Live on £4000 for a year - Part 2

Frugaldom

Just updating again - sun is shining now and the washing is all hanging out. I keep forgetting to ask everyone about how they are getting on with the Soap Nuts? I haven't bought any washing powder or liquid this year at all, only spent the £4 on enough soapnuts to last all year along with the extra bottles of washing liquid from last year's BOGOF and didn't even need to buy any essential oil, as I got a free bottle with my Body Shop order in January.

I haven't bought any deodorant/anti-perspirant either, as I got one of those natural rock salt ones in December. I can highly recommend them, and am nowhere near a quarter of the way through mine, so I'm expecting it to last most of the year. Much, much cheaper than aerosols, roll-ons or sticks, that's for sure.

I'm now trying to think of all the things I haven't bought this year other than alcohol - nobody drinks much in this household, fortunatley, so gift bottles can last from one year to the next even allowing for visitors and BBQs, although I do take advantage of the yellow box 'Country Manor' offer whenever I see it. (It hasn't been available this year, so far.)

Must go and do something constructive now, as it has turned into a beautiful day. Hope kitten is doing OK today, Bails

PS: In answer to the bingo question - I have never even seen inside a bingo hall, I just played the free games after registering through a cashback site purely to take the profit. Guilt, however, got the better of me and I played through the extra £10 so my conscience is clear for withdrawing the winnings. I reckoned £10 to them and £110 to me was fair enough to be going on with

lingojingo

nykmedia wrote: »

I haven't bought any deodorant/anti-perspirant either, as I got one of those natural rock salt ones in December. I can highly recommend them, and am nowhere near a quarter of the way through mine, so I'm expecting it to last most of the year. Much, much cheaper than aerosols, roll-ons or sticks, that's for sure.

Nyk, what's this please? I've never heard of it. Where do you get it and how much is it?

System

ooh i was thinking of getting one of them deodorants too

you can get them most places now, iv seen them in boots and supermarkets i think, and they cost about £6ish, i wanted one cos they are chemical free but have resisted so far as they cost lots, but will be investing in one now i know they are frugal too!

oh i do love how i can get genuinely excited over salty deodorant....

ps rhubarb! i havent had it in years, my gran used to punt me over the fence into her neighbours garden to nick it, then i used to get a raw stalk and a saucer of sugar to dip it in. I don't think iv ever actually had it cooked...

Frugaldom

lingojingo wrote: »

Nyk, what's this please? I've never heard of it. Where do you get it and how much is it?

It's Himalayan Salt Crystal and one can last you over a year. Prices vary, depending where you buy it, and it can be, err... fairly decorative! I say this because I bought my sister one for Christmas, however, I had wrapped it up and not put a leaflet in with it. When mum went to visit sis last month, she had it sitting on the TV unit as an ornament, thinking it was some sort of crystal ball because it came with a marble base/holder! I suspect it may still be there! :rotfl:Word of caution - if you have a ceramic basin or bath, be careful not to drop your deodorant as it is, literally, ROCK salt. I paid £3 for mine via eBid but, shhhhh.... don't tell sis. They retail some places as much as £8.99
This is the same as the one I have.

sophiesmum_2

Went to the garden centre after lunch as rain had stopped:D Bought two more rhubarb crowns which were £2.95 each, and 6 cherry tomato plants for my hanging baskets which were 50p each but are about 10" high already so well established.
Also bought lots of plants for outdoor pots for oldies (their budget) and when I was telling the centre owner what they were for he also gave me free 36 primrose plants which should have been 65p each, all in separate pots and fully grown. These are perennials so will be great for communal garden as they will just pop up year after year:D What a nice man:A :A and very unexpected. I have promised him a rhubarb crumble when it is ready;) .
Don't random acts of kindness like that make you feel really happy:j

Passed farm shop on way home and spent 99p on two huge savoy cabbages:D
Spend for today £9.89

Janey- Must be the chef in your OH. I find it really hard to cut down when cooking as I have always been used to cooking huge amounts, batch cooking is the norm in our house too:o

System

nykmedia wrote: »

quote]

oh, that isn't the kind i was thinking of! that looks like a dinosaur might hatch out of it and bite your armpit....

Frugaldom

Jumble_Bee, you can get in the screw-base containers that look like the ordinary deodorant sticks too, I was just showing how easy it was for sis to make the mistake and use hers as an ornament. :rotfl: Mum has the 'conventional' one, I noticed.

Just spent some time preparing veggies whilst the dinner was heating (defrosted spag bol with extra cheese) - I now have plenty of carrot sticks, mixed peppers, mint and parsley in the freezer plus a tub of grated carrots ready to try making carrot cake. (Can you tell I got some reduced carrots last shopping trip? ) My freezer is still filling quicker than emptying so, once again, I don't need to make the trip to Mr T for a 'big shop'. Getting to be rather fun this! But it really is a little scary just how addictive it can be. Don't get me wrong, I freely admit to having a spending problem, trouble is, my problem is spending it in the first place. :rotfl:

Whilst reading through the multitude of posts in the grocery challenge thread, my mind kept wandering to farm shops and bargain food outlets. Wouldn't it be great if there was an actual frugal store where folks like us could go and barter for whatever we needed by way of homemade or homegrown? Tray of hobnobs in exchange for half dozen fresh eggs, couple of hm loaves for a bag of potatoes, a lettuce for a couple of carrots... you see how easily distracted I am? During all of that, my freecycle email arrived and it had a FREE CARAVAN complete with Awning not far from here! Trouble was, it needed a new wheel so it could be moved and has to be removed from site by noon on Monday. Pity about that, it could have made a really good renovation project.

MrDT

nykmedia wrote: »

FREE CARAVAN complete with Awning not far from here! Trouble was, it needed a new wheel so it could be moved and has to be removed from site by noon on Monday. Pity about that, it could have made a really good renovation project.

Wow, I could give up the cottage and live in my own home outright for free as a !!!!! :rotfl:

I had intended on sorting out the loft this weekend, bring all my junk treasure down and sort into ebay/carboot/freecycle/charity/skip piles, but haven't got round to it. Landlady's got someone coming round midweek to sort out some tiling in the bathroom, and I figures that although I might bring stuff down from the loft, maybe even sort into organised piles, I probably wouldn't get round to putting everything away... and I don't want her to think I'm turning the place into a scrapyard lol!

Oh well, it's a job for next week then, another excuse not to spend any money at the weekend I guess :T

mah_jong

talking of freecycle had a good week of decluttering and gave away a few things I will never use again!

weekly shopping total for week 8.79
biggest out lay is fruit , I have taken to eating some after dinner everyday. It was an ordeal to keep doing it initially (got to keep a balanced diet) but now I look forward to it.

Today's apple, a pink lady cost 50p!

Will try to eat more veg next but cant think I will ever enjoy them!!

lingojingo

Thanks Nyk, that's really interesting, I think I'll look for one.
I can see how your sister mistook it for an ornament
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: