Live on £4000 for a year - Part 2

Prudent

Thanks for everyone who has given answers about the front veg patch and food for free. I called into Aldi's today. No veg seeds out though

I got the rose arch and obelisk. Also got two terracotta pots for the roses, a large tub (hoping to use for tomatoes) and some jeyes fluid for the patio. Some of this was part of my birthday pressie from bf, so spend not too bad. I have been working hard on my back garden for a couple of years now to try and create a restful area to destress after work on summer evenings. I do find the actual gardening more de-stressing than just sitting in it though.:rolleyes:
Teenage dd is happy to do the sitting bit.

taka

lyndasharp wrote: »

Plus I do jewellery making, and have a bad habit of buying beads because they are pretty...

I hear ya..... Beads are sooooooo dangerous

lyndasharp

taka wrote: »

:hello: Hiya folks!

Well my "frugal" hobby (other than a MSE addiction ) doesn't seem to be too frugal at the moment :eek: I love jewellery making but I keep on buying stuff to make things with but not actually getting round to making anything :doh:I'm trying to get stuff together to open an Etsy shop but I have the jewellery equivalent of writers block :mad: Aaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhh!! :rotfl:

Good luck with the cats bails! :happyhear

I'd never heard of an Etsy shop before, I've just googled it! I did sell some of my jewellery a few years back, but I didn't have time to keep up with orders, do a PhD, run a Morris Minor club, teach part time... maybe I should give it another go now that life is a little less hectic....

bails

taka wrote: »

I hear ya..... Beads are sooooooo dangerous

Ooohh, beads... okay, confession time - a couple of years ago I spent the equivalent of £200 on old beads in Morocco :eek::eek: In my defence, I was so miserable about being stuck in the beautiful mountains unable to walk (I was an expedition leader in a previous life) and hoped I could unleash my creative side to compensate. Two years on, they are still sitting somewhere in my loft I can relate to the 'jewellery block' I have at least sorted them out, a mammoth task as there are literally thousands of them, so they did help with my frustration somewhat I guess.

lyndasharp

bails wrote: »

Ooohh, beads... okay, confession time - a couple of years ago I spent the equivalent of £200 on old beads in Morocco :eek::eek: In my defence, I was so miserable about being stuck in the beautiful mountains unable to walk (I was an expedition leader in a previous life) and hoped I could unleash my creative side to compensate. Two years on, they are still sitting somewhere in my loft I can relate to the 'jewellery block' I have at least sorted them out, a mammoth task as there are literally thousands of them, so they did help with my frustration somewhat I guess.

Looks like you're not far down the road, if you feel like a jewellery session sometime :beer: I'm in Swindon, though it doesn't say that on my profile, still haven't figured out which box to put it in.

taka

Um..... I have at soooooo much more than £200 worth of beads ... this is only some of them... :eek:

sophiesmum_2

Good evening everyone,:D
Oldies are all fed and watered and I have been left with quite a bit of chicken so in a moment will go and make some chicken curry and sweet and sour chicken for OH to use for work. There's enough for about 4 individual portions of each so will freeze in foil trays for him.


Re Cats, and other pets - we aren't allowed to have pets here or I would have one or two animals too:rolleyes: :rolleyes: Will have to make do with making a fuss of DD's ponies, and the dog that lives at the stables.

mini_huny_money

Prudent wrote: »

Lyndasharp - I love the sound of the house with all the animals. I have two cats, but can't afford any more. would love a horse.

Its a really sunny, but bitterly cold and windy day here. Off to Aldi after church to get the rose arch and obelisk they have in today (well hoping its in). Going to try and see if I can get some keep pots for veggies too. Does anyone grow veggies in their front garden? I do have some space there, but not sure if it woudl go down too well with neighbours. I live in a semi and next door have really done the house up. They have an immactulate garden and I am not sure if they would appreciate me growing a veggie plot. I do have enough spece in the front though, so its tempting.

Hya Prudent, I was thinking of using my wee bit of ground at the front for veggies too..:beer: .....Sophiesmum has really got me thinking about growing my own, my back garden is all grass but I cant really dig that up as the dog needs some space. Am trying potatoes in compost bags round the back......

Are there any veggies that would look ok in a front garden, I must admit am not too worried about what the neighbours say cos Ive got a few pots with marigolds in but don't want too come across as a bit of a fruit loop.....:rotfl: and if it all looks horrible .....EVERYONE WILL SEE IT!!!!! At least round the back I can cover up any disasters

A NSD yesterday but I spent a pound on a book in a charity shop today, we went for a drive to Helensburgh and Loch Lomond, we were going to take OH's daughter to the aquarium......11 pounds for an adult and 8 for a child......:eek: so we went and had a look at the scenery!!!!!!! that was free at least

xx

(edit) How did I miss a whole page of posts, that'll teach me not to skim read, ....missed all the posts re the front veggie gardens!!!!!!

bails

Ha ha, cool - my beads are old and very dirty so needed a good wash too. I keep trying to convince myself they're Moroccan heirlooms :rotfl: Be fun to meet up with peeps sometime too!

Just made a list - yup, I'm a list girl - of all the ways our grocery budget/eating habits have changed since January; it's quite impressive! Have a much bigger list of how much further I want to go but all in good time. It would be interesting to roll it out further and see how much life has changed since this challenge, or indeed since I discovered MSE...

taka

Oh dear... I've just toted things up for April so far... £302.32 :eek: :eek:

Bills... £85.61
Food + misc spends... £89.17
Entertainment... £21.80
Prescription... £5
Birthdays... £50.74 - 2 this month so far
and ummmmm :eek: Haircut and colour... £50

Well I'm doing not too badly ... if you ignore the last bit... Only thing is I've got to get/make a pressie for another birthday and spend at least £10 on food. Hmmmmmmmmm :rolleyes: