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

Elisheba

Hello all,

Not a huge amount to report at the moment.  NSD today and yesterday.  Also for Tuesday and Wednesday the weather was so mild I could keep the heating off.  Going by my smart meter that saved me at least £1 a day.  Had to put it back on today as the temperature has dropped a bit, but its good to know how much smaller my bills will be in the summer.  Its hard to know exactly, but I'm probably paying about the right amount on DD averaged over all the months.

All my weekend plans have been cancelled due to COVID 19 and self containment for everyone.  Not sure about going into work tomorrow.  Guess we will see what Cobra say today.  Its all a bit frustrating as I do enjoy my social contact with the world!  I guess it will save money although I'm not quite as delighted by that as I normally am.

Got a free winter hat through the post today from some comp I entered on here, so that's nice.  Its a nice dark blue and the company branding isn't ugly so will be good for winter walks for the next few years.

I made a left over lunch today.  Found some very out of date fake supernoodles and chucked them in with stuff from the fridge and half a tin of sweetcorn.  Bit weird but nice enough.  I don't think I've had supernoodles in over 10 years.  They must have belonged to my ex husband!  Not sure how I ended up with them in the great split.

Other than that nothing much is happening.  I shouldn't need to go shopping til the end of the month - hopefully by then all this panic buying nonsense will be sorted out and supplies will be back to normal.

I've been moving things around and throwing things out.  I got rid of about 10 years worth of magazines last night.  I had been keeping them, with plans to go through them and remove the interesting recipes etc.  However, its been almost 2 years and I had only done about 1 percent of them, and then not looked at anything I put aside, so I thought best to just bite the bullet and recycle them.  These days I an get everything online from my library, so won't build up again.  I just need to keep slowly culling my belongings.  I've always been a bit of a hoarder, so have lots of stuff, and although I'll never be a minimalist, it would be nice to get things  cleared out a bit.

db2016

self contain?
why, as matter of course or because of symptoms? - if theres no symptoms, well thats just panic mode.

Elisheba

I disagree.  While I am not symptomatic, nor do I believe I have the virus, limiting movements and gatherings where possible seems only sensible.  The rest of my social circle agree, and so we have cancelled our weekend activities. I could get infected and not know for some time, and in that case I would rather avoid spreading the bug.  I'm not worried for myself, but I would not like to be the one responsible for infecting a high risk person and the danger that will bring to them. I am far from panicking, and yes, perhaps we are being overly cautious, but rather that than the alternative.

DawnW

db2016 said:

self contain?
why, as matter of course or because of symptoms? - if theres no symptoms, well thats just panic mode.

Not according to scientists. This report suggests that most infections are passed on by people who have not yet developed symptoms. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/mar/12/coronavirus-most-infections-spread-by-people-yet-to-show-symptoms-scientists
It is down to personal choice if people decide they want to limit their social activities for the time being. There are loads of colds and other bugs around, and who is to know what is a 'normal' bug and what is coronavirus? Testing has hardly been extensive. Not really a question of panicking.

Elisheba

Morning all,

Well, I'm working from home for the foreseeable future.  Since I can, its the responsible thing to do.  One less person likely to transmit the bug to the high risk categories.  I do look forward to my office days though, so I'm a bit gutted.  Also, as everything else I do is basically cancelled as well, I'm not sure when I will next see intelligent life. Since my cats can't seem to push open a door on their own they definitely don't count. I may go mad.

Just signed up to my car insurance reward scheme.  If spend over £20 I get 10% back via their rewards scheme at Morrisons.  since I can get my cat food there I thought it made sense.  The rewards can go towards the car insurance, so will mean a couple of pounds extra every month or two.

If Morrison's have it in, I might go and buy some extra milk and cat food tomorrow. I'm running low on milk, and I want to try out my rewards card with the cat food :-)

Other than that, I guess I'm going to be £50 a month better off with travel expenses, and who knows how much better off with lack of socialising, for the duration of this epidermic or until I get it and become immune.  I'm not excited about that at all.  I'm much rather spend the month and see people!

