Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 2

slowlyfading

Morning everyone

I'm trying wedding dresses on today...eee! Just waiting for my mum to arrive to we can go!

tumptyteapot

Another NSD today as my son has a friend coming over. Going to try to make a birthday cake or biccies or buns or something for my neighbour if I can work out a low sugar recipe - possibly buns then the kids can ice them and test they are not poisonous :-)
My personal goal is to have more NSD's each month and I have done pretty badly this month so far. 4 out of 12. Better planning is required.
Got my free sewing machine working yesterday - put a new (saved from another pair) zip in a £1 pair of trousers and they are great. I had to download instructions to oil the thing though. It is an ancient Singer, perfect for me! We planted our bean seeds in newspaper pots a couple of days ago and will trade any extras for courgette plants with the neighbours.

Oh, and I looked at my receipt - the side of salmon that should have cost £11 (I can get 7 meals out of that!) was priced at £2.50! Bit late to take it back and honest thought I am I don't feel much guilt about costing Mr A some money :-)

forget the cooking - nothing but bread flour in the house :-)

Puddleglum

Found it! Under the sofa which I had searched and cleaned under before!

Laushappy

Hello

Have been trying to catch up on posts!

Good luck with the wedding dress shopping, how exciting :j

Well overall i have not been doing to bad, although i still see many areas of my spending that i can improve, i just find it takes planning and with two little ones i dont always have the energy/time to do this.

Had a big spend at the weekend, eekk! we have two weddings coming up so needed to find an outfit that would be suitable for both (one is in this country and one is in florence). Couldn't afford two outfits but still ended up spending £90 on a beautiful dress and a matching cardigan, i know this sounds alot of money but i saved up and know i will get plenty of wear out of it as it can be dressed up or down. Havent spent any money on clothes in months and then i go and spend £90!!!!!
The thing is my husband now needs something to wear, another big spend :eek:
Then there's the wedding gifts, another :eek:

If i can cut back on the cost of my food shops for the next couple of weeks then i we should be able to afford the wedding present and drinks at the reception

Lesley_Gaye

Tumpty, Lady Lesley's blog is here http://ladylesley.wordpress.com/

SandraScarlett

Puddleglum wrote: »

Found it! Under the sofa which I had searched and cleaned under before!

Oh, I'm so relieved for you! And I hope you now have beautifully tidied cupboards, drawers and "under sofa" areas!!! Hope everybody is well and being frugal. Over the last 3 months, I've been withdrawing the same amount of cash from the bank monthly as I did this time last year.

But my credit card costs decreased by a staggering £750!!! :j So I've given DS and DD £250 each, as an Easter gift for their families (I know outings are so expensive) and I've still got a "bonus" for DH and I!! I've also "lost" some pounds - 6 lovely fat laden pounds of blubber in the last 4 weeks. :T :T:T I've been doing lots of gardening whilst the weather has been so good, and now have a healthy colour - and my trousers all zip up comfortably.

Love to all.

xx

rising_from_the_ashes

Puddleglum wrote: »

Found it! Under the sofa which I had searched and cleaned under before!

Waaaaayyyyyyy, yeeeehaaaa! I just KNEW it would turn up!:D (what a relief).

Lesley, congratulations on the win - enjoy.

Slowlyfading, hope the dress shopping was successful (sorry if I've missed this - may have been before "my time" - when's the big day?).

Sandra, congrats on both losses!

Tumpty, can I come for tea please, that salmon sounds good - what a bargain!


Well, have managed a NSD today - only due to dog's medication being out of stock online (again). This happened the last time I ordered it and it's really stressful in case it doesn't come back in before I run out:(.

Getting organised for car boot on Sat - ticket bought, table borrowed & "junk" accumulating. Not sure how to set my break-even cost - would be £15 but DM coming to "help" (she's never done a bootie before) so not sure whether to include her fuel costs - approx £20 - or just put this down to her having a nice new experience with her DD!

CRANKY40

Puddleglum wrote: »

Found it! Under the sofa which I had searched and cleaned under before!

The Borrowers had it!

rising_from_the_ashes

Just a quick "thanks" to Dizzy - sorry missed you off the list before:o

slowlyfading

Laushappy wrote: »

Good luck with the wedding dress shopping, how exciting :j

Thank you

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Slowlyfading, hope the dress shopping was successful (sorry if I've missed this - may have been before "my time" - when's the big day?).

Thanks It's 31st March 2012

Had the best day - trying on beautiful dresses with my mum there and then lunch out = a very happy SF