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

NualaBuala

JayneC wrote: »

Hiya all,

It's piddling down outside so no working in the garden today and house is still fairly tidy after giving it 'The BIG Clean' for estate agent visit on Friday so no urgent jobs to do today. Still feeling somehow guilty for sitting at Computer on a Sunday afternoon and feel the need to be doing something constructive (will try to ignore for as long as poss!!) I've sorted through all my paperwork file broke as too full!!so I've transfered it all to 2 ring binders and now got shed loads of shredding and put a fair pile in the recycling bin. so am occasionally shoving a few pieces into shredder as I'm here (does that count as something useful?)

Oh yes, definitely! Enjoy your day Jayne!

xnatalie81x

THANKS GUYS!

I find running the business mega hard Jayne and it does take time to build up! - but it was so worth it as fits around the 3 monstArs and i really enjoy it

cake21

Hi everyone, hope everyone is doing well.

Brief update from me; £173 under budget for the month of May which has reduced my overall YTD to £259 over budget. No surprises, just slowly clawing back and hope to be back on track by the time the heating goes back on :j

lyndasharp

Quick update from me too.... We have EGGS!!!!!!! Chickens are great :-)

rozeepozee

Hi everyone. I know it's been ages since I posted The twins and a toddler give me no spare time at all - well certainly not for surfing the internet! I am almost managing to keep track of my finances and my MIL is coming today to help out for a week (lovely woman!) so I'm hoping I can get on top of a few things then.

At the mo, i'm only over budget on my "anything else" category so I need to have a look at that. Plus, as I spend mosta my time breastfeeding or chasing around after kids, OH has done quite a bit of shopping and that's not been logged, so I'm sure my grocery spend must be more - spend is also up on nappies (hoped to do reusables, but haven't managed to yet) and alcohol - to keep us sane (I like an Amarula on ice of an evening!)

We've managed to do more veggies than I'd expected so we've loads of salads, herbs and other stuff on the go.

Hope everyone's well. I hope to do a bit of catching up with posts this week. I miss you - the advice and tips!

Winchelsea

Have been doing fairly well, though store cupboard etc probably been depleted over the weekend as DS has cooked a couple of meals for the two of us. He makes lovely food, but, bless him, on the basis that the more stuff he chucks in the better!

But, hey, so what?!! - so nice to be cooked for!

DH used to take turns with meals before he got ill, and I must say I've had days where I could have done with a meal being cooked for me - but too frugal (mean?!) to get a takeaway!

All the best everyone!

Winchelsea

Forgot to add, the house smells gorgeous at the moment - am cooking a bread pudding (to Delia's recipe - never fails!) Will take a slice to the hosp. for DH tomorrow, and some to DS tonight (once a month I go to the WI that meets on his street - ever since he pointed out that he could look after his dad while i went. That doesn't apply now, but of course will enjoy seeing him again.)

Blairweech

Hello everyone,

Well there is good news and bad news from me

Good news: Have finally had a proper discussion about uni with parents and my Dad has said he will pay £2000 towards my digs this year. This will be reviewed every year and if the finances look good, he will continue to contribute - if they take another hit, there will be no contribution. Which I think is fair. So, if I get a grant of £4000, that will leave me with £2000 to live on for the year - this is not as bad as it sounds, because it is catered halls and I will not be taking my car, so that money is just for textbooks/travel to and from uni/fun - plus I will be working during holidays. This will of course make an impact on my budget, as I initially said 4k for the whole year including all rent etc, but now that will change.

Bad news: I accidentally knocked my brothers car with my door this morning and it has taken the paint off :doh:, so I have said I will pay for it when he gets it fixed

Made some elderflower cordial - note: if you do not have enough white sugar, do not 'make it up' with brown sugar, the cordial will go brown _pale_!!! It tastes alright but looks horrible, so no gifting of the first batch. I will probably make another batch for gifts, and maybe some champagne as well.

We did a couple of car boots this past weekend - made about £30, hardly worth the effort, but at least we made a very small dent in my stuff. The things I thought would sell as soon as we got them out did not sell, and the things I just chucked in as we were leaving sold straight away!! Might do another one in a few weeks, or I might give it all to the charity shop. It is a shame that the UK does not do as America does and offer a tax rebate on your donated goods.

Have started harvesting the garden - lettuce (particularly rocket) has done really well but everything else is not doing so good - strawberries leaves went brown and look positively dead now, the courgettes keep getting eaten :mad:, brocolli has gone very 'leggy' and only one bean plant (out of 9) has come up!!!! Don't know what we are doing wrong, as they are being fed/watered/getting lots of sun. Carrots are doing ok, will harvest them soon, and the tomatoes are doing alright - although, as I do not know what type they are, I don't know whether I have to pinch them out or not??? They haven't grown very tall, so I think they might be a bush variety.

Hope you are all well and frugalling mightily.

JayneC

Hi all,

Just did a massive reply and lost it:mad:

Anyway partly I was saying taht I've booked to go to the Off Grid festival in August which as well as having music has lots of great looking workshops (including living with no money!) It's £150 for 4 days for 3 of us. I'm really excited as I've never been to a proper festival before. We are going camping and I've seen a tent that I'm thinking of getting
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Skandika-Daytona-XXL-Family-Tent/dp/B000SDNIAS/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=sports&qid=1275836595&sr=1-13

are there any campers on here that can say if this is good value? I reckon once I've got it it will be really good for future v cheap hols.

Signing off for mow but may be back later xx

rozeepozee

Jayne, the tent looks like good value to me. I guess it depends on how well made it is, especially if you plan to reuse it over a few years. We bought one the year before last from Costco but it was a different design - only 2 bedrooms and it was about £90. If you're not going camping before August though, it might be possible to wait til the sales to see if there are any bargains around.