Live on £4000 for a year - Part 2

sophiesmum_2

Nyk
I am holding you responsible for my current obsession with trying to become self sufficient in as many areas as possible.:rolleyes:
I have always been old style and quite frugal in many ways but this thread is making me question every little thing. I have been sat here tonight listing all the food items that I could be self sufficient with and so reduce the grocery budget.Some I already do but there are others I haven't tried yet.
I think we will have to become vegetarians if I want to be successful as I have no way of producing meat. Other things I can produce from bulk buying basic stores which i already do to a degree.
I'm trying to work out what foodstuffs i would need to stockpile to be able to be self sufficient for a while say 6 months at a time.
Back to the lists:rolleyes:

bails

He he, I have a similar list SophiesMum! I've written down what we already do, what we've changed since starting this and the GC and what else we've yet to make ourselves! We're already veggie - OH has been for several years and I've just phased it out, as I can't kill my own food (vegetables, yes, cute little lamby type creatures, no!)

I have been unable to sleep as my Ebay is ending soon - still new to it as you can see!

Burlesque_Babe

morning all.

I'm up soooo early today!! Bedding is changed and washing machine is on full pelt and I've got 2 baked tiramisu cheesecakes in the oven. Never made one before so don't know if they will work. There was enough to make 2 so I'm hoping they are lush to keep me in cheesecake for the next few days!

Next - wash up or start AQA'ing?!

Boomdocker

Marru - thanks for that link. I am not normally the petition signing type but as a horse lover this case is darn well stupid. Who in their right mind would see fit to return those horses to those people!!! Infuriates the hell out of me. Duly signed, thanks.

redglass_2

What does it mean when it says 'this thread has been viewed...'? I found the number at 11110 and wanted, like a big kid, to be number 11111, so I logged off and came back...then did it again...and again... the number didn't budge! Does it mean by 11110 different people?

sophiesmum_2

Not sure but think we all tried it at same time as it jumped over 40 views all at once:rotfl:

sophiesmum_2

Just checked seedlings and peppers are now sprouting:j :j

Frugaldom

sophiesmum wrote: »

Just checked seedlings and peppers are now sprouting:j :j

Congratulations from my sprouts to yours! :beer: Hopefully they will progress to full grown peppers and we'll have a fresh & frozen supply for some time. I spend quite a bit on peppers but haven't had anywhere to grow them since leaving my house in Suffolk in 2003. (AJ, I know you're in Japan now but, if you happen to ever venture on here, it was you got me started on the peppers, thank you )

Washing's done and hanging out, I have rice pudding with sultanas simmering in the slow cooker to use up some of the price-slashed milk and we've just munched our way through some of the 20p/pack rolls with scrambled egg. That's the last of them but there are a couple of loaves and the pack of baguettes still in the freezer, which I'll probably split and make into French bread pizzas so we get 2 lunches out of them. This household has everyone home for every meal, as DS works within walking distance and comes home to eat and us other 2 both work from home. It really would be an ideal situation if we owned our own house and didn't need to keep moving.

All this self-sufficiency talk, it's making me think of my plastic boxes :rotfl: Last house we lived in had no cupboards and only a tiny garden with an outbuilding that was full of landlord's stuff. But there was space enough for 2 of those big plastic storage containers that you see kids keeping toys in... so we had the 2 of them filled with all the BOGOFs and offers that we couldn't fit in the kitchen (or fridge, during winter). This year has been so much easier, despite the cost of heating, to just fill cupboards, as there are loads here.

If you can't bear the thought of rearing your own 'meat' but don't really want to become vegetarian (and soya is forecast for a huge price increase this year) then challenge yourself to earn the same amount from something you can produce and then use that to pay for your meat. That's what I plan to do as part of next year's challenge. If I don't produce enough to cover the cost, then nobody will eat meat. I'm keeping all my receipts so I can compare spreadsheets to show how much the groceries for the year cost, split into meat and non-meat products, household goods, dairy, fruit, vegetagbles etc and then I'll have an idea of how much extra I need to earn from home produce when the time comes. (Yes, I have been thinking about this for a long time now.)

I'm working on reducing the contents of the freezer this month and don't plan on spending much more on groceries. I have plenty of powdered milk and still have plenty of flour & yeast. In fact, there is absolutely no point in thinking about what I have in store as living the frugal life means there is never an empty cupboard in the house. I just keep a note of what I run out of now.

Back to earning - as part of my 2008/9 tax year earnings challenge takes place on eBid, I can't really discuss it here, but I noticed that there is a thread for eBay sellers and amazon sellers, so I may request one for eBid traders. Must check out the 'Amazon Challenge' to see how it compares, first. I'll let you know soon.

funkyfunkymonkey

nykmedia wrote: »

I noticed that there is a thread for eBay sellers and amazon sellers, so I may request one for eBid traders. Must check out the 'Amazon Challenge' to see how it compares, first. I'll let you know soon.

There is a thread for Ebid, it's in the same discussion board area (Ebay, Auctions, Car Boot and Jumble Sales).

The link is: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=483786

Val4xx who set up the thread is very helpful if you have any queries.

FFM

System

RIGHT i am going to sort out my seeds RIGHT NOW i have some in my windowsill greenhouse that really really really need to be planted into their tubs on the kitchen windowsill, and the greenhouse needs to be started up again with new seeds

iv been meaning to do it for ages so shout at me if i come back on and they still arent done....