Living on next to nought - is that the key?

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning :hello:

Just a quick note from me this morning - huzzah's all round

Today should be a NSD - we don't need anything.

Fingers crossed that we hear something from the bank and the breakdown company - I don't want that dragging on, coz I really don't want to have to ring them again (1/2hr wait on the phone )

Dinner this evening is going to be potluck as it is one of the nights (there are 3) between now and the end of the month that as yet has nothing assigned against it - even after the re-jigging of the meal planner Wish me luck

Right, up and at 'em, let's get on with the day.

Thanks for stopping by, reading and commenting. I really appreciate it.

See y'all later.

Greying

EssexHebridean

*Pops head round door and waves*

You've got a DIARY?! Who knew, eh?!

Will look forward to following all adventures - I've not read back far but once thing I will chip in is when lack of Tahini for houmous is a problem - and lack of time to produce your own tahini is not available, try just adding a handful of sesame seeds before blitzing everything in the processor - works pretty well as a substitute - as does adding a splash of sesame oil to the lot for an extra flavour kick. of course, someone has probably already said all that - word-for-word most likely - in the biut I've not read back on.....hmmmm!

Hopejacob

Hello Greying and all... Can I share with you? Don't know who else I can share this with as no one in my 'real world' would be as appreciative of my news as you, I suspect...

Ahem....today, whilst looking for cheap summer holiday activities for The Little People, we went to the library. Not only did we get the usual stack of books out, but they had a sale of discarded books for children at 10p each. WOW, we truly filled our shelves, and I gave myself a good, free workout carrying them all home!

I love libraries... They are so essential for children, who need to be exposed to a wide range of reading materials.. (Gets off soapbox:))

Secondly, looking for an activity for this afternoon, my brainwave was blackberry picking! There are lots nearby but I usually forget and miss the window of opportunity. This 'window' also seems to come in different weeks of the year according to the weather, I suppose. Anyway, i'm pleased to report that we now have a mountain of ripe blackberries draining in the kitchen. Must be the equivalent of about 15 punnets! I feel smug and happy in anticipation of blackberry and apple crumble! (Not sure what else to make?)

Thanks for listening. Nearly free books, and free fruit! I'm in profit today!

Hope

Upsidedown_Bear

Thanks for sharing Hopejacob

Our library was having a book sale today as well so I have 3 more books to cram on the shelves somewhere for a total of 70p

Blackberry picking sounds fab. Blackberry jam maybe?

Hello to Greying and everyone :wave:

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening :hello:

oooh, visitors, how loverly

EH - how very lovely to see you - thank you so much for popping in Welcome to my little thread on debt avoidance, which seems to of gone slightly awry ........ :rotfl:Mmm, I have to say, the sesame seeds in the mix had not occurred to me. Although, in my defence, I rarely had sesame seeds in the pantry - however, that has now changed :DSo, another top tip - thanks for sharing. And I don't mind if folks do mention things once or twice or three times etc. I am thrilled at folks joining in and contributing, so please feel free to join in with whatever takes your fancy :D

Hopejacob - how lovely to see you again, and yes, you've got us summed up - this is just the place to share about library books, bargains and free food, so contribute away We've even got our very own thread soapbox - direct from Lev£r bros. so jump in whenever you want. I think you'll find we're on the same page of the (library) book here Sounds like lots of lovely 10p bargains, well done - and as for the free workout thrown in :T

Did the twins enjoy blackberry picking? I bet they got competitive and tried to pick the most??? Yes, we enjoy blackberry and apple crumble (or pear if we can get our mits on any), and I tend to open freeze blackberries, cherries and raspberries if I can - it's a pain, and my freezer is so not big enough, but it makes them so convenient for lobbing in cakes/buns further along the line I'm not a jam maker, but I thought that blackberry jam was one of the easier ones to make because of the high pectin rate - or am I thinking of blackcurrant?

Upsidedown Bear - great to see you and :wave:back.

Well, I'll be back in a bit with tales of dinner and other such witterings.

