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

Elisheba

Good morning, chickadees,

Thanks @Cheery_Daff and @DawnW.  I am very much looking forward to my undies getting delivered - I have high hopes for the bras!

I was a bit annoyed this morning to have an email from Barclays saying that as of 4th September the Blue Rewards scheme will now not be paying for itself, and so will cost £5 a month.  I currently use the 5.12% interest, easy access account and get about £10 a month interest from it, and the get £1 a month back from the car loan.  So that will reduce my return on the account to £5 a month which is very annoying.  I'll need to look around and see if I can find an easy access account with high interest, and then just close the Blue Rewards part of my current account if I do. 

I do need to be able to transfer money in and out and have it arrive in my current account on the same day so it could be tricky.  Barclays are offering free Apple TV as compensation but that is fairly useless to me as I don't watch much telly, and 1% cashback on my current account spending this Sept-Nov which I will need to remember if I haven't closed Blue Rewards by then.  If they had offered me free Spotify or You Tube I would be a lot more likely to keep the account but Apple TV is no use to me.

Other than that I have been focusing on getting more organised this morning.  Sorting out my lists on my To Do app - updating what needs updated, deleting old lists, that sort of thing.  Just by having the lists to hand I have managed to note down I have 2 bras that need some light mending, and I need a new shower cap - both of which I have thought every morning for weeks but forgotten 10 minutes later.  

I think I have going to try intermittent fasting and see how I get on.  16 hours fasting, 8 hours where I can eat. I think how I'll work it is to have a porridge and fruit breakfast at 11am, and then dinner around 6pm.  That should work most days, but I might have to rejig it if I have an office day or am eating out.  I think the only tricky thing for me will be not having milk in my morning coffee.  I'm not a big fan of black coffee, but do need the caffeine kick to get me going.  It would be nice if I lost a little weight - or at least stopped putting it on!  And longer term health benefits sound very promising.  Worth a go anyway.

Another thing I'm thinking about starting as a project is going a bit more minimal.  I'm never going to be a minimalist - I have way to many books to even think of it, but less clutter would be good.  I was thinking of ways my wardrobe could be more capsule this morning, but I haven't quite thought my way through it properly yet so no big changes there yet.  So something to think about more, and tentatively start getting rid of excess stuff when I have some time.

Right off to do some real work - have a good day everyone!

MFWannabe

Take a look at Chase; their easy access saver pays 5.1% interest until Jan then drops to 4.1% 
Really easy to use; get cash back on any spends from that account and easy to transfer in and out of 

Elisheba

Good morning, frugal ones, 

Thanks, @MFWannabe I had a look at the accounts recommended on this website and the Chase and Santander ones both look like good options. I'll mull it over - no need to make any decisions yet.

I had a night out with the WI at a quiz last night. I managed to stick to my fasting and only had a cup of black tea and no biscuits. Having black coffee this morning and it's not so bad watered down a bit. I was very hungry at bed time last night but not this morning, so will be fine to wait until 11am to eat when the fasting period ends. It really does feel terribly easy and simple - and even if there is no weight loss, the long term health benefits would be worth it to continue like this ad infinitum. Still, it's day 2. No need to get ahead of myself!

Yesterday ended up a bit spendy. I was trying to sort out some shelving units in my spare room and came across pictures I haven't hung up yet. Then I found prints I'd never bought frames for, and which I have been meaning to do so for year - so I measured them and bought some frames. It is coming from my annual household pot, but that pot has had coming from it than predicted this year so I need to keep an eye on it.

I tried hanging some of my pictures but those brass picture hooks where you hammer the nail in at a diagonal are dreadful! All I ended up with was a patch of plaster coming out the wall, and several bend nails. This has happened to me before, so I've also ordered some of these new style white plastic hooks that have 4 or 5 little metal pins you just hammer in. Hopefully they will be better.

Today should be a NSD. I'm low on certain veggies but will wait until the weekend to restock. Tomorrow is an office day so I'll make a packed lunch tonight - which will only be a flask of porridge and fruit and honey thinking about it. I wonder how the intermittent fasting will work out with my super early start, massive commute and busy day. I'll need to pack supper as well I think as I won't be home before 7pm when the fasting starts again. Will need to think what I can make.

Right, I'm off to make a proper start to the day.  Silly dog woke about 5.20am this morning, so he only got half rations and I went back to bed and gave him the other half when I woke up. In his head he has had breakfast twice so he's delighted 🤣. Hope everyone has a productive day!

