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

Elisheba

Afternoon, everyone, 

Let have some tea and cake to celebrate the weekend *pours teapot into cups for everyone* 🎂

It was an office day for me yesterday, and it was great fun to see people, although not many folk were actually in. I put my train receipt onto Zipzero, so should get 1% back on a bill at some point. Went for a walk at lunchtime and saw some pretty photo frames which will do nicely with the photos I got from Freeprint (paid for postage only) for my Mum's birthday next week.

To be honest I could see my Mum far enough right now. She has a whole raft of mental and physical health issues, including addiction issues, and she's spiraling currently and I can't get any sense out of her. At the same time as being worried sick, I could also throttle her. She just won't look after herself properly, and so she feels worse and worse. Mental health issues are such a self perpetuating nightmare sometimes.

Other than that I didn't spend anything yesterday, which I'm proud of myself for. I resisted Friday night takeaway, Friday night drinks, Friday night cigarettes - all of which I was tempted towards at one point or another. Instead I watched the second part of the new Agatha Christie adaptation of The Pale Horse. Wow - they made it weird! And then stayed up late (for me 11pm) watching the first two episodes of Back in time at the Corner Shop. I really am last of the great party animals 😂😂😂

I finally got my cashback from one of the apps I used to buy some free drinks. They keep it until the very last moment! I'm also nearly at a fivers worth of points for Shoppix, so when I get to £5 I will claim an amazon voucher and use it to get a discount on the garden fork I want to order. Hopefully that will be this week. I spoke to a friend and she recommended getting the best I could afford, so I'm going to opt for a nice Spears and Jackson tradition style garden fork with a 10 year guarantee and no plastic. Once I have this Amazon voucher it should only cost me £15, so that's a good price  

I think this weekend I'll chill out a bit, do some allotment stuff (including getting compost for £1.99 fron Lidl - thanks , @DawnW. I think that's the cheapest I've heard of it) and maybe some house things. No big plans, other than to just enjoy my free time and see how I get on. 

Elisheba

I've reorganised my living room so I can use my freesat again, without having to buy a longer cable. Also my fireplace is a bit more open, and a change is as good as a holiday so a lovely fresh feeling in there now.

Instead of going out for a Saturday morning coffee and cake, I made them at home instead. I made the most lush chocolate mug cake using 30p Lidl chocolate, which is unpalatable on its own but lovely for cooking.

Then I had a really long bubble bath, and watched the most ridiculous YouTube videos about cheapskates. There was one about a family who use newspaper for loo roll, never turn on the lights, have cold baths they all share, and all share a bed (all 5 of them 😂). It made me feel positively extravagant! Seriously though, I'm not sure life is worth living without the occasional bubble bath, topped up numerous times 🛀

I have the breadmaker on with pizza dough, so Saturday night pizza and a flick tonight, and there will be dough left over for another couple of pizzas later in the month. Now I've just got to decide what to watch. 

DawnW

You might want to investigate the size and weight of the traditional gardening fork before you buy (it is free to look in a garden centre after all). I have always struggled with using a full size one - don't forget about the weight of the soil as well - and find a 'ladies' version, or a 'border fork' much easier to use. Just a thought!

Elisheba

Thanks, @DawnW
I will do. My friend said she found the bigger garden forks more useful and more efficient, so I guess it's just a personal thing. 

Elisheba

Evening, all. 

I can't believe the weekend is almost over! It just flies past. Its good to get to Sunday evening feeling optimistic and good about the week ahead though. 

Spring is in the air now. There is just a certain smell, a certain type of light, that heralds winter's end to me and I can just about taste it now! I wonder if it will be mild enough to turn my heating off next month, or if I'll have to wait until May? Fingers crossed for April!

