2019 Frugal Living Challenge

Shopaholic_no_more

I don't know if people follow their credit rating religiously but I do check mine and I am very pleased to say that mine has improved greatly since last month. I aim to improve this month on month as mine was not great this time last year I must admit. I am very happy with how things are going.


House and contents renewal came through and have trawled the comparison sites and got another company coming in at 25.00 cheaper so another 25.00 off a credit card bill.

FrankieM

Which company do you use to follow your credit rating OLaney?

I use noddle and don't seem to notice a difference from one month to the next, even when I've paid debt off...

I've opened up a savings account not with my normal bank, for my emergency fund savings this weekend.

cw18

Major unexpected bill #1 of the year for me coming up this week......

On Saturday evening I went to make a brew, but the kettle wouldn't turn on. Then I spotted the clock wasn't showing on my combi oven (shares the double socket), which meant it was sockets rather than kettle. Went and put the fuse switch back up, and the kettle worked fine. I'd used both appliances after coming in from work, so knew it was at some point in the previous 3 hours that things had blown.

On Sunday I wanted to use the combi as an oven. Set the temp I wanted it at and pressed start - only to have the fuse blow again. Put fuse back, and combi didn't even come back on.

Spent some time trying to locate local companies who might be able to look at it (with some doubt as to whether it would be worth fixing) and also searched around for possible replacements (£100 less than I paid 6 years ago). When I got in from work tonight I phoned two repair companies. One said if I drop it off tomorrow they should be able to look at it to give me a repair quote on Wednesday - but there's a £10 charge for doing that, and repairs are £30/hour plus parts. The other asked what make and how old it is, and I heard a sharp intake of breath. Then asked what had happened, and heard another. He reckons it's one of the two dearest parts that's gone, so I'd be looking at £105-£125 for a repair. I can get a new one for under £150, although they seem to be a slightly lower power output (I can live with that), a slightly smaller capacity (more worried about that), and in some cases come with larger outer dimensions (need to get a tape measure out to check they'd fit, as the one I have is 'snug' from wall to front of counter and from counter to bottom of cupboards !!!)



The one that's decided to give up on me is just over 6 years old, which seems to be good going after talking to other people (and it's certainly the longest I've had one for, but I blame power surges for the previous 2 going so this one has been plugged into a surge protected socket).


This is the one kitchen appliance I can't live without (apart from a fridge and a freezer, but I have two of each of those so would have time to repair/replace if one went). I ended up using my built in oven yesterday for the first time in probably 4 years - it's really not worth running it when only cooking for 1 or 2, and I'd never use it for a single jacket potatoes when I can cook one in 12 minutes in my combi......


So I have a major dilema now. And any way I go I'm likely to be without a machine until Easter weekend



If I pay £10 to have someone look at it, it may be money wasted. Or it just may be a less expensive repair (which they deduct that £10 investigation fee from). But I'm very unlikely to get the machine back this week - and possibly not even early next. Or I can take it to the chap who took the sharp breaths in, and he'll look at it/confirm the damage for free (my initial concern being he's already decided what's wrong with it, but if he still says it's that he gets no money from me so it would be in his favour to find something cheaper wrong with it). The repair should come with some sort of warranty, but if something else goes within that period I'm back to square one.



Going for a replacement (full warranty for at least 12 months, and in many cases 3 years on the most expensive part which has already been replaced in mine at just over a year old) means ordering from the big river website borrowing my fella's Prime account so that I can time delivery to a day off work. Prices on there are the same (or pennies less) than I've seen elsewhere, and I have £20 of vouchers on my account now (and may be able to rustle up another £20 from survey sites I use in the day or two) which will help with the cost. But they're saying earliest delivery is Wednesday, and after tomorrow I can't guarantee someone being home until Good Friday

Shopaholic_no_more

I use Noddle as well FrankieMand I must admit the same usually happens to me...not much changes...but I paid off one of my credit cards last month and I checked Noddle and it had shot up by 20 points! Which is major...for me at least haha. I did have some searches on there as well cos I have been checking out insurance companies so I was quite surprised to be honest.

FrankieM

Sorry to hear about your combi oven Cheryl I hate unplanned expenses.

Is it a microwave and also oven? I'm only cooking for one and you've got me thinking...

cw18

FrankieM wrote: »

Is it a microwave and also oven? I'm only cooking for one and you've got me thinking...

It can be used as a microwave, as an oven, or as a grill (not all have the stand-alone oven capability, so you need to check carefully before buying) - but generally speaking the grill is only suitable for browning, and not for cooking foods from raw. There is a way of setting it to combine the different methods to cook things properly in shorter times, but the only way I use that is the pre-programmed setting for jacket potatoes



My OH bought himself one in the last 18 months or so (after watching mine in use for over 5 years, and listening to me raving about how much easier and quicker it is to use than my built-in oven - it preheats sooooo much more quickly as it has a smaller capacity), and now wishes he'd bought one sooner but was struggling to justify replacing his 25 year-old microwave.


