Atrixa's Saving Diaries

atrixa

Council Tax bill finally through. £2 per month more than last year, can live with that. Rebate will come through sometime from April apparently. 

I've been fiddling with my boiler controls. I've reduced the temp of the heating and hot water, so should see a reduction on bills. It's a combi, so I really don't need to be heating it as high to end up mixing with cold water as it's scalding hot. Should have done this ages ago, really.

MovingForwards

That's a realistic increase and manageable, even without the rebate.

Do you have temperature valves on the rads too? If so, knock them down in some rooms.

Double check the minimum water temperature to avoid legionnaire's.

ForestBluebells

That’s not too bad. I haven’t had my letter through yet I hope mine is similar. I’m worried by all the price increases:( 

I didn’t know you could reduce water temperature what have you set it to?

atrixa

Not sure of the exact temperature- the combi controls don't have temperature indicators on it for whatever reason. The max my boiler goes to is 80C so I'm guessing between 50C and 60C Not concerned about bugs- the water isn't stored anywhere and I'm not drinking from the hot water tap.

Radiator valves are already down where I can get away with it.

MovingForwards

My boiler has a dial from small arrow increasing in thickness towards big arrow for both heating and hot water. 

You should notice an improvement with gas usage.

Don't forget to submit readings by the end of this month.

atrixa

Merry payday one and all (for those who get paid on the 27th each month, anyway)!

I got some backpay so I've moved a whopping £765 to savings already. I've allocated a fair bit to meals out/ days out but in all likelihood I won't use it all, so I'll probably move some to savings toward the end of the month. I don't think I've ever had this much come into my account, it just makes me even more determined to reach all of my savings goals.

Total savings across multiple pots is now: £6908.59.

Plan is still to buy a car in June, but I'll be keeping an eye on petrol costs. I doubt they'll outstrip rail fares.

I've set myself a budget of £135 for food this month, successfully met my budget of £123 for March. I've added some money on to allow for price increases and a huge bag of rice this month.

I have four containers of garlic outside and one container has already started coming up. Some of my indoor horn chillies are enormous now. Will move some of the bolivian rainbows outside eventually for some space.

MovingForwards

That's great savings and good use of the back pay.

Try and buy a big bag / packet of something each month, if you've a Asian / Chinese shops nearby they're great for larger sizes, cheap spices etc. You've done well with the food budget.

It's very exciting when things start popping up. Wait until you catch a whiff of the garlic when outside, cooking with it freshly picked takes food to a whole new level!

Skint_yet_Again

Great savings atrixa 🤗 I don’t get paid until the last working day of every month. Well done on your food budget I think I will need to reduce mine a bit with all the price increases 

atrixa

Skint_yet_Again said:

Great savings atrixa 🤗 I don’t get paid until the last working day of every month. Well done on your food budget I think I will need to reduce mine a bit with all the price increases 

I honestly can't get over some of the price hikes lately. They started creeping up slowly after the referendum but in the past few months it's mind-boggling. Makes a yellow sticker find all the more exciting! I found some half price soya cream in a Mr S local this morning and snapped that right up.

savingwannabe

Hello my lovely, well done on bargain hunting and extra savings. I hope you are well. Have a good weekend.