NST February frugality and frolics

shabbychic12

After doing relatively well ( for me ) in January February seems to be running away with me. Couldn't sleep so thought ld catch up on the finances and l knew it before l had added up the last coppers that l was starting to eat into my savings. For someone who's trying to live on her income in preparation for retirement it's not looking good. Will take me a couple of months to pull my savings back to where l'm comfortable but l will do it.
My freezer is full to bursting so l will work my way through this now before l buy any more real food bar fruit and veg. The thing with me l can be too frugal if you get what l mean to the point of being miserable all my friends know what l can be like. I have been known to wear a head torch to save putting on too many lights. What's worse is l don't need to be like this but l like the thrill of the save and make do and mend ethos. Well only another week to go in February all is not lost but will need to work harder. x

Fmess

Ccl glad you had a lovely holiday. It’s amaxing what a bit of sunshine and vitamin D can do for you in these winter months.

f0xh0les

Don't worry Shabby, not long until you won't have to turn the lights on at all.

Cleared the whole of the back room floor yesterday and hoovered it. This never ever happens unless someone threatens to visit. So I am very impressed with myself.
Trip to the tip today (recycling centre), I need to source some white school polo shirts (not from the tip) , last day of football camp, aim to be clearing the last table top in back room and putting some board games neatly on a higher shelf. Why are board games all in different sized boxes?

So all in all, I have achieved this half term. The kids have done sports, and done some fun things, and I am happy that they have not been bored. Sadly we have to address the homework situation now. Cue screaming and running up and down stairs shouting "no,no, no, no!!" (from kids, not from me)


Hugs mothernerd - they should be helping more, they are supposed to be grown ups - that's all I am going to say.

mothernerd

shabbychic12 wrote: »

After doing relatively well ( for me ) in January February seems to be running away with me. Couldn't sleep so thought ld catch up on the finances and l knew it before l had added up the last coppers that l was starting to eat into my savings. For someone who's trying to live on her income in preparation for retirement it's not looking good. Will take me a couple of months to pull my savings back to where l'm comfortable but l will do it.
My freezer is full to bursting so l will work my way through this now before l buy any more real food bar fruit and veg. The thing with me l can be too frugal if you get what l mean to the point of being miserable all my friends know what l can be like. I have been known to wear a head torch to save putting on too many lights. What's worse is l don't need to be like this but l like the thrill of the save and make do and mend ethos. Well only another week to go in February all is not lost but will need to work harder. x

I know what you mean. Since being debt free, I walk a strange line between 'doing without' (lifetime habit) and wild splurges (on luxuries like beds and washing machines - tend to 'manage without' for weeks or months then just go and buy without loads of research).

Worry about my emergency fund going down but then realise that the money is there to replace appliances as they break down and I am guilty of making life unnecessarily hard on myself.

Living with Beloved has been an eye opener. Being asked (via DS3) when 'the man is coming to repair XYZ' - never occurred to me to call someone out until I have explored any possibilities I can investigate/ fix myself or 'when is the new ABC' being delivered - you manage as long as you can until alternative arrangements become intolerable.

I know I'm ill at the moment because I can't be bothered to go round turning off all the lights they have left on (I do the ones I come across) or go downstairs to sneakily turn off the heating as soon as I realise they have turned it on - I'm aware enough to notice (so it bugs me) but cba to actually drag myself back downstairs to deal with it.

The physio who did the house visit asked if I had a problem with hoarding. I find it easy to let things go, probably because mum was always sending other people's cast offs in my direction, but had to keep pieces of broken furniture (hidden under beds or behind wardrobes) because if something needs repairing, you can't always afford to go out and buy a piece of timber or board to do the job.

Hoping you find a good balance soon.

mothernerd

Good Morning
Whatever you decide to do, make sure it brings a smile to your face and joy to your heart. You are very special. Snoopy.

I leave my house a mess so when friends visit they go home feeling better about their own housekeeping skills. I'm just that good of a friend.

(not true, I have been guilty in the past to use the mess to stop unwanted visitors returning too often).

Life is short
Break the Rules
Forgive Quickly
Kiss Slowly
Love Truly
Laugh Uncontrollably
And never regret anything that makes you smile.
Mark Twain

Although difficult, change is always possible. What holds us back from making the changes we desire is not who we are but who we think we are not.

SpekySquarehead

Alas I didn't buy anything yesterday, so today will be NSD#9. Making a strong push towards the end of the month. Can't quite believe it's nearly March already!!

Love your little bits of motivation mothernerd!

shabbychic12

I think l have always been a tad frugal but l lost my DH a few years ago at 52 this made me realise that any money l had or had the potential to gather in now had to last me forever as unless l inherited any l wasn't going to come into a pot of gold. We had always intended that l retire at 55 and this is now means to an end so living within my means is all the more important but as l'm trying to learn not at the sake of living.

