Sort of debt-free but hope to be a super-scrimper in 2019

elizabethhull

carbootcrazy wrote: »

What do you use for draining the fat off grilled/occasionally fried food on? I always put my cooked things like that on kitchen paper before they go on the plate. I always wash fruit and veg before eating if it's not going to be peeled and wipe that dry on paper before it goes in the bowl or we eat it. I often use it to dry a single mug, glass or utensil instead of using a tea towel. I hate wet tea towels and with our kitchen being cold the tea towels seem to be permanently damp:(. It really comes into its own as hankies during a runny cold. Bigger sheets than loo roll, cheaper than all but the cheapest tissues and more hygienic than cloth hankies. I find there are several jobs where paper is so much better than a cloth. I don't think I could ever stop using it completely:o. The cost of it is a real issue with me though. The quality type is too expensive and wasteful too as it's too thick for what I need it for. The cheapie stuff isn't worth buying because it disintegrates when wet and I need to double up the amount I use.
f.

Grilled food drips into the foil-lined grill pan. The only fried food I do is more sauteed and therefore is a whole lot of things (eg mince, onions, mushrooms) in the same pan, not like fish which you lift out. I grill anything that I can. Chips are the oven sort since I threw away an utterly disgusting chip-pan in the late 70s. I don't know how other people keep a nice chip-pan but ours would not have passed any safety inspection :rotfl:

I don't tend to wash fruit & veg, except our own veg which of course come with soil attached ! OH likes his grapes washed but anything for me - I just eat it, and always have done. No problems yet. If I wash anything, I leave it in a draining basket on the draining section of the sink until dry enough to put in fridge or freezer

Washing-up air-dries, never seen the point of drying it unless I've left it till there's a lot and you have to dry some to make room.

I do use it for kitchen spills as my kitchen cloths are not floor cloths. And very occasionally with a really phlegmy cold ! I use Asda medium-priced or anything that's on special offer. DD2 would use loo paper as she gets hers in packs of 120 from Groupon - and, in case you're wondering, they form a sort of table in the lounge !!

[Deleted User]

elizabethhull wrote: »

I don't tend to wash fruit & veg, except our own veg which of course come with soil attached ! OH likes his grapes washed but anything for me - I just eat it, and always have done. No problems yet.

I dread to think how many hands have handled 'loose' fruit bought from a market stall before I get to eat it:eek:. Then there's the wax on apples and the pesticide residue that might remain on it. Not on our own produce though as we don't use any kind of chemicals. I take hygiene short cuts in lots of areas:o but never with anything edible that we haven't grown ourselves.

[Deleted User]

Good Afternoon, everyone:)

After a really frosty start it's now marginally less cold and there's actually a slight bluish tinge to the sky:j. I need to go to Morrisons before the weekend to replenish the milk and sugar that the shed man and his Dad used over 2 days. I hoped I'd manage without buying more sugar as OH and I use very little but both the men took 3 spoonfulls each in every tea and coffee I took out to them:eek:. It was bitterly cold when they were here and they gladly accepted every offer of a hot drink:rotfl:. I knew I'd need milk sometime anyway but I'd hoped I could get away without buying anything else.


I have a slight financial dilemma which really needn't be one. It's only because I've challenged myself to something which is probably unattainable anyway that I'm even bothering about it. When I was deep in debt there was no way I could afford annual payments upfront. I know paying for utilities, insurances etc sometimes costs more when paid in monthly instalments but often there's no other option:(.


I'm now able to pay my car insurance and car tax upfront annually and save money that way but have been paying my telephone line rental monthly alongside my bill for calls and broadband. I've had an email from PlusNet with the Line Rental Saver offer which costs £197.88 a year. This equates to £16.49 a month as opposed to the £18.99 a month that the instalment method costs, giving a saving of £2.50 a month/£30 a year. It should be a no-brainer really and :money: to pay upfront like I'm doing with the others but I need to renew my car breakdown cover at the end of this month and which I'd totally forgotten about:o. I might be able to cover the breakdown insurance payment and something else that I need to subscribe to with what I've saved from the 'No Spend on Groceries' month that I'm doing. If I pay the line rental upfront as well I won't be able to add much to my savings pot and I've set up a DD to transfer a certain amount (the maximum amount I'd worked out that I can possibly afford:eek:) into it on the last day of each month.


I know it's a simple process to change/cancel the DD but something in me doesn't want me to do it even though it might only be for one month, two at worst. Next month is likely to be more expensive grocery-wise anyway as I'll have to replenish the cupboards after the Grocery Challenge as they are becoming barer by the day. Why do I make life so unnecessarily complicated for myself?:rotfl:. Anyone reading the above will probably think I'm bonkers:o but it's been so many years since I was in a position to be able to save anything at all (apart from towards my debts) that it's becoming something of an obsession now that I can. Just like it was when I made myself miserable at times just to repay the debts in the shortest possible time. I don't ever seem to be able to find the right balance:(

elizabethhull

carbootcrazy wrote: »

Good Afternoon, everyone:)
I've set up a DD to transfer a certain amount (the maximum amount I'd worked out that I can possibly afford:eek:) into it on the last day of each month.

