2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there

Just poking my nose in again ...you can grow potatoes in thick black bags etc..but you need to make sure that the sunlight isn't able to get through as it will turn them green .
I have my 1st 2 lots under way in tubs (some that sprutted in the drawer)..and several more lots will be going in soon :T .....
I think it was you NYK who was on about freezing potatoes the other day... i have come across a recipe for making Gnocci and using mashed potato in pastry amongst other things if anyone wants the recipes -just though it was an alternative to good old mash

Oh and have you all seen that ONIONS are going to go up by an estimated 50% :eek: ? as all the bad weather is making them rot from the inside!!!
Glad i have some growing:p oh and carrots are predicted to be doing the same this year too:eek: .... I can't survive without shed loads of onions and carrots...and carrots are soooo simple to grow..so get those tubs out ladies and gents...
At this rate im going to end up with no lawn and only a narrow path through the patio :rotfl:

right im off again now to go back to my gardening book and seeds...much planning to do

hopeless_spendthrift

Bails :grouphug: sorry you're feelin down atm sweetheart - hope it soon passes. If I take Whitewing's advice and stick summat over the existing wording on Grandad's card, may I be nominated for today's Stingy One award? lol. If I had a printer i would give it a go Whitewing thank u - what about felt-tips or crayons...? DD2 has been busy with a cross stitch card that I got her off e-bay. She said we could give that to Grandad but not sure if it will be ready in time, plus she says she wants to 'show' it at school! I will order her some more i think as she really enjoys doing them and so it would kinda kill 2 birds with one stone as it were!
Opened the door this morning to find ds's bike has been stolen! I am really miffed to say the least :mad: Haven't told him yet:o. He's gonna be really upset - will probably save up to buy him a new one for his b/day in May - and no, I don't have insurance :wall:It was outside the door 'in the block' where i live on the second floor. Someone must have had their eye on it without me realising grrrr... :sad:

lingojingo

Bails, hope you're feeling a bit happier, I really love your cheery posts. I'm in the north, would like to move back south to be nearer my Mum as she gets older, but can't imagine ever being able to afford it. Hey, perhaps we should swap houses!!:cool:

hopeless_spendthrift, sorry to hear about your son's bike, that's awful.

wornoutmumoftwo well done for going to the debt adviser, shame they couldn't help much, and how uncaring are British Gas. Keep on with the challenge, you'll get there in the end.

It really makes my own problems seem so much less when i read what some of you are having to contend with, the best thing about this challenge is all the support we can all give and receive.

bails

Thankyou peeps! Hopeless spendthrift, really sorry to hear about your son's bike, that's RUBBISH! And as for British Gas Wornoutmumoftwo... :mad: Lingo, that's one of the things stopping us moving just yet - if we sold this house we'd never be able to come back and my folks have lived around here their whole lives. It's hard isn't it?

Before I forget (again) - there's free bingo on Gala today if you're interested. I hate it (as I never win anything :rolleyes:) but I'm still having a go! It's free next Thursday too. Hope someone wins something!
Not done v much today - made the sign for my car but not stuck it up yet; haven't put anything on Ebay yet, off to take some photos in a min. Had a good long chat with my best mate up north though so feel a bit better; back to cheery posts soon I promise!
Any more contenders for 'The Stingy One'??

whitewing

I have just spent 37p in Tesco on 4 loaves of bread, 15 eggs and 12 pints of milk. Used my vouchers!

Even found myself tutting quietly as the woman in front had bought a Yorkie Bar - what a waste of money, lol! (Son disagrees)

And came back and just did a quick survey (4 min max) for women in business and they are supposed to be sending a £5 cheque for it. If that does turn up I will be very pleased.

Good day, all in all. (Not sorted out the spuds yet though; maybe at the weekend; thanks for all your help)

whitewing

Hopeless, perhaps it was some friends larking about. DS left his schoolbag and coat at the swimming pool last Mon and despite the school phoning the pool the minute he got back, when we went to collect it only the coat was there. Three days later we got a call and someone had handed it in.

Incidentally, I believe that the police will security mark bikes etc. Don't know if they just do it on special events but in the future may be worth seeing if they will.

Janey51

Frugalmum..thanks so much for the soapnuts info all in one place. I'm waiting for my sample pack to arrive.
Mama67 welcome. You have obviously made big inroads into learning to deal with debt and nipped it in the bud before all your options were closed.
Spendthrift its amazing how your mind works like mine. Luckily we are in no-man's land for having any grocery deliveries so I can't be tempted.

