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

Twinkles08

Bummer sds like you need to dig out extra blankets and get those hot water bottles going!Hope it is nothing serious or costly :eek:

Fishcake_Random

Twinkles - Are you a crafter at all??? Can you dye your current rug or maybe embellish it with some ribbon or knit/crochet some fancy purple embellishments? Also you may find that you can buy a plain/white/cream lampshade and embellish it or even spray paint it for cheaper than buying the purple one.
Not only are you saving pennys but your filling some time and making something unique as well.
x x x x
?

the_cat

Twinkles
I know exactly what you mean. I have those inner conversations about the pros and cons of buying some random thing sometimes. The more time I spend on here the less it happens though.

Try thinking of how many times you spend those 'little' amounts in an average year. 10 times less in a year and you could afford that shiny new tv. 100 times in a year and you would be debt free (not assuming you spend that much BTW just using it as an example)

Stick with it. It will get easier. Besides being honest, after the first thrill of the purchase, how often will you spend quality time glancing up lovingly at the bathroom light?:rotfl::rotfl:

mooomin

Many pieces of housework have been done tonight trying to keep warm and that's with the heating going at full pelt. It's going to be minus eight here tonight according to the BBC. *shiver*

I have been filling in The Spreadsheet though, to the penny, and have found myself surprised at how quickly it all mounts up. I'm glad I decided to use the Whoopsie function in it - I have spent £2.32 on food worth £5.99 so far this month. I think the end of year totals on this will be really interesting :T

cw18

Twinkles08 wrote: »

Bummer sds like you need to dig out extra blankets and get those hot water bottles going!Hope it is nothing serious or costly :eek:

don't have blankets or hot water bottles !!!

I have one solitary wheat bag - somewhere.........

If the system's broken down it won't cost me anything to fix it - other than time finding somewhere to put everything I have to move to get to the boiler, and a phone call to the service centre I believe I can even call them if I have problems getting it to ignite - but that could mean an extra 24 hours without heating :eek:

rozeepozee

candygirl wrote: »

I've got eggs with sell by date of 30/12/09.Is it worth risking them?what's that test you can do in water to see if they're ok?ETA I found the egg test online after remembering google lol

I never take much (if any) notice of egg sell by dates. I think I just smell them.... I have eaten eggs way more out of date than a few days and I'm still here!

nyk, and was it LP (too many to remember on this thread!), how do you monitor what Approved Foods and Food Bargains stock? Do you just check daily? I have no issue at all about out of date foods (as I say, I don't really take much notice unless it's way out of date, like two years!!! I just examine it, sniff it or taste a little bit) so these sound right up my street.

Few others questions. I have a nightmare-to-heat huge stone apartment (large windows, high celings, and no wall insulation!) In this kind of weather, it never gets much over 18 degrees if we're lucky even when we have the thermostat on 21 or 22. When my LO was born I couldn't seem to get his bedroom above 16 degrees :eek:. Sadly, I think much of our heat goes to the upstairs flat! I live in long johns! Anyway, is it better to turn the heating off all together or leave it on low overnight or when I go out. ATM, I turn it off but have never known what's best. I can't wait for the Spring so I can turn it off.

Second question, in the absence of a find on Approved Foods, does anyone know where I can get strong 100% wholemeal bread flour from cheaply? I don't mind buying by the sackful as we eat a lot of bread around here.

TIA

NualaBuala

Hello my frugal friends!

I hope you've all had a good day today!

cake21 wrote: »

Further to the ethical food discussion some pages back (just remembered ), Sainsburys basics bananas are now fair trade which saved me a fair bit last year:money:

Wish we had Sainsbury's here - I think I heard the basics tea is fair trade too! I pay €1.49 for 5 organic fair trade bananas - same price in Aldi, Lidl and Tesco. I bet it's cheaper in the UK!

candygirl wrote: »

I've got eggs with sell by date of 30/12/09.Is it worth risking them?what's that test you can do in water to see if they're ok?ETA I found the egg test online after remembering google lol

I'm sure they'd be fine, I've certainly used older eggs than that! And it's not a Use By date, is it? The test is to put the egg in a bowl of water. If it doesn't float, then it's ok. As the egg gets older, the air pocket inside increases so it floats more and more with age.

Like so many of you noticed, today was the day for DDs to start moving out of bank a/c although in my case there are still some "stuck" in the system that haven't been processed yet. Unfortunately a payment I'm due hasn't come through which has me a bit worried.

I had planned to do some batch cooking today but seem to have some sort of bug so after feeding the birds and clearing a little snow and ice outside, spent most of the day sipping water and napping. Quite frugal really except that I needed the heat on as I felt chilled to the bone. Still, tomorrow's another day - hope to catch up with cooking then.

Twinkles08

Hello fishcake!Yes,I am quite crafty and that does sd quite fun too.wow, the cat your comments really struck a chord at the risk of sounding a bit slow I had never thought of it that way.I prob do do that 10x a yr and 300 pounds sds like a fab amount.
CW I suggest you spend the entire night jogging on the spot to kp warm-hee.Seriously though hope it doesn't get too cold for you

annie123

8 pages since last night:eek:
I dont have the internet at work, so have spent my evening catching up by skim reading :rolleyes:

Spent the first 1/2 hour home putting all my MrS info from my first proper shop into the CW spreadsheet
Its wonderful, it helps so much to list and divide spending so you can really see where the £££ are going.

I stuck to 'needs' only too except for 12p basic shortbread, I can't make it cheaper than that and its yummy:D

Twinkles08 IMHO....that is a want not a need, you will have many uses for that £30 soon, if you're worried about cold feet a towel on the floor works just fine. and try freecycle for lampshades and a clock;)

right off to catch up with more threads

Ches

Leftover Christmas roast beef, pigs in blankets, yorkies and roast potatoes from the freezer tonight. Just had to cook fresh veg so cost was minimal again. Also peeled, sliced and briefly cooked all the leftover apples from the fruit bowl that were getting a bit limp so will make those into individual pies tomorrow and some will go in the freezer for later in the month. I squeezed the juice from rest of the oranges and have frozen that down for use in a sweet and sour sauce at a later date. NSD.