Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

Erme

wornoutmumoftwo wrote: »

I bought a new pen drive from the £20 voucher I got for buying a new hoover and...I lost it. It's still in the packaging and I can not find the 'safe place' I put it in.

That sounds like me and my dongle on Sabbath...och hugs...poor you

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.

Och congrats grandma...hope you've had the knitting needles out and been knitting lots of stuff for new GD....Congrats

enjoyfinancialchallenges wrote: »

Ooooh! Ive just received 10 parcels, can you imagine it and all filled with jam jars, lids and labels, I'm so excited anybody would think its Christmas. Just need to buy more fruit and sugar now and I shall build up a stock of marmalades for my 'car boots'. I was really impressed with the speed of delivery and have already phone them to say so, I ordered at 1.56 AM yesterday and the order was delivered today at about 2 30 PM, pretty amazing stuff. I've run out of sugar so will have to wait until I go shopping tomorrow BUT my Credit card is now nearly up to my self imposed limit. Still will need to work it out carefully and do what I have to do but mustn't overspend on it because I must pay it off every month, this sounds like its what some of you call spaving or speculating to accumulate.

I hope you are feeling a bit better today LolaLemon, I just love that name probably cause I'm in love with marmalade making at the moment. Connection? well I can see it.

Glad to hear your new grandchild has made it appearance, next one you say due next week what a prolific family you have! Grandma247 +1.

Och where did you get them from financial and were they expensive? Thinking of making some homemade apple curd or something or even lemon curd @ some point

Well...an update on me. Got back to the ward last night and got paranooid...WAY too much drama than is healthy and I have this nasty virus that's doing the rounds. Also seem to be very sensitive to wet rainy days right now...they just get me SOOO depressed. And yesterday I was sick (vomit) x2 which meant all I've dare eat today is one flapjack...

So I've not gotten out of the hosp till tonight. Only bit of good news is that I've done one hat since I've been in :j. and plan to start another tonight in the next few minutes. Also sold two e-books on Amazon this week so will be well chuffed when the cheques come through (need to get more e-books on amazon - note to self). I only have about 3 right now but hey ho...if you don't mind spending all day on the pc all you need is some convert to Kindle (mobi) programs and you're away...

Is it just me or am I overtly worried about the economy and benefits and now someone has said if I buy my own flat it could affect IS (income support) as it counts as income or something? Never mind the fact I won't get HB for the mortgage. I plan to buy this flat (in a high rise) and pay off the loan with the rent. That should cover loan and like day to day maintenance. Then buy a 1 or 2 bed flat in town or just outside (save up approx £10k for the deposit) and go from there...but will I lose IS if I do that? It just doesn't seem worth it yet I so want to get on the property ladder before I'm 40...

Anyhow tis all my news so best go and do some crochet...Just had to hoover up an entire tub of deodorant off the floor cos it went flying last night and MUST get a shower tomorrow am

E

cw18

Erme wrote: »

and now someone has said if I buy my own flat it could affect IS (income support) as it counts as income or something? Never mind the fact I won't get HB for the mortgage. I plan to buy this flat (in a high rise) and pay off the loan with the rent. That should cover loan and like day to day maintenance. Then buy a 1 or 2 bed flat in town or just outside (save up approx £10k for the deposit) and go from there...but will I lose IS if I do that? It just doesn't seem worth it yet I so want to get on the property ladder before I'm 40...

Owning a flat (with or without a mortgage) that you live in isn't seen as income - it's only if you then rent out a room in it that it will, as the rent you're taking is seen as income.

If you own a property you don't live in, then that WILL count against you.

However, if you own the property (even with a mortgage) you won't get any HB even as 'rent', as you're no longer paying that.

JayneC

Erme - If I understand you correctly you want to buy your flat and then rent it out to somebody else? If so then yes any rent you receive is counted as income, however your expenses (including mortgage payments and maintenance) can be deducted and only your 'profit' is counted so if the rent is only covering your costs then i don't think it will affect your IS. It may be wise to check with somebody who knows the benefits system though? Please do think about all the responsibilities of being a landlord tho, it may be more hassle than it's worth, especially when you're not feeling too well.