Thank you for dropping in, reading and commenting - I do appreciate it.

See y'all in a bit.

Greying

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening (again) :hello:

Well, today has been brill and I can claim another NSD :j

The breakdown firm must have cameras and microphones set up in the house, as the new cards came through the post today. The 0800 number that you used to call if you broke down has been replaced by an 0333 number. Must go0gle to see if there is a charge for this number.......

Well, dinner turned out to be smashing, a bit long winded in the prep, but actually, one of those meals that you are preparing things as you go along and whilst you are waiting for other things to cook IYSWIM. However, I was very glad that my food processor has grating and slicing blades It helped enormously

So, for dinner we had; a qu0rn filet, yellow rice & peas, mackerel skies salad (without the mackerel ) and mixed salad leaves. It looked like this;



I'm not sure where I got the recipe for the rice and peas from, but the closest I could find on the net was THIS, but you also need to add about 1/2 tsp of turmeric. I'm afraid that I could not find a net version of the mackerel skies salad, but I got it out of a library copy of 'LEON Book 4' - yes, the same guys as the restaurant chain, but without dearest Allegra Obviously I omitted the mackerel, and in this version today, I did not include cucumbers or oranges because I did not have any. But it still tasted lush. The qu0rn filet was sliced for poncy effect and to make it easier to eat and the salad of home grown leaves was dressed as per usual in oil and vinegar. The filet was out of the freezer - last 2 of a pack of 6, which have provided 3 meals for our household. There is rice left over and MS salad, so I think that it fits into the :money:category. We're both stuffed and I didn't have to buy anything, so .

DP brought home some (mini) chocolate bars that a work colleague had brought in to be shared out. So I will be enjoying a chocolate later

Still no word on the cc. I think I am going to have to move some £'s about (including what is currently in the 'key' fund) to prepare to meet the renewal sum. I'm really not sure there will be time over the BH weekend to negotiate cover, and we can't risk going off cover Still, maybe tomorrows post......

I am however, glad that I started the 'key' fund. I know it doesn't sound a lot, but it has made the difference (there'd be a shortfall otherwise) and I am grateful that in the interim hours of work haven't been cut/jobs been lost. It's a fine line........

We are literally 'squeaking through', by having to meet this bill and pay household D/D's due at the start of next month, but we'll do it - almost to the penny, but we'll do it I don't know where we would be without this diary :D

I am trying to turn my attention to the holiday that we booked in January, I know it is a luxury, and perhaps we should re-consider going, but as things stand, we have not spent any money on fuel for the car in August, so we have that to put into the 'holiday fuel' fund and as the cost of the caravan has been included in the £750 'key fund', if wages get paid etc etc, we should have the cost of the accommodation. As yet the caravan park owner has not requested payment/deposit, and if I recall, they were pretty laid back about it last time (we camped then though), so may not require it until the day we are due to 'turn up'.

So you can see why I'm thinking this may still be doable.......However, if we were to have a cc, under no circumstances would any holiday costs go on the card. No way. If we have the fuel money and accommodation money, everything else is within the realms of normal budgeting. I realise that it's not everyone's idea of a good holiday, but DP and I gain great pleasure from walking coastal paths, visiting NT properties and exploring beaches, towns, and country parks. Cycling (prob not an option for this hols, but...), picnicking and even window shopping/store browsing (more me than DP - has to be said ) None of this really costs money. Again, I know some people like a rest from cooking when they are on hols, and I don't blame them , but I like cooking, and I'm quite happy to cook meals - especially if it was the difference between going on hols or not. We take a lot of our own ingredients (especially when not camping) and look out for bargains at the local farmers markets/markets etc.

So, if I start to mention holidays, you now know my rationale, you can see that I've considered it carefully and that it's still about avoiding debt, but still having a fab time. Not a rash, impetuous and ultimately costly, debt-laden whim

Today I am grateful for;

simple pleasures - Life is full of them. We can always over indulge in them, and yet often can end up richer because of them. #itsnotallaboutmoney

beetroot - love the taste, love the colour and mackerel skies salad would not be as dramatic without it

sharing - DP has done it again

Thank you so much for popping in, reading and commenting. I do appreciate it very much.