I do online banking and it's a doddle to fiddle about with dds. If my badminton club dd varies, I come home from that night's session and change it straightaway. No need to remember to do it because it's done !
You just amend it for one month and revert back the following month.

It would be a shame not to take advantage of the single payments when they will actually save you money.

Btw, from experience with a particular dear friend, I am well aware that as soon as anyone says, 'You just.......', what they are suggesting is often far from simple, self-explanatory or doable. It's 'just' a figure of expression, and in no way downplays the difficulties in doing what comes next!

Polly Toynbee's book 'Hard Work' (2003), shows exactly what you were describing from darker days. That if you have no money you cannot make the savings that the better-off do, because you can't afford to pay upfront for a year, can't afford to bulk buy, might not even be able to afford the bus fares to a job interview. The book is far from perfect (she is inconsistent, contradictory, and she's not totally committed to the experience) but it does give some real insights as to what the poverty trap actually means.

jools1985

Oh wow just seen you have a diary CBC! I am so pleased and have subscribed. You have given me personally and lots of others such good advice.


I'm following with great interest in your journey

Moneywhizz

If its bothering you to pay the phone rental upfront why not just keep it as a monthly payment. It may not make the best financial sense but peace of mind is worth more than a little saving over the course of a year. It is hard to change from being frugal to a different mindset about money. I was in debt a long time ago due to marriage problems and although I have been debt free and able to save for twenty years now I am still very careful about what I do with my money. I have plenty of savings behind me but it still annoys me if I think I have spent too much. The main thing is to do what makes you feel happy now that you are in a position to do so.

[Deleted User]

elizabethhull wrote: »

I do online banking and it's a doddle to fiddle about with dds. If my badminton club dd varies, I come home from that night's session and change it straightaway. No need to remember to do it because it's done !
You just amend it for one month and revert back the following month.

It would be a shame not to take advantage of the single payments when they will actually save you money.

Btw, from experience with a particular dear friend, I am well aware that as soon as anyone says, 'You just.......', what they are suggesting is often far from simple, self-explanatory or doable. It's 'just' a figure of expression, and in no way downplays the difficulties in doing what comes next!

Polly Toynbee's book 'Hard Work' (2003), shows exactly what you were describing from darker days. That if you have no money you cannot make the savings that the better-off do, because you can't afford to pay upfront for a year, can't afford to bulk buy, might not even be able to afford the bus fares to a job interview. The book is far from perfect (she is inconsistent, contradictory, and she's not totally committed to the experience) but it does give some real insights as to what the poverty trap actually means.

Thank you, Elizabeth. You always manage to put things in perspective:T


I do all my banking and other financial transactions online. My current bank, Nationwide, doesn't have a branch within about 20 miles:eek:. I'm often fiddling about with DDs etc and , as you say, it's a doddle. This time though I can't bring myself to do it. By the way, I know exactly what you mean about the 'you just...' comment;).


The Polly Toynbee book sounds interesting. I'm an avid reader and will see if it's available at my library. Thanks for the mention of it:T

[Deleted User]

jools1985 wrote: »

Oh wow just seen you have a diary CBC! I am so pleased and have subscribed. You have given me personally and lots of others such good advice.


I'm following with great interest in your journey

Thank you for your very kind words. Lovely to see you and I hope you'll be a regular visitor:)


As for giving you and others good advice, I can't imagine what that could have been especially as my own life is often a total shambles :rotfl:

Karmacat

CBC, if I were you, I'd alter the savings setup, and start it later - by paying bills annually not monthly, you *are* making savings, after all. You forgot a bill, which is human, so you won't see the savings in your figures in a way, but they're real. You're not cancelling the saving to do something frivolous - these are necessary bills.

I agree with elizabethhull: "It would be a shame not to take advantage of the single payments when they will actually save you money". Go for it

[Deleted User]

Karmacat wrote: »

CBC, if I were you, I'd alter the savings setup, and start it later - by paying bills annually not monthly, you *are* making savings, after all. You forgot a bill, which is human, so you won't see the savings in your figures in a way, but they're real. You're not cancelling the saving to do something frivolous - these are necessary bills.

I agree with elizabethhull: "It would be a shame not to take advantage of the single payments when they will actually save you money". Go for it

Thank you:). I know that's the sensible and:money: way. I need to take things one step at a time and not try to break into a gallop before I can even walk;)


A saving of £30 over the year is definitely worth having:j