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

[Deleted User]

Fishcake_Random wrote: »

Hey all,
OH struggled to his shop this morning but decided to give up after 10 minutes as he was the only thing open in his part of the town, so we've been snuggling on the sofa with the duvet. Its nice to have him home for an extra day but he's a bit bored and trying to eat everything in sight lol where as I'm trying to ration things to last the month.
He tried to get some milk on the way home but everywhere was sold out with no deliverys getting through so we will have to eek out the 2 pints we have left. At least its a no spend day today so all is good.
I've finally finished my socks and OH is happily wearing them in as I type and I am now making a tube cover with my odds and ends. I'm using a recycled pringles tub for my needles and it looks so out of place in my knitting basket lol.
Hope you all stay warm and safe in the snow, I'm off for a lurk.
x x x x x

What a good idea for storing needles! I have a needle roll, but I don't get on with it. I might find a tube and knit a sock for it with my stash too.:D

Ches

Sorry Fishcake I didn't read your post properly before I stuck my oar in.

Pippilongstocking

taka wrote: »

Insurance?
Entertainment?

Hiya - and Nessa

Don't have any life insurance, car and house are sorted elsewise. (I guess I should think of life insurance I work alot outside and with machinery.) DOH :eek:

Entertainment (?) guess the Broadband and phone covers a bit of that for internet, calling pals and watching stuff on demand. We have free view, but do go to the cinema sometimes (maybe once a month or less) - I think I will put in a bit for that from Misc expenses - thanks! I tend to watch dvds then sell them on ebay/amazon so don't normally lose anything. Not much else here - I did want to do a yoga class but its a bit expensive.

Entertainment here is mainly beaches and walking or being on this site!

Fishcake_Random

Ches- don't worry bout, i'll probally get bored of looking at it in 6 months or so and change it for one of your other ideas lol. I like to shift things around every so often to keep everything feeling fresh
x x x x

debtmess

afternoon x

have pages and pages to catch up on, will try tonight once little ones in bed x

not doing to great here as below figures will show (ouch week)

spent a long day sat in court waiting room yesterday for a 15min chat with cafcass then back after lunch for a judge to agree it all (but all sorted a huge weight lifted)

ended up spening £3.70 on train fair and £12.80 on lunch

today i have spent the rest of my weekly budget plus 316 on my debit card in primark buying new dressing gowns as ours have all seen better days bar ds2's

stocked up on wshing gel at half price in sainsburys, thats enough to last untill april/may depending on the amount of washing done

out of my £80 ive allowed myself ive worked out £16.45 has gone into the various jars so i do still have some 'handy' if anything should arise before next monday (5 days seems alot with nothing in my purse but i will NOT go to the cashpoint !)

ive had my tv licence dd go out so later on today will update all my spends on my sig, so far ive stuck to writeing everything ive brought down

on the subject of my £16 spend in primark im going to have to take that of next weeks spends ive spent very littlem of my food amount and ended up spending that on other things but in my defence have lots in cupboards and freezers

note to self must do better next week.

we have snow now not as much as last mine but enough for it to be a pain, really feeling the cold, my feet cannot get warm depsite 2 pairs of socks and boot type slippersmy hands are feeling it as well just not as bad, last winter i ended up with a nasty chest infection and not treating it plus cold house i ended up inflameing all my cartalidge in the chest area dont feel great over past few days so the heating is right up again ive tired to curb in first week of jan but its still too cold

back out shortly to collect ds 1 and 2 from school only one of the schools here is closed, not sure about tomorrow mine will go untill they eiother close or i cannot get the buggy there

pasta bake for dinner today or the pizza thats still in the freezer havent quite made my mind up so will let the boys choose

ChinaTea

grandma247 wrote: »

I did use DK a thick fluffy one I bought years ago and did not like very much. You might want to add more stitches and/or downsize the needles depending on what you have to use.
Chinatea my oldest ds is 35 too.

Thanks again for this idea, really got me thinking dark coloured for DS workboots, bright stripes for DGS puddlesplashers can use all my oddballs and keep fingers busy at the same time.

Re the no heating. This is the first home I have lived in that has had CH. The last house had 1 gas fire in the living room was open on all sides with very little insulation. Boy was that cold in winter never mind extreme weather. Night wear consisited of a very fetching combination of pyjamas, socks, cardigan, gloves and even a hat at times. The icicles were inside as well as out and nipping to the loo in the night was only done in desperation and as quickly as possible LOL.

I've lived here a 2 bed detached bungalow for 15 years. A new condensing boiler was installed 18 months ago along with some extra insulation. Last winter I never seemed to be able to feed enough money into the meter it just eat it up. When the man came to service it last autumn he told me I should have had it on the winter setting-didn't know it had one. Anyways, following his advice the boiler is now on from 6am-8pm but the thermostat is set at 12, it's not on at night but in the event of the indoor temp dropping to frrezing then the times is overidden and the boiler comes on. I've not been cold even with the sub zero temps of the last weeks, I've had a thermal top and 2 thinner jumpers on and a fleece round my legs in the evenings but would do this anyway and best of all in the last 2 weeks it has cost £24+p which is brilliant on a prepayment meter as well.

Breakfast/dinner today has been beans on toast and tea will be tuna, red cabbage and beetroot all in the cupboard so another NSD not that I could get out anyway. The cats will have a tin of tuna for tea will keep them happy once they smell mine. They can smell tuna from 100yds away LOL.

Going to listen to Laura Ingalls Wilder The Long Winter downloaded yesterday whilst finishing the sock I've half done this afternoon then do a bit of sewing later.

Keep safe and warm.

lyndasharp

Debtmess, I'd vote for the pasta bake, it's more warming in this weather ;-) Not that I'd be the one eating it!

I have actually allowed myself a clothes budget this year but haven't got to Primark yet to spend it. Must buy jumpers...

Good news, H2B's flat almost has a tenant. Just waiting for references to go through. H2B's on a repayment mortgage, so the rent won't cover the full amount but it will cover the interest plus a bit extra. It will really make a difference to our savings over the year! I now have 2 years left on my contract so we want to build up a decent savings buffer in case I can't find work for a little while, or if we need to move because I find a job somewhere else (or possibly have lots of children and be a SAHM).

shaz_mum_of__2

Chinatea where did you get the download from??

Thanks

Shaz

chika

Hello fellow frugallers. I had to do it I went out and spent some cash yesterday because for some reason my bread didn't rise do ended up with to loaves the colour and consistency of concrete blocks. I used the last of my yeast on those to went over to Ald! to buy more - but they don;t sell it. So I had to spend £1 on a loaf of rubbish spongy white bread all they had left.) I stocked up on onions and garlic and some mince while there. I spend about £8 but i won't have to get anything for the rest of the week so that is ok.

Does anyone bake with fresh yeast - I remember people getting it for free from the supermarket bakers. Is this still true and is it easy to work with?

Frugal activities this afternoon - finally getting round to using up some of the pulses in my cupboard. I've got a daal curry with black eyed beans and lentils in the slow cooker and I'll hunt around for a receipe for naan bread. I have a mate coming for tea so I'll be prepared this time. I'm also going to make this cake http://savorysweetlife.com/2010/01/chocolate-wacky-depression-cake-recipe/ It looks interesting and the lack of eggs and fat is a frugal bonus. If it tastes terrible then I'll make some buttercream and fill it. It should be ok with tea.

grandma247

shaz here http://www.homeschoolfreebie.wholesomechildhood.com/
tuesday and it still works. there are actually three downloads.