Frugal, thrifty, make do, mend! Let this debt come to an end!

Elisheba

Morning, all,

Turns out I did wake up early so I've got time for a cuppa in bed 😊.

Very bizarre occurrences happening on my credit card  from Amazon. When I bought my new phone I originally ordered it and a case from Amazon and paid by credit card. Then I realised the phone was cheaper on a contract so cancelled the Amazon order for the phone but kept the order for the case. 

The cancellation couldn't be processed quickly enough so I had an email saying to refuse delivery, which I did but kept the case.

The credit card payment stayed as pending for a few days then never came out in the end. I thought that was a bit bizarre as the £10 for the case should have come out but I never really got around to thinking about it.

Queue this morning when I went onto my banking app. I thought I'd just look quickly at the credit card to see if the £10 has come out. The £10 hasn't come out, but I do have a refund for the £460 odd (which was the cost of phone and the case) for a payment that was never taken!

What to do now, eh? If it was a small business I'd immediately be on the phone to them, but it was directly through Amazon so I'm not exactly worried about their bottom line. I can't imagine they won't spot the error though and be in touch, so I'm tempted to just leave it until they get in contact.

The alternative is for me to spend ages trying to get through to a call centre and then trying to explain the situation, including the £10 for the phone case which should have been taken which will no doubt confuse matters, and honestly the idea doesn't appeal. I'll mull it over. I can't keep it I don't suppose, no matter how tempting it is, as it would be dishonest and it's not like I'm starving and can't pay my bills and desperately need it, but I am tempted to just wait for Amazon to sort it out themselves.

Plans for today include the chap coming to fix my shower, a phone call from the pharmacist to review my medication, hunting for my friend's crochet poppy, buying milk and maybe a few other bits, cleaning the bathroom, and charging my fitbit. I've got quite a lot to do at work so that'll keep my busy as well.

Hope you all have good days. The river has gone down where I am, and never flooded any of the houses, just the playing fields and one road which is pretty standard for flooding round here. It's raining again now but hopefully it won't be problematic.

fionaandphil

@Elisheba I had something similar recently. I'd ordered a printer cable I'd not been able to get locally and when it arrived they'd sent a shorter one, I messaged and they said just to keep it and they'd send the correct one. I think for some lower value items it may not be worth collecting. I'd message them and they may tell you just to keep it, the worst they can do is charge you the £10. 

Enjoy your busy day

SuzeQStan

Morning Elisheba - agree with the above 👆🏻 - although I do think you should suggest it as a moral money dilemma 🤣👍🏻😊

Elisheba

Thanks, both.  I've decided to wait a week or two to make sure the payment doesn't end up coming out or the refund gets recalled or something.  Then I'll message them.  Its sitting on a credit card I almost never use, so won't confuse anything for me.  Since its for £460 I doubt they will let me keep it    

Cheery_Daff

What a palaver! I wouldn't be messing about on the phone - I'd drop them a message and leave it up to them what they do.

Elisheba

Morning, all and happy weekend!

I was so tired last night I felt a bit sick, but seem to have woken up fairly early this morning. Having coffee and pastries in bed and will stay here until my dog wakes up and starts crying for breakfast.

The whole Amazon thing was sorted out without me doing anything. They took the refund out my account again and charged me the £10 for the phone case. I'm glad it didn't cause me any hassle!

I still haven't totted up all my spending for the month so I need to do that this weekend in preparation for all the big bills coming out on Monday and payday on Tuesday. Really what I want to do is just write the October spendyness off, and get fighting fit and back to frugality for November, but 8 need to know the exact damage before I can do that.

It's still so mild outside. I haven't needed the heating on the last few nights, just had a blanket over my lap when I'm sitting down. So that'll be a few pounds saved on heating 😁.

I'll need to do a meal plan this weekend and go out shopping for food. I'm hopeful I shouldn't need too much. What I do need to do is stop popping to the shops every couple of days for milk as it's never just milk and it ends up expensive. So I can either go back to UHT, which is fine but obviously doesn't taste great, or get milk delivered which is expensive but tastes amazing. Guess I'll need to look at my budget and see how flexible it is.

Other plans this weekend include a bit of house work as I've been pretty lazy this week, going to the library as the Enneagram book I ordered is in, possibly lighting the fire if my budget isn't looking too bad and I get coal, possibly ordering some craft tools I need and starting the bookshop kit I bought in the Prime sale. Not sure what else - dog walks, of course, maybe somewhere nice as I think it going to be dry. I've also got some new bubble bath, so I think a long bath at some point is a must as well.

I hope every one has a great day, and gets to do lots of relaxing things if they are off work for the weekend.

SuzeQStan

Lovely weekend plans Elisheba 😍 coffee and pastries in bed sounds perfect too! 

You are so disciplined with your big bills coming out just before you are paid!  I do just the opposite to get the pain over with quick as possible 🤣

I hear you about the midweek shopping - I’m the same - there is always something unexpected when shopping in person that takes the eye and empties the wallet.  

The best cure ive found is to order online instead and select cheap delivery slots (ours works out to £1 with MrA as we bought a delivery subscription but I’ve noticed they have evening delivery slots (8-9pm) for just £1.50 without a subscription)  

During the pandemic we spent £45 a week from MrA for 2 people almost religiously and ate very well. Appreciate prices have gone up since then by a lot but my point is that ordering online curbed any looksee purchases for about 18 months solid.

Hope you have a lovely relaxing weekend - enjoy the bubbles 🫧🛁

😊👍🏻

slm6002

If it is just milk, buy another bottle for the freezer.  Let it thaw overnight and it will save a trip to the shops and keep the overspending down

foxgloves

Hi Elisheba, Sorry to hear that you have had Covid. Quite a few folk we know seem to be going down with it, so it is obviously doing the rounds.
I noticed you mentioned a few pages back that you were considering making laundry soap from conkers? This is perfectly possible as they are apparently high in saponin. I have recently joined a FB group of UK foragers & people have been making this laundry liquid & posting about it. As soon as I thought I'd have a go, the area of our village with the horse chestnut trees flooded & was so badly underwater, I should think the soapy component has already leached out. I will defo make some next autumn, even if I don't manage it this year. 
F x

Slowdown

Morning Elisheba,

I am currently tucked up in bed with a cup of tea and wishing I had pastries to go with! Yum. 

Similar experiences here with Amazon but always sorted without me breathing a word. It’s very tempting to say nothing and hope they don’t spot the refund. Having just read an article this morning about the number of small businesses about to crash this year I’d rather be buying from them but sadly it just isn’t feasible a lot of the time. With the advent of AI I doubt very much they’d miss a refund of any size. Amazon is a greedy company with scant regard for its workers it would seem and yet I still buy. Perhaps I might try and have a year off in 2024. Don’t think they’ll go bust without my custom somehow 😂

Keep up the good frugaling.