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

Elisheba

Evening, all,

I was falling asleep on the sofa so I've retired to bed with a cup of cocoa.

My new chemical loo arrived today - very exciting! I have been sending pictures of it to friends and family much to their amusement. It's stashed away under the stairs now, waiting for it's moment of glory when I go camping next. 

The tracking for the car window shades says they are due to arrive tomorrow, which will be good, although the urgency has gone now as I won't be needing them at the weekend anymore. One of my dinners out was cancelled due to sickness, and the other was a meal with a meeting which I should be able to attend online. So I will unexpected have the weekend at home. I may well end up spending it making velcro blackout fastenings for the car shades, although I have no idea where I put all the velcro strips I have. Will need to have a good look for them. 

I ordered some cat claw clipping scissors for black cat fit just under £4. Despite having had 3 cats in the past I've never clipped their claws, so its going to be a challenge. But black cat has decided she's a house cat now so her claws don't wear down naturally, and they are getting long and catching on things and she doesn't seem to be able to uncatch herself at times. 

The trials of old age I'm having with black cat are certainly different than those I had with spotty cat, and boy cat who died in 2019. With them it was poor health, but black cat is very healthy. She just gets dottier by the day though.

At least once a week she is peeing on the wrong side of her litter tray. After a couple of flooded floor incidents (thankfully it's lino) I've started putting old towels under the litter tray which sops up any wee, and I can then chuck them in the washing machine and wipe the floor down quite easily. And she's not great at grooming her winter coat so I need to keep an eye of that. And she vomits on the carpet once or twice a week - although to be fair she's been doing that her whole life, it's just now its carpet and not laminate or tiles 🙄. Pets, eh? I shouldn't moan - I'd give anything to have the other two back with me, squeaking demandingly at me and being hard work.

I heard today on the radio that food price inflation seems to have plateaued for now. It would be awfully nice if they started dropping now instead. I honestly don't know how some people are managing. I'm on a good wage, and when I factor in all the increases this year for bills I'm at my financial limit. Yes, there are areas I could cut back if necessary but some people have no where left to cut. Some counties in Wales are having almost a 17% increase in council tax in April, and you can bet your bottom dollar people won't be having a 17% increase in wages to cover it. My county still looks on track for a 7.5% rise, so that's fine for me as I've budgeted 10% to be on the safe side, but I won't be getting a 7.5% pay rise.

I'm not sure my bank has heard of the cost of living crisis. As some of you may recall I took out a large loan with them for my new car late last summer. Well, looking on the app today they have pre-approved me for a loan even bigger than the one I took out on the car! I guess from their perspective I have money in one account and I'm not using the OD on the other, I'm paying off the first loan with no issues and my credit rating is excellent, so I'm a good bet to make some money off. What they don't know is all the money sitting there is allocated to specific things, and my actual baseline is still fully overdrawn 🙄. I just don't need the money just now.

I was thinking today how true it is that money can't buy you happiness. There are certain things it can buy which will contribute to your happiness, like a secure home, warmth, food, healthcare, clean running water, household tech like a washing machine, or a shower. But once you get beyond a certain point thats it, and all the fancy holidays, nice clothes, and whatever else, won't make you happier than someone without them. Capitalism tells us everyday through all sorts of advertising that more stuff will make us happier, but objectively that's a lie. It's just trying to sell more stuff to keep the system turning. It's hard to remember that sometimes, but I'm going to try as I think it's an important truth to be mindful of.

Anyway, enough chatter from me. Time for bed I think. We will be half way through February at some point tomorrow, so the back will be broken and it'll be lighter nights and warmer weather before we know it!

themadvix

Very accurate reflections there about happiness and money Elisheba 😊

 If it helps my B&W cat deliberately pees outside the tray as a protest (he’s been checked multiple times by the vet - nothing wrong, just learnt behaviour and sheer bl00dy mindedness!), and also managed to immediately throw up his entire breakfast this morning (on the carpet of course). He obviously wasn’t quite right though as he then left me a rather unpleasant present in the litter tray too. Fine shortly afterwards though and hungry! Not sure how that would possibly help you, but you’re not alone! 😂 Cats, eh?!

SuzeQStan

Roll on Spring Elisheba!  🌷🌺🌸

Hear you about the consumer roundabout - I’ve been reading the no spend year thread on here and getting inspired.

had agreed no unnecessary cards/gifts with OH and what does he roll up with - card and gifts.  This sounds ungrateful I know  but Martin is right - unnecessary gifts are a financial obligation.

not only that but suitable space has to be given to these gifts - again I know i should be grateful but lately I feel completely swamped with THINGS and other than food/essential household stuff I haven’t bought anything in ages.  

