FRUGAL LIVING CHALLENGE 2010, part 2, April - June.

enjoyfinancialchallenges

I'm feeling very cross at the moment after having sat here for ages and replied to all the people I wanted to and added my five penorth......I lost it :mad:

I want to ask NualaBuala for forgiveness, somehow I mixed you and RoPo up, Oh dear, how did I do that I ask myself? Put it down to a senior moment, one of many today :rotfl:I hope I havn't started a new craze...... predictions:eek:

No, no, no dont wash the wool and cashmere coat it may be frugal BUT if its never been worn why chance it? it sounds a fantastic deal for 50p so why not get it dry cleaned and then it will be pressed and ready to wear, whereas it could take ages to dry and might shrink if you risk it and do it yourself.

Nyk so pleased your eggs are pipping I expect by now they are hatched, tbh though I thought all was lost so good job you did give them the benefit of the doubt and waited. CTC your chicks look gorgeous lovely to see your pictures.

Eventually spent the last of my budget this month...my month ends 9th of the month....I bought a loaf of bread and 2 rolls of plastic netting stuff to put around my veg garden to keep my cat off.Total cost £2 65.:j

I want to be up early and get an hour or so in the garden before I start baking biscuits for Sundays car boot sale, this will be my first c b this year and my last for a few weeks as I'm off into hospital Fri 16th and wont be able to drive for a while. Anyway I want my customers to know I will be back eventually.

minjara

Thank you JackieO for your kind words. My first hurdle before i even reach the pool is getting my anxiety under control that is related to my newly found IBS. Its a catch 22. I think if I'm out, what if I have an accident and cant get to a toilet n have an accident and that makes the iBs play up even more so I think once I have the anxiety panics dealt with I'll be fine, but I hate going anywhere at the mo as I find 20 mins on a bus too panicky.

slowlyfading

Morning everyone

Off sunbathing and swimming today, as the weather is currently at 31 degrees C Got my hat at the ready! I'm really enjoying being out here again and just relaxing and not thinking about school or uni or anything like that.

Shouldn't spend anything today, or if I do, it won't be much

Have a good day x

Erme

jtb2412 wrote: »

Morning all

Had a lovely weekend at my parents and got spoiled rotten (e.g. no cooking or washing up )

Sunday afternoon was spent on a free visit to Anglesey Abbey (my sis bought us National Trust membership for an xmas pressie :j). We did pay £1.50 for the kids to do the Easter Egg Hunt, I think even us adults enjoyed solving the clues ! Although it was a bit cold, it was really good to get out in the fresh air. The snowdrops had all but finished though and the gardens looked a bit 'dormant' but the house was lovely and we enjoyed it.

We had other family members round on Sunday evening for an Italian night English Pub Quiz :rotfl:. Me and DH bought the food and cooked for all 16 of us :eek:, (home-made carbonara, italian breads, tiramisu and cheesecake plus a few other things). Total cost approx £30 so £1.87 each and that included a prize for the winners of the quiz :T. That spending will come out of our 'entertainment' budget so it hasn't impacted on this month's food spend.

I dragged my dad along to the local monthly village jumble sale on Saturday morning and picked up a few things. I've now got my winter coat - a black long-length wool and cashmere blend - and I paid the grand sum of 20p for it :j. I don't think it's ever been worn. Not sure if I dare pop it on a really cool wash though, anyone have any ideas as to whether it would be ok?

I haven't had chance to catch up with you all yet, I might get on later tonight for a read but we're busy getting ready for holiday and time is running out fast ! Plus the fact that DH has pulled his back and I'm going to have to do everything for the next couple of days (where's that roll eye smiley ! ).

Hope everyone is ok xx

If you are anywhere near cambridge hun or just in plain fenland you so like need to buy an OS map for walks in the summer. I did loads one year when in recovery after a bad winter. Fabbo fun...go about 4.30 in the am when it gets light. Wicken fen is a particular favourite :T

Erme

minjara I wouldn't say that OH's voices are 'in his head' so much but like there are ways you can cope with them. Can you not find your local hearing voices group or something or get ACT therapy (there's a book you can get if his CPN won't do it with him). Maybe a long way off. I don't know. My voices are going to get bad soon. I know it! I've just put a patch on (as in nicotine variety). Last time I tried that they got me by saying I would put on a heap of weight. The ED was playing up. They won, I lost.

But now I actually want to put on weight so will be interesting to see what they say later? Or tomorrow. I'm literally taking it a day at a time. I don't expect to succeed. So no pressure right. I just can't be bothered to go out and buy cigs. And if I don't smoke that's more monies for food . (like about £20 more a week max but maybe more like £10 in reality) and I'm finding I quite like food now. .

Anyhow...sun here - gastritis played up yesterday. Gave away old hifi yesterday. That was about it. Going to try and be frugal this year. Am deffo going to Ed in 2 weeks so will be offline for a wee while (cos not paying for mobile broadband though might take netbook with me just in case they have free wifi in like the hotel) so have to save for that and also monies to put an order in with work.

