Frugal Living Challenge 2011 - Part 3.

SandraScarlett

23rdspiral wrote: »

thanks, that's what i hope! i do hope you're not still panicking re the hospital appointment, you've not had your head in the sand and have been planning well. x


rant away sandra!
i did telephone calmly, and let the lady know that i wasnt angry with her, but that this would be a formal complaint. and no i wouldnt hold while she figured it out.... i'm glad i said that, she phoned back 40 minutes later!! turns out we were due a REBATE of about 1/2 the 30 i paid! BUT our new provider has messed up the sums and is insisting the 170 is paid to SSE and then to them. It is very complicated, i dont really understand it all. She's now raised a formal complaint with the new company and advised me not to pay the bill till i hear again.

why oh why cant these companies send an explanatory letter with such bills? why do they just jump to balif threats? i have great uncles that i know would just pay this sort of thing as they were taught to trust big companies and the governement. and they would hate to cause a fuss or be thought of as miserly or argumentative.


anyway, so i was calm, but it took ages so i was very exasperated, so when my Rental Agency messed up the payment again, i was perhaps a little harsh on them!

oh, and Direct Line have sent me a revised policy notice listing Breakdown and Hire Care - which i CANCELLED as i thought the combined cost of 150:eek: was too steep.... so i had to phone them and get to the bottom of that one. (is it now free? have you charged me despite me not sanctioning that?) ARGH! sometimes i wish i lived in a caravan and just tootled around living off grid!

and since that took half a day, i've now soo little time to move all the stuff that needs moving before this party tomorow. OH said he would forgoe the gym to help... but came in and went out running... then wasnt back/showered till 10.00pm.. which is later than if he'd gone to the gym!:mad: ARGH!!!

sorry, rant over!

Yes, this is exactly the sort of thing that shouldn't happen, and as you rightly say, people llike your great-uncles, and the majority of elderly people, would pay up. It seems that incompetence and mediocrity are the best you can expect! :mad:

Drove to Saffron Walden today with DGD, a lovely little place, with a lovely Prezzo. Showed the waitress my code, which entitled DH and I to 2 x mains for £12. We had meals worth £12.95 each, so that was a great saving, and DGD had a child's meal. Had a mooch round, then drove to Audley End, and passed out when I found out the fees just for the Gardens were now £7.95 an adult, and £5.95 for a child. :eek:

So we parked the other side, by the miniature railway, which was free (to park!) and had a super time there. Just got back and DGD is kindly downloading my photos to the computer, and then to Snapfish (9p a print).

Have a lovely weekend everyone, and happy frugalling.

xx

silvasava

Can't believe it! First the 15 quid door lock & just been into my local fabric shop looking for something to make new cushion covers & they had an odd roll of the fabric I wanted to cover a tub chair for the bedroom. Usually its £25.00 a metre & they were selling it for £8 - snapped up!
Picked my first crop of french beans, another 4 mini cucumbers but only the little cherry toms are producing (just enough for me though - yum yum) My other tomatoes are so slow

rising_from_the_ashes

silvasava wrote: »

Can't believe it! First the 15 quid door lock & just been into my local fabric shop looking for something to make new cushion covers & they had an odd roll of the fabric I wanted to cover a tub chair for the bedroom. Usually its £25.00 a metre & they were selling it for £8 - snapped up!
Picked my first crop of french beans, another 4 mini cucumbers but only the little cherry toms are producing (just enough for me though - yum yum) My other tomatoes are so slow

That's a great bargain on the fabric!:D I'd like to make more things but often find that buy the time I'd bought everything I can often find them ready made in sales.:(

23rdspiral wrote: »

i do hope you're not still panicking re the hospital appointment, you've not had your head in the sand and have been planning well. x

Bit calmer today, thanks:o. It's just seeing it written down makes it even more real:(. Going to start a list of things to do - will have to add on my "prepare for winter" things as it'll be a while before I'm mobile and need to get things like the windows painted done beforehand in case the weather's terrible by the time I get better!




PIC Yay to the decorating! Glad DH is home and recovering (even if he's driving you bonkers!:D

Can I ask what's in your winter emergency kit? Never been that organised before so trying hard this year. Ordered a snow shovel yesterday (after the last 2 years with a spade.....) and got a great deal - £5.78. Looks pretty sturdy and is metal so should hopefully dig under the ice too!

Haven't those wee darlings grown up quickly!;) Very glad you'll be able to "keep tabs" on them as must be hard to let them go.:(


Well, peas are finally finished:( - none for freezing as I've eaten them all!:o But they were really good and better when fresh! Will def grow a lot more next year (now that I know I can.:)

Runner beans are ..... running! They were the size of my finger a few days ago and are about ruler length now:eek:. Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow!