Lola hope you feel better soon x

grandma many congratulations on the new arrival. Being a grandma is fab isn't it?

ArtDon't do it!!! Somebody needs to make a stand. It's just mindless consumerism isn't it and everybody gets caught up in it. I decided not to send Christmas cards this year in a similar sort of protest and everybody understood. Even managed to duck out of secret santa at work. I went out with everyone for lunch and they exchanged their gifts and just left me out of it but it was fine. I baked everybody mince pies instead and they were happy with that;). Why not just bake everybody a gingerbread man? Or give them a seed in a pot to plant, you could make that part of the party and they could take it home? A sunflower perhaps? Or something edible like mustard and cress they could make those little egg shell thingies where you draw a face on the shell and then the cress grows like hair? Or a pepper plant? Any way I'm waffling now I'll shut up!

Been doing some calculations today, as some may remember I want to go part time at work soon and hopefully work on getting an income elsewhere with a view to giving up work (for somebody else) completely within a year, need to work on how exactly I will generate said income but I'm working on it . Anyhoo... calculated I need £10,000 for essentials (mortgage, council tax, keeping car on road, etc) before even thinking about the income that can be 'tweaked', a bit of a headache that Did reckon tho if I go down to bare essentials for me and DS (both DDs and DGS likely to move out this year) I should be able to keep under £4000. Was thinking that if both DDs are gone I could rent out a room to foreign students (we have 2 language schools nearby) which should bring in a reasonable amount. I think it's about £200 per week, which would be fab if so...Would need to decorate the bedroom, but can probably do that quite cheaply. Something to ponder I think...:)

grandma247

hello Erme well done with the hats. I have been and still am knitting like a mad woman.

Had a call from dd3 a few minutes ago to say she is going to the hospital :T Hopefully we will know something before bedtime.

enjoyfinancialchallenges

Hi Erme sorry you are not back home yet but at least you are using your time well by making your hats. I'll PM you after Ive eaten about the places to look for jam jars and yes they were expensive but I had to take the risk and buy them because I'm using odd ones at the moment that people save for me but I don't get many jars this way. I also plan on making lemon curd but I wont be starting yet because it doesn't keep that long and I don't want any of it going off before car boot time which wont come for me until the weather is very much warmer. Apart from which standing in the rain in the middle of a windy field is not my idea of fun and it doesn't do much good to my stock either. Good luck for wanting to buy your own home just dont overdo it and make yourself ill again.

23rdspiral I laughed at your admission that you also thought of using your inhabited barley, I'm sure it wouldn't have done you any harm anyway but its just something us British people think is not right isn't it, very frugal though.:rotfl: I remember when overseas being taught how to catch grass hoppers by tickling them with a blade of grass whilst they were in their holes so they could be fried and eaten, not something I would want to do or have ever done I hasten to add but if you hungry or your children starving I wonder then how we would all act!

Ive been thinking about us all on this thread and what a grand mixture of people we are, all trying to live our lives to the best of our individual abilities and individual financial limits by so many different ways. Sometimes achieving successes and celebrating together and at other times miserable because we did not do so well as we had planned. Seems like a true sisterhood to me maybe there are some men on here but I haven't identified any yet, please tell me if I am wrong. Well done to one and all for being here, for trying and for keeping on trying to do our best for our lives and our families and if we don't manage it this time we are having a damn good try and all getting the support and encouragement we need. I love you all for what you've given me and each other.XX

LolaLemon

rubytuesday wrote: »

Lola goodness me you sound rough! I hope you'll be feeling much better soon!

Chika even though my children are too old for party bags now (twenty five next month and eighteen) I had a look at that link for little fun gifts for little ones I know. They've got some really nice bits.

I forgot to say I got weighed at the Doctors yesterday and have actually lost a stone since he last weighed me in July. So it's been in the last six months that it's really started to shift! I was very pleased!

Congrats on the weight loss! :T
I also had a look on that site, thank you Chika for the link, im thinking i might do pass the parcel now after all

enjoyfinancialchallenges wrote: »

I hope you are feeling a bit better today LolaLemon, I just love that name probably cause I'm in love with marmalade making at the moment. Connection? well I can see it.