I have an early appointment tomorrow, and I am unlikely to make a morning post. However, witterings will resume at a later stage

See y'all later

Greying

EssexHebridean

:wave: Morning!

We are SO on the same page on the holiday thing - my thinking is that we're only here once so far as we know, and whilst saving, avoiding debt etc is laudable, I can't believe that ANYONE gets to their dying breath and utters as their last words "Do you know, I really wish I'd paid another £25 a month to the mortgage!" so while we are OP'ing ours as much as we comfortably can, there will also be holidays, and days out, and general fun. The sort of Frugal blogs that berate people for "wasting money" on such things just make me steaming mad..... *pushes soapbox quietly back into the corner.....*

As for the libraries thing - it is a page I would muchly like to be on, but - and here's the thing - I realised ages and ages ago that I inevitably forget to renew the books, and thus run up fines, and so in actual fact for me it's more cost-effective to use our local charity shops (40p a paperback) and also to participate in our little book-exchange within the flats, and to swap books with my Mum, too. Know your limits - that's what I say!

Your dinner looked gorgeous - and I'm intrigued by Mackerel Skies salad - it looks just beautiful though so may have to try that one!

Piquant_2

I'm in complete agreement with you EssexHebridean on the overdoing of frugality. My mum always says as she wafts out the door for another coffee and cake morning with her friend 'who wants she was good at housework' on their tombstone. Live a little!

EssexHebridean

Piq my Mum and yours would get on - my Mum brought me up to understand that housework is the thing you do if nothing more interesting is on offer!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Afternoon :hello:

Thank you Essex Hebridean and Piquant for popping in and commenting. I greatly appreciate both of you taking the time to do that. Thank you.

Can I just summarise the situation as I see it. I'm hopeful that by setting it out, I can make sense of whether I am heading in the right direction, and also, by setting it out, if anyone can see any glaring errors or tricks I am missing, perhaps you'd be good enough to pitch in - tell me how to improve things? (TIA :D)

I started this diary because a series of events, which culminated in the loss of an important set of keys, totally wiped out our emergency fund. (locks had to be changed = unanticipated costs)

There were 3 'bills' (including the holiday commitment) to be paid before the end of the year and the figures didn't stack up basically!

So I figured that by trying to save anything from my household budget of £160, I would help matters.

July went well. I managed to save £17.14 out of £160 and we had £30 back from an over quote for some lock replacements.

For August, I had to save at least £33 (so immediately double what i'd achieved in July) in order to have enough money by the end of the month to meet the first of the household bills (insurance) plus have enough money in the kitty to meet the direct debits due at the start of September. In the current climate, jobs remain 'unstable'......

Then the washing machine went BANG. It is not repairable.

I immediately swept my household 'pots' and put £33 in the 'key' fund. We have just enough (to the penny almost) to meet the insurance bill and the direct debits.

We applied for a 0% card of credit. We still do not know if we have been accepted

We have not had any money to buy a washing machine (new or secondhand). We are currently using the laundrette, but I only have funds for 1 more load/dry. I am loathed to bother the parentals, but this would be the next step (for this month only )

We have not cancelled our (frugal) holiday yet, because if we could have the cc - we could put the washing machine on that and then we could afford the holiday with cash (assuming everyone gets paid etc etc....)

1 week's frugal holiday cost = 1 middle range washing machine

I do try to avoid credit, however, I would go into 'hock' for a washing machine, I personally would not go into hock for a holiday - which is personal choice, and not a comment on what other people choose. If we were all the same, the world would be boring.

I am not the most patient of people, but I cannot understand why it is taking the bank so long to make a decision, as we have provided all the info they requested. I feel a phone call coming on.

Thank you for reading this far. Please let me know if i'm getting this all wrong and there's a far easier solution......:D

Greying