Put away your purse & become debt-averse

Lookafterthepennies2020

I'm on the fence with the face coverings, as I do think it's a little late in the day.  I saw online it was being compared to bringing a packet of condoms to a baby shower the cynic in me also wonders why we don't need them until next week?  With all that said I will comply and I'm popping up to use my mums sewing machine this aft to DIY a few masks as the lovely ones on etsy were just short of £40   

HairyHandofDartmoor

I bought a couple of cotton masks with filter pockets on etsy for £7.50 each with free postage. They're fine apart from the elastic being too thin and making my ears sore, so I'm going to try and buy thicker elastic for them. I got given a free cotton mask at school but again the elastic is too thin (plus too short) so I need to replace it. I use a sheet of kitchen roll as a filter and I chuck them in the washing machine after every use.

crazy_cat_lady

I will wear masks in shops, but I am also cynical - because I'm not to wear a mask at work. Which is indoors. With lots of other people. But apparently I don't need a mask there, and it will hinder the learning.
Meh. I have plenty of unique masks and will wear them as instructed, and try not to complain because what is feeling completely ridiculous and pointless compared to saving lives?

carrielovesfanta

Toni'sfriend said:

 The only thing is my glasses steam up and I can't see. I'm thinking I might try a buff/tube type thing instead of a mask. It's a bit uncomfortable to wear but if medical advice that it's necessary what's a bit of discomfort?

If your mask has a pocket, pop a tissue inside it, or otherwise I find that a folded tissue tucked across the bridge of your nose helps with the glasses. Not perfect but def much better

Toni'sfriend

Oh, thank you. I'll try that. I was trying to see the use by date on a carton of milk and couldn't even see the carton properly!!!! Felt such a fool when I couldn't see inside my purse to take out the proper coins. I have to say, as well, that I've only just started to go out again and I've found that people have been really good at keeping a proper distance away and stepping back to let me pass (obviously in view of my advanced age!!). I haven't been near supermarkets or the main streets though so maybe it's different there. I hope not because the more we keep to the rules the sooner we'll get through this.

foxgloves

Thanks for all your comments. I've enjoyed reading through them all & I think I am pretty much in agreement with everything that's been said. I will feel more confident going into shops & other premises.....banks, post office, etc, if the majority of people are wearing masks. If I found out that I'd got or had, had Covid 19 but had been symptomless, I'd like to think that wearing a mask in shops, etc, would have prevented me from unknowingly spreading it to others. If wearing a mask provides even a little protection to me from infected people, then even a minor % of protection is better than nothing, in my opinion.
However, why is it being introduced so late? On every precautionary measure, the government (I will freely admit that I am NOT a fan) has dithered & brought in whatever it was far too late. Looking back at basic hygiene & social distancing measures first of all.......poor example set by government, followed by testing & tracing being stopped at a stage when stepping it up would actually have made a difference as numbers were still relatively low. Then full Lockdown taking a fortnight to implement.......like some of you who have commented on my diary, I am cynical about the new ruling on compulsory mask-wearing. I feel it is likely to be motivated by thinking ahead to the public enquiry into the very high UK Covid 19 death rate which has probably provided the kick up the metaphorical bum here - if other European countries have insisted on masks & go onto show a levelling off or fall in infection rates, I think the UK government may well not want mask inaction to provide another page in the mishandling dossier. I was appalled in PMQs today that the PM clearly hasn't even read that big recent report which has been all over the news about what needs to be done now to avoid a dangerous winter spike in infections & thousands more deaths. He had managed to think of a very weak joke about pants though, so perhaps his priorities are a bit.......er.....wrong!
Anyway, I am going into town on Friday & I will now be wearing my mask in all shops, not just small ones. I agree with you all about how silly it seems delaying the ruling until 24th July. Surely the sensible thing would have been to say that mask-wearing is to start immediately, but that there won't be any fines until 24th July, just to give people time to procure a supply of masks.
Ah well, the whole thing is winding me up, so I'd better get today's post on, which is far more mundane & less angry.
F x

Tescodealqueen

Wore mine today no point in waiting. It does fuzz up my glasses so I think I might have to wear my contact lenses, which I usually only wear for going out (and not much of that happening at moment) or I will never be able to read the labels and will be in the shop til Christmas trying

foxgloves

I've calmed down now! Maybe an extra large strong coffee didn't do me too much good in the c-a-l-m stakes!
Hello m'dears,
Oh no, actually I am going to start with another moan, because I can hardly believe this chilly grey expanse of sky & 10 (yes, 10!!) showers today belongs to July, a month I used to know as mid-summer! Each time I geared myself up to go out & weed the sweetcorn bed or do a bit of garden border tidying, another shower appeared.....ditto this afternoon when I wanted to go out for a walk. Well, I did get around the walk. I could have put my spotted cagoule on & gone out anyway, but I don't much like walking in that as it has a sort of sauna suit effect........the sort of thing that was marketed at desperate women in the 70s & 80s as helping them lose half a stone a day & similar nonsense! So I did the '1 mile Happy Walk' workout video on YouTube. It was on the spot walking combined with very simple classic aerobic steps done at a fast pace to awful music but it is quick to do, racked up a decent amount of steps on my Fitbit & I can say that I walked a mile & THEN some, because of the other moves, arms, etc. I might commit to doing it every day during the rest of this month & August & see if it is as good a fatburner as my old Rosemary Conley Salsacise DVDs which it is now difficult to find the floor space to do.
So that got the old crone moving again........as for other stuff? I've joined a customer panel for my bank, so that should be interesting & may result in vouchers. I've also defrosted one of the blocks of pastry I made the other week & made a flan case which will become a butter bean quiche later today  - a sufficiently large one to feed us tomorrow night as well. I've done meal plans for next week, checked supplies & written a pretty small shopping list. Mr F has really got into the habit of picking up the groceries on his way home from work on a Thursday night, as it gives us more time to do other stuff at the weekend. I've fed my sourdough jar, as will need to bake a fresh loaf tomorrow. Oh & I did a Prolific survey for a few quid & it is nice to see my total on an upward trajectory. Now that we are completely debt-free, we each keep any survey earnings to add to our Personal Spends. So not the most exciting of days, but considering I woke up with a niggly headache which hasn't ever really gone, it hasn't been too shabby either. 
I've had a few shopping from home successes this week, but will tell you about those another day.
Take care all,
F x