I imagine I will spend the weekend either at the allotment, reading, watching TV, or pottering around.  No specific plans other than my weekly long, hot bubble bath with the heating making the room piping hot. I need to make some bread and make up some more muesli, and I will probably bake some more fruit buns.  I might try my hand at a bit of a lemon curd as well.  I have a hankering after it and have a lot of eggs just now.

Elisheba

Microwave mug cake - all flavours 

First off, you're probably better to use a cereal bowl. If you use a mug, make sure it's properly big. 

Basic mix
3 tbsp self raising flour (if using plain flour add 1/2 tbsp baking powder) 
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
Milk

Microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes - it'll go rock solid if you put it on for much longer. Can be tacky to touch but should be cooked. 

Add a tbsp of strawberry jam for a steamed pudding style cake 

For chocolate - add 1tbsp cocoa, and some broken up chocolate pieces 

For lemon drizzle - add 1tbsp lemon juice, and separately microwave 1tbps lemon juice and 2 or 3 tbsp of sugar mixed together for 30 secs, and pour it over cake once cooked 

For banana and cinnamon - add 1 mashed banana, and 1/2 - 1 tbsp cinnamon, and a dash of vanilla essence. 

That's all I've tried so far, but it's endlessly versatile. Don't ever add egg. You don't need it, and it's too much for a little cake. It just ends up tasting eggy.

astrocytic_kitten

Thank you for the mug cake recipes! I quite often make a chocolate mug brownie (it’s great because it just uses cocoa powder and no chocolate. I always have cocoa powder in, but tend to eat any and all chocolate in the house) but will definitely branch out to some of these. I like the idea of the lemon drizzle one in particular.

I’ve been close to housebound for health reasons for a few months now. My advice is lots of actual phone calls to people - doesn’t solve the problem but does help take the sting out a bit. 

Elisheba

Morning, everyone, 

Well, I woke up yesterday morning and the enforced isolation was worrying me, so I decided I was going to bite the bullet and get a dog. So today I'm going to meet and hopefully bring home a 22 month labrador through a private rehoming. I wasn't bothered about breed or anything else, only that they were good with cats and this young man has lived with two since he was a pup, and seems to suit me in so many other ways as well. So fingers crossed it all works out! 

This is not money saving in the slightest. In fact paying for the dog (who is coming with all his gear thankfully) is going to absolutely rinse me out. Not to mention the extra expense of food and insurance every month. I'm falling back on the fact that this is a decision that will support my physical and mental health, and thus is worth it.

There is no point dwelling on the money side of things - all being well, it is happening. What I need to do is to make sure that this financial blowout is limited in scale, and as I have thrown away the budget in this one I don't spiral and  throw it away everywhere else. The budget is still valid, I've just pushed back my debt free date by a couple of months or so. In this case, with the current situation, I think it's worth it. I'm going to commit to write in this diary every day for the rest of the month, and use it to hold myself accountable so I don't decend into bad habits. 

So, any doggie tips anyone? I haven't had a dog since I was a kid, so I've been madly trying to gen up. People seem to just feed them biscuits these days. It might be a bit cheaper, but I think they need meat so will be using a mix of canned and kibble, as the biscuits seem to be called now.  I'll do some search comparisons for the best pet insurance as well.bum really looking forward to exploring different dog walk, but a bit nervous about training which is pretty basic just and still needs a lot of work. 

I'm very nervous but also very excited as well. This is a big commitment, and a lot of extra work, but should bring me so much joy and fun. It'll force me out more and doing more exercise, and this particular dog - who is a little anxious, quite hyper, and needs lots of time and attention, will be a fabulous friend and companion for me now I'm on my own so much.

Wish me luck meeting him today! 

Queen_of_the_Hive

Oh wow Elisheba how exciting! Life is definitely for living, not just for paying debt. I'd love to have a dog too but my partner & tenancy agreement specifically says NO PETS! Good luck today & looking forward to hearing of your doggy adventures. When I can buy a property a dog will definitely be on the list! 

FootyFanDan

Morning,

I agree they can be a huge commitment, however the one thing I miss is my own little puppy. They are such good companions and I loved the aspect of learning them new tricks, as well as the walks. I used to take mine out running with me and providing that you can get the dog into a situation they are comfortable around others then the walks and days out are such good fun.

 Good luck and happy meeting day 😊