Live on £4000 for a year - Part 2

Janey51

sophiesmum thanks for the yoghurt info. Its something I have always meant to try and now I feel inspired And the info about the fruit at Asda. I checked to see if Asda deliver to us yet but we are too far out in the sticks :rotfl:
Marru Sorry...DH is tagged and not allowed far from my kitchen. His rhubarb crumble is to die for Good news about the horses.
Good news on the finances Jumble-bee
Charliesangel have a :grouphug: Sometimes it gets a bit much I know but it will get better.
Mark nice to see you back again. Hope your "stuff" sorts itself out.

Woke up feeling guilty about row with niece yesterday but I think tough love is the only way or she will always be looking to me for hand outs.

Good news :j My £400 bingo winnings has been credited to my account :j
So, in line with House and Marriage Policy a la Janey and OH...50% divide. DH can buy another tool...although where he will put it I have no idea :rolleyes: I will save half and have bought a picture by an artist called Dominic Murphy (sorry if I'm not allowed to mention names). I have been looking at them for ages and watching them go up in price so have taken the plunge. I will give £10 to my Mum and have already treated friend to a meal so thats my money gone...and enjoyed by all for £2 cost to me :j :j

Marru

Janey51 wrote: »

His rhubarb crumble is to die for

Oh Janey you are so mean!! If somebody knows a nice man in early fourties who is mad about animals and makes a rhubarb crumble to die for please send him my way would you? Thanks!

bails

Marru wrote: »

Oh Janey you are so mean!! If somebody knows a nice man in early fourties who is mad about animals and makes a rhubarb crumble to die for please send him my way would you? Thanks!

I was going to say I'd fight you for him, but I don't think OH would be too pleased He's not keen on rhubarb though so how can I marry him?! :rotfl: I LOOOOVE rhurbarb crumble so party it is round Janey's then

Great news about the animals Marru, thanks for letting us know.

Janey, I'm sorry to hear about your niece and I'm sure it's hard to argue with her but you are doing the right thing so hang in there.
CA, hugs coming your way too, it can all get too much sometimes I know - just roll with it and you'll feel more positive again soon.
Mark, hope your 'stuff' sorts itself out soon, well done on the soup making!

I'm really interested in the yoghurt making too, as OH would live on the stuff if he could. He's a 'Yo' man though so far too epxensive! He's up for giving it a go but I don't want to get a machine in case it doesn't live up to his Yo fetish. Can anyone point me in the direction of how to make it by hand to start with please?

Thanks for the info about my loan, I'll work out who I should ring and see if I can get anywhere!

Great stuff that the bingo winnings came and were put to such enjoyable use Janey! Here's to more luck for people this Thursday (I'll be away so playing the week after).

I'm off to Manchester tomorrow morning for 5 days to see my friend's new baby etc so probably won't be around much (if at all). Have a lovely week if I don't 'see' you before I go x

Frugaldom

Marru wrote: »

Oh Janey you are so mean!! If somebody knows a nice man in early fourties who is mad about animals and makes a rhubarb crumble to die for please send him my way would you? Thanks!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: I think there would be a queue and possiblly, even, some rioting. although, perhaps best to add on, 'with an income', just in case you find one and he turns out to be up to his eyes in debts. As they said in film last night, "be careful what you wish for." :cool:

Thanks for the suggestion about abbreviating the grocery challenge to GC, as you'll see, that worked and allowed me to replace the days of the year for this challenge.

I STILL haven't had to buy anything else from grocery budget and I'm getting quite confident at coming in under budget this month again, which is good, as DD has her 21st coming up this year and my baking is NOT up to making and decorating her cake. Well, I've never actually tried to make and decorate a posh cake... Off to price them and see what happens. I'm sure I can manage the hm invites and I still suspect there could be an engagement announcemnet on the day!

Catch you all later, having lunch now

slowlyfading

:hello: everyone! I'm back from my holiday, and seems I have missed out on a lot whilst I've been away! I had a lovely time, and will work out later how much I spent - I took £50 away with me, and didn't spend it all, so I think I did pretty well! Hope you're all alright
sf :heartpuls

bails

Welcome back Slowlyfading, glad you had a lovely time, sounds like it was a frugal one so well done you!

Ooh, a frugal engagement on the cards! :T Keep us posted Nyk.

Frugaldom

bails wrote: »

Welcome back Slowlyfading, glad you had a lovely time, sounds like it was a frugal one so well done you!

Ooh, a frugal engagement on the cards! :T Keep us posted Nyk.

DD's engagement, remember, so she can't be made aware of the fact I'll be trying to keep it frugal IF the event takes place. (Hence reason I was kind of hoping it would be announced during the 21st celebrations :rotfl: )

Welcome back Slowlyfading, hope you had a great time. I am so, so tempted to have a break somewhere this year, but am going to be ultra frugal and treat staying home as a holiday when DS heads off with his friends this summer. Best to stick with the savings in case a surprise engangement announcement by DD is followed by a wedding that will need funding! :eek:

I'm playing cards at the moment - doing the credit card shuffle and trying to work out my masterplan for my interest beater challenge. Need to get it all organised in time to make a few pounds from "icy, icy" on the last day of the month. I have now nicknamed them my "cool earnings". :rotfl:

Got the despatch notices for my 'loadsaseeds' from eBid. Costs are not being deducted from my 4k because they are going to earn their own keep and help with my cottage industry. It's a legitimate business expense, part of the £50 start-up budget I allocated myself when Martin started that thread. :cool:

Burlesque_Babe

hi everyone!

Got a huge shock when I popped into Tesco Express for a pack of chicken breasts today - over £6 for 4!!!

What is happening to food prices - we'll be going vegetarian if this keeps up!

Frugaldom

Keren, food prices are a constant source of amazement to me. Supermarkets seem to know every trick in the book. Here's an example of spring meadows' chicken.
1 - Price marked £2 each
2 - 'SPECIAL OFFER' 3 for £6
3 - Price marked £2.50 each
4 - 'SPECIAL OFFER' 2 for £5

What's the betting that stage 5 is pricemarked £3, which will be equivalent to a 50% increase in chicken over the space of those few weeks. I've noticed other low cost goods creeping up by a 'mere' 10% PER FORTNIGHT! Take those bargain noodles, for instance, over the past 4 weeks - 8p, 9p, 11p, who knows what they'll be next week, but I am stocking up on long dated and dried goods before the wheat prices wreck any chance of my staying within budget this year. I never, ever thought I would hear myself say this, but anyone without a trade or profession nowadays is as well to rent, work 16 hours a week on minimum wage, have a few kids and let the benefits system take care of the rest. No offence meant to anyone on here who is in that situation but I know people receiving more in benefits & child tax credits than I earn in a week.

grandma247

this is not going to end anytime soon. The price of fats and oils of all kinds has shot up. I am searching shops for slightly older stock that is still at the old prices. I have bought packs of hard marge and frozen them for baking and also bought corn oil which keeps a bit longer than other oils. I have been investigating various ways of preserving food in other ways than freezing.

I have found a pump that seals any jar for storing dry products. But It is only available by mail order from the US. I am going to get it though because it will be well used in this house. Made me think it would maybe make a good small business importing these.

Also I have found a company again in the US that I can get a pressure canner from so am saving for that.

Also am going to save for a food dryer to save space and money. We grow a lot of veggies and fruit on the allotment so it would be helpful for some of that.

There are yahoo groups for food preserving and for canning (Bottling) I joined a couple of them and they have provided a wealth of info and are very willing to answer any questions.