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

Elisheba

Morning, all,

Honestly, I blink and almost 2 weeks have gone past since I last posted!  How did that happen?

So a summary of MSE things in the last fortnight...

I finally got around to fixing my energy.  I went with the Sea Creature company whom I was already with - 15 months and no exit fees.  It wasn't the cheapest deal, but it was the cheapest deal with no exit fees at the time of looking.  It also doesn't come into force until the end of this month, so I won't be paying over the odds this month. As I am such a low energy user it won't save me much, but every penny counts.  

I transferred all my dosh over to my new savings account, and then realised my B@rclays Rainy day saver account, which has higher interest won't close until November - so I have transferred it all back again.  After the next draw I am also going to move most of my PB money over as well.  Having it there isn't helping me save any, and it annoys me that it hasn't earned a penny.  I might just keep £50 or so there just for the fun of the draw, but no more. 

I have gone massively over budget on food again this month.  I either need to sit down and properly see where I can save, or increase the budget.  Doing T3sco deliveries and popping into the C00p for odds and ends is much more expensive than when I used to be near lots of supermarkets and L!dl and Ald!.  Most of the extra is on fresh fruit and veg, and natural yogurt and kefir, but one way or another the food budget isn't working so I need to reassess.

I bought some vanilla essential oil and have scented all my hm made cleaning products with it, so house is smelling rather nice at the moment.

This week's washing is in the machine.  Can't see it being dry enough later to hang it out, so it'll be on the drying racks and the house isn't that warm so will take a while to dry.

No heating or fire on yet.  The house really does hold the heat and even though I have thought about lighting the fire occasionally it has never really been cold enough.  I am not going to let myself suffer, so I doubt I'll get to December like I did a couple of winters ago when I was being really hardcore about frugality.  

My weight loss seems to have plateau'd a bit, and it wasn't very speedy to start with, so I am going back to basics with the healthy living. I wasn't being very rigorous about my intermittent fasting times and was adding milk to coffee during fasting times and things like that, so no more of that.  Hopefully by the end of next week I'll be down to the next kg number.  The hardest bit is trying to exclude added sugar.  I had no idea how addicted to it I was until I started this.  I can be quite full and still be craving sweet things - and not fruit, but cakes and biscuits and that sort of thing.   I really need to keep it out my diet for a few weeks and hopefully those cravings will stop.  

I have really started getting back into my folk and trad music recently.  I'm not sure if I have said but I have piggybacked onto my sister's family Sp0tify account and pay her a fiver a month for it (not technically allowed but oh well), so I am able to listen to what I want, when I want, which is a luxury I haven't had in quite a few years.  And then BBC Sounds has lots of folk music programmes saved as well, so that varies things up as well.  Sadly where I live just now doesn't seem to have many folk gigs locally, but I'll keep my eye out.  All in all a fairly cheap hobby, and good for stimulating the mind.  

Office days are currently looking like they will be once or twice a month, now my boss has moved.  It basically all depends on when his football team are playing at home.  I haven't actually been in every week all year, so it probably won't save me a huge amount in reality - but I do budget for going in every week so that can be adjusted on my budget s/s.

Right, I think that's enough for now.  Hope everyone is keeping well and all the rain we have been getting hasn't cause too many problems.  

Makingabobor2

Nice to hear from you again. I think grocery budgets are hard to keep under control these days. Prices just keep going up. I need to start batch cooking again, it seems to help save money in the long run

Elisheba

Evening, money maestros,

Not a NSD today, but only expenditure was for my niece's birthday present, which is budgeted for. 

I went to submit my energy readings as normal, and saw on the app they were finally fitting smart meters in my area. I clicked to say I wanted one and they are coming to fit it this coming Monday! No hanging around at all ☺️.

My energy use s/s has worked very well all year, and I know exactly what I'm using. However, having a smart meter was good to see if/when you had left something on that was eating energy and didn't need to be. So, although I don't think there is much room to cut my energy use more, I might save a few pennies.

