Making savings before it's too late

moneyistooshorttomention

kittie wrote: »

money make sure to get one with rubber extractors, not the brushes. The rubber extractors are far better, I have the 880 model

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu7NNfqe46c

Thanks.

Can I clarify why the rubber extractors are better than the brushes? Do they suck up a lot more dirt for instance?

[Deleted User]

the brushes are like round hairbrushes, they hold threads and need to be cleaned. The rubber rollers don`t hold threads and are much more efficient at sweeping dust into the dustpan. Many many years ago I had a bristle one, so I know after using both. The rubber rollers are very good and save much time when cleaning the roomba. This one just needs the dustpan pulling out, inverted over a bin and all the dust and fluff comes out easily. I take the filter out, it is by the dustpan and just give it a bang and that is it, all the cleaning that is needed. The amazing thing is that it cleans the landing and does not fall over the edge

YORKSHIRELASS

Spendless wrote: »

Reading all the comments about Roombas, makes me realise it isn't the cleaning that is time consuming in this house, so getting one wouldn't save time. It's the tidying up that takes time, so if anyone knows of a robot that does that I'd be grateful or failing that a good legal defence if I tie my families arms to a nearby lampost and only let them in for a couple of hours.

This is so true, keeping the house tidy means you can find things when you need them and cleaning takes far less time, and a tidy house means less stress. The answer for me was to get rid of stuff, a lot of stuff. I recommend the Marie Kondo book. It changed my life.

We have just had leftover Christmas Day veg with some leftover fish pie out of the freezer. Trying to clear the freezer out to start afresh in the new year.

lessonlearned

Good morning. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas.

Well it begins.........

I go on holiday on 6th January so I doubt that I need to buy much food between now and then. I will concentrate on using up leftovers. Maybe just milk and perhaps a bit of fresh fruit and veg. So hopefully my food budget for the next week or so will be nice and low. I’m going to try and keep it under £10.

I need to buy a few bits for my holiday, namely comfort meds and deodorant but hopefully that’s it. Again hopefully around the £10 Mark should cover it.

I do have a quite a stash of cleaning materials and toiletries so when I come back from my holiday I shouldn’t need to buy much in that department for a few months.

I need a couple of bras and I think I might buy a couple of packs of knickers. Should come in at around £50. But that’s it, my challenge will mean no more clothes buying next year.

Between now and my holiday I will review my banking, pay off credit card, and will need to withdraw some sterling. I already have US dollars, euros and Brazilian reales all paid for.

I have booked my car For it’s MOT this Thursday. Fingers crossed. I have a hair appt booked for 4th January, around £20 and a steroid injection for my knee. Hopefully my medical insurance will cover some of that. I’ll probably have to contribute around £100, so not too bad. TBH it will be worth every Penny to be pain free and enjoy my holiday.

I am actually quite excited at the prospect of really knuckling down, slashing my living expenses and building up the savings pot again.

My son was playing with my smart meter yesterday. I mentioned that I thought my electric usage was a bit high and could I be wasting it somehow, allowing a “leak”. Personally I think we leave too much stuff on standby but he has argued that it doesn’t amount to much. We are going to go around checking everything to see if we can get it down a bit more. It might prove an interesting exercise. :rotfl:

One thing I did do recently which saved me a lot of money. I bought my new glasses and prescription sunglasses online. They came to £152, less than half of what I paid the optician (£330) two years ago. They are a perfect fit and I’m very happy with them. They have also sent me some vouchers for my next lot, if anyone is interested it was Glassesdirect.

trailingspouse

Halfway through the jollifications, and step-daughter's boyfriend is coming to stay with us for a couple of days. All fine, I've included him in my calculations (we have so many people coming and going that I actually resorted to a spreadsheet so I could work out how many people were going to need feeding at each meal...). Only problem is, step-daughter has forgotten to tell me he's a vegetarian. Until just before he arrives. Deep joy.

Husband goes to supermarket in a hurry and blows a week's food budget on vegetarian food (he's only with us two nights). Ah well, the best laid plans. Doesn't look like we'll be having turkey soup after all.

Wednesday2000

lessonlearned wrote: »

I need a couple of bras and I think I might buy a couple of packs of knickers. Should come in at around £50. But that’s it, my challenge will mean no more clothes buying next year.

That is what I'm trying as well, no new clothes in 2018 (well, from now) except for underwear and socks.:)

[Deleted User]

I came within a whisker from buying a specialist magazine sub this morning, phew, things like that do add up. I am wanting to clear all my cc by january the first and will start a new account on m/s money, on zero. Also no clothes needed at all in 2018 and if I don`t save then something must be going wrong

VfM4meplse

I made a realisation a couple of weeks ago.

For my first home, I invested a lot of time and money in expensive light fittings and MTM curtains - several thousand pounds - which I’m never going to see again. I’m not going to go cheap now, but 20 years on, I do realise just how little time I have spent admiring such furnishings once in place.

So the ugly stuff in my new house will be replaced with new that is good enough, but not super-extravagant.

[Deleted User]

Kittie check with your local library in my area they have just started doing free downloads for up to 130+ different magazines for all sorts of interests, worth ashufit I live in Kent BTW

savingpennies

I've not been contributing much recently: holiday of a lifetime in October to China, new kitchen installed and assignments to get in for MA. I returned to find Autumn had set in and I had left lots of pots outside that needed bringing in, the garden needed sorting for the winter and somehow Christmas was upon us and I had not planned anything.

Now Christmas is over, my thoughts turn to next year -
* Like others, I am determined not to buy any new clothes; my wardrobes are bursting with things that don't fit. So I must make do with what I have and the weight loss plan starts now.
* I've a list of things to review, we've now retired and although we are comfortable, I'm well aware that this is our income for life and we have to be more cautious and MMM - broadband/TV/phone is the first on the list, after that when insurances/utilities come up for renewal I will do a serious search for the best deals.
* Food wise, there is room for improvement on the minimise spending front. I have no excuse, I had a new kitchen installed when we went away and it is a source of great joy. The first new kitchen I have had in 30 years of marriage:j I do meal plan for the week, but I want to waste less and grow more, so second on the list is planning what I want to grow this year. OH bought me some tall vegetable troughs for Christmas, so that I will have more growing space.
I look forward to seeing how everyone else is doing and hopefully I'll pick up some useful ideas on the way.