Was at Quakers earlier and its the money discussion time of year. I'm really debating whether I should be giving money just now, with all the debt I'm in. On the one hand, there is a difference between frugality and being cheap - there are people in the world far less well off than me and I do believe one should live one's life generously and give what one can to society. On the other hand I'm £20k in debt and basically funding banks and all their dodgy dealings right now. The sooner that is gone the sooner I'll be able to be properly generous with money to causes I feel are important.

I think I've come to the conclusion I should donate time rather than month for now. Time is something I can easily make available and it can be a very useful resource. I hope I'm not being cheap and skinflint by deciding that though. Grasping on to brass pennies and losing sight of what's important is a terrible way to live, and so bad for the soul.

In money news, I bought 4 fruit bushes for £6 today, and 4 x 20 litre bags of compost. Looks like I was only charged for 3 bags, so that came to £2.97. I'm hoping to get my time a bit more organised this week, so I can get down to the allotment from about 4-6pm most evenings and get started on what needs doing. I haven't actually looked at the weather forecast but hopefully it will play ball with my plan! 

Elisheba

Morning, campers 🌞

I was in a terribly grumpy mood yesterday, but for no real reason. I think it's because I had a nap, overslept, and it left very restless and out of sorts. 

Yesterday was a NSD. Food wise, I had HM muesli for breakfast, HM soup and HM bread for lunch, and a veggie sausage casserole and dumplings for supper from the slow cooker. All very frugal, all very simple, and all of which will make quite a few meals.

Good news on the allotment front. I found a freebie group on FB - not an official one like free cycle - and someone was happy to give me a garden fork! So that's at least £15 saved, and less environmental impact and waste. I'm very chuffed, and glad I was able to wait long enough for one to appear.

Turns out I get enough credits for a £10 Amazon voucher after allowing Mobile Expressions to harvest my phone data for 2 weeks. If I leave it for a couple of weeks though I'll have enough credits for a £20 voucher, so I'll do that.

That'll be £25 I have in Amazon vouchers, and I'm quite enjoying thinking about what I will buy. I was going to dye my towels, but as some of the bath sheets are very tatty indeed perhaps I should just buy new ones, and use the old ones for cleaning rags? I definitely want a jam thermometer for soap making, and perhaps I could buy some soap making and cleaning product supplies? Think that all might come to more than £25 though!

Nothing much on the horizon for today. I need to pot up the fruit bushes I bought at the weekend, and try to do 10000 steps. It should be another NSD, all being well. 

Hope you all have great Tuesdays! 

Elisheba

Little win today  - the weather. It may be wet and windy, but it is very mild.  No need for heating to work at home today, so that will help save the planet and a few pennies.

Fruit bushes are now in pots, and I made a microwave chocolate cake for lunch 

Elisheba

So that's the day done. No spending today, and due to a sink wash this morning rather than a shower (mainly because I was a lazy lump and didn't get out of bed on time) and not putting the heating on because it was so mild, and then lighting a fire this evening, my smart meter tells me I've only use 1p in gas today. Since I used about £1.50 somehow yesterday, thay is quite nice to know!

I found containers, and was able to box up 4 portions of yesterday's sausage casserole for the freezer so that something put aside for easy heating if I need it. 

I've talked myself out of buying new towels with my amazon vouchers. There seems to be a process I go through in being ultra frugal, where I want something, I imagine buying it, I imagine paying for it, and then living with it. Then I do the whole process again, only asking myself 'Do I really need this, or do I just like it?', and 'What would my life look like if I didn't have this particular thing in it?', and 'Does buying this help me consume less and spend less, or seriously improve the quality of my life in some important way?' And most times, after deciding I will buy it, I go through the questions, balance the purchase against the debt, or the environment, and seem to change my mind. So today's decision is I will live with my towels, which are completely and utterly serviceable even if they are getting a touch tatty. 

Chrystal

I agree about the towels... and by the time you've dyed them and snipped any loose threads off they'll look like new anyway.

DianeK

Shampoo bars.. look online at company called Conchus, very small independent one-woman-band local to me. Lovely bathroom products and great ethics. Really enjoying reading your diary