Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally

HairyHandofDartmoor

I've finished my assignment and emailed it to my tutor :T. It ran to nearly 6,000 words and my bibliography went onto two pages. I feel very relieved to have my first level 3 assignment finished :T. I hope it's okay and doesn't need any amendments or additions.

I've had a late lunch and now I need to decide how to spend what's left of the day. I can choose between housework and gardening and as both are a bit of a tip I'm having trouble deciding. I'm veering towards gardening though as it's actually dry for once and I can do housework in the rain but I don't like getting muddy in a soggy garden.

Yesterday I covered up our garden seat with a waterproof cover for the winter. The trouble is the cover is bright blue and is a bit of an eyesore :eek: so I wish we had a green one as it would blend in better. Perhaps if I see a green one I should get one as it's is bothering me every time I look out of the kitchen window!

I still need to deadhead my flowers in the hope of encouraging some new buds, spray weedkiller on the hedge remnants to try and kill the roots, prune the unruly clematis and pull up a lot of weeds. I could also sweep up leaves and twigs from the patio. For a small garden it's still a lot of work but I do like having a pleasant garden to look at. I have visions of how I would like it to look one day. We can't afford any fences for now as money is too tight but when we can afford our fences around it I'd like it to be a little paradise with flowering bushes, flowers in pots and bird food to attract birds to the garden . There is a nice cast iron bird feeder thingy you can attach to a wall which I have my eye on in the NT shop .

My hands are feeling cold as I type this so I obviously need to get up and do something to warm myself up.

I hope everyone is having a good Wednesday .

HairyHandofDartmoor

Well I spent an hour in the garden and completely exhausted myself but it doesn't really look that different so it's a bit demoralising.

I deadheaded my chrysanthemums and some nice pink flowers I've forgotten the name of. I can see evidence of new flower buds growing and hopefully the deadheading will help. I can see green shoots from last year's crocus bulbs poking throught the soil in their pots so I moved the pots into a location where they'll get more light. Then I weeded most of one border and swept up the resulting debris. After that I felt so tired that I put my gear back in the shed and came indoors to rest. I feel a bit pathetic only being able to do an hour before succumbing to tiredness, but I have always said that gardening is hard physical graft.

The other borders are still full of weeds and there is pruning to be done, plus all the cobbles on the patio are full of weeds, but I need to pour boiling water on those to kill the roots. I did start boiling the kettle to pour on the patio weeds, but then my sister rang so I turned it off.

I talked to my sister for over an hour and then I noticed it was raining so had to quickly bring the washing in. I've had some washing that I've been trying to dry for 24 hours but after it got rained on I gave up and tumbled it.

So a fairly productive day I guess. I've finished and emailed my assignment, done an hour of gardening, put some laundry on to wash and spoken to my sister on the phone .:T However there is so much more that needs doing like emptying all the waste paper bins in the house, hoovering the entire house, dusting all the surfaces in the house, cleaning the window frames, not to mention finishing the weeding and pruning, etc. I just don't know when I'll ever find the time or the energy to do it all:(.

At least I didn't spend any money today though .

Sun_Addict

I'm like you, not enough hours in the day to fit everything in. I also spent some time tidying our garden at the weekend. I'm not a natural gardener but thought I was doing quite well until Mr SA said I reminded him of Margo from the Good Life :rotfl:

Seasidegal58

Finally caught up with your diary! Sorry to read that you've been under the weather - upping your veg/fruit intake will definitely help you. Perhaps the doctor could also test your thyroid levels as an under active thyroid can certainly affect your energy levels.

Re your garden - you've certainly done a lot out there today so don't beat yourself up. The father of an ex of mine had a beautiful garden. However he said that it looked so good because he was retired and it had now become his full time job!

milann

Sounds like a busy half term.
Well done on the gardening - I ordered some plants a while ago from a mail order place - the last of them arrived today and I can’t tell if the tiny bushes are dead or have shed their leaves for autumn.....:eek:

HairyHandofDartmoor

Sun_Addict wrote: »

I'm like you, not enough hours in the day to fit everything in. I also spent some time tidying our garden at the weekend. I'm not a natural gardener but thought I was doing quite well until Mr SA said I reminded him of Margo from the Good Life :rotfl:

Thanks SA . Margo :rotfl:.

