My journey to a debt free life

Onebrokelady

Seasidegal58 said:

Ah yes - Edwina Currie..... pause.  I remember some years ago when she was Junior Health Minister - one of her good ideas then was that pensioners who were having trouble paying their utility bills and were feeling the cold should wear woolly hats indoors.....

Another one here who enjoyed the new Top Gun - sheer escapism and what we all need in these depressing times to cheer us up!👍

I liked the first episodes of Rings of Power too. At the moment it's edging in front of House of Dragons for me  - mind you I haven't seen the latest episode yet and all the reviews I've read are saying the ending is fantastic!

I haven't watched House of Dragons because if it's like Game of Thrones it would be too violent for me. The rings of power haven't been too bad so far 🤞

Definitely need lots of escapism at the moment 

Onebrokelady

Change of plans today .I didn't go into town in the end because I just didn't feel like it and it was a very rainy day. I did catch up with some washing which is now drying in the spare room and I cleaned the bathroom.

I decided to tackle the knitting pattern today and I had to undo yet again so I put it down before I threw the wool in the bin. I have now come up with a pattern that will work so will hopefully start it again tomorrow.

I also forgot to mention in previous posts that my energy blackout preps are coming along. I have got candles, a battery lighter and I've bought two led rechargeable camping lights, they aren't massive but they chuck out a lot of light and you can also use them to charge your phone. They would be bright enough to see to get about if needed and I also found out they are waterproof so I could hang on up in the chicken run in the winter, this will make life a lot easier than wearing my current head torch which slips down over my eyes while I'm wearing it.
I also investigated gas heaters for indoor ( anyone remember super ser Heaters) I used to have one years ago but it got old so was disposed of. I didn't realise you can still buy them and I also found a very local supplier of gas bottles who deliver too so that's an option if needed. 

I got an email from EDF to tell me they need my meter reading to process my bill so I did that today. I'm not sure how they work out the bills though because the billing period is for August the 21st to September the 6th which is only 17days but I don't have to pay it until the 20th of September which makes it a month, it's £49 for the 17 days but what about the rest of September, I've allowed double the amount they are asking for and I've put £100 into one of my empty savings accounts ,I'm hoping to put away a bit extra every month to help with winter but it won't be £100 again ( my mum gave me £100 last week to treat myself so I used that ) it's a lot less than the £187 direct debit they wanted that's for sure 😡

milann

Wonder why they’ve only billed 17 days? you’d have thought if that was their billing date they’d have asked for readings to correspond with them. 

Your plans in case of blackouts sound as if they’re coming along nicely. Good idea re the gas heater too. 

Is the knitting pattern the cardigan you started for yourself a while back?

Onebrokelady

milann said:

Wonder why they’ve only billed 17 days? you’d have thought if that was their billing date they’d have asked for readings to correspond with them. 

Your plans in case of blackouts sound as if they’re coming along nicely. Good idea re the gas heater too. 

Is the knitting pattern the cardigan you started for yourself a while back?

I know it's weird🤷‍♀️I'm just going to wait until the 20th and pay them then. When I paid by direct debit the bill was paid on the 1st of every month.

It wasn't me that was knitting a cardigan,I started knitting a jumper several weeks ago but was sent the wrong pattern so I decided to just knit the one they sent, it's not a hard pattern but you do need to concentrate on it and I just don't have the brain power at the moment t do that, it's only the middle panel so I'm going to change that to a simple stocking or moss stitch.

Onebrokelady

I had a very unsatisfactory shopping day today.i left my house at 11.15 am. and didn't get home until 6pm. I waited for over an hour for a bus to get home 😡 safe to say I will not be going anywhere tomorrow apart from a dog walk.
I didn't find any shoes or any of the other things on my list either. I've always been a size 4 in shoes but they are all too tight now and hurt my feet, the annoying thing is that all the size 5s I tried on were too big and no one seems to do half sizes 😟 I've got a pair of dark red suede shoes in my wardrobe that I bought one Christmas to wear with a red velvet dress so I'm thinking if they still fit I might buy a dress instead of shoes 🤷‍♀️ I'm going to try them on tomorrow but they are a 4 so will probably be too tight.

Cherryfudge

Is there a shoe mender (or possibly a saddler) who would stretch your shoes? I'm not sure if it can be done with synthetics but leather can be stretched. Conversely, (accidental pun there, oops) the size fives might be easier to wear with an insole and/or heel grips.

Seasidegal58

I like your energy blackout prep ideas. It's a good to start thinking about this sort of thing before it actually happens and everything is then sold out!  I do have plenty of candles - the scented kind though. The last time I had a temporary electric cut at home in the evening, I lit quite a few and the different scents intermingled were interesting to say the least!
I share your pain about shoes - I'm in the opposite camp though in that I have big feet which have got wider over the years as the weight has piled on!  When I was young shoes were sold in half sizes but it's so difficult to get hold of these now and if you do manage to find them, they tend to be quite expensive. Incidentally my local Timpsons shoe repairer has stretched a couple of pairs of my leather shoes widthways in the past and it did made a difference. 

Onebrokelady

Cherryfudge said:

Is there a shoe mender (or possibly a saddler) who would stretch your shoes? I'm not sure if it can be done with synthetics but leather can be stretched. Conversely, (accidental pun there, oops) the size fives might be easier to wear with an insole and/or heel grips.

They are synthetic so not likely to stretch, I have now ordered some from ASOS in a size 4 because their sizes are generous and they are a wide comfort fit 😊hopefully they are comfortable 🤞

Onebrokelady

Seasidegal58 said:

I like your energy blackout prep ideas. It's a good to start thinking about this sort of thing before it actually happens and everything is then sold out!  I do have plenty of candles - the scented kind though. The last time I had a temporary electric cut at home in the evening, I lit quite a few and the different scents intermingled were interesting to say the least!
I share your pain about shoes - I'm in the opposite camp though in that I have big feet which have got wider over the years as the weight has piled on!  When I was young shoes were sold in half sizes but it's so difficult to get hold of these now and if you do manage to find them, they tend to be quite expensive. Incidentally my local Timpsons shoe repairer has stretched a couple of pairs of my leather shoes widthways in the past and it did made a difference. 

Yep I have scented candles but I don't light them much anymore because they irritate my chest 😟

I tried my red shoes on this morning and they do fit but they are very uncomfortable to wear now my feet are so painful. I'm lucky that I wear jeans most of the time because I can get away with wearing trainers everything else just hurts my feet😟

Onebrokelady

I found some shoes on ASOS with a small heel, they are a comfort shoe apparently and I ordered a 4 in the wide fitting because my DD has just got some shoes from there and the sizes run a bit bigger so I'm hopeful they will fit 🤞I also ordered a pair from Next but will be sending them back if the ASOS shoes fit. The next shoes are £42 and the ASOS ones are £27.99 so I would rather have the cheaper pair, they also looks nicer.

Ive been at home all day today catching up with house stuff. It's been a frustrating day because it's sunny but keeps raining so I can't peg out any washing 🙄 it's all on the airers now in my bedroom with the dehumidifier on. I switched the dehumidifier on this morning and the humidity in my bedroom was 94% 🙀no wonder it gets damp in there.

I am trying to talk myself into putting my deckchairs back in the loft today but so far they are still sitting on the landing 😀