Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

23rdspiral

hi everyone, just popping in to note 2 NSDs over the weekend, despite going to a birthday party and having friends over (good planning helped!). will catch up tomorow on wknd posts.

Happy Valentines day everyone! (sorry but as much as i love you lot, you aint getting a real rose from me!)

we dont really celebrate other than cards and fishnchips - but looking to be frugal i made a xstitch card! and we had lush Tai prawns (Mr M frozen, amazing!) with whoopsied spinach, then chicken burgers!! so half 'romantic' half sheer yum! and all had to be quick as he was heading out to volunteer tonight. love him oodles!!

dizzy_lizzie

23rdspiral wrote: »

hi everyone, just popping in to note 2 NSDs over the weekend, despite going to a birthday party and having friends over (good planning helped!). will catch up tomorow on wknd posts.

Happy Valentines day everyone! (sorry but as much as i love you lot, you aint getting a real rose from me!)

we dont really celebrate other than cards and fishnchips - but looking to be frugal i made a xstitch card! and we had lush Tai prawns (Mr M frozen, amazing!) with whoopsied spinach, then chicken burgers!! so half 'romantic' half sheer yum! and all had to be quick as he was heading out to volunteer tonight. love him oodles!!

Aw that's so sweet. Your valentine night sounds really lovely.
Thanks for the rose, have a glass of vino my dear...
(Still loving those smileys hee hee)
Luv dizzy x
♥

theonlynuttytart

quick hi to all fellow frugalists!

im making progress..... making lunches everyday for work and using things from the cupboards. making lots more meals and enjoying them!

got a busy week ahead, finding the cheapest quote to re roof my leaking shed...... onwards and upwards!:D

SandraScarlett

grandma247 wrote: »

Baby arrived at 12.30 today. It's a girl weighing 8lb7oz. They gave her my middle name as her middle name. I am not sure they realise so will have to ask when I speak to dd again, she phoned me while in recovery. Will not see the baby for a few days as it is a good few miles away so will wait till they are home.

ODE TO A GRANDMA!

Congratulations Grandma - what lovely, cheerful news
A little, darling baby girl, a precious gift to choose

For though you may be distant as far as journeys go
That blessed little angel, will know you love her so :A

For when you have a daughter, or when you have a son
It's fair to say that every day is not a ball of fun! :mad:

But when you have a grandchild, well that's a different matter
An innocent of sheer delight, who'll smile at you, and chatter

She'll know how much you love her, and in turn she brings you pleasure
A little friend to cherish who'll be your special treasure

So once again I send you, the very very best
You'll find that you'll feel younger, full of energy and zest! :j

Today's the day that Cupid, with love, will shoot his dart
Today he found the bullseye, in Grandma's happy heart :heart2:

Some people yearn for riches like a diamond or a pearl
But your reward is priceless - a lovely little girl! :hello:

*******************************************

To dear Grandma,

Congratulations and love from me.

xx

LolaLemon

artichoke wrote: »

hi all
Just checking in to say hello - i have not read anything over the weekend as have been outside all the time and not turned the computer on all weekend

we had a wonderful Farm Open day - even though the weather was a bit blustery yesterday...the kids got covered in mud as the ground was so wet but i think everyone had a good time... piglets, 2 day old chicks, goats, sheep, hens - all had a bit of a run around as the kids tried to catch them for a cuddle..

I had a NS weekend and came home yesterday with a very big bag of pigs trotters and other bits that people dont usually want to eat..

today will be a spend day as DH is going into town for a meeting and will buy some basics such as toilet roll, wheatabix, whilst he is out.

I will need to spend later in the week as i need to organise DD's 7th birthday party.... any ideas for frugal parties welcome:eek:

we have booked the village hall and she wants a disco and games party... we always do this sort of party so i have ideas for games etc...it is just that the kids demand party bags with plastic cr...*p in and i try to avoid buying rubbish but to give them something more useful...

at the school halloween party i organised for the PTA i gave all the kids an organic red apple at the end of the night and i got looks of disgust from some kids who refused to take them and asked for sweets as well ( we did give them all a lolly ) and some parent were a bit shocked by the apple as well:eek:


hey i could give them all a pigs trotter that would really shock them:rotfl:
or play pass the pigs head:eek:

anyway i need to find some cheap party bag stuff later in the week..

i will be back later when kids are in bed - i must get on with work now

DD wants some day old chicks for her birthday present..so need to organise that

art

1st, I am soo envyious (sp) of your life style... it is soo what i would like to encourange my son (and myself) to be like.

