Paid off the £31,000! BUT - still scrimping!

Seasidegal58

Sun_Addict said:

You have to check the sizes as many of them are travel size. I managed to find 6 items for the £20 box but a lot of things had gone and I suspect they may have done when it was being sold for £30 as still good value. Not a bad haul for £9 though 👍

Thanks SA. I have noticed now that there are markers against the products confirming which are full size so will be more on the ball next month!😀

Seasidegal58

doingitanyway said:

I too tried to get the £20 box too late. All the best buys had gone. Next time I'll be quicker! One of the things I signed up for was to try new things so the smaller sizes suit me. Then if I like it I can always buy a bigger one. I'm terrible for buying products that I don't like and at full price it is a terrible waste. I see Amie in Waitrose sometimes on offer so good to know you were impressed.

Have a good day all

Hi @doingitanyway - yes trying our smaller sizes on new products is a good idea - in the past I've had a drawer full of cosmetics/beauty stuff that I never ended up using as they didn't live up to expectations!

Seasidegal58

The last two days were very busy work wise - one quarterly task was particularly onerous and time consuming due to the fact that I am relying on a just a laptop screen. I ended up working till 7pm on Thursday and yesterday.  Still, I'm not complaining- I still have a job with a steady salary, plus at least I don't then have the commute home on top of working late as is the case when I'm in the office.   I missed my walk yesterday but did my stretches on both days. 

CLEANING PROJECT 
I was too busy and tired to do it yesterday, but managed it on Thursday. 

We've moved on to the bathroom - the Cleaning task was 'Washing Down Walls and Baseboards (aka the skirting boards - the author is American!). I don't have skirting boards in here but washed down the walls. 

Organising was sorting out and cleaning the cupboard under the sink. I keep my Bathroom cleaning products, toilet rolls, tissues and cotton wool pads on the top shelf and my baskets of candles, room sprays and diffusers at the bottom. Nothing much to do here apart from cleaning.  I'm more of a diffuser than a scented candle person, but I'm loath to get rid of too many candles as I lived through the long power cuts of the 1970s!😂
Maintenance was extra emphasis in the bedroom - vacuuming thoroughly the carpet, curtains and decorative cushion on bed. I shook out the bed throw as you can't wash it.  I change the bedding on Sunday's. 

Today as part of Cleaning I'm descaling  the shower head, cleaned the tiles around the bath and the wire rack on the wall that holds body wash, shampoo, etc.  

Organising today is sorting out the medicine cupboard and cosmetics/beauty products. I sorted out the cupboard in the bathroom that holds the beauty products and spares. The medicines are kept in one of the kitchen cupboards and cosmetics in the dressing table drawer so I'm doing these later. 

END OF SCRIMPY WEEK 4 - APRIL 
Which was yesterday. Not a lot to report during this lockdown - I upped my charity and FB donations and spent more on food/household products. 

START OF SCRIMPY WEEK 1 - MAY
Payday - I've sorted out my YNAB categories.  Food/household product wise, I'm well stocked here so I'm going to try and at least keep as near as I can to my usual budget. Also I've upped my ITunes/Kindle budget from the current unused Eating out/ drinks category during this lockdown.   And I've transferred some of my bonus over to my workplace pension and bought some more premium bonds, plus a few for little nephew.  

The interest on my Santander 123 current account drops to 1% in the next fortnight so it's not worth the monthly fee anymore. I wanted to switch to First Direct but they're not taking on new customers during this lockdown. I'll have to have a look around as well as for savings/cash ISA accounts. 

HairyHandofDartmoor

I like your kitchen tiles SSG .
Your flat must look amazingly clean and tidy with your cleaning and organising. You're very strong willed to stick to the programme and do the daily tasks.

Skinnylatte

I've just been speed reading the last 2 months of your diary! Happy belated birthday! You do sound super organised, and quite inspiring. I also went to download the 30 day book, to find I'd already downloaded it. So you must have inspired me before!! 

milann

I thought the same about my Santander account but will stick with it until normality returns. I think I’ve forgot what normality is now though. It’ll be strange when things begin to return back slowly. 

Your beauty box looks good. It’d be wasted on me though as I’m not very adventurous in the make up department....or any department really. I’m a bit stuck in my ways 🤔

Sunshine_girl2

How is the week going SSG, still busy at it ? 

Weather has turned here today, so walking in the rain it was . 

brizzlegirl

Hope you’re doing Ok x

Seasidegal58

Thank you @HairyHandofDartmoor 😊. re, the cleaning - it's a lot easier with a one person, one bedroom flat. And I've skipped a couple of days since the start of the project. 😊

Hi and thank you @Skinnylatte👋  Nice to see you back.  I think I few people downloaded the book some time ago and then forgot about it!😂

Hello @milann - I've decided to leave the bank account where it is for now too, but I'm going to open a new easy access savings account to move the bulk of my savings including my emergency fund - Marcus is my choice I think paying 1.2% so I need to get on with that tomorrow. 

Hi @Sunshine_girl2 - yes still busy though normality seems to be reigning a bit more now.  I didn't go out till after work - it was blinking' freezing!🥶

I had a nice surprise on Monday though as I received a beautiful lily plant from a cousin for my 65th. 🌺. She was very apologetic when I called to thank her as she thought my birthday was actually that day! 

Today the staff at work had our fortnightly zoom update meeting by the senior management. They were positive about our financial position and reiterated there would be no redundancies. We are still seeing a good stream of new business coming into the firm which is good. However they will definitely be looking at more working from home as this has worked out so well and will be looking at ways of how this can be phased in once we are back in the office. 

SCRIMPY MSE THINGS 
Again nothing much to report.  I bought a few more bits for the FB and some bananas and bread for me. Plus a couple of charity donations. 

CLEANING PROJECT 

Well Sunday and Monday I was a lazy so and so and didn't get to grips at all with the Cleaning Project apart from changing the bedding and general tidying up!

MONDAY - Cleaning was the shower curtain - which I don't have - I have a glass door and gave it an extra scrub   Organising was the Linen Cupboard - I only have enough towels, bedding and flannels for my needs so nothing to get rid of.  Maintenance was going over the living room again
TODAY - Was a bit of a doddle - Cleaning was grout around the shower and bath. I do keep on top of this with bleach and a toothbrush as I can't stand it when it looks grubby!  So nothing to do here. Organising was cleaning and sorting brushes, combs and hair accessories. I keep these in a dressing table drawer so sorted this out along with cleaning my brush and comb. Maintenance was laundry - none to do today!😊

brizzlegirl

Sounding great, well done on keeping on top of the cleaning. Like the sound of the lily plant too x