anyone noticed any side effects of not spending/shopping so much? I realised this morning when cleaning out the gp's that I dont have any plastic bags - obviously I do still eat so I am in and out of morrisons every week but I always use my bag for life. So now I am going to have to BUY some bin liners as putting hay/gp poo ate in the bin is not a good idea. Any ideas? I guess I could make a reusable one (fabric with a plastic bag sewn into it) which I empty into the big kitchen bin....

Jen

grandma247

Top-drawer do you have a garden or know anyone with a garden? it can go onto a compost heap or straight onto the soil.

kezlou

Hello everyone,

How are you all?
I was supposed to have joined this thread/challenge back in January but everything just turned upside down and lets just say its been a nightmare. My OH just wouldn't listen about anything financially and it has taken till now for him to say right what do we do now.

So as from today i will be hopefully if it okay with everyone, i would like to start back on with the challenge. If its too late then please let me know, and i'll just keep reading the thread for tips etc.If that's okay with everyone?

I have a budget kind of set but i still need to iron out a few parts.Its complicated to say the least.

Look forward to catching up with you all. x

ChinaTea

Had a nice long post and lost it. Can't believe that the challenge is almost at the end of it's first quarter. I'm looking forward to the end of the month to see how much I'm not spending compared to last year.

Have had a very productive frugal day today. The farm shop had thier scrummy sausages on offer at half price, £1.50 for this month so have stocked up and these are noe on trays in the freezer to be bagged when they're solid. Made bread and an orange drizzle cake. I got some reduced on date double cream from Lidls and made butter this morning. I can't believe how excited I got when it worked and it's so satisfying. The buttermilk is in the fridge ready for scones tomorrow and the cats got to lick the cream carton out. I shall be buying all the reduced cream I can find, hopefully Easter Saturday evening as the shops are shut Sunday there might be some.

Off to make Laundry gloop and washing up liquid now. I went with my neighbour to Wilko* yesterday and she spent £23 on cleaning stuff to last her 2 weeks OMG.

Congrats to Fishcake and enjoy