Put away your purse & become debt-averse

Honeysucklelou2

I've started using a brush and dustpan recently, not only to save electricity but I'm finding the brush more effective at picking up dog hair than the hoover.

Lots to think about, re energy saving in your post. Thank you.

joedenise

I always used to use a stiff brush and dustpan when we had dogs! We had 2 German Shepherds at one one and one of them was long haired and moulted continuously! It was definitely a daily chore. Glad we don't have dogs now.

Denise

Onebrokelady

joedenise wrote: »

Perhaps subconsciously you don't want to spend the money!

Denise

:rotfl: possibly:rotfl:

foxgloves

Hello Debtbusters,
Well here's proof that posting things for discussion on one's dfw diary helps to concentrate the mind. Since posting about our energy use & little energy saving habits that have maybe fallen off a bit over the last year, I've found that I've really re-focussed on this over the last couple of days, almost subconsciously. Yesterday while we were continuing sorting & clearing Mum's house, I emptied & defrosted the freezer & switched it off - it sounds stupid, but it hadn't really occurred to my sis & I that really, although all the legal processes are very much still ongoing, we are kind of in theory paying the energy bills on that house now, so off it went, followed by the fridge. Back here at the ranch (obviously I don't really live on a a ranch, I live in a modest 3-bedroom semi, but I said that for effect), today I jumped in mr f's bath water to save gas running another later on - I do often do this, but not as often as I used to & as he's quite a hippo for bathing, it must save quite a bit over the course of a year. I let my hair dry naturally, then I made sure I remembered to turn the de-humidyfier down as soon as the early morning condensation had cleared. I sorted the ironing really thoroughly, which I always do to be fair. I loathe ironing, so I only do what really needs it, but I resumed turning off the iron & pressing the final garment with residual heat. The iron is still plenty hot enough for a couple of garments at that stage & while a negligible saving on one day, must add up to a little bit over a year. It's these little bits that add up to make a difference, isn't it? And the only way I have ever got our bills down. Some tariffs may be cheaper than others, but it's actually using less that makes the difference long term. So along came coffee break & I sloshed some water into the kettle, put it on to boil, then took the lid off to see how much water was actually in there.....enough for about 3 mugs. I was only making one, so tipped some of it out. These are all little habits I used to do much more reliably & they need to be reinstated. Also to be reinstated.......nagging mr f when I come downstairs in the morning & find ALL TEN kitchen light bulbs on when he isn't even in the kitchen!!!! I thought this was an issue I'd already won a long time ago, but it seems not & that both of us need to re-visit good habits. We are doing well with the heating though. It just hasn't really been cold enough to turn the upstairs storage heaters up yet.....in fact, I've turned them down a notch. I usually light the fire in the lounge at around 5pm this time of year, but again, we have been finding it's 8 or 9pm before either of us has started to feel chilly, which is good, as if we can save on paying for heating now when it is so mild, we will have more leeway to turn everything up when the weather drops colder......which could start next week, according to someone on BBC weather this morning.
So there we are - I'm back into my energy saving mode & feeling happier for it. I don't want to be cold, but I have got things I'd rather spend my money on than pay it to energy companies - or even just save it.
Cheers all,
F x

crazy_cat_lady

Well done foxgloves - not only will you save money but the environment will thank you too

foxgloves

Thanks, CCL - Can only do my best to step up energy-saving efforts!

Well, I've just updated my signature on here, as I like to keep a tally of my survey earnings over the year, & with the £40 Onepoll payment which arrived this week, plus another £5 from a brands forum I'm on at the moment, my total from surveys this year so far is £403. That's the most I've earned since I began doing surveys a few years ago. It's not a vast amount, but none of us would go & throw that amount of notes down the nearest drain, would we?! It comes in dribs & drabs & is sometimes cash & sometimes vouchers, but it is all useful additional cash & although some of the surveys are stultifyingly dull, I think on balance that it's worth having. I like Prolific Academic surveys best as they help academics with their research & are the most varied. Toluna are the most frustrating, even though to be fair, I have earned quite well from them over the years. My bugbear is getting thrown out of the survey as being the 'wrong profile'....but not until I've wasted a fair bit of time getting quite a way into the questioning. If I am not the correct profile, I like to be jettisoned asap so I can spend my time on something else. The brand forum I'm on is quite interesting & is the 3rd one I've been on so far - recruited via Toluna surveys to all three of them. The current one pays me a £5 Amazon voucher every month which adds up nicely for buying presents & the projects are usually very quick to do. So I think I will continue & see how much I can earn next year too.
Ooooh, must dash, can smell my loaf of bread just starting to catch on top, must go & get it out of the oven.
Bye all,
F xx

Onebrokelady

Just thought I pop in to let you know.......I have walnut whips:j and some coffee one too:j:j

foxgloves

Oooh, you little devil, OBL.....coffee walnut whip indeed! Although I can't really complain on the treat front. I've been to a local artisan food fair this morning & was given free mulled wine & mince pie, followed by a free biscotti with my coffee. Nomnomnommettynom!

Grocery budget overspend for November (have already droned on about that tale of woe) has been pulled back by swapping back to A*di. I have to take some credit though.....I did a distinctly 'shopping from home' meal plan, followed by a tight shopping list. We had £70 remaining in our grocery budget for the rest of the month & this week's shopping came to £34-80, so I feel happier with that.
Also today.....I had to smile,,,,,mr f was cooking bacon & eggs & came through to tell me there was 'too much bacon'. This is usually a completely alien situation for mr f. I would have to squirrel spare bacon into the freezer without him seeing it, as it would be rare for him to acknowledge the actual concept or possibility of there being a surfeit of bacon. But there you go, he's just popped into tell me that he's put half of it (HALF OF IT!!!) in the freezer, as we don't need it all & it will do for another meal.
I call that a result!
Cheers all,
F xx

Thick_n_Thin

Foxgloves, I have just finished reading your diary and I wanted to say how much I have enjoyed listening to you especially your debtisodes! So much resonated with me and you are very inspirational, I look forward to reading more and hope to learn a lot from you, my lightbulb has been flickering for a few years now but I feel like I have recently had my proper Lbm so I will be following you with interest!

Onebrokelady

foxgloves wrote: »

Oooh, you little devil, OBL.....coffee walnut whip indeed! Although I can't really complain on the treat front. I've been to a local artisan food fair this morning & was given free mulled wine & mince pie, followed by a free biscotti with my coffee. Nomnomnommettynom!

Grocery budget overspend for November (have already droned on about that tale of woe) has been pulled back by swapping back to A*di. I have to take some credit though.....I did a distinctly 'shopping from home' meal plan, followed by a tight shopping list. We had £70 remaining in our grocery budget for the rest of the month & this week's shopping came to £34-80, so I feel happier with that.
Also today.....I had to smile,,,,,mr f was cooking bacon & eggs & came through to tell me there was 'too much bacon'. This is usually a completely alien situation for mr f. I would have to squirrel spare bacon into the freezer without him seeing it, as it would be rare for him to acknowledge the actual concept or possibility of there being a surfeit of bacon. But there you go, he's just popped into tell me that he's put half of it (HALF OF IT!!!) in the freezer, as we don't need it all & it will do for another meal.
I call that a result!
Cheers all,
F xx

They were from M&S I was naughty and got mince pies too:j