SuzeQStan

Hey Elisheba lovely to see your posts again hope you are well x. Interesting about the fasting! Glad it’s been feeling easy ish so far.  I can’t contemplate a proper fast but have been lengthening the time my body goes without food by not eating after 8pm or before 10:30am. So 14.5hr nil by mouth (except water if needed) - seems to agree with me so far.

SuzeQStan

MFWannabe said:

Take a look at Chase; their easy access saver pays 5.1% interest until Jan then drops to 4.1% 
Really easy to use; get cash back on any spends from that account and easy to transfer in and out of 

Agree with this ☝🏻 love my Chase account. Excellent for overseas spending as well.  

Elisheba

Ah, joyous day!  I don't have to go into the office tomorrow!  I have a coldsore on my eye lid - not joyous, but I have had loads before and its not serious.  However my new doctor's surgery are insisting on me seeing an opthmologist, who can only fit me in tomorrow, so no office for me!  Which means I don't have to go to bed super early tonight, don't have to get up at 5am tomorrow, will get more actual work done and I can go to a quiz my church group are going to, and I might be able to pop into the Friday social my village are having as well.  Lovely jubbly!

Since I don't have to go to bed early tonight I'll also be able to  get all the cleaning done that I want to do for my friend who is visiting on Saturday as well.  It really is much more convenient.

With the fasting, from what you say @SuzeQStan you are basically doing what I am doing, only mine is a little longer.  Hopefully will have good health benefits for you  . I tried 5-2 a few years ago, but those long days with almost nothing to eat were not for me at all!

scandimore

Never heard someone so happy to have a coldsore   
A non-5am start sounds lovely though

Elisheba

Morning, all,

@scandimore 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Still chilling in bed with a black coffee. Not sure when I'll actually get to eat this morning as I have a Teams meeting at 10 which will probably run for at least an hour and a half, then the optometrist at 12.15. That might work out quite well actually as I'm going to a quiz tonight at 7pm and it's a bring and share supper so I can push back when tonight's fasting period starts and I'll be able to eat a bit later.

I've had to drag myself off Vinted this morning - it's so addictive! Technically I was looking for bits and pieces to wear at my friend's wedding - I'm a bridesmaid and wearing a gold sari, but there is some issue with getting the under blouse to fit me, what with me being very generously proportioned, so I was looking for gold under tops. Also some sandals to go with the outfit as well. I have accidently bought a blue cord pinafore I stead of anything wedding related though, and only just resisted some pretty Dunelm bedding 😆. 

I really must get around to selling some bits and pieces on there. What is putting me off is the postage. I am pretty rural so can only easily access the Post Office, but I've heard people mention lots of other postage options and I'm not sure how I would access the other options. I also don't have a printer and not sure if that would be a problem.

My Sn@g order is due to arrive today I think so I'm looking forward to trying out the bras. Yesterday all my picture frames arrived so I got quite a few pictures up and they are looking lovely. The white plastic things you hammer in are so much better than the awful brass diagonal picture hooks and nails. Had no problems whatsoever. No idea how I'll ever get them out again though - they seem pretty solid!

I got no cleaning done yesterday evening as I wasn't feeling great, felt like I was fighting something off. I feel alright today though, so fingers crossed 🤞🏼. I'll do a bit of tidying tomorrow morning before my friend arrives. 

Plans for the weekend include the quiz tonight, lunch out with the friend and a wander round the shops on Saturday , church on Sunday, and at some point weeding, trying to finish a couple of library books, shopping for a few messages I need, some house chores, dog walks and I think that's about it.

I'm off to get ready for the day. Have a fabulous Friday everyone!

Cheery_Daff

Does one of the Vinted options have a pick up facility where they collect from your house? We have some drop off points in odd places - it's worth clicking on each of the options to see where your nearest one is. We have them in a little corner shop, a petrol station, and the car park of a hotel 😂 Although there's one in a shop in town which i took off my list as it always says 'nearly full' but anytime I went in it was actually full. But if you need to only offer the post office, then do that, I don't think it'll put people off buying. Just make it convenient for yourself 😊 I selected one that wasn't near home but was on the way to work - you can post within 7 days so that can work too 😊

Cheery_Daff

(I should point out I have only sold 3 things on Vinted 😂 But also being pretty rural, I did a lot of investigating of postage options 😂)