Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 2

minnie2

hello!! gosh I am so far behind!!!!

not having a good time at the minute with my tumour.Been very ill.Had some decompression treatment or something and it has not gone down very well with my head. Had people cancelling work recently too so money is tight again eek!! need to get back in the saddle and start being very frugal, once my migraines clear up.There is now no way I am going to be able to pay off my loan by August so very disappointed!!! Also just realised my credit card has charged me £74 interest which sent me over my limit so got charged for going over my limit too!!!!!! It only made me go over by less than £3 what a mess!!! I will try and catch up hope everyone is ok!!!! I am going to start eating a lot of cereal and not much else- may slim me down for summer too!! and we are starting back with packed lunches for work (well cereal for me). And i am going to spend some time this whit week going through the house searching for things to sell and trying to manage energy even more.got the horse up in second bedroom to put clothes on to dry i have been a bi wheezy but im hoping if i keep door shut and window open weather permitting I will be ok.

So how is everyone?

minnie2

ok so not as much to catch up on as I thought.phew!!

hugs to everyone who needs them and I really hope you all get the jobs you need!! Hope everyone is well!!!! (i would love to know what that feels like)

I have been getting very confused with my path in life recently a brain tumour does that to you!! especially when things change.my treatment is changing and my specialist is messing me around a bit - for my own good but doesnt feel that way at the minute.plus with this awful treatment wow!!

So I have been considering a psychology degree as i cant seem to get on the training i want but im all confused about that and also about modules i would want to do and when and i have applied and got on to hte wrong module at hte wrong time and now they want the money and its all a palava at the wrong time.So I think on top of getting finances in order AGAIN!! this week i need to really spend some time working out what i am doing with my life!!! Feeling a bit more positive about it all now but still feeling rotten, thought I was going to die Weds had emergency appoint scary stuff.But i am still here and need a new direction just not sure what it is!!!


Good news though is that I do now have life insurance!!!!!!! So hubby will be ok. Only taken them 8months to sort out!!!


oh we also now new a new back door as one of my dogs decided to go through it!!!! We are also considering rehoming that one - our situation at the minute is not ideal and she is costing us a fortune and she needs fit and healthy people! very hard - i cant bring myself to make the call. But since last may she has cost over £800 repairs to garden £300 vets bill for knocking over my old boy dog and now a new back door. She is a mastiff and she has ADHD but ive had her since she was a baby and she is now 6 and a half and its hard.She climbs fences digs goes under fences gets out of crates goes through doors, knocks you over.But she loves you dearly and I love her. Hard!!

There is probably a million other things i want to catch up on and I forgot to click to quote on posts i wanted to but i now have a very big twitch in right eye which suggests my head has had enough for now and i need to lay down in a darkened room!!

I will try to be more on the ball this week!!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day and you all receive good news!! Sending hugs and frugal thoughts!!!

Kerry_Woman

minnie2 - Sending you hugs.

kittiej

Aw great to see you're OK minnie.

Re the dog, I think you may have come to the right decision in all honesty and I know it's heartbreaking but you have to put your own needs first.

Hi to everyone else, I'm having a pj day today as it's raining and miserable outside. I don't want to go out anyway just in case I end up spending money. No more spends until June!

I think June will be a 'just getting by' month since I've got hefty out of school club fees coming up in July and August they will be over a grand.

rising_from_the_ashes

Minnie so glad to hear from you (we were getting worried) but sorry to hear things are so difficult right now. (((hugs)))

Thanks for the tips on a shopping trolley - def going to get one (yet another 3 mile round trip to the shop for something silly last night) - the fuel on these trips all adds up and it's not too far to walk (1.5 miles by car as I live at the bottom of a really long no through road but only about .5 mile to walk).

Got my Co*op reward vouchers today - £22:j:j - will be trying to keep them for Christmas. However, it does show how much I buy in there so need to cut down on that!


Got some lambs kidneys from the local butcher yesterday, had last night with cabbage & new potatoes - very, very yummy, cheap and good for you.

Not much planned for today - washing sitting in machine as was a really heavy shower before and trying to work out if it'll stay dry while I pop to Mr T (not my favourite place as some of you may know, but I have a £4 off £30 shop voucher so need to make use of it).

SoW needs some serious updating - drowning in receipts again:( - however, pet budget way over budget. Stocked up as Mr M had pouches on offer last week & DM got some for me (nearest Mr M 40 miles away:(), 9 boxes should last me a wee while. Have enough dry dog & cat food & dog medication for about 2 months, 2 bags of litter and a bag full of treats - no more for them!

Have managed to find a course for £1200/year (2 years) which is the cheapest so far (that seems 1/2 decent) so looking at career development loans - very loathe to get one though as really don't want more debt, but I need the qualification to get a better job so...... still undecided.

Anyway, sun's now out - must go & try to repair the damage done by the storms this week - mini-greenhouse looks pretty wreaked:mad: and spinach/lettuce boxes haven't survived. Peas, thankfully, look not too bad:). Getting my beans from DM tomorrow so need to get the planter set up and ready to plant them when I get home.


