Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

@Milann - All dentist treatment is drastic for me.
I hope you're right about little mice all sending that message out, as they seem to forget last year.
No sign of any nibbling in the pantry so I really hope we are onto the problem early. Soot & Ash have certainly been reducing the population outside.
Fingers crossed!
F

foxgloves

Hello Friday Frugalistas,
Awful night's sleep because I kept waking up in a tizz about the dentist. Actually it was fine - it was quite a complicated replacement of a white filling in the back of one of my front teeth, but it went ok & the injection worked so well, I couldn't really even tell exactly which tooth he was working on. £41  - I thought it would be a fair bit more. Felt so thankful still to have an NHS dentist......& a Dentist & Optician savings pot.
As I wasn't a jibbering wreck, Mr F suggested swinging by Mr W on the way home & getting the grocery shopping, as we'd already meal-planned & written the list. September has been a 5-week shopping month for us. I know we all probably work our grocery budgets & general budget cycles a bit differently according to what works  - @2Scratters, I think you do yours in a similar way with some grocery months working out as 5 weeks. Anyway, this month, for the first time ever, I did not allocate any extra money to the grocery budget to mitigate the 5 'shopping weeks'. We always have stuff in store so I decided to stop indulging our general foodiness & in future, all 12 months (with the exception of Christmas when we are hosting) will be allocated the same amount regardless. This month's budget being the first one of the new system, I was keen to see whether we managed it. We always meal plan, shop to a list, batch cook regularly, etc, & usually shop around, but we are not 'hair shirt' about it. Anyway, after Mr F's weekly choice of loyalty card vouchers had been added from the app, the total spend for September was just 40p over budget, so I felt pleased with that. It would have been slightly under, had I not spotted a packet of little biscuits I like on offer for £1!
Latest mouse tale......
No flashing light on the trap first thing so no pantry visitors. I was just getting ready for the dentist when Mr F called through to me that he'd just seen a mouse run across the lounge floor in front of the window. Before I'd got my other boot on, he said he'd just seen it run back the other way, but then it disappeared. Cats in the garden & no help whatsoever. Had to get going as our dentist is in the city & didn't know what the traffic would be like. Decided to move the trap to the lounge while we were out. When we got home, the red light was flashing so Mr F opened it, ready to pop outside & bury the occupant. I kid you not, this was the conversation.....
Him (on opening the lid): Ah, yes that's the one I saw.
Me: Eh? How can you tell? Don't they all look the same? And you were on the other side of the room when you saw him run by.
Him: No, that's definitely him.
Me: How can you tell?
Him: It just looks like him.

Wishing everyone a pleasant weekend,
F x

 

2Scratters

Congratulations @foxgloves for testing and checking your own skills of making it through a 5 week month and shopping from stores. Enjoy your moment of smugness it is a great feeling when it works. I have learnt a lot this year from members on this site and to think I have been a keen reader (and taking up actions like making my debt more affordable - if there is such a thing) since the near beginning. There is always something new to learn even at my age. I am proud of those who are younger and venture here and really hope they end up in a financially better place a lot sooner than I did. There is £20 left in the budget and payday is Tuesday. I will still try to make it last longer with NSD's to eek it out a bit more. We have done a shop this week so there is enough for us to go at. Will only need milk. 
Have a good weekend all I'm off to work mine!

2 Scratters xx

Sun_Addict

Glad the dental appointment was better than feared. I hate going to the dentist but it’s never as bad as I think. I’ve had a lot of work done over the years - root canal, fillings replaced, veneers, crowns and whitening. My dentist is private but I have an insurance plan to cover it.

foxgloves

Oh deep joy.....Mr F has Covid.

QueenJess

foxgloves said:

Oh deep joy.....Mr F has Covid.

Oh no. I hope he’s ok.

ladyholly

There does seem to be a rise in covid cases. It is so difficult when some people are really ill and others hardly notice it. I hope Mr F is in the latter group.

Sun_Addict

Oh no ☹️ Mr SA started feeling unwell yesterday and still feels rough this morning. We’ve both managed not to catch it yet (as far as we know). 

Baileys_Babe

I am sorry to hear about Mr F, I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery. Hopefully, you will manage not to catching it @foxgloves

Kantankrus_Mare

Wishing Mr F a quick recovery!
I went for my breast scan on Weds and got chatting to the lady doing the scan. She told me that Covid is creeping back in and a lot of hospital staff are off work with it. Hope this isnt a bad omen for the Autumn/Winter months.