Foxholes your right no need for lights soon lol. 1 candle goes along way x

dolly84

ccl - you sound in good spirits.


mothernerd - hope you feel better soon.


Xspender - mice:eek:.


It is my dog's 10th birthday today which seems to be being used as a reason to get a takeaway, I will try to put them off that.


DS has been asked to go swimming at 1pm, if I have to drop him off and collect him that is my entire day tied up so I have said he can make his own way to his friends and go with them to the pool, he is aghast at the idea of the 15 minute walk to their house, he is 13 and needs to start growing up, I don't think I need to taxi him about like a 5 year old forever.


DH is having a medical at our GP's this morning for his driving licence, they charge £110 just to take his blood pressure and fill the form in, he can claim it back luckily. He could have had it done for £50 near work at a pop up surgery but you had to pay up front and they could cancel and re-book but the next pop up was too late so it wasn't worth the risk as he can't legally work without the licence.


Seem to have done nothing but spend this week. I did get some almost free stuff from M&S though, a while back when there was that £10 online voucher thing going around for signing up to something or other I got DD some school trousers, she never wore them so I returned them without the receipt, after the voucher I had originally paid £5 but I got a £16 credit receipt when I returned them so we bought socks for the kids which were very much needed and spent the rest on food.

greent

Last 'proper' day of half term here and a trip to cinema is planned (Leg0 movie2 ) - my mum had said she'd take them, but as we were away 2 days and Weds and today she's visiting my Nan (in a home - total time taken out of my mum's day approx. 2 - 3 hours max inc travel time) and yesterday she was 'cleaning her house' (her words) (she lives by herself most of the time) I decided that I'm taking them - it's just easier (although my mum will repeatedly go on about how she offered to anyone willing to listen) (I've learned not to tell my kids about anything in advance as so often something crops up and it always has to fit to my mum's timetable anyway (retired, no voluntary stuff and until recently with my nan, no commitments whatsoever) - she doesn't think about the activities they already have on/ whether they have homework to do etc I just don't believe anything until it happens (my mum's way of showing love is through £££ not time spent doing something together - when she comes here she brings her tablet and sits down in the kitchen (away from kids) on that....)

Anyway, 'nuff of that - I have managed to get tickets for £6 each and we have popcorn and ma1tesers already in the kitchen and will take drinks. Not uber cheap, but could be a lot worse!! Plus parking. Will also try and persuade DS2 that he needs to visit Cl@rks (v close to cinema) as he needs new trainers (has long, very narrow feet with incredibly narrow ankles (had to wear little ankle boots for his first few years to keep them on) so Clarks are my go-to for often-worn shoes)

Did some more Brexi-pocalypse shopping yesterday - more tea bags and tinned items. Am rather concerned about effect on food prices - let alone possible shortages. Have noticed in the last 2 weeks that many items we buy have jumped up in price - either directly from x to y or indirectly - the price has stayed the same but the number of items in the pack has fallen from y to x. I can see it being a real issue for many families. We are lucky in that we could absorb increases and it would just mean saving less (whether 'just' savings or targeted savings, such as holiday fund) (our permanent skint-ness is therefore self-inflicted, but I need that in order to save - without giving myself the skint feeling (ie saving first) we'd possibly spend everything every month with little to show for it) For people without any/ much flex in their budgets I can see real problems piling up. My plan is therefore to increase my foodbank spend a little to try and help towards this (plus if Brexi-pocalypse doesn't happen I can always donate some excess to foodbank then too )

Today's plans - other than cinema - are clearing one set of shelves in the garage for my stockpile - it has now started to outgrow my kitchen cupboards! (And more homework battles with the smalls...)

Happy Friday!!!
x

dolly84

greent - my parents and inlaws don't show any love through time or money or in any other manner at all.


Re the Brexit food thing, I'm sure that companies will just be using the whole thing as an excuse to put prices up, cut jobs and any other thing they would find hard to justify otherwise. I'm not stockpiling, unless you are going to do it at an underground bunker type level what is the point? What do you do when you've used up the few things you had?


Nipped into town this morning and called into Tesco to get my two large share bags of chocolate courtesy of Vodafone. Also bougtht two items in the charity shop, one for DH and one for me. Hello, my name is dolly and I am a charity shop addict. In my defense I did go in looking for a plastic greenhouse which they didn't have, bit specific but I have seen things like that before.


DH has cleaned the floors and bathed the dog, poor old dog is not amused that such an indignity has taken place today of all days, to add insult to injury he was then tied up in the sun to dry.