Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - Part 3.

23rdspiral

oh Sandra, i really dont have the words... you are such a strong person, and so kind for cheering us all on when you've so much going on. one little glitch so many of us stumble, certianly myself, and you are there to pick us up and offer reasurance and kindness. i really hope we can offer you just a little of what you give to us. *hugs* for you and all your family.

dizzy, that is so kind of you. (well done too! what talented people we have here!)

tumpty - i'm so sorry for your loss. sounds peaceful and that's the best we can all wish for *hugs*

seriously - woo for your slow cooker! i dug ours out yesterday and we had woopsied beef stew with carrots and herby dumplings. very tasty it was too.

congrats to those with inklings of work and interviews ect, and the cakes sound lovely Ruby!

i've been waiting in all day for a delivery, and now they say it might be here by 6.30pm!! whilst at least its a needed NSD, frustrated isnt the word. if id have know i wouldnt have moved furniture first thing. it's a welsh dresser, we've said for 10 years we'd get one when we had the space, and now we've moved we've a dining room that leads into the kitchen so it'll go along a wall there. it's quite a splurg, c.600, but we made ourselves feel better by thinking how much it's cost vs years of future use vs years of wanting one!

so after moving furniture (mostly boxes to be honest) and srubbing the wall where it will go, and the floor ect.. i then scrubbed the kitchen and back door floor (too small to be a hallway but dont know what to call it)... my arm still hurts several hours later!

Savvy_sewing

I have been storing and stockpiling for a few years now, but I just opened my kitchen cupboard and had a mild panic.! The cupboard is bowing in the middle. (Its a new kitchen not even a year old!) So I think that I had better start making more use of the stores and save myself the cost of having to buy a new cupboard!
So its a good time for me to have a clear out and make some concoctions and soups etc.
My spending has gone way over my target figures, but I am still solvent. There is funds in the bank, be it a few, and some savings in the bank, so I am still happy with the way things have gone.
My biggest weekness is buying things on ebay! So I will have to stop looking and getting hooked into it.!
Then I will save a fortune.! The purchases are mostly fabric that I wanted to use for my craft making, so presents, christmas decorations, etc will all be catered for, but having not been well I havent been sewing, yet I have still been buying fabric. I may have to ebay the other way and sell off my purchases and hope to make some on it, if i am not careful.!

Savvy_sewing

dizzy_lizzie wrote: »

Hee hee Yep same here Ruby I now realise. The decorators haven't quite started work but they are setting up if you get my drift
The poppy seed cake sounds unusual, I bet it's nice.

Ok I'm going to attempt an ode to the wonderful Sandra. Always there with a kind word and poem for us so here goes..

Sandra you're always there with full support
a friendly word and a sympathetic retort
A friend of ours in cyberspace
We think you are just blimming ace.
I'm sure if kind thoughts made wishes come true
You'd be on that coach and doing what you do.
But just for now your family need your care
And you know that you need to be there.
And when days are dark and you shed a tear
just pop on a post and we'll be here.

Hugs from all the Frugalistas
x

I dont think anyone could say that better!
Hugs to Sandra from moo toox

slowlyfading

Sandra - oh my goodness, things are not great at your end right now. take care of yourself xx

Well, had the interview today, not holding out much hope but will find the outcome on Monday.

tumptyteapot

Good grief Sandra, I have no words but my thoughts are with you

redglass_2

Evening all,
I haven't been reading posts as I completely lost my internet for 2 weeks, and I won't have time to catch up now. I've just read through this last page - sorry to hear about your cat, Tumpty, and Sandra, my thoughts are with you. I hope your daughter is soon feeling more settled.

I have a cautionary tale to tell: long, but I'll keep it to the bare bones. Because my TalkTalk service was unreliable (and NOT cheap) and I always had to wait ages to talk to anyone (endless muzak, endless expense) I approached another provider (let's call them Prim). But their customer services turned out to be nearly as bad as TT's, so I cancelled that contract and went back to TT, telling them I would return to the fold but I wanted a cheaper deal. I wasn't allowed the very cheap one you get if you join up, but was told I'd get TT Essentials, a basic account, that the paperwork would be sent out and I had 14 days to change my mind. The paperwork was a bit slow in coming. I went away for a few days and returned to find my PC couldn't get online because TT had cancelled my contract entirely! No reason why was recorded on their system and no record of my conversation about TT Essentials. OK, I thought, I'd go to someone else. I applied to another provider with excellent customer satisfaction ratings and found them really helpful but then I discovered that TT were blocking their attempts to transfer my account. It took days of ringing up, being given the run-around, made to queue for hours, never being allowed to speak to a manager, etc, before I could get it sorted. Weirdly enough TT kept insisting that I was no longer their customer even though they were blocking the other ISP and even though I could still access my TT webmail from anywhere except my own PC. I was also told that I would lose my phone number if I left them, and by another person that I'd already been disconnected (but obviously hadn't lost my phone service, since I was still using it? Go figure.) Finally I got TT to let go, only to find that Prim (remember them?) had 'slammed' the phone line, ie jumped in and taken over my service despite my having cancelled my application. It has taken 2 separate registered Ofcom complaints against TT, plus my new provider putting pressure on Openreach (BT) to sort out the situation with Prim, before I could finally get my new account going, which happened today (the old one stopped working on 22/9). I had no idea a phone company could grab a line, like pirates, but according to Ofcom 'slamming' is increasingly common. I have to say, though, as soon as I phoned Prim and told them to get off the line, I didn't want them, they actioned it within 24 hours. I'm willing to believe (just) that they didn't receive my cancellation email. My real rage is reserved for TT. There is no possible excuse for the nightmare experience of dealing with them if you have any query they can't answer from their scripts. You get shunted on and on - I spoke to over 25 people, with a lengthy wait each time followed by security questions I had just answered, and even after all that I had got nowhere. I would warn anyone considering their cheap deals not to go there. As soon as you get onto the regular contract it's not nearly so cheap, and the customer service is terrible beyond belief. I actually cried with frustration. Stay clear.