Have a good evening/weekend everyone.

seriouslyfrugal

Hi Everyone, :wave:


hope everyone is well

well mum and I are off up to london tomorrow not a normal thing but we fancied a day out normally we go with sou*h we** Trains and it costs us £18 (ish) each return and that's without parking which is £7 these days :eek: any how looked on line at a station which is about 20 mins away and is looked after by so**th*rn railways we are going upto london for £7.35 return each parking is £2.00 for the day now thats what I call a result :j

I've now got 2 weeks left at work before my contract is up and I just know its going fast - not sure whats next work wise but thats quite good as it means i'm not looking for one specific thing!

Welcome to any newbies

I will report back regards the trip tomorrow

have a good weekend everyone

ladymay

Hello everyone!

Had a fab time in France, went to the Loire and stayed in a nice farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, went to visit lots of chateaux, played lots of card games and table tennis, and discovered the wonders of Wasgij! Has anyone every done one of these? They're so infuriating but a lot of fun!!

BF and I had a looooooooong discussion about finances while away. He's desperate to move jobs, only thing is that means when he finds something new we'll have to move out of the staff flat and start paying rent and bills again which means we need to start saving. So we're going to use his money to pay for food, council tax, travel etc, and we're going to save half my wages and pay off my credit cards with the other half. Which is all well and good but means that I'm going to have to start my SOA again. And then when BF gets a new job and we move, I'll have to do another one

Aril I don't measure it out and I make it fresh every time, but it's about 1tbsp instant coffee (cheapest I can find), 2tsp olive oil, 1/2tbsp salt, few drops of almond oil. You smell like a vanilla latte afterwards but it's the only thing that's ever worked for me. I think there might be a forum on MSE for this sort of thing too, I'll have a look... I love making my own stuff like this!

tumptyteapot

Aril wrote: »

I always have a small bottle of Rescue Remedy on me to help me not to trigger a panic attack whenever possible.

I haven't had a panic attack since I started running, I think that I know I can run fast out of a situation if I need to and just knowing that really helps! When I say 'running' it is pretty pathetic, I am stuck on week 2 a and 3 of Couch to 5k so I only run 3 minutes at the most then walk for 3, etc, it is interval training. I can't run reguarly at the moment cos of lack of childcare but in September I'll go back to running 3 times a week and try and build up to a whole 5 minutes :-)

tumptyteapot

£12 spent today in the supermarket. Unless you count the voucher I bought a couple of weeks ago for feet fish :-) Finally found the feet fish place in the middle of a supermarket, I have never been so relaxed in a supermarket before. Found the sort of school uniform my son can wear (he can't wear collars, its a special needs thing) so I found 5 lightweight sweatshirts in the school blue which are perfect for the autumn.
I fixed the boiler after nearly crying with frustration, I just don't have the strength in my hands to do plumbing, I'm pretty strong as well, I make lots of bread and lift heavy things but I've just got girly hands. It took me an hour to get the pipes back together under the sink today and I had to ask the neighbours to pull the filter off the connector. The new one cost £35 and hopefully it won't leak.

From the 'The power of Less' book I have taken the idea of focussing on 3 things at a time, getting them all finished then starting another 3 things. I'm finding it really liberating, knowing that I have time and space to do something instead of fretting about all these half finished jobs around the place. I did 1.5 of my 3 things today - (the hallway needs another coat of paint) and left on my list is finishing the patchwork quilt I am working on which I am really enjoying - much more than crapping myself up a ladder in a tall hallway hoping now is not the time my knee decides to give way.

Tomorrow I'm going into town with a budget of £20 to fritter :-) My treat to myself.

SandraScarlett

silvasava wrote: »

Can't believe it! First the 15 quid door lock & just been into my local fabric shop looking for something to make new cushion covers & they had an odd roll of the fabric I wanted to cover a tub chair for the bedroom. Usually its £25.00 a metre & they were selling it for £8 - snapped up!
Picked my first crop of french beans, another 4 mini cucumbers but only the little cherry toms are producing (just enough for me though - yum yum) My other tomatoes are so slow

How clever are you! :T:T Covering a tub chair, making cushion covers, and producing the most wonderful crop of goodies! It's girls like you that put the Great into Great Britain! :beer:

xx

slowlyfading

:hello: everyone!

I'm going on holiday very early in the morning, so won't be online for the next week I'm sure you'll all be fine without me anyway!

Can you tell I'm excited?

Kerry_Woman

seriouslyfrugal - Hope you had a great day out in London.

slowlyfading - Enjoy your holiday.

Hugs to those who need them.