Put away your purse & become debt-averse

Baileys_Babe

I've never owned a tumble drier mainly for environmental reasons and the cost of running but I have always had enough space to put up the airer and whenever possible I hang it outside.

foxgloves

Same here re tumble dryer. Never felt the need to own one, expensive to run & on the only two occasions I've worn clothes that were tumble dried, I thought they had a peculiar frowsty smell. 
F

foxgloves

Hello Diary friends,
Rum sort of day today. More building prep underway from one of the building team who wasn't needed on the current job, so the wall footing has been dug out, fence posts are in & all the demolition. Liaised about an additional stretch of fencing we will require. Didn't realise our old one was getting a bit ricketty till we removed the triffid climbers from it at the weekend. Price for replacing them to match the new ones was very acceptable & I've added it to the project budget - it will have to come from savings, as (unlike me), I decided to wing it & did not allow a contingency pot for these sorts of eventualities. Anyway, despite spending most of the day watching cats like a hawk for escape attempts whenever builder came in (except when they went to the vets for their 2nd round of jabs & I had a damn good go round with the vacuum), I did get quite a few jobs done:
*Potted up baby chilli plants & bottle cloched them.
*Moved aubergine seedlings out of propagator to make room for 2nd lot of tomatoes which I sowed today.
*Sowed first lettuce seed of the year.
*Baked bread rolls for freezer. That was it for cooking today - l/o chilli from freezer atop jacket potatoes with salad tonight.
*Finalised meal plans for next week.
*Started grocery shopping list, also list of stuff I can usefully get done in town this week.
*Transferred building work timeline complete with all related tasks I need to do to my diary & colour-coded them lime green, figuring that way I shouldn't miss anything.
*Sorted out credit card bill which arrived today. No nasty shocks. Just as expected, only one transaction to pay for & that has been budgeted for from the appliances replacement pot. 
*Did 2 surveys. A PA researcher paid me a £1 bonus, so am up to over £46 now (Target earnings = £100 cash-out in time for Christmas)
*Cast on a knitted phone sock for my new phone. I bought a case last time & it was useful but doesn't fit this phone & is very tatty. Can't recall exactly what it cost but I think if was between £15 & £20 and I am not minded to prioritise that from my Personal Spends atm, so I have found a couple of nice yarns from my stash & am running them together to make a firm fabric. Will finish it tonight. I have some little cat buttons in my button jar, so I may finish it with one of those. Item shopped from home, anyway.
*Ordered 3 balls of sock yarn. These are to knit 2 specific presents so purchase does not count as a violation of my yarn-buying embargo. I had these gifts in mind & just had a look online to see how much the brand of yarn costs now. Managed to find some for £3.50 a ball (it's usually between £5.40 & £6.29), which means two gifts for the princely sum of £10.50.
*The curtain I unpicked last week with a view to turning it into a shabby-chic summery cotton tablecloth has washed well, so I just need to iron it & see what it looks like. I do like getting a bit of a new look from the stuff I've already got kicking around at home. 
*Felt very chilly earlier as had window open for builder cable access to socket. Almost turned the thermostat up a little, but decided to make a hot water bottle & find an additional pair of socks instead. I am utterly determined to bank as much credit in our energy account as possible before October's further scary price rises. I've told Mr F to be prepared to jump in my bath water tonight rather than using more gas to run another one tomorrow morning. He was very up for the idea, though I think he hoped I'd be in it, lol!! Oh my days, I told him that would send the bath crashing through the floorboards before he'd even found the soap!! 
Well, Soot & Ash have gone very quiet. They might be snoozing off the effects of their jabs, or they could be up to something. I shall sign off & go & check.
Love to all,
F x

Sun_Addict

I bet Mr F thought he was on a promise 🤣🤣

foxgloves

@Sun_Addict - Lol, he blimming did think that as well!! 
F x

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Evening foxgloves
I've never wanted to share a bath, its a relaxing activity ideally spent in the company of a glass of wine and good book!!  
Your building works sound exciting. 
Hope the furry friends are ok after their jabs. 
I had a catch up with my boss today; he told me it costs him £30 in petrol every time he has to come into the office; as we are supposed to be there 3 days a week that is an eyewatering cost!  
love Deni 

amber03

Can remember when there was an uproar and protests when petrol went up to about £1.20, now look at us. I know this is. Worldwide issue not just here. Makes me realise how much I wasted on journeys I didn’t need to take. Like most people I am now conscious of what I use and spend. I do get annoyed when looking through inst@gram these bloggers who are bleating on about using this and that product and if we use their code we get a 10% discount,when really it’s a waste of money. Don’t they realise people are struggling. Who needs 5 bottles of bathroom cleaner and floor cleaner not to mention the amount of washing products they put in the washing machine. Ok rant over I’ll now go and make a cup of tea with hot water I put in my flask when I boiled the kettle for breakfast. 

Have a nice day everybody.xx

marionmgcars

Enjoying reading everyone's posts.  Foxgloves you are a busy lady !  I managed to get my 5 jobs on my list complete today, and walked to shops and back.  This saved petrol and got my exercise and fresh air for the day.  one of my biggest challenges is trying to loose the weight I gained after an operation and during lockdown.  I am going to meal plan and have decided that if I eat something when bored and not hungry is just a waste of money and also does not help my weight loss challenge.  

foxgloves

Lifted the forcing crock today.

foxgloves

@marionmgcars - I am the same weight-wise, too much baking been going on over lockdowns & I haven't done anywhere near my usual level of walking & gardening for several months & I need to change this.

@amber03 - Agree. The only aspects over which we have any agency really are being thrifty with all aspects of running our households, watching budgets like a hawk & banking as much credit as possible on our energy accounts ready for winter.

@Deni_debt-free_dreamer - £30 is a huge spend for a single day's commute. I'm thankful our current car achieves more mpg than our previous one, but nevertheless I am worried about the effect on our budget of Mr F's 52 mile a day work commute  when we all know that petrol/diesel costs are on a steep upward trajectory for a while yet. Difficult times ahead. Really, I'm grateful that we can come on here & discuss all these worries, as well as any small ways people are finding to help mitigate all the rising prices.
F