It's looking like a repair will be an absolute minimum of £30 even if it's a very, very trivial thing (time plus parts), and then I've travel time and expenses to drop off and pick up. Given the fact they've dropped considerably in price in the last 6 years and taking into account the warranty situation, I've decided to cut my losses and replace. I feel guilty about doing so (I'm really trying to 'make do and mend' instead of becoming another member of the disposable society), but as I use this appliance so much I need to be sure I'm getting best value for money.


At the moment the most serious contender (at pennies under £125) is a make I've never heard of which has a lot of good reviews (as well as a few bad ones, but comes in much better that a big name at the same price). And I emailed the company late last night asking if there was anywhere I could access the manual in order to get definitive answers to some queries I had on it, and they'd emailed me a copy by 9:35am today. It also comes with a 2 year warranty if registered on-line within 30 days of purchase. I've skimmed the manual and found the answers to 3 of my queries - stand-alone oven (which their site implied it didn't have but everywhere else did!), oven temperature range (doesn't go quite as low as I'd like, but does go as low and high as I use on a regular basis), and length of warranty. Just need to see what it says about pre-set programmes now, to check I can still do a jacket potato with a simple button press




EDIT : And I'm back to looking for a replacement I can afford. The manufacturer has confirmed this machine only uses the microwave to cook potatoes, so they have soft peel coloured skins

cw18

And after several hours of trawling (and downloading and reading manuals), it appears the only make that crisps the skin on a jacket potato using a pre-set combi option is the make I've just blown up!! Given I'm being told by people from various places that 6 years is a long time for one of these machines to last (even though I'd like longer) I decided not to write that make off.



Found 3 models that all seem to do exactly the same things (all in the same manual, so any differences will be slight and didn't show up in the sections I was reading). One was £170-ish (from the big river site) and the others were £180-ish (from other retailers, so couldn't use my survey vouchers). Ouch! Then realised the big river had a couple of the cheapest one in their marketplace (one for packaging & cosmetic damage, the other at same price just listing packaging damage) at under £147. Bobbed the latter of those into my trolley, and was immediately given a 20% discount due to their spring sale (which apparently started yesterday) bringing it down to just over £117 So with that and the £30 of vouchers I've managed to get into my account, I've 'only' had to find another £87-and-coppers. Also allows free nominated day delivery, but between 7am and 10pm which is a huge time-slot I won't be home for until (probably) Friday of next week. So I've set it to come next Monday on the basis I can change it until such times as it goes to 'despatched', and I should know my day off for next week no later than this Friday which should give me time to change it to whenever that is (I'm expecting it to be the Friday, which will give me an extra day annual leave with it being a Bank Holiday - I mentioned to my manager a couple of weeks ago I'd be happy for this to happen so I have enough days to book a week off next March!). Will ask tomorrow if days off have been sorted for next week though, as the sooner I can change it the better......



So I've now got to sort out meals for up to 11 days (including today) that don't require use of the oven or a microwave! Picked up some reduced stir fry veg this afternoon, so that's day 1 sorted. And tomorrow or Thursday with be pasta with chicken pieces and pesto as I have some pesto needs using up

snow10

Can't believe I have missed this forum. Been a fan of MSE and frugal ways for years.



Currently trying to pay off a car loan due to old car about to fail its MOT. Frugally got a trade-in money off new car but came at a time when I was just about to buy a bigger flat last year. now all moves to a larger flat on hold, which sucks as have a bit of an overcrowding situation.


Currently having hot water on one day per week. Living under bike lights which I charge outside the home. I have showers when I am at work or when I swim.



I am stoozing, getting stuff from Olio and every other thing I can. Surveys, cat-sitting etc etc.



I only buy things when they break or are falling apart. Even the rags go to cleaning down the bike.


Lentil soup is down to an art form....

tighteningthebelt

welcome snow10 to the place you can tell all your frugal secrets and people don't give you 'the look' of horror!!

How do you get on with olio? i had a go, but it seemed more city based then so i drifted off from it.

Hettyhound

I’m really pleased with how far I’ve made my chicken purchase stretch this week. It was a 1.5kg chicken and it had to feed one adult and one child. Sunday roast chicken, Monday sauce for pasta made with leek, mushroom, pesto and chicken, left overs for Tuesday lunch for me. Made a stock in the slow cooker with the carcass (first time) so tonight is risotto made with the stock, mushrooms, peas and the rest of the chicken, left overs for my lunch on Thursday. Thursday night is the remainder of the pasta sauce made into little pasty things and then if there’s any stock left after tonight’s risotto I’m going to freeze it to make gravy when we next have sausage and mash. So 4 meals plus 2 lunches for a £4.74 chicken; I did upgrade the chicken to an Ald1 free range one so could have actually got it cheaper. I’ve never made stock from the carcass before but was inspired by some previous comments on the forums. It was soooooooo easy and it looks and smells great.