Dinner tonight was leftovers - some lentil spaghetti bog with grated cheese, and a big mug of tomato, veg and sweet potato soup. The remaining one potion of soup I have put in the freezer for another day.

It rained all afternoon, but it did stop when I finished work and took silly dog a walk. My new wellies and rain coat are earning their keep this week, that's for certain!

Instead of doing an online shop for October I might pop to Ald! on Saturday and shop there instead. It's more time consuming, but it should be cheaper. I just need to make a meal plan for the month. I have a bag of frozen fake meat products that I'll need to use up, as I'm not throwing them out and I can't give them to a food bank. So it won't be the healthiest food plan next month, but I'll try to keep processed carbs to a minimum, and aim for 30 plus plant ingredients a week.

One of the ways I think I'll be able to save money is by using more frozen veg. I have been buying an awful lot of fresh recently and it's expensive, and being one person it can be hard to get through the quantities without any going to waste, and keeping variety as well. So ideally, unless I need it fresh for a salad or the like, I will try to get hold of it frozen instead. Ald! don't have a brilliant selection, so I'll need to see what M0rris0ns have as well, as there is one in the same town.

Bit of a money saving fail this week in that I rather impulsively bought a jumper on Vinted which was very pricey for being second hand, and now it has arrived I'm not sure what I think of it. It's olive green, but could do with being greener - it's a bit brown looking. And then a faux fair isle pattern on the top half, but in white with light pink and baby blue bits. Very bizarre colour combo. It is very comfortable and fits well I suppose, so I probably won't resell it. Still, that'll teach me to impulse buy!

I had a lovely bath this evening, and used the occasion of heating the water to also get some dishes done that don't go in the dishwasher, so two birds with one stone there. I can't save the bath water for the toilet.annoyingly, which I have discovered the hard way. For some reason the hot water comes out a bit orangey brown - there is no peat in the area so I'm not sure why. Anyway, if I leave it in the bath it stains the bath orange, and the bath enamel isn't sealed so I can't wash it off. So the bath water just gets thrown out with... the bath water 😆.

Chore wise, the washing is hung up on drying racks, and the dishwasher is still on and can be emptied tomorrow. So pretty much all house things are up to date.

Time for my bed I think. Aiming to be up about 6am tomorrow. I hope everyone is all cooried in and super cosy tonight.

Elisheba

Morning, frugal friends,

It's bucketing down outside, and it is forecast to be like that all-day so my dog walk later on is going to be fun 🙄.

I'm absolutely starving just now, but it's an hour until I can break my fast. I just need to lean in to the hunger, and tell myself it's good for my gut microbiome and insulin levels!

I woke up this morning with my scalp really itchy. I've always had a sensitive scalp, but normally some generic anti dandruff shampoo keeps it in check. I have been using some fancy curly hair shampoo and conditioner for a few weeks though and I think must be allergic to it. So that's a big waste of money 🙄. I'll put them aside and give them to someone in my family when I'm next in Scotland. 

I did a quick Google of possible solutions, and made up a spray bottle with a good chug of apple cider vinegar, and then about half a pint of cooled boiled water and sprayed my hair and scalp with it and rubbed it in. It seems to have done the trick for now and the itching has calmed down, so that's good.

I was thinking I'd like to try the Eth!que curly hair shampoo and conditioner bars, but their website isn't working to order them and I'm not near a shop that sells them. I used various shampoo bars for a few years before I took it into my head to dye my hair again, and then it was so damaged I moved to other products.  I'm growing the dye out now though, and I'd like to go back to plastic free bars. I never found a conditioner bar I liked, but these Eth!que ones have very good reviews so might be worth a try.

If I don't buy new shampoo and conditioner then today should be a NSD. Brunch will be my hm muesli with mashed banana and natural yogurt. My muesli has 13 different plants plus the banana, so it's a good way to get to my 30 a week! Dinner is going to be quinoa cooked with a stock cube and some seasoning, and then kale, chickpeas and halloumi stir fried in sesame oil. I might make a side salad of some sort but not sure what yet.
 