Glad to hear your new grandchild has made it appearance, next one you say due next week what a prolific family you have! Grandma247 +1.

:rotfl:yeah I see it thank you, i like it too

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Have been planning what I can feasibly try to grow in my teeeeny garden this year (as doubt the "plot" issue will be resolved by then!).

So far.....

radishes
spinnach (usually grow tonnes of lettuce but have finally decided to be honest and admit I don't really like it!)
1 tomato plant
Runner beans (have scrounged an extra recycling box and a couple of unused potato type growing box things DM made a couple of years ago)

Not sure what else I'll have room for / are easy to grow - any ideas?

Have a good evening all.

I do strawberries.. great to get a few every day for my breakfast .. yum yum:)
peas in a compost bag do great
im hoping to do cucumbers in potato bags this year


thank you all for your lovely kind words, im still hacking up a lung, going for another drs appointment tomorrow, someone said today i sound as though i have athsma (sp), someone else said it sounded like pnumoinia (sp).


hope everyone else is good

xxx

slowlyfading

lola - hope you're feeling better soon

NualaBuala

Hi everyone :wave:

Sorry I am not replying in full to everyone at the moment - I am reading though and sharing your ups and downs. I'm in a funny old mood, think I'm a bit depressed, tired yet restless and irritable and haven't really been in the mood for MSE lately - the smallest little disagreement or bone of contention sends me scuttling off to hide under my metaphorical duvet! I'm sure it won't last though, it could well be hormonal in which case I'll be fine in a week or so!

How exciting Grandma247!!!! :j I hadn't realised that there was another new arrival due - that's what I get for skim-reading! Hope all goes well for your DD!

Erme, sounds rough with the vomiting etc but you do sound a whole lot better. I'm delighted for you with your book sales etc. Hope you're not too bothered about missing out on the training course - no doubt there will be other opportunities when the time is right. Not sure about benefits and property ownership - would Citizens Advice be able to advise? My gut feeling would be to tread carefully and not rush into anything.

EFC - you are wonderful making all your homemade stuff for car boot sales etc. I get kind of excited when I see those online shops with lovely jars and things, how sad is that! :rotfl: I have a load of jars (all different sizes) which I offered on freecycle but nobody seems to want them. I could easily put them in the recycle bin but since I know they can be useful from people like you I was reluctant to do that. Will give it another wee while before I chuck them.

Rising, Good luck with your growing! I had a container with radishes, spring onions and mixed salad leaves and was just delighted with myself when I ate them. The spring onions took longest and didn't fare as well as the others as I went away and they didn't have enough water but they were still easy enough to grow and if I'd kept a better eye would have been fab. I've been told beans are very easy and since they grow vertically, you get a lot of food for a very small footprint.


Does anyone here do surveys? I've had several in a row that paid me €2 each but the survey company is taking forever to credit the money to my account. Am pleased how much it's adding up to - not much really but every little makes a difference.

Edit: Lola, , that sounds nasty - [STRIKE]have you been to the Doc pet?[/STRIKE] Have visions of you coughing your poor wee lungs up! :eek:
Sorry, am not reading properly - just saw what you said about Dr. Hope you are well soon!

SandraScarlett

I'm sitting here, brimming with admiration for all of you! :j Some people are busy growing things, others knitting or crocheting, making jam, lemon curd, doing enough meals to make one humble chicken do the work of the loaves and fishes! Others are busy, busy, busy working out how to start their own businesses! :beer: Well done all of you!

And what have I done the last 2 days? Made a couple of casseroles and read 2 library books!

xx

NualaBuala

SandraScarlett wrote: »

I'm sitting here, brimming with admiration for all of you! :j Some people are busy growing things, others knitting or crocheting, making jam, lemon curd, doing enough meals to make one humble chicken do the work of the loaves and fishes! Others are busy, busy, busy working out how to start their own businesses! :beer: Well done all of you!

And what have I done the last 2 days? Made a couple of casseroles and read 2 library books!

xx

That's no small achievement Sandra! :T And don't forget your poems and cheering us all up - that's pretty incredible really. :A You're our frugal equivalent of the Poet Laureate!