2ndly... you do not need to 'do' party bags. They are the bain of my life! This year for my sons 4th birthday, im not doing them, and i have mentioned to a few mums that im not doing them, and they have been relieved, almost as if 'YES! SOMEONE IS SETTING A PRECIDENT! WHOOHOO!'
instead, i will have some bags (im thinking the paper lunch bags, and if i find a nice stamp, then im going to get son to stamp them to make them look different, and i'll put a bit of cake in the bags and what ever is left from the table (fairy cakes, cookies, fruit {but not the veg- i think i posted a pic on here many posts back now of where im getting my inspiration} and any sweets we have too) and my reason for that is mostly so i do not have to take a load of stuff home with me to eat :rotfl: i am also doing an egg hunt - creame/caramel eggs and making egg cosies for each one that they can keep, instead of a cr*p plastic toy that goes straight in the bin

other ideas for party bags if you still want to go ahead with them is craft supplys.. couple of sheets of coloured paper, some pens/pencils/crayons/paints some stickers glitter etc... just a small selection is enough --- my son got this in his bag at a house party... he was playing with it weeks later!
another idea... try somewhere like the book people and you can get x books for under £10... normally part of a series from the same author.... my friend done that one last year, went down well with both children and parents
http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_category_tbp?storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=100&pageSize=20&pageNumber=0&sort=DEFAULT&categoryId=84228
thats their party bag ideas page



im shocked at the reaction at halloween: at least i know if my son was given something he didnt want/like, he would take it and say thank you! as he done this past halloween, he was given oranges and tangerines which he hates, but took them and said thank you... i would be mortified if he asked for sweets instead (unless thier was a choice)

your daughters present choice is soo sweet

~~~~~~~~

wee update from me
i'm dying! figuratively not litrually.
have had a nasty version of viral flu (dont know why its called that when all flu is viral) my son had it as well, hes a lot better now, thankfully, but im still in agony, although seem to be over the fever, but constantly cold, and i have this barking cough that feels like im caughing up my lungs.--- sounds like ive been smoking 40 a day since i was 8, when ive never smoked a day in my life. Dr's said the caugh is lasting up to 10 weeks! the nights are the worst, im bunged up with snot - that when i blow my nose thier is nothing thier - so im breathing through my mouth - dry tongue, roof of mouth, and throat - horrid or i do get to breath through my nose and i wake myself up from my snorring, or worse, my SON wakes me cause im snorring!!! :rotfl:

not being very frugal whilst like this, no energy to cook anything, clean anything, do anything, so one too many take-aways being consumed.
had promised i would take my son to the pics today, as our schools are closed for some holiday or another, so his nurser is closed, and i needed to go to uni for 1 class, was going to take him with me. 1 hour of train up and down -treat for him as like most kids he loves the trains - free for him, my pass paid already, have tesco vouchers for cinema for us both, so all was going to get was some popcorn and slushes thier.
instead i spent most of day in bed, only getting up to make him food... felt a bit better at 4pm so checked local cinema times and we went to see Tangled -son loved it, and i thought it was a good film- cost £8 for him and me with student pass and then some candyfloss, slushes, hotdog for me -was rank- cup of chicken soup and small bag of sweets for son, came to £8odd!
on way home we got a portion of chips to share £1.50 and most are still in the poke sitting beside me

Only good thing about all this; i should have lost some amount of weight, been barely eating for nearly 3 weeks now. i miss tasty food:(

NualaBuala

Congratulations Grandma! :j

My budget seems fine, spending is on track but think I will try to set some extra aside for clothes. I think I'll feel better for having them but I find it so hard to spend money these days except on food so it won't be easy!

Hope everyone is ok, big hugs to anyone who'd like one.

grandma247

silvasava wrote: »

Congratulations Grandma 247 - hope mum & baby are both doing well. Will you be changing your name to grandma247365 now???

What a good idea:rotfl:. This baby makes it ten and the one due next week will be the eleventh.

HowlinWolf wrote: »

Grandma - congratulations that's fantastic news. I think it's lovely to use family names as middle names.

Our first five kids didn't have family names but the last one has great gf's, gf's and dh's names.

dizzy_lizzie wrote: »

:j Congratulations grandma, well done to mum and baby too :j
Hope you like this poem, not by me unfortunately...

Ten tiny little fingers that always want to play,
That never stop exploring the wonder of today.
Ten tiny little fingers that from the very start,
Will reach out for tomorrow yet always hold your heart.
-- Author Unknown

thank you

Sandra thank you too i will copy and keep both.

thanks to all for the good wishes.

I am truly blessed. I always wanted to be a grandma and I love it. Dd sent me a lovely picture from her phone so it is now printed off and on the mantlepiece since I can't go see baby yet.

chika

Congratulations Grandma!

Artichoke have you looked at Tickseed. They do some quite nice party bag fillers that are better than the standard plastic bobbins you normally get. The prices are really good too. I bought some bits and pieces to put into gift bags for my class at Christmas and the amount of parents that commented on them at last weeks parents evening was fab. Nothing seems to have broken so far...

http://www.tickseed.co.uk/stocking-fillers-party-bag-toys-and-gifts-under-1-pound-3169-0.html this is the under £1 range but they also have slightly more expensive stuff in other sections.

youngmummy

grandma247 wrote: »

Baby arrived at 12.30 today. It's a girl weighing 8lb7oz. They gave her my middle name as her middle name. I am not sure they realise so will have to ask when I speak to dd again, she phoned me while in recovery. Will not see the baby for a few days as it is a good few miles away so will wait till they are home.

congratulations x :j

apple_mint

Congratulations grandma247 :j

Dizzie Lizzie & SandraScarlett - the poems are lovely :T

Big (((hugs))) to those who need one.

Still on track with the frugal challenge and haven't spent any money since last Friday. This thread is keeping me on track. I'm looking forward to being able to get out into the garden and go for walks in the evening, both lovely free activities. At least I'm travelling to work in daylight now and when I come out it there is still a little light in the sky.