Frugal Fresian's 2010 Adventures

mooomin

Palema wrote: »

The hills are alive with the sound of musicccccccccccccccc!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TRANSLATION

Tickets arrived today!! :T:T

HURRAHHHH!!!!

Whatcha up to at the weekend? May well be in the Gyle area if you want to meet up for ticket exchange. Must warn you though that since embarking on the Frugal Challenge, my budget is more Morrisons cafe than Costa this time :rotfl:

[Deleted User]

flying_fresian wrote: »

HURRAHHHH!!!!

Whatcha up to at the weekend? May well be in the Gyle area if you want to meet up for ticket exchange. Must warn you though that since embarking on the Frugal Challenge, my budget is more Morrisons cafe than Costa this time :rotfl:

Not got anything planned at the weekend. Don't mind where we meet up just let me know a time and place and I'll be there!! Only not before 1230pm on Saturday as I have to go face the scales at fat club!! :eek::eek:

mooomin

Palema wrote: »

Not got anything planned at the weekend. Don't mind where we meet up just let me know a time and place and I'll be there!! Only not before 1230pm on Saturday as I have to go face the scales at fat club!! :eek::eek:

My friend is taking me to the supermarket sometime on Saturday but I'll let you know. I'll either text you or send you a message on Facebook.

SO COLD - heating is allegedly on but I'm bloody baltic

beanielou

Baltic here too

[Deleted User]

flying_fresian wrote: »

My friend is taking me to the supermarket sometime on Saturday but I'll let you know. I'll either text you or send you a message on Facebook.

SO COLD - heating is allegedly on but I'm bloody baltic

No probs.

It is bloody cold, I got calf high slippers for Christmas and they are a godsend. Although have over heated a few times wearing them!!

mooomin

I will put extra comments on but.....*Shameless copy & paste alert*

An update on today's frugality....

I made my meatballs by chopping two cloves of garlic finely and sticking this in some oil then adding two red peppers and an onion finely chopped. Once these were cooked a bit I added two tins of chopped tomatoes, some salt and pepper and a teaspoon of Italian herbs from the cupboard. Had meatballs to eat for dinner but no clue what to do about sauce!

Poured over the meatballs the sauce was delish and I have enough to freeze for another portion to be added to the next batch of reduced meatballs

As I posted earlier, much money saved on the home insurance, so hurrah for that :j By much money I mean £47.89 over the year, and I may also make £100 Quidco cash from them!

FREE tea and coffee finally arrived at my work. We used to pay 20p a cup for coffee and 10p for hot water, so I lug two flasks to work. This means I can make my own (nicer) coffee using free hot water and saving carrying things to work that I don't need to. Woo! SO MUCH WOOOOOOOO!!!! I love coffee.

My 3rd NSD of the year today! I'm useless at NSDs so very pleased with this. Although Edinburgh has had LOTS of snow, it hasn't really impacted the public transport network, so it's easyish to get to the shops.

I reminded my manager to approve the overtime I did on Monday, so 8 hours of double time money shall be in my account at the end of the month. :j

It also turns out that Mr Fresian's sister and her boyfriend are going to have to give up their rented flat as they have run out of cash He is going to move in with his parents, and she will probably move into our spare room. Now, we get on, but I don't necessarily love the girl. I'm not going to see her out in the cold though and she will be paying rent at the same rate that previous lodgers have in the past. Due to my new-found budgeteering skills I know that I will be able to save all of this each month which will be £350 per month for at least the next four months towards my debt payments. Mr F has also told her to speak to me about budgeting and how best to save herself some money from her wages so that her and her OH can get themselves a new flat in a few months when they have some money behind them. She was paying £500 per month rent and £200 per month council tax :eek: + all of the other bills as they were in a "nice" part of town. I'm in a more scummy part of town, so it's £120 for me! It will be a challenge for all concerned but I'm grateful for the extra income and glad we can help.

***

Thus ends the stolen update from the frugal challenge. I have basically said to Mr Fresian that if his sister has nowhere to go I'm not going to throw her out on the street, but that he knows she drives me nuts at times, and they would have to promise that her boyfriend isn't round all the time. He was my lodger for a while and she essentially moved in too and the flat is too small!

Myself and Mr Fresian are quite happy living here just the two of us and we don't really WANT anyone else here, but she has no other real options and the money will be nice. I will get another £350 per month from her which I can put directly into my debts, and this will build up the Debt Free By 30 Fund well if it goes ahead.

Things to consider though:

The spare room is the dumping ground at the moment, it needs to be cleared.

Spare room furniture is b*ggered and I would have to get more from somewhere - Gumtree maybe? I would just need bed, wardrobe, chest of drawers and maybe a bedside cabinet or two.

Spare room NEEDS decorated before anyone can stay in it - this means walls papered/painted and carpet replaced. This will be a small outlay of funds I think but ultimately worthwhile.

She doesn't need a place until the end of February, so I need to be good and declutter/Ebay things like a fiend.

Must dash!

edinburgher

He was my lodger for a while and she essentially moved in too and the flat is too small!

I can imagine how this must feel - my ex used to share a one bedroom flat with her big brother (one had the sitting room, one had the bedroom) and he used to go potty as I was always round there Still, at least you have a bedroom and a sitting room for you and Mr F!

Edinburgh in the snow is lovely, can't wait to go back some time soon.

MellyB_2

Would she have any furniture from her old flat to bring to yours so save you having to find/buy any for her room?

Obviously if her flat came furnished then no!

mooomin

MellyB wrote: »

Would she have any furniture from her old flat to bring to yours so save you having to find/buy any for her room?

Mr F will be investigating all of this for me, and will be having any necessary discussions. It's not ideal for us in any way, but if she stays for 6 months then I will have an extra £2100 towards my debts of £4700. I can't complain at that

Silaqui

Hi FF! Nice to see a shiny new diary, I really should do one I suppose but you know how terrible I am at updating! :rotfl:I finally have internet back though so maybe I can motivate myself a bit more this year!

Your lists from earlier in the thread sound VERY familiar - I have loads of stuff and am doing a 'no more smellies' challenge myself untill I've run out of what I already have!

Shame that you have to have another lodger back but you're right to be thinking of the money - if she has a TV in her room them maybe she will spend most of her time in there anyway? Regarding the furniture, does she have anything she can bring with her to save you buying some?

Take care in the snow up there!
xx