Saturday 16th & Sunday 17th Jan. what small debt free things will you do?

foxgloves

Hello Weekend Frugalustas,
Good start to the weekend. All little things but they do add up!
*Parked on outskirts of town for free & walked in. Saving = £1.40
*Free coffees in Waitrose. Saving = £4.40
*All fruit & veg from local market.£10 for 2 big bags for life full.
*Bought seville oranges for making marmalade next week. £1.50 for the 2lbs oranges, 2 × 49p bags of sugar & 2 lemons so low cost. Sevilles make best marmalade but very short season so I grab them as soon as they appear.
*This week's grocery budget was only £36 but we underspent by 42p!
*I was given £10 more change than I should have had. I opened my mouth to point this out but then remembered I was in a large chain well known for its tax avoidance, so decided to keep the money & go & spend it in a small local business. Small businesses keep local communities vibrant. Big tax avoiding chains suck money out of the local economy straight into shareholders' already bulging pockets.
*Read through pile of magazines to see which are keepers & which are for selling.
*Two jobs from Annoying Things List. One done already - cost 39p. Another bigger task to be progressed later.
*Towels nearly dry on heated airer run overnight. Will switch it on again tonight to maximise cheap tariff.
*Finalise where we're going for a cheap day out/fitness walk tomorrow. Pack picnic & snacks.
Love to all,
F x

foxgloves

La E - lol, yes you are too right I wouldn't buy a soup maker machine! I do have a bread machine & a slow cooker though, which I use all the time. I wouldn't bother with a soup maker because if I'm home, I make it v quickly in a pan with a wooden spoon, then zizz it up with my hand blender. If I'm going to be out all day, I put it all in the slow cooker & zizz it up when I get in. I know some people love them, but no, it doesn't feature anywhere on my 'wants' list. I am considering a mandolin slicer though as I like making unusual salads. Not sure I can justify that at the moment, though, when all spare funds need to go into our Car Fund.
And I haven't been in the wool shop for ages. Go me!!
F x

carrielovesfanta

Ooops, very non-bargainous thing. Booked flights out to Tenerife to see my friend.

Although, staying with her means no hotel costs and checked for cheapest flights.

princess_pea

Hi all, thanks for starting Bob

I didn't get to sleep until 3am this morning which is catching up with me now. I'm going to try and stay awake until proper bedtime tonight in the hope of resetting my body clock

I took poochy for a walk with the ex this morning - he was asking to see her - thankfully he was pleasant
NSD today but I'm going into town with my friend tomorrow so will need to show some restraint!
Had an email to say my wedding shoes are on the way
All meals from stores - OH has a loaf in the breadmaker
Went into work and did 2 hours overtime
Hoovering/ bathroom/ ironing to do this weekend
Cinema tonight to see The Revenant with our unlimited cards
Banking and FPL to check

Think that's it for now

princess_pea

Forgot to ask - does anyone have any tips for what to use to clean grubby exterior windows? I'm willing to buy a squeegee but want to save the £15 on a window cleaner

Sanctioned_Parts_List

Evening all - pushing 11pm here, and the zzzz's are calling.

DFW stuff today:
Lodger thing not resolved, as lodgers are themselves capricious pains in the bottom.
At work
Pay day in 13 days
:undecided Reran the forecasts. Debt free isn't so much a problem - I should have that by this time next year without too much stress thanks to the sheer luck of getting my present job. However I've turned my attention to mortgage freedom, and onwards to financial freedom. Mrs SPL and I had "the long talk" about this recently and we'll be living like monks for about 12 years to do it... assuming I can stay employed. Problem is my industry is in the process of flushing itself down the toilet and no other pays so well as mine for my current skill-set. So basically:
Attack of the whatifs


Otherwise:
Ally: I found riding boots were better constructed than wellies - bit more prone to slipping, but lasted longer
Pace and chocolatelover: Congratulations

Acronym overload: what's an FPL?

Random question of the day based on conversation at work - does anyone involve their children fully in their debt-freedom journey? Assuming you have youngish monsters of course. I found out in my twenties that my parents had mega debts when I was small as they kept all of it behind closed doors, so I never saw the swan-like furious paddling it took for them to provide me with a comfy childhood. I wonder whether that wasn't a lesson lost, and part of the reason why I entered adulthood with unrealistic expectations of how money should behave...

Being one to experiment on human beings, I include my kids in all the money talks, even though they're too young to really grasp having pocket money yet. We'll see if they're millionaires by 20, or living in a box under a bridge.

