Put away your purse & become debt-averse

foxgloves

Morning Campers!
Have been sitting with my coffee & audiobook reading all your comments, so it's felt like we were all meeting up in a coffee shop.
Productive couple of days. Yesterday I proof-read the 2nd half of the genealogy project & edited in all the photos I sourced. Just waiting for 2 docs from the GRO to complete the story, then I can print it all out & present it attractively for gifting.
So far today, I've sown sweet-peas, taken cuttings of buddleja 'Black Knight' & done an hour of cutting back & weeding.
Kitchen witchery too: Have cooked up another big pan of cinnamon pears, having gathered another basketful first thing. Defrosted blackberries & started off a batch of blackberry vinegar. Also need to triage the last of our homegrown tomatoes this afternoon. They've been ripening well in their brown paper bag - just the last ones, which refused to redden on the conservatory windowsill.
I've done meal plans for next week, so will write the grocery shopping list too.
No effort required for tonight's nosebag except cooking a bit of veg, as I had sufficient smoked haddock & leek mixture last night to make fish pie for 2 days. 
Well, I'd better crack on.
F x

Sun_Addict

Oh you’ve just reminded me to sew sweet peas, they were very successful when I did this last year. Also reminded me to check on my ripening tomatoes in the spare bedroom. So many things to remember!

foxgloves

@Sun_Addict - I usually do a lot better with October sweet peas than Spring-sown ones. Agree there are jobs to remember all over the place atm. I think I need to make a list of stuff that really needs doing before we go on holiday. Everywhere I look atm, I seem to see half a dozen jobs!
F

foxgloves

Well, Frugalistas, I've just been sitting down with my trusty calculator, my energy bill data-log & our latest bill from the Tentacled Ones. Amount of credit has gone up by £10 this month. I was surprised by that, as our monthly DD hasn't yet increased this year, but I can see from a bit of number-crunching that our next statement on 21st Nov will show us starting to eat into our accumulated credit balance. (I reckon I ought to be able to power a small appliance from all the steam that's been coming off this calculator this afternoon!)
I was a little behind with updating my energy data-log & have also added September's figures. Our billing period is from 21st - 20th of the month. I was surprised to see that September's bill was within 3p of August's, but then remembered that with it only going up to the 20th, we had not yet switched on any heating, so energy-wise, Aug & Sept were pretty much exactly the same. 
Of course, October's statement shows 2 tariffs, as prices rose on Oct 1st. Gas-use has obviously risen, as our heating has been coming on most mornings at 6am, until the house is warmed to 18 degrees, but with the sun on the front of the house & curtains over the front door & the kitchen doorway into the back lobby, the thermostat has held at above 18 for the vast majority of the time so far, including evenings. It is set to switch off from 10pm to 6 the next morning anyway. As the winter weather kicks in, obviously our gas use will increase. Electricity usage was quite interesting (admittedly only if you are an energy bills anorak!) - Despite 9 days this month at the increased price, we only spent £1.36 more on electricity than last month, when we were still paying the old price. I can only assume this is all our small economies paying off? Again, it will increase as seasonal things like heated airer & dehumidifier come on board. I had to use both on Monday, as despite a decent forecast, Sunday's rain continued here into Monday until it was too late to peg out.
Anyway, I shall keep monitoring our monthly statements & looking to cut obvious waste - it's all we can do, really, isn't it? I am very cynical about how long it will take us as consumers to see any tangible reductions reflecting the drop in wholesale energy prices.
F x

Makingabobor2

You sound like me, I'm always monitoring our bills and energy use...it drives OH mad. He doesn't believe me that his big desktop computer with all sorts of jiggery pokery connected to it, is actually costing us more than my little laptop. We use soooooo much more when he is home at weekends, but he doesn't agree. I told him I was going to put a time limit on the time he spent on the computer, but he said as the weekends is his "free time", then he should be allowed to do what he wants.....I said how about something that doesn't cost money and that maybe gets him some exercise....lol. 

marionmgcars

Still lurking in the background enjoying everyone’s posts.  Trying to eat from freezer before the seasonal purchases/treats.  Reduced cost of food , but spent 50% more on petrol- that’s my next focus 👍

foxgloves

@Makingabobor2 - Yes, it's defo worth monitoring energy spending, Mr F is also one for gadgets, but I compromise on him using his laptop, X-box & other gubbins at the weekend, as he's at work all week & these things account for quite a lot of his hobbies, while mine (apart from genealogy) don't really involve any tech. He's about a thousand times better at switching off lights than he used to be & he isn't one for mithering about turning the heating up to silly levels, so I don't do too badly.