Mollymop5

my sister asked me to go with her to take her puppy to the vets today for it's last injection.Nice to get out I thought.But I spent sooooo much! There was a sale on childrens regatta clothes in one shop and I got 2 blouses, 1 fleece, 1 body warmer and 1 waterproof jacket for £10.I then went to boots and got body wash,deoderant and handwash.They were all half price but spent £4.96.Wont need to buy for at least 6 months though.Then popped into asda and spent £14.I only needed milk .Justifying myself again though I bought cereals on offer so won't need any in Feb and a certain lot of baked beans were also on offer so I now have 12 tins.I will need to update m sig later when I've totalled it up

catshark88

To the person asking about current discounts in Mr M (sorry, forgot to make a note of your name!);

57 baked beans 1/2 price
Special K inc. red berry & sustain £1.25 for 350g (or 375g I forget)
Lots of other cereals inc big boxes 3 for 2.
Yummy Hot Cross buns still on offer!

That was all I was after so didn't look at rest of stock I'm afraid.

Hope that is of use.

Frugaldom

Wornoutmumoftwo you hang on in there and keep defending your corner against B.Gas Even if it does take a year to pay it off, you'll be far more prepared for them next time around - just keep a meter check chart and then there are no surprises. (I learned that the hard way with electricity when moving from a pre-payment meter house to this ordinary meter house.) And, if it helps, I'm trying to push my weekly grocery/household goods budget to the limit, so feel free to compare notes if you're on the grocery challenge. My current budget for 3 adults is £30 per week, however, I set my target at £120 per month January and am going to try to cut that to £100 for the short month of February.

Speaking of frivolous frugality, Bails, I think I'll nominate ME for the stingiest frugalite title this week - I saved the little tin foil cases off the mince pies and am using them as single scoop containers for the mashed potatoes that are going in the freezer and DS thinks he's being spoiled because I have so many single serving frozen meals in the freezer when he gets in from work. (DS does not realise that it's all leftovers from cooking the meals, he thinks I'm preparing them especially for mealtimes when he's on shifts, so sssssssssshhhhhh! Nobody make him any the wiser, please ) I also had a tiny spot of the fresh cream (the 39p pot I bought on it's use by date) so I watered it down and used it for the coffee last night And if that isn't enough, I rescued some huge flip chart pads from a local hotel that was about to bin them! OK, so they have been used, but ONLY ON ONE SIDE! DGD loves sitting on them drawing and think how many papier mache pigs I'll get out of them when she's done!
Now take heart - all these things should be reason enough for you not to venture too far north too soon. I think the air up here causes all sorts of odd health problems - I have a very severe strain of Chronic Frugalitis and, apparently, it's highly contageous! :eek:

MrsMC I'll need to research the price increases. Just read the announcement about the Council Tax going up by average 5% and that was bad enough! But carrots and onions going up in price? :eek: I'll HAVE to grow my own - I know the onions do ok here as there were loads growing when we moved in, I hardly bought any potatoes or onions latter part of last year plus there were loads of courgettes and a laden apple tree. I'll be so upset if I plant a load of veggies and then we need to move out at the end of our short term lease here! Re the potatoes, I now have a few ideas suitable for freezing, storing or just for munching - potato scones, macaroon bars, potato croquettes, mash, baked potatoes, hash browns... there are bound to be more but I haven't finished reading all the recipes yet :T

Hopeless, that is awful about your DS's bike, especially as it could lead you to believe it could have been a neighbour! I hope you reported it to the police even if all it does is make them aware of the fact that there's a thief in the area. I'd have been furious! :mad: Have you been around all your neighbours asking if they saw/heard anything?

Whitewing that was an amazing booty you managed to bag during your Tesco raid!! I had to reread your post as, first time round, I thought that was reduced prices and you actually paid 37p for all that! I was like, eh? Rewind.... reread, aaaah, that's how it was done :rotfl:

Janey, same here, we have no online grocery shopping/home deliveries here. In a way, I'm glad, because I would always be tempted to make it up to free delivery or buy too many BOGOFS and then you still don't get the option to buy the discounted 'must sell right now or I'm binned' type offers, which I would STILL feel compelled to [STRIKE]buy[/STRIKE] rescue.

MollyMop I think you did really well with your Regatta and Boots bargains. Like you say, you'd have needed to buy the stuff in the long run and would probably never have got it all at that price later in the year. That's what's so good about a year long challenge! Once the big stuff is out of the way it's all plain sailing on groceries and just the odd tidal wave to steer clear of if the money seas get stormy for a bit.