DawnW

Sanctioned_Parts_List wrote: »

:undecided Reran the forecasts. Debt free isn't so much a problem - I should have that by this time next year without too much stress thanks to the sheer luck of getting my present job. However I've turned my attention to mortgage freedom, and onwards to financial freedom. Mrs SPL and I had "the long talk" about this recently and we'll be living like monks for about 12 years to do it... assuming I can stay employed. Problem is my industry is in the process of flushing itself down the toilet and no other pays so well as mine for my current skill-set.

Acronym overload: what's an FPL?

Random question of the day based on conversation at work - does anyone involve their children fully in their debt-freedom journey? Assuming you have youngish monsters of course. I found out in my twenties that my parents had mega debts when I was small as they kept all of it behind closed doors, so I never saw the swan-like furious paddling it took for them to provide me with a comfy childhood. I wonder whether that wasn't a lesson lost, and part of the reason why I entered adulthood with unrealistic expectations of how money should behave...

Being one to experiment on human beings, I include my kids in all the money talks, even though they're too young to really grasp having pocket money yet. We'll see if they're millionaires by 20, or living in a box under a bridge.

Good luck with your mortgage free journey Sanctioned Parts List. Is your mortgage on a house in the UK or elsewhere? We paid ours off early so that we could take early retirement - our pensions are very small but we manage fine without accommodation costs. We have savings in case expensive repairs are needed, but of course need to keep these intact for emergencies, and not have them swallowed up in day to day living costs

FPL is the free postcode lottery freepostcodelottery.com

Our children did know when they were growing up that we were skint and there were lots of things we couldn't afford, but didn't show much interest in the actual numbers. If they are living in boxes at age 20 you will just have to go and haul them out Done a bit of that too, metaphorically speaking

DawnW

princess_pea wrote: »

Forgot to ask - does anyone have any tips for what to use to clean grubby exterior windows? I'm willing to buy a squeegee but want to save the £15 on a window cleaner

Vinegar is good for cleaning glass (dilute it obviously). If they are very dirty I would wash with ordinary soapy water first (or hose down, if you have a hose, cold job though :eek:). It will dry streaky, but this is where the vinegar water comes in, wash them down again with that and polish off. Old newspapers are good for giving a final shine, or a microfibre cloth If they are not really dirty just a bit smeary, skip the first stage

I must confess to using a window cleaner now, as I have never been great on ladders and I don't want OH going up them now. Ours is cheaper than yours though. He charges £11 every 6 weeks, and does all the windows plus the conservatory, including the roof - so I am quite happy to support that bit of the local economy

foxgloves

Princess Pea,
No need to waste money on any special window cleaning ungents. Use washing up liquid to make up a bucket of hot soapy water & chuck in a good dash of vinegar. I just use a washing-up sponge so I've got the scourer side for tough dirt if needed.Then I scrunch up old newspaper into a ball & polish up the clean windows. There is something in the ink, I think, which brings up a great shine. It's free so you can just scrunch up a new bit when it gets scraggy.
Years ago, I did sometimes pay for a window cleaner. To be honest, they seemed to look worse when he'd been! We do have a thing on a pole for the upstairs windows but I don't use that because I'm not allowed up ladders! In our very equal household, it's the only thing I'm banned from doing. Think it's because I've had labyrinthitis in the past & my balance was bad for a while.
F x

crazy_cat_lady

Hola!
What a lovely, chilled out day (so far). I even dozed over on the sofa while the boys were watching the footy...
CLF - that's brilliant news about your oh.
Princess - I have a window cleaner, but he only charges £2.50 which I don't mind paying.
SPL - I have been very open with our kids about money issues, budgeting and saving for things. I was the same as you - left home for uni knowing nothing about the cost of living etc. I think it's important that they learn early.

crazy_cat_lady wrote: »

[STRIKE]:snow_grin check banking and PAD[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]:snow_grin 15 mins housework and declutter[/STRIKE] changed and washed all the bedding
[STRIKE]:snow_grin prepare rubber chicken for the days ahead[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]:snow_grin try and finish my crochet cardigan[/STRIKE] 14 rows to go, it will be done tonight.
:snow_grin get the kids to do their share of the household chores ds is being a royal pain about tidying his bedroom
[STRIKE]:snow_grin get the kids to gymnastics (no footy this morning!)[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]:snow_grin relax and don't stress[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]:snow_grin washing[/STRIKE]
:snow_grin don't think about work I did, and remembered I still hadn't written my reports so I've made a start on that