Learning to live within my means

astrocytic_kitten

girlatplay said:

Sometimes when I'm not feeling it I shower but just wash my body. I've finally figured out how to use dry shampoo successfully so I stick some of that in and it actually makes me feel a bit cleaner.  I couldn't use it every day but as a one off now and then if I just physically can't wash it then I use that.

redofromstart said:

I'm glad it's not just me, it's not easy to wash my hair.  Dry shampoo helps.  

Sarahwithlove said:

Dry shampoo is the way forward you can get some really nice smelling ones 😍

StartingAgainAt29 said:

I've trained my hair so I only wash it roughly every 5-7 days...I prefer dealing with not-freshly washed hair so works for me, plus my hair takes forever to dry so it's just a chore. Dry shampoo is my best friend, or wax if it needs to go up in a bun

Definitely getting the hint that I should try dry shampoo here 😁 I do have some, just haven’t really been using it and preferring to moan about unwashed hair instead 😆

I have wavy / curly hair that’s really fine but there’s lots and lots of it, it needs some product to keep the curls intact and to stop it being a big frizz ball. When I was working I only properly washed it weekly but would do a co-wash halfway through the week, use dry shampoo sometimes, and spritz it with water to reactivate the product and fluff up the curls every morning. Now I’m working from home, not seeing anyone other than close friends and medical providers, spending half my time lying down and wearing a hat whenever I venture out because it’s freezing... my hair just seems so low down the list of priorities. And it’s spending most of its time pulled back anyway because doing anything else seems to take so much energy. The ironic thing is that I started wearing it curly after years of straightening because it was so low maintenance compared to that.

However... I’ve just realised the real problem is that in my head dry shampoo belongs to the world where I actually did stuff to my hair and that’s why I never think of it these days. I will definitely start using it more!

redofromstart said:

Tiny cat was spayed this week so vet bill here too, but an essential spend.  Have you looked at alternatives to vet medicated feed? Zooplus did some good alternatives for us, but the senile old man ignored them while the young and virulent gingers munched through the dodgy kidney biscuits with enthusiasm and pleasure.

Hope tiny cat is recovering ok! Sadly the cat is off the mediated food as they realised that he actually had a different underlying problem (after some very expensive tests) so he’s now on different medication. He’s also been off his food so I’ve been buying chicken, fish, etc, to get him eating again... hopefully on the right track now. I don’t have any wiggle room to make savings in my budget this month, I’m going to take £50 out of emergency fund to pay the vet with and hope he has a good month or two for the money I put aside for him to start building up again (and also so he feels better!)

Good reminder to get some sensitivity food in from Zooplus before he gets another upset stomach too!

astrocytic_kitten

Something happened this morning to trigger some thinking about where I am now v this week last year. On the surface it’s really easy to say things were so much better for me then. I was working full time (and then some, averaging 60+ hours per week, quite often with work socialising then tagged on), travelling for work, doing interesting things and meeting interesting people. I had a good social life, volunteered.... but I was also only a couple of months post-LBM, still getting to grips with finances, and I knew I was doing way too much and was heading for a bit of a health crash but couldn’t seem to stop. I was completely exhausted, in pain, and running on empty but kept telling myself I needed the money for debt, I needed to get this next project done, for a couple of years I’d been looking at changes ‘maybe next year’ but I just kept pushing on.

Whereas now... my food, entertainment, personal spends budget is now about a third of what my newly instated budget was back then. I’m cooking more and eating better, listening to my body, doing yoga, meditating, taking time to breathe and relax during the day. I’m trying to live more sustainably, I’ve always recycled paper and packaging but now I’m recycling food too, and I have lots and lots of time to cuddle the cat. I wouldn’t wish where I am now on anyone, and last year involved a lot of loss and adjustment. I miss the people I lost last year, and my poor wee girl cat. But I don’t feel terrible about where I am now either.

in_need_of_direction

sounds like a lot of the changes have been for the better

astrocytic_kitten

MSE, I have a confession. Today I spent £1.96 on two new kindle books 😱

The defence: they were new (well, one new, one new-to-me) books by a favourite author that I can’t get from the library.