Maybe it’s because I had a right good clear out not long ago and it really made me feel more calm at home.  So I resent filling the space back up even if they are gifts lovingly made.

Sorry I went on a bit there!

Good luck with the claw trimming - wonder why your kitty decided to be a house cat - is it since the move?

Moorviews

It was interesting to read this morning of your thoughts about consumerism and happiness Elisheba. I am fortunate enough to have all those basics covered and to have the luxury of living in a nice place. I have become increasingly aware of how content I am with my life and how I only need to do what I love, and be with the people that I love, rather than to have more stuff. Indeed, I am trying to reduce the material things down as I am becoming averse to having too much around me. I shall never be a minimalist by any means but I would like to travel lighter and simplify things. 

Yesterday, we decided not to buy anything in and had an enjoyable day with just what we had and being together. I can understand your frustration @SuzeQStan as I really didn’t want anything material either. It would be nice if equal importance could just be given to doing something nice for someone as opposed to buying visible things. 

I look forward to hearing about how the camping setup works out for future adventures  🏕️ 🐕 🌞 

foxgloves

I also find myself thinking quite a lot about consumerism, so your thoughts struck a chord, @Elisheba..
Your camping plans sound as though you will be well placed for some cosy nights away this year. I miss camping. The morning after we decided to abandon our plans to replace our tent as there was nothing wring with our existing one, I bounced spectacularly off a guy rope & fell straight though it! The pandemic followed, when our favourite campsites were not taking tent bookings, so we ended up not buying a new tent. We started camping after the LBM as it was so much more affordable than renting a cottage annually. We can now afford this & love it,  but find we both miss the simplicity & adventure of camping. It was a lot of fun & we get quite nostalgic when we see our past tenty pics pop up on social media.
Wishing you lots of fun in your van.
F x

Elisheba

Just popping on quickly to say I've had to take my Oodie off as I'm too hot! No heating on since last night! What strange witchcraft is this in mid-February?

Elisheba

Evening, Thursday frugaleers,

That's actually really helpful @themadvix. Good to know I'm not alone in cats deciding to pee on the litter tray. I can't recall mine ever having done it before, but it's been a few.times now. 

I agree with the @SuzeQStan about gifts. One of.mu groups of friends has started buying each other birthday and Xmas presents, and apart from not wanting to spend £40 -80s  birthday and the same again on Xmas gifts, it's also not stuff I need, often single use plastic toiletries, and I would really just rather we didn't. Regarding black cat, she doesn't like silly dog, so has decided she's living upstairs in the new house. In the old house she lived in an airing cupboard by the back door, and could get outside easily. In general I'm happier she's got more space now, even if it would be more convenient for me if she came downstairs as well.

Sounds like the ideal setup for you @Moorviews. I'm increasingly thinking I should be nearer my family. It's complicated though, as there are reasons I live so far away, and then all my friends bar a couple are down south now. It's a puzzle I've not solved yet. 

Although I've always liked camping @foxgloves my move towards almost solely camping holidays has been promoted by silly dog, and his penchant for chewing anything not screwed down and scratching closed doors. He's just a bit of a liability in rented cottages so its easier to camp.

I've been chasing black cat around my home office for the last couple of hours, trying to trim her claws.  I think I've done all now bar about 3 toes 😂. She is very confused by the whole process and not quite sure she likes this new obsession I have with her paws 😂. I did try to see if the claw scissors worked on silly dog, buy it's much harder to see where his quicks end, and also he kept trying to chew the scissors and my arm.

Today I spent a grand total of £1.53 at M!llets on a day rucksack and a water bottle. My water bottle that I have had for about 15 years has disappeared since my backpacking trip to Scotland last Autumn. It'll probably show up now I've bought a new one! Both items were significantly reduced, and I had a £15 voucher after a delivery !!!!!! up by them last year, and then I got another 15% off one of the items with a code and delivery is now free - so yes, a grand total of £1.53. I only have work rucksacks which aren't ideal for walking, so that'll be useful as well. Can't complain really at that price.

I'm not in the office tomorrow, but I am in the county of the office which will be a 2 hour drive. I should be finished by 3.30 so hopefully I can get home before it's dark. I don't mind the drive if it's daylight, which most of it should be, and silly dig can come in the car with me. 

I'm thinking of doing a hill walk on Saturday - there is an amazing looking pass called the Gospel Pass fairly near, and what looks like a manageable if steep walk up Hay Bluff from there. Then there are a couple of ruined priorys and a couple of pretty looking villages near that, so I might take a packed lunch and make a day of it. I'll need to check the weather though first.

