Light the fire...

savingholmes

Great saving on the fire!

Hazelnutty

Thanks for the tip! The scandinavian brands seem to be the best so will definitely check that out (2k is a total bargain!)

woodfired

Hello Everyone,
Sorry for the long absence. I think, like many, lockdown has scuppered some of my frugal ways and diary keeping has been relegated to the bottom of the to do list.

Anyways, fresh back from a very frugal 10 day holiday in our caravan (less than £600 for four of us including 4 meals out, a pizza takeaway and fish and chips on the beach for lunch several times and our site fees) I am feeling refreshed and ready to get back on the horse.

In all fairness, although the frugal shopping habits may have slipped, DH took a big pay cut yet we have still managed to pay over £900 in OPs off the new mortgage in the last 4 months and our savings are up to around £17k.  This is despite spending a bit on the house and garage to bring the lounge and snug up to date and to convert part of the garage.

New Goals:

*  Sort out nightmare new-to-us car.  We have got rid of the expensive lease car now we do so few miles and bought another car which broke down after only 2 months.  It's several thousands of pounds to repair properly and no local garages are wanting to take the job on (engine rebuild) so we have been trying to sell it at a huge reduction just for a fresh start.  However, lots of time wasters are making things hard work despite us being very upfront about the problem.  Like I said - nightmare. 

*  Get back on the frugal meal planning and batch cooking wagon.  We save so much money and it is so much easier to feed the family when I am organised.

*  Start new savings pot for house jobs.  First job on the new list is to tarmac the driveway which is currently loose hardcore type stone with lots of weeds and grass growing through.  It also gets muddy when the weather is wet.  Followed closely by re-doing the rendering on the front and side of the house.  Both will improve the look of the house greatly as it is a bit scruffy looking at the moment.

Anyway, sorry for the long post.  I think that will do for now! WF.x

South_coast

Great work on the frugal holiday 😀 

Sorry about the car, that sounds like a right b*mmer 🙁

Hazelnutty

Good luck with your new plans! So many of us took a break in recent months - there was just too much going on in different ways but the main thing is we're back, maybe with different priorities or reduced levels of income, but back nonethless. So welcome!

Fortune_Smiles

Feeling your pain with the new car Woodfired - our second, new to us car was only properly fixed after we'd had it a year and we'd only had the previous one a couple of months before that had to go back.  We'd bought from a dealer though so were able to return/repair eventually.  It's always a risk changing cars.  Hope you get a buyer soon.

Fortune x

savingholmes

Hope the car sorts out.  How gutting. You have made great strides in other areas though and your holiday sounds like it did you good.

yogavibes

Hope you get the car sorted out soon.  Cars stress me out. if I could get everywhere on my bike I would be happier.  I really like reading about your meals - you have lots of ideas! 

woodfired

Oh I've lost a huge post from last night it would seem.

It was a massive update, thanking all of you for forgiving my absence and an update on the awful car. 

We have finally SOLD the car, thank goodness, for the full asking price and have bought another, only £300 more expensive.  New car comes with 12 months warranty and has good reviews on reliability (unlike the old one!).  I've learnt my lesson and done my homework this time around.  The business has paid the insurance and road tax so hopefully no big expenses for a while.  Phew.

Elsewhere, I've bitten the bullet and requested the water meter that we have been deliberating over, it should save us around £50 per month.  I've also opened a halifax reward account to qualify for their monthly mortgage prize draw.  The small OP on the mortgage this month means we are down to £235 750.  Still a huge amount but we have reduced it by £5250 in 5 months which doesn't seem too shabby?  I feel a play on the OP calculator coming on!

In other news we have lots of tomatoes ripening which are just lovely.  The peppers and chillis are flowering also but the fruit doesn't seem to be setting?  Need to investigate that one.   I had homegrown beans for the first time last night and the figs are ripening too.  I've only one courgette plant this year and that is ample!

Getting back on the cooking, little trip to @ldi last night, armed with a strict list.  Bought some YS cod fillets which were beautiful wrapped in parma ham and fried in butter with a little garlic.  Served with new pots and aforementioned beans.  Yum.  Today I plan to make one of the 1kg packs of 5% fat mince I picked up into a chilli, some we will have with jackets and salad for dinner and the rest is going in the freezer.   Tomorrow I plan to make a big vat of sweet potato, chickpea and spinach curry to freeze also.

Also in today's plans are painting skirting boards for DH to fit later in the man cave (much easier than cutting in against white walls - just need filling and touching up here and there), some small admin jobs and a tidy of the house.  I still don't seem to be straight after our trip away and I CANNOT find my hairdryer which is driving me mad! It's not like I can have left it behind - we towed our accommodation home with us!




  

savingholmes

LOL at not finding things - I often have that problem. Other things seem to be going well for you though.