The prosecution: I’ve made it a whole 6 weeks into 2020 before breaking my ‘no new kindle books’ pledge. Actually, given my previous track record, that might be more of a defence statement than prosecution! Wish I had more willpower though.

Sigh. I’ll enjoy the books, and I’ve at least avoided buying the 3 favourite books I already own that are on offer this month. I’ve put aside £2 per week in my budget for ‘treats’ which has so far consisted of chocolate, but this week I’ll divert it to books. Trick now is to not let this break the overall aim of the pledge, and continue to read my way through my unread books and use the library.

On the plus side, I’ve read 41 books so far this year and not paid a penny towards them, all have either been previously bought kindle books or ebooks from the library. (It’s not as impressive as it sounds, I got hooked on a long-running series of pretty short and easy to read books that accounts for 28 of those! Quality declined massively as the series went on but somehow still read them...)

StartingAgainAt29

I'll give you a suspended sentence as long as you don't buy any new kindle books....;) Completely kidding, if they're books you're going to enjoy them then don't worry about it. Btw, I am a prolific reader, and 41 books is AMAZING! Even if they are short ones. I'm not reading as quick atm as I'm reading actual books from the library, when I read on Kindle I do it a lot faster. My goal is 75 books this year, I've read 11 so far.

astrocytic_kitten

Thanks @StartingAgainAt29! I have a lot of time on my hands at the moment where I’m not really able to do much due to my health and reading has been a real refuge to help me through that.  Time spent reading doesn’t technically count as rest, but I’m not going for anything too high brow or emotional, and I’ve been listening to lots of audiobooks when I’m too tired to physically read. It helps stop my mind going off into anxiety spirals that I’ll be like this forever.

Related to that, my audible subscription has been on hold for the past 3 months and is coming off hold in the next couple of weeks. I’m not really sure what the best thing to do with it is...I’ve got a huge wish list there but also have a couple of unused credits because I’m not really sure what I want from that list. Don’t really want to cancel, but it’s definitely a luxury I can’t afford at the moment and the library has loads of free audiobooks. I need to look into it more, I’m assuming if I cancelled I could still use my remaining credits and reactivate at some point.

astrocytic_kitten

So, you need to use your audible credits before cancelling. Seems obvious in retrospect! Currently trying to decide which books I want to get with my 2 credits - have got the shortlist down to 11. This may take some time 

astrocytic_kitten

I doubt anyone is paying this much attention, but in case any eagle-eyed MSE’rs are wondering why my total debt has jumped in my signature.... I had a dyslexic moment when updating and put 13,576 instead of 13,756 🤦‍♀️

Trundling along like normal here. Only have a couple of pounds left for groceries till payday next week but don’t need any food so it shouldn’t be an issue. Definitely in the grind of things right now, just getting through and hoping things improve.

astrocytic_kitten

Well I got an early start on pancake day and had pancakes this afternoon as a sort of late lunch. Now lying on sofa feeling happily full with sick cat curled up next to me. Still on track budget-wise, and have managed to add a little bit to savings by shaving some budgets now it’s nearly the end of the month. Also got cashback this week from my energy switch and added that to savings too - I’m now at about 1.5 months worth of living expenses saved. 

Still itching to make some debt overpayments, but considering how uncertain both my health and income are I think focusing on savings is right for now. 

I’ve been reading a book called Decluttering at the speed of life, by Dana K White, from the online library app. I’m finding it really helpful, especially on living the life you have now (rather than collecting items for a dreamed of future), and that the right amount of something to have first and foremost depends on the space you have. Most of my flat is pretty ok (though not perfect), but I definitely have a couple of cupboards which are black holes. I’m only halfway through but it’s a useful way of looking at things. There is also a section on how buying bargains ‘for the future’ is not necessarily moneysaving which I really need to hear.

Elisheba

That's really interesting about the buying bargains for the future! It's a really difficult line, isn't it, because if you are shopping thriftily in charity shops you can't rally shop to demand. However buying things you never end up using is obviously not MS either. Hmmm. Complicated!