@marionmgcars - Yes, if the 17% food inflation rate doesn't get us, the energy & fuel costs will. What times we're living through.

F x

foxgloves

Hello Campers!
Thankfully the rain finally stopped after lunch & two stir-crazy cats have gone out to run off some steam. Soot just bored, but Ash bonkers.
Today is my Big Budget Day, so I've been at my desk all morning & returned after lunch for filing & double-checking all my accounting. I never did find the £55 which was missing from my October budget. I wondered if the error might spring to light today, as I always go through all outgoings & incomings on Big Budget Day, but it was not to be. I could only account for £6.54 in human error (mine!) - 84p from underestimating the increased milkman prices & £5.70 which I paid across to a CC when in actual fact, the item had been purchased on visa debit. Ah well, I did suspect that it was an error arising from a lot of cash withdrawals we made for various payments, I just can't explain exactly how. No point keeping on about it. The End!
Set November's budget, making sure to allow for holiday expenses. Also allowed for a takeaway pizza which Mr F was promised & it never happened for some dreary reason or another, & the renewal of our annual parking pass for a local-ish beauty spot we both love to visit. Re Savings Pots, had to pay the holiday pot, as I've written out a detailed payment plan to cover paying for the cattery for this year's deferred holiday (it's actually our 2020 one which was quashed by Covid) plus the balance on next year's & also 2024's, which was a bit more expensive as we are going for a special birthday instead of off-season. It feels good to know there is a savings plan in place for all this, & I tick each month's contribution off in my Money Book as I pay it in. Other Pots paid this month = House & garden, Presents & Appliances replacement. 
Thinking ahead, I've also had a look at various loyalty points which we have been saving up this year as 'Christmas Club' money. So far, we have £47.88 Nectar points, £57.48 Co-op divi points & there's my pile of vouchers (currently £30) towards the turkey. This will be a big help as we are hosting my family this year, & two teenage nephews as well as Mr F's prodigious caveman appetite will take some feeding! Also thinking ahead, the Christmas stamps will be out soon, so I have checked the price of 2nd class postage so I can at some point go through our card list & see how many I need to post. Can you believe I've already given a card to my sister for an elderly relative she will see before December, but I won't!
Non-budgetary activity - Fed sourdough jar ready to bake tomorrow, got pork & marinade into the slow cooker early for pulled pork (should get 3 day's worth of meals from that in various guises) & will shortly be off downstairs to make tortilla wraps.
Over breakfast, Mr F & I looked at the weather forecast & decided to cancel our planned trip to North Yorkshire for this Sunday. It's a lot of petrol money if we can't get a decent walk & outdoor enjoyment while we are there, so we will go another time. It will also save the money we would definitely have spent in a branch of a certain well-known Harrogate tea-shop! 
OK, that's my pontifications done for the day......off to put my audiobook on & get the tortilla dough mixed up.
Bye for now,
F x

Kantankrus_Mare

We recently went to Harrogate and did two lovely walks. One was Brimham Rocks which I never knew existed and the other was round the grounds of Fountains Abbey. Loved Harrogate and will revisit again some time so any other suggestions of walks in that area would be great! Ive got back to exercise at the gym after my biopsy trauma and did a hard class yesterday (what we call stretch and torture) followed by yoga. I ache so much today and just cant get motivated to do anything! Got my covid booster and flu jab tonight as well so hoping I dont get a reaction. Was ok with last one but the one before that I had cold shivers and didnt feel right. Got to be done though. 

foxgloves

@Kantankrus_Mare - I've been to Brimham Rocks just once & remember having fun trying to pose for Mr F's arty photos, which I seem to remember didn't look as arty when we printed them out, as we thought they might, lol! The abbey you mention.....yes gorgeous. We stayed there for our honeymoon & have been back for further stays. Love the fact that holiday-makers in their holiday cottages get a key to the gate (for parking spaces) so can explore after everyone's gone home. We had the most fabulous morning once, when I peeped out of the curtains & everywhere was white. It was about 7am, but we threw our clothes on, found our boots & went for a breathtakingly beautiful snowy walk amongst the ruins. There was a dog-walker way in the distance, but apart from that, we were completely alone. Fab. NT cottage prices have shot up  - probably out of our price range now, I haven't looked recently.
Hope you are ok after your double jabs. I have a couple of friends who were poorly after having both together, but other folk we know have been fine. Reactions to jabs does seem quite random according to the individual, so hopefully you'll be in the OK.
F