Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - part 1

HowlinWolf

Cheryl, I think you are a genius! Thank you, I suspect that might be it as February's g and e payment hasn't come out yet

cw18

It's something I regularly hit when generating 4-weekly bills, so nothing "genius" about it :rotfl:

rubytuesday

Hello everyone. A beautiful day here. I went to a jumble sale today just before it was ending and bought five items for a pound. I am really pleased with them. A lovely portfolio dress, a beautiful top from Urban Behaviour, which is a Canadian label, a top from Kushi (a bit tight at the moment but I am still losing weight) a top from Oasis and a dress from Primark which unfortunately doesn't suit me which is a shame as it's a lovely floral print. OH came with me and I found a T shirt for him and he even found one for himself after standing round like a lemon too scared to touch anything for a while.
We then went to Roman Road where I had the worst cuppa I have ever had and complained about a cup of tea for the first time in my life and then had a quick look in the market which I haven't been to in years. It all looked like tat catering to 'orange blondes' to begin with but I found a lovely top for three pounds and there were a few other nice bits and pieces.
We are going to the 'noodley bar' for dinner tonight - at about five pounds a head it's good value. We used to go just about every week but have cut down to once a month or less.
Hope everyone is well and that you enjoyed your extra hours in bed Cheryl!

minnie2

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Morning everyone

!

Does anyone know if I can refuse to pay the extra amount? I've offered to put it up to £65 but really can't afford £97 per month!


Have a good day everyone!:D

you can cancel your direct debit and pay the bills as they come in. Or cancel and then phone and say you are having trouble paying the bill - you make a fuss and they will accept whatever you want to pay. Though they will probably re-assess you every 3months

cw18

minnie2 wrote: »

you can cancel your direct debit and pay the bills as they come in.

That depends on your tariff..... mine is only available if you pay my monthly D/Debit and if I submit reading on-line at least every 3 months and run with on-line bills.

The only 'snail mail' I get from them is when they do an annual review, and that doesn't happen often as I'm normally on the phone to negotiate a change in payments before it happens

miss_empty_piggy

Tax credits people have decided to cut my payments by almost £200 / month despite nothing changing in my circumstances (must ring them ASAP to find out why). In terms of all the talk about gas prices I have finally mended the fire (as per chimney sweep's instructions), yes folks I am no longer a cement-virgin, and today mixed my first, second and third mix of cement to smooth into the back of my flu (ooer that does sounds a little rude!!!). It is now smooth and hopefully when I light it the smoke won't come billowing out, and hence no need to have the heating on!!!

I tried to get on to scottish power to input meter readings but they were temporarily unavailable, had visions of all you frugalists on the phone jamming their communication lines !!!

Got 19 items listed on ebay for the free weekend, and have got candles on everywhere in an attempt to save electricity! Have a cheap night everyone. x

JayneC

Hello all,

How's everyone?

Did a mystery shop today which was a pub visit, took DS as I though it might be a nice treat for him, well he left most of it and whinged that he wanted to go and call for his mates - can't win sometimes!! Still made a slight profit (98p, lol) but didn't have to make his lunch and we just had cheese toaties for tea so it did save some money too:)
Listed some stuff on ebay whilst it's free so we'll see how that goes. Listed 2 dresses that i've had since 1980s - no chance I'm ever gonna fit in them agin and even DDs can't fir in them so no point keeping them. Might have a mooch and see wht sells well. Was interested to hear old toys sell well. Got an old fashioned metal spinning top for DGS from carboot sale for £1 but he never plays with it. That might go;) Need to get more focussed about earning extra income as I want to go part time in April. Not making much progress in doing crafts. Some girls at work have started a knitting group, so I'll start going along there for motivation! Got patterns for socks that I need to have a go at.

Not spent much today - £8.11 in grocers and 58p for cat food (emergency tin as I ran out:o - must get to tesco, altho I'm trying to avoid supermarkets...) Ok off to clean my kitchen, might do a bit of knitting too...:p

Jayne x

rising_from_the_ashes

minnie2 wrote: »

you can cancel your direct debit and pay the bills as they come in. Or cancel and then phone and say you are having trouble paying the bill - you make a fuss and they will accept whatever you want to pay. Though they will probably re-assess you every 3months

cw18 wrote: »

That depends on your tariff..... mine is only available if you pay my monthly D/Debit and if I submit reading on-line at least every 3 months and run with on-line bills.

The only 'snail mail' I get from them is when they do an annual review, and that doesn't happen often as I'm normally on the phone to negotiate a change in payments before it happens

Thanks Minnie - Cheryl, think we must be on the same tarrif.

I've sent them an email offering £65 and also asked why they can't review it on a total for the pervious years' usage as that would seem obvious!

We'll see what happens!


Out for dinner last night which was really lovely (it's soooo nice to have a meal cooked for you)!

Big, big spendy day today :eek: - why does everything run out at once!

Dry dog food: £22.99 (15kg, should last around 7 weeks)
Petrol: £26 (for a measly 20 litres, this is getting ridiculous!)
Cat litter: £9 (going through way too much of this lately)

Dog's medication is about to run out and tried to order today but co out of stock & no expected delivery day - £26 online and £68 at vets:eek:. Going to have to ring on Monday to see if they can give me a date - really, really don't want to have to buy it at the vets.

My own stupid fault, I was going to order last week but was waiting until after the cut-off date on this months' visa bill so pretty :mad: with myself.

Treated myself to a CD (1st one I've bought for way over a year;)) and will come out of Christmas money.

So, all in all, my wallet is a lot lighter than it was this morning!

SofW has been updated - really glad I split the pet costs and groceries up as I've now discovered how I couldn't get anywhere close to the figures people were saying I should be spending on groceries every month!

DM&DF for Sunday lunch tomorrow - roast beef & all the trimmings so looking forward to that!

Have a good evening everyone.:)

JayneC

PS Was going to say I've just switched to Scottish Power, wondering if I've done the righht thing now

rising_from_the_ashes

Why oh why I hear you sigh
Can I not get my washing out, on the line to dry

There’s washing hanging in every space
Oh what a mess it makes of my place

I’m trying to be good and not give in
The tumble dryer makes such a din

But that’s not the worst thing it can do
It makes the electricity meter clunk up too

So roll on summer and the shiny days
When washing is easy and soaks up the rays

My house will be tidy for those few weeks
It’s just in winter it seems so bleak

The snowdrops are out, daffodils near
And the sound of the birds I can hear

The days are getting longer, it won’t be long
Till the sorrows of winter will be gone