Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - Part 3.

rising_from_the_ashes

paidinchickens wrote: »

having lasagne for tea. I always add a tin of baked beans in with mince meals as it makes it go further but I have accidentally opened beans and sausages and threw them in without looking. This is the down side for everything being value I should be grateful it was not a tin of peaches:rotfl: So wonder what it will be like........and can't wait to see the kids faces;)

:eek:Please let us know how the lasagne turns out! (It'll probably be "extra special")

Nightmare with the mobile bill - I too think they should warn you and am surprised they don't.

I'm PAYG and get a balance text sent after every call/text so just assumed there was something similar on contract phones.

rubytuesday wrote: »

Credit card bill really did not make for good reading this month and most of the cats' bill is not on it!:eek:

My visa bill wasn't very nice this month either - I then did a really silly thing on Thursday .... had to go to the dentist and the bill was £24, usually I don't have any cash (only couple £s) but we had a leaving lunch on Friday so I'd taken some cash out for that and stupidly paid the dentist bill with it. I was kicking myself afterwards (I put everything on the visa and pay in full each month).

So, not only have I spent £24 this month that could've come out of next month's salary (when next bill due) but that was £24 out of my £100 to live on this month......:(, not impressed with myself at all!

rubytuesday wrote: »

Still sometimes we have to live a little!

Yes we do, we all have "our own things" to deal with in life, whether it's family, pets, work (no work), struggling to make ends meet etc - but, every now and then... we deserve a little treat.

IMHO if we watch the pennies most of the time, then a little pampering every so often does us the world of good and we shouldn't feel guilty about it.

tumptyteapot wrote: »

when I first started this I honesty found it difficult to have a day spending no money, now it happens without me thinking about it

Snap - I actually managed to lose track of my NSDs in June - know I managed more than my target but annoyed none the less.


Well, offloaded a whole car load of stuff at the cat rescue this morning and then had a wee wander around the cats looking for homes .... oh, I wish I were a millionaire living in the middle of nowhere and I'd take them all.

There was some really nice cats there - my heart strings were especially pulled by one boy (who I can't stop thinking about now) and I'm soooo tempted, it's just my wee girl cat who stops me as she's "not good" (understatement) with other cats. My boy cat would be fine after the initial "I'm boss" routine that plays out.

Also, stupidly went onto Gum*tree just before and a couple of coops for around £100 - seriously tempted but trying to resist. The "sensible" part is winning (for a change) at the minute as I'd need to hire a van to collect any of them so that would be at least another £30. (Note to self: you do not need a chicken coop/chickens)


Kerry - well done on that jacket, what a bargain!

rising_from_the_ashes

Thinking I may have to start stocking up on things - heavy things like cat litter, bottled water, juice etc but also fill the freezers.

Surgery due in September and will be laid up for quite a few weeks afterwards - couldn't drive for nearly 4 months the last time:( so it looks like this quarter will be overspent (but I'll hopefully be able to claw it back next one).


And.... most exciting news of the day .....

I had my first peas!!!!!!

Was chatting to my neighbour and we're looking at all the pods coming and there were a couple of "fattish" ones so .... I just had to ..... and they are absolutely yummy!:D Success!:j first time I've really tried to grow any veg so really chuffed!:)

paidinchickens

Lasagne was a success :rotfl::rotfl: Dh even complained he only got one sausage:rotfl: and one of the boys had seconds!!

Just been thinking how this is the most expensive half of the year for me. All four of the kids birthdays are between now and xmas:eek:

Then there is xmas itself which I have not found anything for so far (totally slacking in this department)

And school uniforms to get for three boys (two at secondary):eek::eek:

lingojingo

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

:

Nightmare with the mobile bill - I too think they should warn you and am surprised they don't.

I'm PAYG and get a balance text sent after every call/text so just assumed there was something similar on contract phones.

I'm on contract and always get a text message when I've used 75% of my allowance, it also says how many days are left before the next lot starts.

rubytuesday

Ooh well done on the peas rising!

I am wondering if I will get any runner beans - the rather sorry plants I bought from the fete have perked up nicely.

I've got greedy black cat coming for breakfast and dinner now - don't know why he doesn't just move in.

I'd forgotten I'm home alone for dinner and wondering if I can eek out another cobble so I don't have to go to the shop and can have an NSD for the first time in ages but it's pushing it a bit.

I think I can make some soup or a bit of fish from the freezer with home made chips.

I get a text every week telling me how much allowance I have left but last month I went over and the bill was double what it usually is.

I did have an alternative sim but couldn't find it.

KolaKube

Hello all!

Hugs to those with nasty phone & visa bills! :eek:

I have to say, I don't think a few sausages mixed into lasagne mix would be too bad - you could sort of pretend they're little chorizos or something there for extra flavour lol. If I served it up to my OH I'm willing to bet he'd wolf it down so quickly he wouldn't notice lol

Congratulations on the peas rising from the ashes - I bet they're delicious!

I second the 'sometimes we have to live a little..!' - I bought myself a new dress the other day FULL PRICE (shock horror!!!!!! It's been years since I've bought a full price piece of clothing) and have been having compliments on it all week - felt completely guilty at the time but I reckon if we went round denying ourselves absolutely everything life wouldn't be too much fun I'm a serial self denier, but I do think a little luxury sometimes keeps me afloat!

A relatively cheap day for OH and I apart from buying our shiny new laptop (a planned purchase, we really couldnt go on with the one we were using!).

HM spag bol for tea with leftovers fleshed out tomorrow with kidney beans to a chili

rubytuesday

Welcome Kolakube - I used to love them!

How wonderful to get all those compliments definitely a worth while purchase then!

tumptyteapot

summer holidays are nearly here - have you any frugal holiday ideas? I'm going to spash out and put the cat in a cattery so I can take my son away for a few days and not come back to a stinky house - my folks live near the seaside and we have people to visit, planning to do a lot of camping! I'd love to take him to a holiday park in season, we have only ever been when it is very very cheap! I'm tempted to save up and get us passports so we can get some winter sun when it gets terribly cold, has anyone done it?

paidinchickens

tumptyteapot wrote: »

summer holidays are nearly here - have you any frugal holiday ideas? I'm going to spash out and put the cat in a cattery so I can take my son away for a few days and not come back to a stinky house - my folks live near the seaside and we have people to visit, planning to do a lot of camping! I'd love to take him to a holiday park in season, we have only ever been when it is very very cheap! I'm tempted to save up and get us passports so we can get some winter sun when it gets terribly cold, has anyone done it?

We have done two winter hols. 1st to florida and we got snowed in on the M25 missed the plane and had to get a flight three days later missing some of the hols:( 2nd to the canaries and yep it snowed again making the trip to the airport hours longer. One was January and one was in Feb. We went to two travel agents to get quotes and kept playing them off against each other to get the best deal........saved thousands. No hols for us this year as DH has to go in for an op:(

rubytuesday

I went to St Lucia just before Christmas with my son years and years ago we got the most unbelievable deal! £200 each for the flight and hotel and breakfast.

Was twenty years ago though.

Also took him to India when he was nearly three - that was hot!:rotfl: