2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

Frugaldom

Janey51 wrote: »

Nyk or someone cleverer then me.
Can you please explain the "catch up" bit of the challenge as I've been looking for ages and can't find it.
Thanks.

Hi Janey, have no fear, mad frugaler here

Catch-up is a kind of game I play when I accidentally overspend on something. I need to catch up with my budget, so it basically means I need to find extra money from anywhere except my own budget. It can be cashback sites, competition wins, eBid or eBay sales etc, etc, etc, so long as it's used to catch up with your budget and not frittered. I also use the £10 shopping game as part of my 'catch-up'. Because I had a shocker of an electricity bill this month (thanks to estimated bills!) it means I could go over my annual estimate. Playing catch-up means I'll have the money in the bank if it all goes pear-shaped but if I don't need to use it, it'll be classed as extra savings :T (and declared as 'other income' on my tax return - see earlier post about the tax man )

Frugaldom

georgiasmum wrote: »

I not only got the job today but was offered the post Director of Studies - an enormous pay rise and fantastic opportunity!!! I cannot believe it.

[IMG]http://www.freesmileys.org/custom/image/grey^_^arial^_^0^_^0^_^Congratulations to Georgiasmum!%5E_%5E.gif[/IMG]

Well done, that is BRILLIANT news!
:beer:

mini_huny_money

hello everyone.......have not been feeling very great this past week so havent posted very much, have been keeping up with the thread thoughand have still been entering spends into my diary and will update my sig soon......but I just have to share this......I found it so funny, really made me giggle......mebbe someone's already posted somewhere re the lack of ham stock cubes....

A couple of the girls at work have been bemoaning the fact that Knorr ham stock cubes have virtually disappeared from the shelves.......and the ham stock cube hunt is well under way....

well at the weekend I saw my local corner shop had a sign in the window ham stock cubes now available so tonight I went in to buy some so that all the soup dragons I know can tuck into some tasty ham soup....( from a chicken etc)!!!!!

sign at the stock cube section ....for ham cubes, please ask at the counter...

ok,,,,,,

conversation went like this......

Can I have some ham stock cubes please???
How many do you want???
emmmm 3 packets please......
(imagine a builder/ car mechanic looking at a lucrative job).........oooh dont know bout that.....cant give you 3 packets......
he pointed to the counter and there was 2 catering size boxes of ham stock cubes .........but I can sell you them each (single ham cubes).....he says

ummmm......says me......cant you sell me a box?????....all for myself??????
Are you kidding......?????
Nope.....says he
How much each????
20p for a ham stock cube........:eek: :eek:

quick texting from me......... shall I buy them????......YESSSSS they said

I felt when I was leaving the shop I was gonnae get arrested for under counter dealing in ham stock cubes!!!!!!!!.....or when I was 12 and buying singles from the ice cream man!!!!!

I know it was daylight robbery and not frugalicious or anything but Ive been giggling bout it all night........

bails

Big congratulations to Georgiasmum on Director of Studies, how fab! :T Hope it gives your self confidence a real boost.
Well done to Prudent too for the veg box, I'd love to win that prize!
I don't really do comps either but am v impressed at how much people have won - is it very time consuming? I'm not sure I can afford the time and more importantly energy out of my day, but would be interested to know more.
We had a £10 voucher from HB today which will be v handy for all the house renovations I had a spend in Mr S today but only on offers - more half price cat food before the offer runs out plus some reduced tins - because one was missing they had a pound off, making them half price too!
I can't remember who said they wondered how others lived on less (sorry ) but I for one am not including everything in the challenge so that makes a difference. There are also only 2 of us (plus the pets) so I am in awe of those with families etc; what an inspiration! Gives me hope that I might be able to afford some of my own little blighters one day

Angelofthenorth_4

Hi everyone

Only 1 day left till I get paid and I'm still within budget - have spent £326.78. Next month I'm going to do a more itemised list of what I've spent money on so I know better where I can cut back.

Will try out the home made oven chips - thanks for that. Used to love Smart Price oven chips and then they changed them a few weeks ago and they're the thickness of matchsticks now.

Annoyed to come home tonight and find DS had eaten tomorrows tea - all by himself!! And also the cheese I had earmarked for todays tea. Oh, and most of the biscuits left in the tin. He hasn't quite got used to our new frugal ways yet!