Will try cheapo plain flour and wholemeal in breadmaker. I have found (by accident) the cheapo flour makes it a bit crumbly but otherwise is okay but yeah, think it would be good to mix them. :T

Offskie now...LOADS to do today :P

E

jtb2412

Thanks for the tip re OS map Erme, will keep an eye out for one ! We visit Cambs quite regularly, both sets of parents live up that way. We're in West Sussex so have the beautiful South Downs on our doorstep .

Thank you for the advice re: coat EFC. I was thinking I ought to get it dry cleaned.

Yesterday was a very productive day. I got a lot done in the garden and a few more seeds sown. Still more to do and I'm really pushing to get them done this week before our holiday on Saturday. We've got MIL and FIL dog and house sitting so that's saved us some money by not putting dog in kennels :money:.

landregistrylass

Afternoon all. Not been around much as visited DD and DGS x3 in Yorkshire over Easter. Had a brill time with easter egg hunts and playing football (Rooney need not worry - his position is safe). As DD is on her own with the boys, she too is a frugaller, and we were swapping recipes for soup whilst we made the Easter lunch. I had taken up the veg and she provided the (half price) lamb. Cried when I had to leave. Miss them all so much.

Frugaldom

Hello fellow frugallers,

CTC I LOVE those chicks, they're gorgeous, are they Pekins? I was really lucky and 4 out of the 4 eggs that were due to hatch have all hatched. I have another 7 due to hatch next week and 2 more the following week, so here's hoing they are all OK.

Frugalising here as I've been trading via LETS rather than buying anything and haven't gone anywhere in case I miss deliveries - I have hedging die to be delivered tomorrow and I won an eBook reader in the eBid buddy auctions, so that should be interesting when it arrives.

Good weather didn't reach us yet but the sun has managed to shine a little bit today. No hols here as we have the chickens and no reliable transport, so home is for the hols, too.

NualaBuala

Hello everyone :wave:

JackieO wrote: »

NualaBuala Thanks for the warm welcome ,an ex-site chap called Nellie gave me my avatar several years ago as I am an old dear who writes short stories in her spare time for her family and grandchildren, and I'm always haring about with a pencil in my hand

Wow! I didn't know you wrote stories - would you consider publishing them? I can't get enough of your posts on OldStyle, you tell great yarns about how things used to be so if you ever write a book, I'll be delighted!

minjara wrote: »

Ahh well a bit of a woohoo. Lost 3lb this week so I am very happy at that as trying to lose a bit before my hols. I'm now 18st 5lb so very happy with that, still dreading the walk of death though, ie the walk in and out the swimming pool in the cosy. Greenpeace will be getting called out and people running away screaming :eek::rotfl: Absolutely dreading it!!!

Congrats on the weight loss! :j You have nothing to be embarrassed about going swimming. I think most people are too wrapped up in themselves to notice anybody else. I always feel admiration when I see anyone exercising, especially when they aren't lycra-clad athletic types. I'm overweight and like the feeling of being weightless in the water - but it's too expensive to go to our local pool. I'm trying to lose weight by moving a bit more and eating normal food - less processed stuff and more veg, pulses wholegrains - and keeping an eye on portions. I think it will work slowly if I stick to it.

enjoyfinancialchallenges wrote: »

I want to ask NualaBuala for forgiveness, somehow I mixed you and RoPo up, Oh dear, how did I do that I ask myself? Put it down to a senior moment, one of many today :rotfl:I hope I havn't started a new craze...... predictions:eek:

Nothing to forgive! :rotfl:You gave me a good chuckle and you can't have too many of those! I seem to have those senior moments too and I'm only 39! I think it comes from trying to keep too much in my mind at the one time!

Great news about the chicks Frugaldom! What do you do with your male chicks? I heard they usually get gassed in egg farms.

Frugal stuff today: homemade bread for brunch, leftover veg used up to make a pasta sauce for dinner - yum! And my gas bill came and it's half what I had budgeted for (based on last year)! :j I still find the weather cold when I'm sitting down but just stay bundled up in layers and throws. I have a frugal book out of the library: "How I Lived a Year on Just a Pound a Day" by Kath Kelly. It's a few years old so a lot of the ideas are more commonplace now but it's inspiring reading all the same.

Hope you're all happily frugalling wherever you are. Hugs to anyone who'd like them!

pagangirl

Hi all - still reading if not posting much. A few frugal days here, got a load of carrots t'other day, really reasonable price-wise, so have been making soup. Find plain carrot soup a bit bland, so add sprinkle curry powder when heating it up. Carrot n tomato is luvvly. Haven't tried carrot n orange yet. Rest chopped/sliced up, now in freezer.

Had the dreaded rent increase letter - 41p !!! :rotfl:Think they've got that one wrong, but hope it's ok.

NSD today, small spend yesterday, but not much.

Nyk - glad eggs turned out ok - CTC love the chicky pics they are sooooo cute !

minjara - re IBS - it's no fun, but doctor gave me info sheets - says a lot of people take an immodium tablet (loperamide) before they go places, if not sure where toilets will be. Works for me, has eased a lot of worry, and means I can now go out n about with no probs (damm nusiance tho) Hope you can work out what to eat/not to eat - once you've got that sorted, it's a lot better. Have you had it long?

Lovely day here, if not that warm, has been very windy tho. Washing scattered around the flat on various clothes driers in sun.

Hugs to all who need 'em - sounds like there's a few at the moment.