Put away your purse & become debt-averse

Tescodealqueen

Yes Four Seasons the weather at 6am was dire but managed to get the  washing on at 11am and l8ne dried it in the beautiful sunshine. What a strange early autumn day. Well done on the discount I am sure the drier will be invaluable. Haven’t had to get mine out yet since the spring.

foxgloves

Oooh, that was a good discount, @Four_Seasons, I'd have been well pleased with that! Pouring with rain here this afternoon. I didn't need to use my heated airer as I've already done this week's laundry, but I'm sure it will be pressed back into use soon. Hope you get on well with yours. I'm sure it must work out cheaper than tumble-drying as they always seem to do badly in terms of green credentials.
F x

foxgloves

Hello September Savers, 
Another day that has disappeared in a flash. Decorator has made good progress. He sanded all yesterday's filling & plaster repair, wall-rocked most of the walls & we confirmed the contrast colour I'd chosen for the chimney breast. I spent another useful morning with my calculator sorting out where we will be with our Home Improvements Budget after all the invoices for known future work have been paid. I didn't want to start discussing the final builder project with them next week without knowing exactly how much money we have available. I also paid the deposit on the remedial building work which starts next week.
Other stuff - not a lot! I wrapped a friend's birthday gifts & managed to create a box for posting from stuff knocking around in my HQ, I added another Christmas present to my stash & baked biscuits to enjoy with a coffee when we sit down to watch GBBO tonight.... will have to make do with laptop as TV currently unavailable.
Oh, & Mr F asked me to write him a new job list! I'm not going to pass up that opportunity!! Three things on it already!
Take care m'dears,
F x

Sun_Addict

I’d be on that jobs for Mr F list like a rat up a drainpipe 😆

foxgloves

Too right, @Sun_Addict! I've already fetched a bigger piece of paper!
F

foxgloves

Hello Sunbeams, Rainy day forecast for here but it's been lovely so far. No spending at all today. Have swept leaves off the back courtyard & pruned a few unruly pots, then done garden pickings: Lots of pears, a colander of windfall apples, 2 bunches of grapes, 2 courgettes & some french beans. Apples turned into apple sauce & frozen.
Ate my lunch watching Keir Starmer's conference speech which made me feel more hopeful about a few things, then cracked on with various jobs which have been hanging around my HQ - filing, wrapping more birthday gifts, getting together a charity shop pile..... you know, all the things which sit around for ages if we let them.
Next week's meal plans done as hoping to shop tomorrow. Want to come in under budget again this month as I was able to via September's underspend to the Presents Pot.
Right, I must crack on. Decorator just left - wall rock needs to dry before he can paint it - & I think I will go & vacuum up the layer of plaster dust which has settled on the kitchen floor.
Best wishes to all, 
F x

foxgloves

Hello m'dears,
A day of two halves today, as awoke with a headache which refused to shift for painkillers, but then just disappeared on its own, which did at least give me a better afternoon. I've vacuumed up two rooms worth of plaster dust & leaves  - How DO so many leaves find their way into the house?! I also baked soda bread, composed an outline for neighbours on both sides regarding our boundary plans for the future renovations to the front courtyard/drive, finished the last of my promised charity stall knits & chose a new project, which will be a pair of pretty socks for myself in a simple cable pattern. If anyone thought I might have been having a little spendy moment in a yarn shop, I can assure you I have kept my hands firmly on my pence, as the yarn was a gift from my sister. 
I still haven't started on my updated room-by-room energy audit, but we got off to a good start today. Mr F switched the central heating on & realised the thermostat settings were still set to higher than we need at least for now, so he lowered them so that at the various times of day, the heating won't kick in until the temperature falls below 18 or 19 degrees. That will be fine until the weather gets colder. That's 'extra layer' & 'not sitting around in a t-shirt' territory, rather than whacking the thermostat up. I will get my audit done asap as it was useful a few years ago when I did the same exercise & let's face it, energy prices seem to be going through the roof, esp as the price cap is due to rise again in April. While I haven't spent any money today, I did write a gift idea on my presents list. We spotted something online & when I said 'Oh that would make a great Christmas present for X', Mr F said he reckoned his B-in-Law & one of our best friends would also like one, so while that will be an extra 2 x £19, it would also be 2 people's gifts entirely sorted, plus something for a nephew. I am definitely minded to order them.
Decorator has cracked on fantastically today. Only the woodwork to paint now plus windowsill & door to refurb. He will finish tomorrow, then we can look at giving the floor a no-cost refurb.....basically me with my spray mop & Mr F possibly following on behind with a tin of varnish......& hopefully we will then be ready to start moving our furniture back in.
I'm all on my lonesome tonight as Mr F has had to attend a work event so it is very quiet - just the sound of rain hammering the windows. I'm going to put a few things away in the kitchen, then read my book.
Love to all,
F x