dizzy_lizzie

seriouslyfrugal wrote: »

smaller libraries may close unless they can be taken over by volunteers apparently they need to save £450,000 due to buget cuts
for the year 2012/13 - so we'll see
have a good day everyone

Frugal like you say at least they're not closing it completely. Whats awful really is at times like these with less money around you would think that people are using libraries even more and then they go and cut the hours! But then again are people using libraries less now than they used to? That would be insteresting to find out.

23rdspiral wrote: »

i then scrubbed the kitchen and back door floor (too small to be a hallway but dont know what to call it)... my arm still hurts several hours later!

Is it called a vestibule spiral? I know that's what we used to call the little area between the front door and the inner door when I was little.

slowlyfading wrote: »

Well, had the interview today, not holding out much hope but will find the outcome on Monday.

Don't forget Slowly if you made it to the interview then they are certainly interested in what you have to offer. Will keep fingers and toes crossed for you


Well I'm being very naughty tonight. I've just wolfed down two coop jam doughnuts and glasses of diet cola. Talk about sugarfest!
Hugs to all on this chilly evening
x

Oops I meant to say thanks to you redglass for the advice. Always worth doing more research on so called good deals.
Hope you're ok huni.

x

rubytuesday

Dance therapy was quite emotional today - it's a funny old thing but I've managed to have a NSD as I by passed M and S on my way home resisting the lure of chocolate florentines.

They are so expensive I have decided to cut them down to once a month.

It is now officially girlie's birthday and she is in Leeds.

I shall miss her!

rising_from_the_ashes

dizzy_lizzie wrote: »

Frugal like you say at least they're not closing it completely. Whats awful really is at times like these with less money around you would think that people are using libraries even more and then they go and cut the hours! But then again are people using libraries less now than they used to? That would be insteresting to find out.

They've already done that here - local library used to be open 10am - 8pm on a Wednesday (only night open past 5 so only time most working people could go) and it's now shut all day. They've added an extra 2 hours on a Monday morning - but what use is that to many people!

To make it worse (from a selfish point of view) all the libraries in nearby towns are also now closed on a Wednesday (the only day I can go) - wouldn't you think they'd stagger the "closed" day so one's shut Monday, another Tuesday etc etc. Madness:mad:

Our theory is that when numbers drop (as many people now won't be able to use it), it'll get closed:mad: - it's a great wee library, the girls who work there are lovely and it's just such a shame.


Slowly - keeping everything crossed for you.

ceridwen

Sorry to hear about the reduced opening hours on the library.

I think all libraries are getting this - and its just a matter of degree as to how much.

I've been living in my area for so long now - over 30 years - that I remember how it used to be. It was open till 8pm of an evening and there had already been earlier shutting instituted a few years back - so the current cut is on top of that one.

Both the main library and the reference library had their full complement of shelves (both have had some shelves removed anyway over recent years - so the falling number of books stocked doesnt show up so much).

The shelves in the reference library are half empty and what books there are on them are now getting a bit "ancient". There is a much smaller selection of books and magazines in than there used to be.

I dont visit the music section much in order to be able to assess that - but the last time I did I noticed that the selection available is getting a bit smaller and is now looking distinctly "ancient".

Libraries started cutting the amount of money available for books a few years back now - hence part of the problem.

Its ridiculous - when there are steadily more and more people - so one presumes more and more people wishing to use the libraries as well.

Libraries have always been a great resource to me and it was a comfort during many years of not having enough money to live on (including some spells of unemployment) to know that I would never go short on having plenty to read. Of course - during the unemployment - it was good to have that little "fallback" in my mind that if I couldnt afford enough heating then I could have just had a really l..o..n...g visit to a library (rather than the usual quick exchange of books and gone).

Education was always traditionally a way that those from a poor background could do a bit better for themselves in life as well.