Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

silvasava

Hi All - Big hugs all round to all who need them.
EFC - been trying to think of a large veggie alternative to the elephant - how about the moon? Everyone knows its made of cheese!
Grandma247 - I know it can get quite soul destroying when you are trying to manage a budget and so many things are neccessities and totally outside your control but you're a woman - you can do it!!
Erme - wonder if you've thought of buying a Hotpoint washing machine? They usually have a 5 year guarantee. I must admit I won't spend a lot on one & the only time I deviated from Hotpoint (Candy) the damn thing needed a new door seal every year!
Tip - If your machine is not spinning properly quite often it just needs new carbon brushes & these are very easy to fit - take old ones out put new ones in! (Got to take the lid of first) They usually cost between £15 -20, often cheaper than a call out and worth checking first

minnie2

silvasava wrote: »

Minnie 2 - OOh another lady who likes spiders! Wonderful creatures who must all be ladies becuase when they find somwhere they like they put up their 'net' curtains!! We used to have a VERY large spider that we named Fred who occasionally visited the sitting room. My DS1 & I were watching TV one night & the lights fused, while DH was under the stairs we were just sitting in the dark when we heard a 'pitter' noise. DS jokingly said 'must be Fred' when the lights came on there he was in the middle of the room!! I knew he was big but didn't know he wore boots!

To those who dont like spiders - they dont cause any nasties and are very clean (unlike flies) they eat all the real nasties & just cos they've got 8 legs if they had wings they'd be a butterfly!

Off to rummage in the freezer for dinner tonight

i had a tarantula as a child - make lovely pets - wanted another for ages!!! Nealry got two!! but Bertie was very expensive

Erme wrote: »

And I thought spending about £30 on my rats this week was expensive? LOL......Phew....I have to take Bob to the vets tomorrow that I'm not looking forward to. The posh bedding won't last 5 mins so will have to eek it out a little and buy more suparat at some point. I have a tub for the suparat but they like to sleep on the posh bedding (no wonder it looks far comfier than sawdust)

Still Notfound library book :eek:...Have hunted all over...

Also had a good time @ the charity sale - it was mobbed though. Was wise to take just cash otherwise I could have spent a wee fortune. Got a good old metal ironing board (loads of character but heavy) for £5 and some tweed for 75p and a little wool and some tupperware tubs (4 cereal ones for £1.50 :j). Will have to go next month and see what I need but get there sooner..(huge queue by the time I got there @ 0945)...amazing sale though. Would recommend anyone visiting the Deen to go there (Somebody cares is the charity - think it's on their website. It's down summerhill)..

)

you were very frugal compared to my spend!!!!! eek!! but they are all worth it!!

minnie2

ok so got my GTP interview tomorrow and I am very scared!!

slowlyfading

Good luck minnie2 - you'll be fine!

mooomin

minnie2 wrote: »

ok so got my GTP interview tomorrow and I am very scared!!

I don't know what GTP stands for, but good luck!

Off to finish making dinner now, then adding up the spends for February on the Spreadsheet of Wonder...:eek:

chika

Go Minnie, my friend also has a GTP interview tomorrow. Fingers crossed that you get on!

rubytuesday

Having trouble reading and posting as one of the cats is insisting on plonking herself on the laptop!

A frugal day for me. A new friend treated me to lunch. Dinner was left over roast chicken with spicy cous cous.

The only thing I paid out for today was a fiver on a brand new ski type jumper dress from the Charity shop, for my daughter.

I have come in sixty pounds under budget this month and have put some money in my ISA.

mooomin

I'm under budget!! Mainly due to having no council tax, but I'm not going to quibble

23rdspiral

grandma247 - so sorry to hear you're going through the ringer at the moment. congrats on saving more than you realised though.

Minnie - i also dont know what that is, but if youre scared thats not good so Good Luck and i hope it isnt as scary as you fear.

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re The Big R - HR still havent called me in... just asked for the dates i'm working, and not in appointments, so they are still thinking of it. Probably this Thursday then. ho hum.
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Went to MR T after work - i found a 2.00 voucher last week that runs out today so thought i should spend it! :j So i bought a magazine i Really wanted, CrossStitcher with a free kit, even though i wanted to get it next month for the SoW (i got the French one so shouldnt have 2 in a month for frugality), but thought the Saving was worth it. So that makes 2 Mags this month, but it was 3 last month... so at least i am cutting down and really thinking about it.
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i'm off to spend some quality time with my SoW... fingers crossed! i havent updated it for a week, silly me. and i dont know where to put the French spends - some were groceries i'd have had to get anyway (bread), some were spaves (capers!), and some were treats for me and my other half (wine! cross stitch mag, belgium beer). humm, i might just ignore them for now! they are all in Euros and i should check what rate mum got on the exchange as that's what i owe her.

Good Luck everyone with your SoWs!!

silvasava

Good Luck Minnie 2 & well done RuTu (my cat always manages to waft her large plumey tail either across the screen or under my nose!)