Have a great day everyone.

Erme

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Something odd going on as it won't let me quote ......

Anyway, PaidinChickens I've often thought of doing that with my hot water as end up boiling the kettle several times a day - does it stay hot enough?


Have anyone got a shopping trolley on wheels?

If so, recommendations welcome please!

Thinking of getting one - it's quite a walk to the local shop (when I need bits - trying to only go to the supermarket once a fortnight as always buy more than I need) and struggle carrying stuff back. I do use a backpack for heavy stuff but thought a trolley may be good.

There seem to be some bright funky ones around (so hopefully I won't look a total idiot) - however they start around £5 (small, and prob not able to carry much) and work upwards from that.

I have a rola two wheeled jobbie with a drawstring top I got about 10 years ago. Anywhere near skegness and you should be able to get one quite reasonable. Pay no more than £15 including P+P. They often have them on eBay too . I think mine was quite a bit more than that 10 years ago but they're worth it ...Mine is blue and half decorated with fabric pen (doesn't exactly look green but I'm not bothered), a hello kitty motif and some lady birds out a cheap pair of PJ's from P I just cut out and sewed on. So don't worry if it's dull. It's not easy to sew onto them but it can be done. just get a cheap pair of children's pi's and nab the motifs...:)

Puddleglum wrote: »

I bought a shopping trolley on wheels about 7 years ago. It was when our daughter stopped using a buggy. We were running the house as a B&B and every afternoon I had to go out and buy supplies before picking the kids up from school/playschool. I swear that my arms were really, genuinely stretching, carrying everything around the village. Before the shopping was attached to the handles of the buggy with only an ocasional mishap!

Shopping trollies are worth their weight in gold ( to cut a long story short). It can be hard to find one which doesn't require a crocheted hat in order to pull it along but smart ones do exist. Mine was yellow and the shop keepers called it my yellow peril. Well worth it.

I think the thread is suffering from "almost halfway blues". FL is part of our lives, becoming routine. The excitement of January is way behind us. Posting rates have dropped off as the other side of our fences starts to look inviting IYSWIM. Hang on in there guys - we can do it and stay wedded to FL, getting over the 5 month itch!

Best wishes to all

Puddleglum

Sorry you're so down Puddleglum....my personal battle right now is one of cigs (moving onto e-cig cos I need the nicotine as I hear voices without it and am rubbish at managing the latter)....cos I figured I spend more on cigs than I do on food and almost as much as I do on loan. I've had quite a few whoops spends the past few weeks so not really do the FL right now though had a forced FL food week this week with spending so much on e-cig.... So that's been a cathartic exercise for me. As you all know my FL is very closely connected to my faith so I pray no one minds me saying that I'm amazed how even when I've messed up the budget God still provides all my needs ...

BTW if I do need the nicotine I think e-cig is a fraction of the cost of cigs and I was a ryo girl and I was still spending £30-35 a week on cigs...has to stop .....

Anyhow for folk who need want them...I have a new cheap treat - wee bottle of cream soda from shop that's just started to sell them for 29p ....beats even my 'treats for £1'...

E

kittiej

Trying to stop smoking is a real battle when you don't hear voices so you have my sympathies with that one.

Living from what you already have can be a really positive thing, well at least the stuff that gets ignored at the back of the cupboard gets used up. Erme did you ever watch the TV programme about the vicar who tried to live a money free life for a year? I enjoyed watching that, unfortunately he didn't quite fulfill his quest, but he almost did.

rubytuesday

Hello everyone.

Been a bit of an emotional roller coaster here -was supposed to be getting a foster doggie but he was from the area so wasn't allowed and then was asked to take another one but couldn't due to timing logistics - so a bit sad as still no doggie!

Spendy day in the charity shops yesterday on a Nichol Fahri jumper, two fat face skirts, a DP skirt, a few books and a couple of pieces of china.

Hopefully a NSD today although I may give the girlie some money towards a birthday meal out with her friend.

aeb_2

Hello
It's a log time since I looked on here I hope you don't mind if I jump in

I have a gas bottle wood burning stove. It's not so pretty but it keeps the chill off my garage/annexe/junk-room all winter for very little cost. I fixed it up myself so not sure about regulations but it's t a living area and stands apart from the house. I feed it one 6" diameter log am and another pm and it hasn't gone out since the end of Sept. The cat loves it too!

I also have a house trained wood burner in the kitchen. It came with the house. It heats the kitchen, dining room, my bedroom and bathroom and does all the hot water. It could heat another room but this make it less efficient so I switched that one off. It has a big flat top so it is my kettle at all times and cooks stew, soup, vegetables and everything else. In the winter I only put the normal oven on once a week to bake.
The water heats by gravity; we have those big fat iron radiators.

Downside - I'm going outside now to cut the logs for the week

I'll try to keep up

slowlyfading

:hello: aeb and nice to see you! Thanks for updating us, how are the babies doing?

Erme, good luck with quitting the cigs - I gather it's hard enough at the best of times, without other battles in the mix.

I'm having a lazy day today - watching the French Open on the red button whilst having a cuppa