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

Elisheba

Evening, my thrifty friends,

Had a lovely day out today on Llandrindod Wells. I thought I had been there before, but having had a look around I think I might be getting confused as it didn't seem familiar. Had a walk around lake that was build in the late Victorian times as pleasure lake - apparently they used to have mini regattas there every weekend for the holiday makers, and when it was built they said it was busier than the Serpentine. We don't have fun like that anymore 😭. With everyone going abroad (and I totally understand why) the amusements on our doorstep are much reduced.

After that I wandered around the town centre. It was much smaller than I expected. No soup ladles to be seen in the two charity shops. There was a plastic one in a hardware store, but I want a metal one. The Metropole Hotel, which I've heard people mention before, was really pretty. Painted green, with shutters on the windows, sort of chalet like.

I did end up spending money in a health food shop on a birthday present for a friend, some nice soap for me, and a jar of kimchi. I had a ploughmans for dinner when I got in as couldn't be bothered cooking, and totally forgot I had kimchi which I could have added to it 🙄. Ah well, it won't go to waste. It's yummy stuff.

I had packed a little picnic lunch for myself, which I had in the car. Just a couple of veggie sausages, a couple of boiled eggs, a little bar of 85% chocolate, and coffee.

I drove home over the back roads, and oh my goodness, it was really stunning. So much beautiful moorland, really not that far from me. I'll have to do some walking there at some point.

So not a bad use of an unexpectedly free day, and saw places I would like to explore futher. Oh, and I picked up quite a few free books and a jigsaw from a bus stop book swap as well.

Hope everyone had a good start to the week 😊

Elisheba

The Metropole Hotel

Makingabobor2

Sounds like a great day & hotel is lovely

Elisheba

Morning, campers,

It looks like it is going to be a lovely sunny day here - looking forward to my walk later on!  I bought this years sun lotion when I was getting all my blood glucose stuff from B00ts last week, so I am all prepared now! 

Frugal and thrifty life continues apace.  Headline news is that I borrowed £3k interest free from a credit card to put in my LISA, and found £1k of my own money that I don't need right now, so that's £1k the government should be giving me towards buying a house come the new financial year.  The lowest transfer rate I could get was 3%, so that's a £90 charge. It has left my finances a leeeetle bit tight, with not a lot of spare cash floating around right now, but I think it was the right call. 

Still no luck on finding the right car to buy - some are very far away so difficult to view, some are too expensive.  Its like Goldilocks and the three bears.  Hopefully one will show up soon that ticks all the main boxes, then I can sell mine and pay off the credit cards and overdraft, and focus on saving, saving, saving. I am meeting a friend this Saturday so can't view any then annoyingly.

Later on today I am picking up a chair for my bedroom, and a printer, both free off my local equivalent to Freecycle.  The printer has some ink in it so I won't have to buy that right away which is always the main expense with a printer.  I only really want one so I can print labels for selling things on V1nted, but on occasion it can also be useful to print things off. 

Other frugal things this week include -

• Chopping the old toothpaste tube into bits so I can get at the last of the toothpaste, same with my deodorant refill. Keeping all my money in a high interest account and transferring to over to my current account as the bills come out.  
• Rationing showers and having a proper sink wash instead some days instead
• Heating off unless absolutely needed - which it isn't at all this week
• Washing drying out on the lines (except undies which I have on a rack upstairs)
• Only washing clothes if they absolutely need it
• Washing done at 20 degrees, and use liquid soap and washing soda
• All dishwashing tablets cut in half
• Have updated my s/s with all the bill rises for April - not that many actually, just Council Tax and Broadband.  My mobile seems stationary, I am on a fix for energy, and my water meter reduced my water bill for the year just before Xmas.  All rises were slightly less than I had budgeted for so that was nice.  
• Closed the spending month down a bit early, so I knew exactly how much I had to play with for the LISA, so all spending is now from April budget.
• Have a £20 voucher for Am@zon from some company that harvest my phone usage data.  Not sure what I will buy. Torn between a soup ladle (although all the metal ones on there seem really shallow - I might have to go plastic after all), face flannels, bulk epsom salts for the bath, or some combination of the above.