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

Finally caught up with your diary! Sorry to read that you've been under the weather - upping your veg/fruit intake will definitely help you. Perhaps the doctor could also test your thyroid levels as an under active thyroid can certainly affect your energy levels.

Re your garden - you've certainly done a lot out there today so don't beat yourself up. The father of an ex of mine had a beautiful garden. However he said that it looked so good because he was retired and it had now become his full time job!

Thanks SSG . Gardening is time consuming but then my garden is the size of a handkerchief so I should have no excuse! I did have my thyroid checked a few years ago and it was fine then but they may check it again.

milann wrote: »

Sounds like a busy half term.
Well done on the gardening - I ordered some plants a while ago from a mail order place - the last of them arrived today and I can’t tell if the tiny bushes are dead or have shed their leaves for autumn.....:eek:

Thanks Milann . Hopefully your new plants have just shed their leaves .

It has been a busy half term but fairly productive I guess.

HairyHandofDartmoor

I've had a busy couple of days! Yesterday we met aunt and uncle at a NT place. My cousin and his family came too so it was a lovely family day out . It was raining when I got up but the sun came out by 10am and we had gorgeous sunshine after that. We had a lovely autumn walk with great views, coffee in the cafe and a good catch up with family. Then DH and I went back to aunt and uncle's house for a meal. So a really enjoyable day . A bit spendy as we had to get petrol and spent money in the cafe on drinks (probably about £6) but it could have been worse for a day out as we took a picnic lunch with us and ate it on a bench in the gardens.

Today has been less enjoyable. For a start it's been wet and windy all day. Plus I had my tutorial this morning and it was on a very dull subject. I came home, had lunch and then moved straight on to calculating the vat return with DH, which is my most loathed job of all time. Anyway that's calculated, submitted and paid now. Unfortunately we had to raid our EF of £200 to help pay it and our current accounts are almost empty now .

I got paid today :T so paid our water bill (£94), put £30 in the Christmas pot and bought myself £50 worth of premium bonds (that little nest egg is growing slowly but steadily ). I've had a pay rise of £4 a month, whooppee :rotfl:.

So we're almost penniless in our current accounts but at least it will encourage us to be frugal. I refuse to let my EF go below £3,000 so bills will have to go unpaid if we can't bring in more money soon.

I need to practise superfrugality for a while, so I'm definitely going to take my own can of coke to school every day and pop it in the fridge(saving £4.50 a week). I also intend to take my own coffee in a travel mug to my tutorials from now on (saving £2.75 a month), if we also take hot drinks in our travel mugs when we go to NT places then we'll save about £6 each visit. I'm going to try and drink less coke (unless I'm doing something really stressful). All these little things will add up and I'm going to try and think of other ways to spend less too. Any money saved via my superfrugality will top up our Christmas fund and once that reaches £500 it will top up my EF.

I did spend £5 in the C00p today as they are still doing their offer of six packets of selected frozen food for a fiver (normally costing £10.20). This will help to keep the freezer full and I think it genuinely is a bargain .

I hope everyone has had an enjoyable and frugal Friday .

doingitanyway

I should know by now, but I am always surprised by the big changes small changes can make, like the coke, £4.50 a week saved.

When I was becoming DF I was welded to my flask but not now. I must start doing this again.

Sorry today has not been very enjoyable. Have a relaxing evening

HairyHandofDartmoor

doingitanyway wrote: »

I should know by now, but I am always surprised by the big changes small changes can make, like the coke, £4.50 a week saved.

When I was becoming DF I was welded to my flask but not now. I must start doing this again.

Sorry today has not been very enjoyable. Have a relaxing evening

Thanks DIA . I keep telling myself that small savings will add up, but then I get lazy again . It's hard work being super frugal.

Yes today wasn't great but I had a lovely day yesterday so it's partly the contrast that makes it seem a bit yuk. But at least we won't have to do another vat return for three months now :T.

Anyway it's the weekend now .

Sun_Addict

Glad you had a good day at the NT

Great that you’re putting money into Premium Bonds when you get paid

As for the weather:(