foxgloves

Hello Sunbeams (well, 'Sunbeams' is maybe a little optimistic for today, but there are a few patches of blue sky here today, at least, so a big improvement on the endless murk of yesterday),
I've just done a quick calculation of how much money I've saved by shopping a few household items from home. You see, back in the Spendy Years, one of my biggest areas of money leakage was seeing an item I wanted for my home & buying it straight away, whether I could afford it or not. And I've been honest enough on here for us all to know that I COULDN'T afford it because I lived in my overdraft, topped up with the evil flexiloan pretty much permanently. I'm pleased to say that I have recently shopped 3 items from home  - OK, not the shiny new items I'd been browsing as solutions to minor domestic issues, but perfectly serviceable. All of them are doing the job without a penny leaving my purse. 
These are the items I was going to buy:
1. One of those fat trapper gizmos which sits on the side of the sink for collecting any fat rather than putting it down the sink - as we all know, that is one of the biggest causes of kitchen drain blockages & plumber call-outs can be expensive before the hourly unblocking rate is even factored in. Together with a pack of 3 replacement pads, this would have cost me £11.98
2. A new cover for my whirlygig washing line (bird poo would defo be a problem without a cover). Average cost £10
3. A vintage style shoeshine tin box for keeping shoe cleaning equipment together, as my current old yellow plastic basket is not going to be a feature of our tiny new utility room once the builders have finished it. The one I have been coveting is £25.
So that's a total of £46.98.
What I've actually done:
Created my own fat trapper thingy using a clean (reuseable) foil freezer container. I have trialled this using egg box as the trapper pads. It works really well. I have now saved a pile of egg boxes ready to use when needed. We don't create a huge amount of meat fat, but a roast dinner each week (which we do tend to have in the colder months) can result in fat down the sink that I'd rather went in the bin. I cut the egg box in half & the flat side fits the foil container perfectly. The shaped egg half goes on top. I'm surprised how much two layers of this absorbs. If it was to be more, then I'd simply double-up on layers. The egg box bit just goes in the bin after use & the foil container is usually clean & dry, but can be washed if necessary. If I'd bought the similar item, I'd have had an ongoing cost of buying the replacement pads.....egg boxes are free.
OK, now the whirlygig washing line cover. The top of the cover has worn through so that the top of the pole pokes through & it slides off. It is too frayed to sew, so I had actually written on my list for town last weekend to buy a new one. Then I suddenly thought about securing the top closed with a plastic freezer bag clip. Have used a cheery big bright pink one & it has worked perfectly! That's kept a big piece of plastic out of landfill for a bit longer.
Finally, that rather nice vintage style shoeshine tin box - You'll know the kind of thing.....painted in one of those Farrow & B*ll type pale duck egg colours perfect to grace somebody's new utility area (which I haven't even got until the end of next month at the earliest!) In the bad old days, this is exactly the kind of thing I'd have bought in a heartbeat. But I looked at that £25 price tag & thought that I'd see if I'd got anything acceptable at home already. And yes! I had got spare tins in one of my dresser cupboards which I'd forgotten about. I've chosen one & the shoe polish & shoe cleaning gubbins all fits perfectly. 
None of these prices look much on their own, but when you add them up & it's approaching £50, I couldn't justify it as the work we're having done on our house will inevitably conclude with a bit of a makeover to finish things off......carpets for upstairs, curtains, etc, so I need to be bearing this in mind & not getting carried away with spending out on peripheral things which I can improvise myself.
Well, I had better get moving, I'm still intending to vacuum all of downstairs, empty bins & clean the bathroom before the afternoon is done.
Love to all,
F x

Onebrokelady

Hope you enjoyed your pootle Foxgloves 😀
I've been dreading the mask situation to be honest. I'm will now be wearing one the majority of my time. I wear one on the bus to work for 20 minutes,then I swap that one for a surgical mask that I have to wear the whole shift 12.5 hours. I get a half hour break at the end of the day where I walk to my bus stop then I have to wear one for another 20 minutes on the bus home. That's 3 days a week, if I go out shopping I will now also have to wear one for that too so that possible 2 days a week if I'm organised with my shopping. 5 days a week wearing masks does not make me happy 😟 However it is a good way of discouraging me from spending money because I will now be avoiding the shops as much as possible 😀