Am sitting here smoking like it was going out of fashion as it's 'scary stop smoking day' tomorrow. Have smoked for 30 years, really don't want to any more but don't know how I'll manage without a fag. Cigarettes are a part of just about everything I do! Will give me another £550 to play with this year though if I can manage it.

Off to have a look at the stop smoking thread to boost me up a bit - feel quite depressed.

Frugaldom

MSHAWX wrote: »

Can I join in the challenge?

I love it! Hetty and Hoppy! Brilliant! :j

Welcome to this challenge. Hope you have read all the preliminary warnings as it's

A) Highly Addictive
Highly Contageous
C) Highly Infections
D) Has many, many side effects and
E) Loads more fun than just being plain skint

Check out post number 1 for your challenger number where I'm just off to add your name. Newbies starting on 1st Feb get the basic average of £3661 for 11 months. (Pity we didn't have it to hand out to each challenger at the beginning of the year!) :rotfl:
Yours included water rates but excludes house insurance

HAVE FUN! :beer:

Frugaldom

Phew! Just finished my frugalathon (Noun, meaning the time taken to catch up with reading this thread) and am mighty impressed by everything! I'm also having a mini celebration here. (I even opened a bottle of wine that's been in the rack since last summer!:D ) I started raking through old paperwork and discovered another £2.50 worth of Tesco vouchers and can you guess what I've already done with them? Yep! Been onto the website and ordered another £10 of deals for the ferry crossing to Ireland! That's £20 off the fares and I'll be booking to travel on the superfast whoopy doopey Stena Sea Cat thingy. Return fares for 2 of us will only cost £56 including the booking fee so I'm going to play 'catch-up' to get the rest of it. :T

On a frugal food note... the Maris Pipers that I experimented with by mashing & freezing - I had them with the dinner tonight and they tasted really nice! I was expecting to see watery mush instead of creamy mash. I just popped them straight into the oven from the freezer and heated them along with the mince pie and can absolutely guarantee that my freezer will be packed with mash just as soon as I have batch cooked a stockpot full of potatoes. :j

PS: I froze the mash in tin foil cartons - I have a catering pack of them that a colleague got me from the cash & carry - brilliant things for single servings and now another 3 in the freezer with the curry sauce.
PPS: The curry sauce tastes a bit like Tikka Massala but cost pennies to make lots of it Going to post the recipe if anyone's interested - it's a homemade concoction so don't know what to call it

the_cat

MMMMMMMMM Curried Conconction - sounds yummy! Looking forward to it.

LollopyBear

Oops - I nearly went to bed without posting an update today! I'm feeling really grotty so had a sleep when I got home, it has also meant that I've spent more than I intended at Mr Ts on tissues and Lemsip! Total 7.54 at Ts on top of my £5 train.

Ergh, I'm teaching first lesson tomorrow (first lesson in new school) and feel like death warmed up - not fun. However, I'm getting so excited that it's nearly the end of the month and I'll get the interest on my savings and may have enough left in the kitty to give myself a treat. They have a load of Dvds really cheap at Mr Ts, some of which I've been wanting for ages and would previously have thought nothing of chucking the odd one or two into my basket while shopping.

I hope you are all well tonight

hopeless_spendthrift

:hello: Hi Molly!

Feeling extremely miffed as i typed a lovely long message to u, only to have it lost when i pressed the send button and now u have logged off! :mad: LOL So sorry to have missed u and kept u waiting!
'The Farmer's Chioce' is a not for profit division of Abel & Cole :T and all the info can be found on their website www.abel-cole.co.uk Mr or Mrs Abel started the scheme in their own daughter's primary school in Balham London, I think, to promote healthy eating amongst the children whilst also giving the school's an opportunity to raise extra cash for resources.
I absolutely love receiving the bags every week as I never know what's in them so it's always a surprise and means I have to be inventive! Don't need to panic tho as they always include a really cool 2 page 'newsletter' packed full of amazing recipes, tips, articles and recipes especially for the kids and interesting articles and stories on the farmers and growers themselves. :j
This week I learned that the stalks of broccoli can be grated or finely chopped along with the cabbage and carrots and added to a coleslaw! How frugalicious does that sound? :drool:

Hope this has helped and really hope this scheme or something similar is active in your area.

Take care and happy purse tightening! x x x