Not so frugal things - 

• Subscribed the The Gu@rdian app as I had a real yearning to do their crossword.  I'll see how I get only.  I'm only signed up to monthly as didn't want to pay for a year.  It's very annoying they don't just to the crossword and games app like they used to.  
• Subscribed to BBC G00dfood app (monthly again), to try and find some decent recipes I can cook.  Its pretty hard to find ones that are vegetarian, low carb and fairly low calorie which aren't some variation on an omelette.
• Spend £1.50 on the raffle and tea at WI last night.  Didn't eat any of the oh so lovely looking cakes though 

All today's food is already cooked as I am having the same as yesterday.  HM vegetable soup and an avocado for lunch, and a vegetable stirfy with a sauce made with tahini, Greek yogurt and soy sauce. Last night I had kimchi and asparagus on the side, and might have that again. I have some little 85% chocolate bars if I want an afternoon treat as well. Weigh loss seems a bit stalled this week which is annoying.  My body is definitely very efficient at converting food to energy - great back in hunter gatherer days, not so awesome now!

Blood glucose all in the normal range, and has been since I started testing.  I would be interested to see what it did when I ate something very sugary or carby, but it took me long enough for my body to adjust to cutting that stuff out last week, I'm not going to mess that up for an experiment. 

Hope everyone has a lovely day and gets to enjoy some sunshine   

Slowdown

Hi
I just access all the Guardian crosswords on their website. No need to pay for them. Hope that helps. 

Elisheba

Evening, all,

Been a busy day here. As well as work, and walking silly dog, I had to collect a printer I got off Freecycle at lunchtime, pop into the Coop for some bits, and the farmers shop for pet food. Then after work I got organised, and sorted out what food could go to the food bank, and then posted the rest on the local  Freecycle group to see if anyone wants it (the food apps like Olio don't seem to be used round here). I'm not sure if it's the new diet, or the HRT that is giving the extra energy but I'm not complaining!

Other than that, I was a bit naughty yesterday and ordered a new blender and food processor. I had bought just the smoothie maker version last month, but accidently got it delivered to my Mum's. So that's getting returned and I'll have more functions on this one. I'm justifying it to myself by saying half has already been paid for, and now I'll be able to make cauliflower rice, and almond milk and flour. Annoyingly I didn't notice when I ordered it that it won't be delivered for a month 🙄. It was in a sale and I did check around and everywhere else had it for sale about £40 more. I do hate using the Big River site, but finances are finances.

I used my £20 voucher for some flannels and a ladle. It all arrived today, and flannels are washed and on the line, although it's due to rain so who knows when they will be dry. Ah well, there is no rush. There was £1 left and I bought a £2.99 book on Kindle.

Did I mention yesterday I was getting a free dark wood chair to go with the free writing bureau I got a few weeks ago (both off Freecycle)? Both need a bit of touching up, but that little corner of my bedroom is looking lovely and quaint now. I'll see if I can post a picture.

Food wise today, breakfast was skyr yogurt, frozen berries (defrosted), mixed seeds and some Stevia. Lunch was HM vegetable soup, and a sliced up avocado with lemon juice, salt and pepper, and some smoked paprika. The avocados are so annoying - I bought 4 at the weekend which said they were ripe and ready for eating, and even having put them on the window sill, they are still hard 🙄. I had a small bar of 85% chocolate about 4.30, and then didn't feel hungry for dinner. I am a bit peckish now, but I'm trying not to eat after 7pm. Got over 10000 steps done today as well so that was good. 

I think that's all my news for today. Hope everyone's week is going well.

Elisheba

My little writing corner, with the free bureau and chair 😊

Elisheba

Oh for goodness sake. My post on the Freecycle group with all the food  has been removed as there were products that had been opened 🙄. Apparently it's a safety concern. I'll have to repost with only the unopened items 🙄🙄🙄🙄. How very annoying.

KajiKita

That bureau and chair is lovely 😊 Well found. We quite like ‘brown’ furniture too which is achingly unfashionable atm, so easy to pick up 😊

Annoying about the rejected post but at least you know that’s their rule now 🤷‍♀️😊

KK

Moorviews

Your writing corner looks so pretty! The little bureau and chair are very cute. I love the nets and the curtain fabric too. I have been changing my diet a bit too and you have reminded me that I could take items to the foodbank before they go OOD. 

@KajiKita - my much loved items of brown furniture aren’t going anywhere either despite being unfashionable now. They are so solid in comparison to new furniture. Really tatty cheaper utility furniture is something that I might mend and paint but the lovely solid wood has a beautiful depth to it.