2008 - Live on £4000 for a full year.

Aril

Hello fellow frugalites!
Firstly a belated congratulations to Holly. Does that make her the first frugalmite born to a frugalite [the last baby was a niece I believe] since this challenge began. Congratulations must also go to Nyk who as far as I can tell is the first frugalite to cross the 7 NSD in a row so she is the first winner of the virtual Frugaltite Cup_party_
Very little to offer today in the way of frugal advice except to say that we did the downshift challenge from OB to value sardines in tom sauce at the weekend and tbh couldn't taste difference but the price is only 17p and is less than half price. That should get you scrabbling for your purses:rotfl::rotfl:I'd never thought to put them on pizzas so thanks for that...I'm well known on the OS board for my sardine burgers. Another thrifty meal which consists of split baps, toast both halves, spread mayo on one half, put mashed sardines in tomato sauce on top and then sliced Edam to top it off. Stick back under grill under the cheese has melted. Very quick, idiot proof [I like idiot proof ] and the frugalmite scoffs them down at high speed!
Aril

Janeryan

flowerofthewest wrote: »

For any Scot who has lived 'down south' - did anyone miss dumpling, sliced sausage, tattie scones or plain bread? _Nyk

Hi Nyk, although I was born in Scotland I was brought up in Corby, Northamptonshire. This is basically a town full of Scots transplanted to England due to the local steelworks recruiting from the Greenock/Glasgow area in the 60s.

Growing up there meant that I had all the things you mention on a regular basis, plus good floury rolls like they make at Aulds in Greenock (and I managed to find in Moffatt on my way home (along with scotch pies) - yay).
My mum used to make tablet for us to sell at the school fetes, and she was always baking things like pancake, crumpets (think crepe), and lots of lovely cakes and scones.

I now live in Peterborough and the only place I can get plain bread is Farmfoods Suppose I could got to Corby once a month and stock up on things.

On the subject of square sausage, my dad once managed to convince an English workmate of his that they were made that way specially to fit onto a slice of plain break (the slices were the perfect shape and size for a sausage piece).

OK - time to stop rabbitting.
Fi

I live in Peterborough too!Where are you?

flowerofthewest

Janeryan wrote: »

I live in Peterborough too!Where are you?

Hi Jane - I'm in O Goldhay.

Congratulations to Priness Leia on the birth of Holly. Hope she brings lots of joy.

Mumzy - tablet is harder than fudge and quite literally melts in the mouth

I should be in Cambridge tonight but have a stinking cold (as usual after being away) so am sitting on the couch wrapped in a fleece with my slippers on, feeling sorry for myself.

Hope everyone is well tonight
Take care
Fi

LollopyBear

Wow, more people near my way! I live in Ely but work/study in Cambridge.

I checked my pigeon hole at college yesterday and found that I've been given approved for an extra bursary (£350) that I applied for months ago That's made me very happy.

I'm not back in school until after Easter hols now so I must keep a tight hold of my purse. I have so many people I'm going to be travelling around to catch up on that I am going to have to be very very aware of my spending.

redglass_2

This is a change of tack...does anyone know if it's cheaper to buy dishwashing powder, salt and rinse or to get the all-in-one tablets? Instinct tells me the less convenient way is probably cheaper but I've never really managed to work it out....

mini_huny_money

redglass wrote: »

This is a change of tack...does anyone know if it's cheaper to buy dishwashing powder, salt and rinse or to get the all-in-one tablets? Instinct tells me the less convenient way is probably cheaper but I've never really managed to work it out....

redglass Id be interested to know this too. First time Ive had a DW. I was on a thread last night, thought id subscribed to it but I havent, and cant find it now.......it will be there but will take abit of trawling, will try and find it.am pretty sure it was the OS board, and there was a poster on there who seemed to know what he was talking about. Think he repaired dishwashers, and he was saying thaT yes the less convenient way was the cheapest, especially in the long term as it was better for your machine. I live in a soft water area so sisnt think I needed to use salt but have been advised its best to. On the other hand LIDL or ALDI 's dishwasher tablets have been advised too as they are less expensive but seem to do a really good job too (or so the posters say)

andromache_2

bails wrote: »

Welcome back Frankie!
Andromache, maybe you could play catch up with the 11p by clicking, just so you have a nice whole round number I didn't know what shiatsu was til I met OH either - he's just about to qualify after 4 years training (alongside his degree/masters).
Well, the South America plan could be shortlived, as when I spoke to my Head of Dept today she said the part-time job might be coming up in May instead of Sept! It also seems that it'll go to interview now, which means I may not get it anyway...Let's see if they even get the funding for it first, should know that in a couple of weeks. Either way, I'll either get a job or take myself off travelling so win-win I guess

Off to make a tagine and some more Twinks hobnobs, yum!

Tempted as I am to round off my figures (better yet I could find 12p of clicks to get back below £2000 again), I've promised myself that all the 'extra' money like clicks is going towards the travelling fund... even when I spend pigsback boots vouchers I move the equivalent amount of money across from my account, so sadly I can't manage that! Ah well.

That must be an amazing qualification to have in an OH! well done him for doing all that extra studying. I've just read through the wikipedia article (yes, revision IS that unappealing) and it looks really interesting. My bf has recently realised that he gets lots of brownie points by offering to give me massages but tbh he doesn't really know what he's doing :rotfl: bless him.

Ahh, it's a shame that the S America plans might have to be shelved but I suppose you're right that since it's for a good reason it's not all bad. Keep us posted on the job front - fingers crossed it's good news

Mollymop5

Evening everyone.I've been to town today looking in charity shops and second hand furniture shops.I'm wanting furniture for my utility room and hoping to buy it very cheaply.Didn't find any but managed to waste £10 during my search:o on non necessary items!

I have paid £12.50 for a ticket to a dinner dance I'm off to on Saturday.Makes me sound old lol.But it's a local night out with no transport costs and a cheap bar.It's the only time I get together with 4 other girls so I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm still using spendingdiary.co.uk so will update on here at the end of the month

MarkyMarkD

redglass We went across from dishwasher tablets to Tesco's dishwasher powder - large 3kg bottle at a cheapish price - absolutely ages ago and we still haven't used up our first powder container. It's definitely way cheaper to use powder.

We hardly ever have to add rinse aid to the machine, and even though we're in quite a hard water area the machine rarely asks for salt either.

Definitely forget the tabs and try the "more effort" method - it's not really much more effort, as the extra things only need adding once in a blue moon.

all_hours

nykmedia wrote: »

all_hours: Hello and welcome to the 4k challenge. Not quite sure I understand your figures, are you proposing joining us at £80 per week average, which is £4182 per annum, or do you mean you would like your target set at £4160 for the year, which would give an average of £79.56 per week.
I know it's not much of a difference, but every penny really does count in this challenge.

thanks for the welcome everyone. :beer:

i'll stick to £80 per week average from now on - i meant £4160 pro rata was £80 for 52 weeks (i didnt count the extra half week). i'll ignore income + spending for the first part of year because i had extra money from christmas and also had to catch up on some mixed up direct debits from the end of last year - its all over the place and too difficult to work out.:o