As I said before, it's been ridiculously warm here today. Even this evening I've just got a jumper on and no heating and am comfortable. So that will save a few pennies on oil. 

Lots of shock horror in the headlines today about being in recession, although I don't know why. Literally everything I read around the raising of the interest rates to curb inflation last year said ideally a short recession would do the trick. Of course noone in power can just come out and say they want a recession, but that's what the plan has been. It's a pretty blooming horrible way to deal with the problem, and it's people's lives it impacts, but since we are there now I do hope it's sorts out inflation.

I need to go off and make a packed lunch for tomorrow in a bit. I have no nice snacks in to go in it, just a banana and some salted crisps.  I must put lunch box snacks on my next shopping list. Trying to decide what to have for dinner - I don't fancy anything I can think of, so will have to be inventive!

Actually, it has just occured to me I could drive the 5 miles to the supermarket to get lunchbox bits now, so I might do that...

Anyway, hope everyone had enjoyed their Thursday and is making lots of fun plans for the weekend!

Elisheba

Well, I popped to the C00p and found 5 x 1 litre bottles of sterilised milk reduced to 29p each. Presume it is much the same as UHT as it says it lasts in the cupboard until needed, and how would you sterilises milk other than a hot temperature? Anyway I was running low on UHT so that has solved that problem.

Got some crisps and penguin bars for packed lunches, some reduced ice cream, a box of value teabags for tomorrow, and treated myself to an own brand pizza for dinner. With a 50p off voucher and 39p off in rewards it all came to £8.71 which I've added to the grocery budget. Total spend on the food budget this month so far is £47.38, which isn't too bad at all. 

Elisheba

Morning, all, and happy weekend!

In top MSE news today, when I checked my credit score through the MSE Credit Club earlier it was at 999! Woo hoo! I've hit the top! I've been keeping a record of it since 2020 when I started this diary, and at its lowest it was 640. I didn't even know I could get to 999 as a renter, so I'm quite surprised. It feels like I've won the game now 😂. Although, I suppose the negative side of that is the only way is down now 😳.

I was driving to work yesterday, although because of the specific thing I was doing I wasn't in the office and my mileage was only 180 miles. As as general rule of thumb I get 10 miles to a litre, and it's just over £1.50 a litre just now so that's about £27, so there should be a bit extra left over in my travel budget this month. Very annoyingly petrol and diesel prices seem to be rising again. I do hope this is only a temporary blip!


I have put together a rough meal plan for the week based on what I have in the house. At some point I might need to buy cheese, but other than that I should manage without shopping. It did prompt me to think about my food budget in terms of cost per meal and per day though.

So I budget £100 a month for food and cleaning stuff and toiletries. I really don't spend much on cleaning stuff and toiletries, but lets say I allow £10 a month for them. So that's £90 left for food, or £2.90 a day in a normal 31 day month. I like to make my own breakfast muesli with nuts and dried fruit, which works out roughly 50p a day. Then lunch - let's say £1 a day which is just a guess. Tea, coffee, squash, milk, biscuits - 35p a day. So £1.05 left for dinners each day.

So when I'm buying food and meal planning , instead of just thinking - is that a good price comparatively, perhaps I should be thinking instead about how much it costs per portion, and if the bits and pieces I need to add to make it a meal will make it expensive or not.  I've never really thought about it in those terms before, so it might be interesting to see how I get on doing it. I know some meals are cheap, like homemade pizza, but actually thinking of it in terms of my average daily food money costs could be eye-opening. It also makes it much easier to my mind to see where I can save money - oh, 35p on biscuits and squash, well that can be cut back can't it 😁. 

Made some french toast for breakfast which was very nice. I have it savory with salt and pepper, which think may be a Scottish thing. I remember being at a friend's house once in England and he served french toast for breakfast and I just automatically added some salt and pepper. He looked at me very oddly and I only worked out why when I started eating and realised his french toast had sugar in it 😂.

I might make either tomato or mushroom soup for lunch, and I need to put the breadmaker on to make a loaf. Dinner will probably be something lazy - maybe pasta bake from the freezer with salad.

Not sure what I'll do with myself today. Very tempted to just take it easy and read a book. Don't think the weather is quite good enough for a hill walk. I hope everyone is having a great weekend, whatever your plans are!

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, a day of reading sounds lovely! I've been grumping about sorting out the car insurance 🙄 Treating myself to a luxury daytime bath as a treat, although sadly I'll have to limit it to half an hour as we need to go out.