BlueJ94

You're so inspiring, you give me a kick up the butt when I need it!! I love reading along

foxgloves

Kind of you to say so, @jadewest94. I'm good at the everyday sort of stuff, but I can assure you there are projects/goals that have been hanging around for ages where I definitely need a kick up my ample backside!
F

foxgloves

Hello Friday Frugalistas,
Chilly start but plenty of sunshine later in the day & was able to have lounge windows open to help the paint dry. Decorator finished at lunchtime - he only had the woodwork to do today - & he's done an excellent job. The room looks so different, clean, bright & I am pleased with the colours I chose. Although Mr F has to work all day tomorrow because he's running a big event, he is off on Monday, so we will definitely be able to give the floorboards a bit of a go-over & start moving everything back. We still won't have a sofa or armchair, but I'm working on that, ditto curtains. 
Carried on clearing small annoying jobs which have been hanging around for ages & I've cleared about half a dozen of the fiends. It's satisfying to see piles of things being dealt with. Most of these annoying jobs can be sorted without spending a single penny, it's just a case of making myself do them, rather than glaring at them every time I walk past.
As I have been up in my HQ room most of today, I decided to start my new Energy Audit there. It's an easy room to do:

-Checked the window frames for draughts, as these can easily be sealed. No draughts that I could detect. If when the weather gets colder & windier, I do detect any, I will get the sealant out & deal with them. Think they're ok though.
-Curtains - I don't like them (classic case of buy cheap & swiftly to solve a problem, then find oneself wanting to re-buy not that long afterwards because they weren't what was really wanted) but to be fair, they are reasonably thick, lined & will 'do the job' until they are changed, which isn't a current priority.
-Door - Now this is the obvious issue re saving energy. Since having our new upstairs carpets fitted, the door to my HQ won't close. It requires planing. Our decorator says he will do this for us when he returns to paint the landing & stairwell. That's later this month, so not long to wait. The radiator in my HQ is only small, but it's a small room. Once the door shuts properly (I can't even get it halfway atm), then there shouldn't be any energy-wasting issues in this room. Any days where I do feel cold should be easy to address by wearing an extra layer. 
-If it is mega cold (I am usually sitting at my desk in this room, rather than moving around) I can put a blanket around me. Actioned this in advance by getting a nice blanket which was hand-crocheted by my sis-in-law & hanging it over the back of my chair. 
-Lights - I do not routinely leave lights on when I am not in the room & I am usually the only person who uses it. The lightshade I currently have in here allows way more light than the previous one. It wasn't even a spend, as we swapped it from downstairs where it was no longer needed, so win-win. It is unlikely now that I shall need to use the main light & desk lamp simultaneously as the main light has improved so much, so a small saving there. Tiny, I know but they all add up!
That's the first room done on my updated energy audit.
We have switched the central heating on, but the thermostat is set on the low side as we are not really feeling the chill yet. Our most recent energy statement from the Tentacled Ones informed me that we are £319 in credit. If a couple of things I've read recently about a colder than average winter (peaking in Feb) are true, I am glad I didn't succumb to the temptation of claiming a refund. I really feel for all the people who are going to be struggling with energy bill rises this winter. Desperate times for so many. I sometimes think we are going backwards in the UK rather than seeing any real socio-economic progress......but the top 1% are doing just fine so the bottom quartile can go & ****! Ah well, moaning on here isn't going to effect any change in that direction.
Must sign out now & go & get my loaf out of the oven. Mr F's cooking night so I think I will make myself useful vacuuming up a bit more plaster dust. 
Hope everyone has managed a reasonably decent day.
Love F x