It's an office day tomorrow so I'll need to get to bed early for the 5am start. I'll put another potion of muesli,  and tonights dinner, in two flasks to eat when I'm out. Won't be home until past 7pm which is after fasting starts so will eat on the train on the way home.

Other than that things are just pottering on. I want to watch the All Creatures Great and Small new series - first episode was last week, and next one is tonight, so I'll try and fit them in somewhere. I had a WI trip out for tea and cake a couple of days ago, and I need to transfer the money for that to the treasurer so should get onto that today. 

Hope everyone has a fab day and doesn't get too wet ☔🌧️🌂

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, I forgot All Creatures Great and Small is on again tonight. I watched the first one last week, looking forward to the second! 😊

fionaandphil

Hope your Aldi shop goes well this week.  I was in today and they had a much bigger frozen veg selection than normal so it may be worth a look.  Just don't get tempted by all the Christmas things!

SuzeQStan

Hey Elisheba lovely as always to see your posts. 

Our Ald1 and L1dl stores have been nothing but empty shelves recently I do not understand what is going on with them!! We hadn’t food shopped for 2 weeks so reprlenishment needed asap - even ran out of coffee & tea!! 😳

Elisheba

fionaandphil said:

Hope your Aldi shop goes well this week.  I was in today and they had a much bigger frozen veg selection than normal so it may be worth a look.  Just don't get tempted by all the Christmas things!

Oh that's sounds promising! Fingers crossed they have a good selection in the one I go to 😁.

I would be tempted my the Xmas stuff but I'm pretty much off anything with sugar or white flour in it for the foreseeable future, so that rules out most things! I will let myself off the hook on Xmas Day, but not for the 4 months before it as well 🤣🤣🤣

Elisheba

SuzeQStan said:

Hey Elisheba lovely as always to see your posts. 

Our Ald1 and L1dl stores have been nothing but empty shelves recently I do not understand what is going on with them!! We hadn’t food shopped for 2 weeks so reprlenishment needed asap - even ran out of coffee & tea!! 😳

Hello SuzeQ ☺️. Lovely to hear from you as well. That seems to happen at L!dl and Ald! sometimes, doesn't it? I wonder if they have less secure supply chains or something like that.

Elisheba

Evening, thrifty fellows,

I didn't quite manage a NSD today. I went down a blogging and Instagram rabbit hole and got tempted by a book called The Art of Frugal Hedonism, which looks totally up my street. I've taken of note of it before, but decided today I really wanted it. I did check my library and for cheap second hand cipes but there were none to be had, so I paid almost £10 for the Kindle edition, and that is out my monthly personal allowance.

I haven't been very productive today which I feel bad about. I'm really bad at focusing on what I should be focusing on, and end up going down a million and one other rabbit holes 🙄.

My dog walk was indeed very wet this afternoon, although it was steady rain but the absolutely torrential downpour we had had a couple of hours earlier. Silly dog was very excited indeed about getting toweled down when we got in. For some reason he just absolutely loves it.

My raincoat is hanging up to dry but I have the feeling it might still be pretty damp when I put it on tomorrow to go to the office (thankfully not inside though - it is very watertight). There is an amber flooding warning for where my office is tomorrow, and I think we are mad to go in, but my boss seems dead set on it 🙄.

Dinner today - pictures below if it works, if not I'll post them separately - was very nice. I thought I might keep track of plant content of meals on here, to see what I'm getting to a week.

So main course - quinoa, ras el hanout (black pepper, coriander, ginger, smoked paprika, all spice, cardamom, mace, nutmeg, turmeric, cayenne, cloves, rose petals), smoked paprika. Then kale, chickpeas, beetroot, toasted sesame oil (not sure if that counts). And dessert - rhubarb, orange juice, cinnamon, star anise, mace, ginger, nutmeg. Then salad - home grown cherry tomatoes and fresh parsley.

So that's... 24 plants, even if some are only traces, in one meal. That's pretty good I think! And with my muesli and banana that's another 12 plants, so 36 in a day ☺️.

Right, I off to have a look at my new book, then head to bed for my early start tomorrow. Sleep tight, everyone.