Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

ceridwen

rubytuesday wrote: »

I haven't been on a diet as such, I have dramatically increased my fruit and veg, reduced my portions sometimes, although not noticeably and usually walk for about an hour a day. ( Have been slacking lately though!) I bought a pedometer and aimed for at least 10,000 steps a day. I have also started swimming in the outdoor pool recently. It has taken me a year and a half to lose that weight.

Thank you for that. That makes it about a stone a year that goes with "lifestyle changes".

:think:
Well - I summoned up the nerve to get on the scales to "assess the damage" this morning. Errrr....whoops:o - nearly 2 stones overweight = nearly 2 years if I do "lifestyle changes" alone.

Think I'm gonna have to do a diet as such - darn it:mad:. After all - its not MSE to buy clothes unnecessarily - being for a bigger size (ie just because most of my clothes dont fit me properly - if at all).

lynzpower

Morning everyone!

Well I have resigned myself to having to re-do the spreadsheet I have started it, but will finish tomorrow.

I have one glass of Diet coke left in the fridge I think given the fact I a not earning at the moment and living off savings, I think Its a good place for me to think about giving up. I woke up with a headache this morning from the lack yesterday, its EVIL!!!!

Now they have gone up to 70p a can ( in the shops) I cant afford the 3 por 4 a day ( could I afford them at 55p a can- no probably not!)

I may have one when Out but relynig on it at home is now unaffordable.

Woke up with a headache today

Anyhow:
Have to take the dog for a check up at the vets ( no idea what this will cost hopefully not a lot!)
Have managed to buy myself a pair of shoes this morning on debenhams for 8.40 (if they arrive that is)and a gift for someones Xmas next year or birthday
Am going to pop out later to see the ends of the sales as I stll need trousers and a cardi and have found nothing of quality in the charity shops. So I will try and different area and see how I go.

Dinner is chicken from the M&S deal with salad, HM wraps, rice, wedges, sour cream. OH froze some dough the other day so little to really do. Will make the slow cooked beef chilli when I get back later as this is being frozen for when the madness begins next week.

Marru

ceridwen wrote: »

Think I'm gonna have to do a diet as such - darn it:mad:. After all - its not MSE to buy clothes unnecessarily - being for a bigger size (ie just because most of my clothes dont fit me properly - if at all).

I highly recommend a book called beyond chocolate. If you google it they have website that has free stuff on it.

lynzpower wrote: »

I have one glass of Diet coke left in the fridge I think given the fact I a not earning at the moment and living off savings, I think Its a good place for me to think about giving up. I woke up with a headache this morning from the lack yesterday, its EVIL!!!!

Woke up with a headache today

Are you replacing your diet coke with water or anything else to drink? You could just be dehydrated hence the head ache.

I am working in Netherlands this week so no actual spends but BF is looking after DD while I am here and I have promised to compensate all his costs :eek: So my budget might be shred to pieces before we get to the end of the first month - not nice feeling as I feel completely out of control. Anyway, I shall pay what I have promised and do damage control later. Need to update my spreadsheets when I am back over the weekend (and after I have got hold of all the receipts I need to reimburse).

23rdspiral

hi, just popping in to ask a grocery question... do you think tetley tea bags that were BB4 2001 :eek: would be ok to use? i went rummaging at the back of the pantry looking for some tinned fruit i knew was there somewhere... i found pears that were bb4 2007 but we are them anyway and they were fine. just wondering about that sealed box of tea that i must have got from nan's when she died. (gosh, i was still at uni when they should have been used!)

Red_Doe

Tea keeps for ages, am sure it`ll be fine.

cw18

23rdspiral wrote: »

hi, just popping in to ask a grocery question... do you think tetley tea bags that were BB4 2001 :eek: would be ok to use?

Red_Doe wrote: »

Tea keeps for ages, am sure it`ll be fine.

I've never had any get that far OOD (drink too much of the stuff), but have found some that were about 12 months 'gone' - and they were fine.

As long as they're still in their box and not been exposed to light I'd certainly give them a try.

On the other hand my DD keeps hers in a tub with a clear lid, and even if they went from the box to the tub in the morning I can't stand the top ones by the afternoon... so I have to dig down the tub to get one that's not seen the light !!

alec_eiffel

twiglet98 wrote: »

Lost in admiration, I didn't know men like that existed. After two rotten marriages and a longish relationship that turned out to have been rotten all along, I have no intention of getting involved with anyone else EVER but I hope - I'm sure - your DH knows that you know how lucky you are!

I said I mentioned it here and he thought is was hilarious! It is our 8th wedding anniversary tomorrow so I am off to the town to get some things to make a celebratory meal.

No NDS this week but it's all been much needed stuff - blinds, vet, petrol. Hopefully the spending will slow down after this week. We don't have to return the beast to the vet for at least 3 weeks so not too bad and we save money each month to account for that so it was in the bank anyway thankfully.

On the topic of losing weight, I lost a couple of stone by cutting out junk and walking. When we were paying off our debts (£25k in 3 and a bit years) we took the car off the road for 6 months and it just wasn't realistic to carry junk home from the supermarket - far too heavy, fresh stuff was lighter. And walking everywhere meant the weight just dropped off. I started by setting my stopwatch for 5 minutes and just walked away from my house, when I'd done 5 minutes I walked back and built up from there. Did the trick and built the discipline of exercise, eventually stepped up to doing weight training and things too but that a a couple of years down the line when I'd lost most of the weight I wanted to shed.

seriouslyfrugal

rubytuesday wrote: »

I used to be addicted to tea probably drinking at least 12 or more a day. It wasn't doing my bladder any good so I was ordered to cut down. My Consultant recommended boiled water and I thought 'don't be so bloomin' ridiculous' but I gave it a go and actually liked it! It is strangely soothing and I prefer it to herbal tea, even my daughter drinks it sometimes now.

My mum, Auntie and Nan all drink hot water i think it was my auntie that started it and now that's what they prefer :j

Lily_The_Legend

Lynzpower - could you buy a multipack of Diet Coke when you go shopping? That's what I do with Pepsi Max, and they work out a lot cheaper than buying single cans. You could still try to cut it out, but do it gradually rather than go cold turkey so to speak!

My friend stayed with her parents at Christmas and they have decaff everything and she had a really bad headache when she popped round mine, I gave her a caffeinated tea and I think she felt better after that.

She's staying with them again this weekend and she's coming over to mine on Saturday morning - does she just want to see me for me caffeine do you think? :eek::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Erme

really worried about money now as this is going to cost me an extra £55....However can get on via ethernet which is more secure...

Please pray the Lord would provide the means to pay this bill and debt bust

E