Dusty's Frugal Fortnights

beanielou

Thanks dusty

Cold here too, bracing myself for the snow

dustydigger

Well,Frugal Fortnight #3 started on Monday and its only now that things have calmed down enough to plan it out.With Mr Dusty being away the income is down from £354 to £309 but I dont have Mr Dusty to feed.:) Also £18 into pocket since I have finished paying Arg*s,so thats a bonus too.:j
Next fortnight is the one with all the DDs and bills,so I will put aside £40 this time to pad out my income for that fortnight. Glad I have been paying into my birthday fund,since I had to give my granddaughter £30 for the new baby,and its another granddaughter's 9th birthday on Monday,another £20 (£15 cash,plus sweets and card)Another two birthdays on 4th and 6th March,but that falls into the next FF.
Frugal Fortnight 19Feb - 4th Mar
online outgoings: £137,i.e.
Asd@ home delivery - £42 (smaller than usual with Mr Dusty away!)
life insurance - £20
Asd@ monthly delivery charge - £5
phone top up - £10
birthday fund - £20
towards next FF - £40

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household budget - £80

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total outgoings - £217
leaving surplus of £92
So £90 will go into my NS&I account towards Xmas and emergency fund:cool::cool:

dustydigger

The Asd@home delivery charge of £5 a month is a real bargain. If I went shopping myself the taxi home would be a fiver,so I am saving £5 a month by doing a fortnightly shop,plus no hassle in filling the trolley,packing and humping bags or the inevitable wait at the checkout and always a 20 minute wait for a taxi. Plus I am not tempted by all the goodies on display,good for my budget - and waistline! :rotfl::rotfl:

beanielou

Asda sounds it works for you
Good news on Argoose

dustydigger

Thought things were going too well,but is back to snafu. I've taken a tablet which makes me dozy,so I'm off to lie down.
Hope you are not offended by me reposting a post I made over on the Slimming World thread. I am too dozy to write another long screed!

By my scales I have STS this week.
Probably a loss on SW scales,mine are rather unreliable
Actually since I went to class Friday instead of Tuesday last week this has been a 4 day week.
I have taken a 2 week break from attending class,as I have sinusitis,with headache,blocked ears and the pain in my teeth is pretty horrible.Have suffered it before,I get quite a lot of trouble with my right ear,so I know the drill - eardrops,under the towel inhaling Vicks in hot water ,and the strong codeine tablets that make me doped up and even confused so I am only taking them for 3 days. No point going to docs for antibiotics,they dont do a lot of good,and I dont want to become antibiotic resistant in case I need them if I am very ill sometime:D. At least this dose isnt too bad,I've had horrendous attacks where even walking across the room made my whole face ache!Once my face swelled up all down one side,and I looked like poor old Anthony Quinn as Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (for any oldies who remember as far back as that film!:rotfl:)Cant wear my partialdental plate and dont want to frighten everyone:D
The thought of facing the cold and snow and struggling the 200 yards in the snow for a bus home from SW didnt appeal. 4 inches so far,and blizzards forecast for tomorrow.Oh joy
Because eating hurts I am living mostly on porridge and tinned soup,not even opening the book to see how many syns!:eek:Really battling not to attack the tub of icecream in the freezer:rotfl:
All very annoying. So much for a nice holiday while Mr Dusty is away,and was disappointed not to go my granddaughter's 9th birthday party yesterday,couldnt face it Plus I only had a pound to lose to get my 4 stone award. Oh well,I should reach that target within the 2 weeks,and will get it when I return.
Enough moaning. What about things to be grateful for?
New greatgrandson,strong and well.
We had our house all done a few years ago,double glazing,new boiler,draught proofing,cavity wall insulation new windowsand doors.So it is toasty warm in here
The snow looks so beautiful on the trees,and I dont have to go out among it

beanielou

Hope you are on the mend soon.
Stay cosy

lonelyrat

Aw Dusty - sinusitis sounds horrible. Hope you're on the mend soon. Really poor timing with Mr. Dusty away although maybe good as less cooking for you :rotfl:

dustydigger

lonelyrat wrote: »

Aw Dusty - sinusitis sounds horrible. Hope you're on the mend soon. Really poor timing with Mr. Dusty away although maybe good as less cooking for you :rotfl:

:rotfl::rotfl: So true about the cooking. I checked up on my smart meter and my electric and gas consumption is down by at least £1.50 a day since he has gone away! No cooking of course,and he's not sitting in his den(spare bedroom actually) with his radio,TV,ceiling and desk lights,and radiators on for hours a day either! No wonder there is a major savings.:DAll good for the frugal living agenda:)
True, sinusitis is rather unpleasant,but fortunately this attack isnt so bad. Have abandoned the strong meds,down to ibuprofen only,and I feel a crackling in my infected ear,the drops are working at last.So there's hope that by Sunday I will be able to cope with the tribe on my daughter's 39th birthday, I believe she has decided to stay aged 39 for the next decade at least:rotfl::rotfl:Eating is still a problem,just closing the jaws on firm food causes pain,so I'm still on porridge and soup:D:D.

dustydigger

Well the pain is subsiding somewhat ,but am not up to housework (sweeping up a little stuff was not pleasant!),so have been just reading and watching TV.
End of February,and it has been a mixed bag.
The slimming didnt go well at all what with the birthday bashes and stress eating from all that RL threw at me. I ended the month at the same weight I started:(:(
Savings wise was very satisfactory,£50 went to the House and Home Fund,making £250. That covers the cost of an oven,the old one has been whining like a Boeing taxi-ing down the runway. Naturally once I have the money for a new one,all the noises have stopped,and then with Mr Dusty away I dont need it!But nice to have the money in reserve.Next wodge of savings will be paint and equipment for the downstairs rooms,probably around £100. Also I would like some blinds for the kitchen and dining room,probably round about another £80.A few months of coin saving:D:D
I also salted away money in my NS&I account,which will be my main Xmas savings/emergency fund. It now stands at £290. I reckon I need to have at least £1000 in there over the year for birthdays and Xmas,then anything above will be an emergency fund.,so thats good,progressing well
I am putting away the money saved with my new lowered price Talk Talk contract,£8 a month.and the£18 less on my gas/electric a month. Also being alcohol free for 24 days this month,and using whiskey gifted at Xmas on my birthday bashes meant I could pot the £16 I would have spent on booze this month.It all adds up!.
Finished the last book on my reading list this very afternoon,making 15/15. Just squeaked in.
Very little progress on anything else,what with the real life rollercoaster.At the start of the month I had plans for major decluttering ,but have been very much distracted. I did go through all my kitchen drawers and cupboards,sorting and removing stuff,washing the drawers and putting in new draw dividers,but I havent even started the tough bit,reorganizing all the stuff in some logical way. There is so much disparate stuff,and things of awkward shapes and sizes to be kept in a kitchen!:rotfl:I really need a lot of time and pondering to get it right. The head has been too distracted to even make a stab at it. But at least the reduced stuff is visible at first glance!But how on earth did I accumulate so many mugs? And forks. Lots of forks,but not so many knives or teaspoonsVery strange;)
And I have gathered a whole bag of stuff to go to a food bank.
Oh,yes,and I wanted to follow the Saving Ninjas goal of £5 for charity,and I have gathered a whole bag of stuff to go to a food bank,but my son has been working away all month,no one around to take it to town.I intended to set up a DD for £3 a month for Water Aid and sort out stuff for the charity shop but never managed. Definitely in the coming fortnight!
Apart from these little things I achieved very little,but its a matter of ''a million mini steps'' isnt it?

beanielou

Baby steps are good
Great savings :j :j