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

WinterWarrior

I’m just the same with saving. My diary is like a broken record, I keep expecting people to give me a shake 🤣
I have a sweet tooth too and factor chocolate money into my budget! I like Lidl’s bourbon vanilla ice cream with smashed wispa or flake on top. I also like their chocolate waffle cones, most recently with their mint choc chip scooped in. I haven’t tried chocolate brownie, so can’t comment on that one. 

Elisheba

Good morning, all! Happy weekend! It's a dreich day here today, but the rain should stop around 10am so that'll make it easier to get things done.

It was lovely to get paid yesterday. I treated myself to some pizza, icecream and a few other unhealthy bits. It was all from L1dl and is within the food budget. Must remember to zap my receipts though.

I can now say with confidence that L1dls Chocolate Brownie icecream is almost as good as B3n and J3rrys only £3 or 4 cheaper (about £1.70 as opposed to the £4.50 to £6 I've seen B&J's sell for). It's maybe got a few less brownie bits in but tastes the same. L1dl also do cookie dough and caramel chew if you prefer those flavours. @winterWarrior I'll have to give the flavour you mentioned a go as well. Sounds lush! 

I've got a huge list of things I would like to get done this weekend, but I don't know if I'll manage even half! 

I need to-
Food plan 
Food shopping
Pet food price comparison and shopping 
Hoover house 
Dishes 
Change and wash bedding 
Wash shower curtain 
Clean bathroom 
Pet rug wash
Go to library 
Go to tip 
Mending
Make bread (in bread machine) 
Walk dog
Go out for a coffee and read book
Buy and deliver flowers
Ghost walk
Make snacks for week
Use up stuff in fridge in some meals I can freeze
Make paper logs

I'll see how I get on with all that. If it stops raining I'll feel a lot keener on the dog walking part than I do now! I think my dog might as well. He seems to be refusing to go out the back and toilet currently because of the rain 

I had a look at my credit score on the Karma website, which isn't one I've looked at before. They have it at fair, which isn't brilliant but at least its not horrendous. One of their tips was that credit card borrowing should be less that 75% of total available. I'm currently at 76%, so fingers crossed with this month's payments I'll go under and my credit score should improve again. The other tips there isn't that much I can do about - I can't make myself have lived here any longer, or pull a mortgage out of thin air.

It's not like I'll be taking out any more loans or cards, but having a good score is useful when changing utility companies. My energy deal end in January, and it will be hard enough getting a new deal that's even vaguely decent without failing credit checks. Last year when my score was really poor I had to pay a massive deposit. I'd rather not have to do that again, if it is even an option in the current climate.

I've been reviewing everything I pay for and whether it's worth it, or it could be cheaper. I'm still not sure about my TV licence. £13 a month to watch the  occasional thing is very poor value, and if it were something like Netflix I'd cancel it immediately, but because its the Beeb I'm much more reluctant. I'll probably keep it for now if only because I want to see the new Shetland.

The other thing I'm unsure about is my pet insurance for my dog. Don't get me wrong, I believe insurance for pets is important. There is no way I would end up putting enough aside for any emergencies, and even if I did I could still end up out of pocket.

No, my issue is the particular policy I currently have. My dog is only 3 and has had no health issues so I could change easily. The policy I have means no copayments at any age, but it's £50 pm and I could get a similar policy for about £20pm. The problem though is that I never know when he might get an ongoing condition, so it's Russian roulette risking getting stuck with a policy that means I'll be paying 20% of any health issues when he's older. It's not due to rise again until March, so I'll see what the increase is and have another think them.

It also looks like I could save a few pounds on broadband. I can't remember when my deal ends though, so I'll need to look it up. 

Right, I'm off to do busy things. The rain has stopped so it all should be much more fun when I go out! 

capuchin

Oh no I just pressed back and lost my entire post! Typical Short version incoming.

One strategic error I made was to close cc accounts after paying them off. In hindsight, it's better for the credit rating to cut them up and keep them open. One step closer to the 0% nirvana.

I wouldn't worry about energy. There's no deals to switch to any more so you'll just be at the energy cap like everybody else.

I could never make a bread maker economical! It was always just a hot mess for me.

The dog is a tough one. Saving an average of £30 a month, assuming he lives to around 12, is £4,320. I'm not convinced 20% of any condition would come to that.

Ps. you're very lucky car insurance is so cheap.

badmemory

capuchin said:

I wouldn't worry about energy. There's no deals to switch to any more so you'll just be at the energy cap like everybody else.

I could never make a bread maker economical! It was always just a hot mess for me.

The advantage of a breadmaker is that you know what has gone into the bread (unless you use a bought mix).  It avoids some additives that may not agree with you.

savingholmes

I too kept some of my CC's open and paid attention to utilisation rates. As I paid stuff off I did reduce the credit limits on some though - where the utilisation level was still good.

Elisheba

capuchin said:

One strategic error I made was to close cc accounts after paying them off. In hindsight, it's better for the credit rating to cut them up and keep them open. One step closer to the 0% nirvana.

I could never make a bread maker economical! It was always just a hot mess for me.

The dog is a tough one. Saving an average of £30 a month, assuming he lives to around 12, is £4,320. I'm not convinced 20% of any condition would come to that.

Ps. you're very lucky car insurance is so cheap.

@capuchin      I made the same mistake last year. Closed two credit accounts, and reduced my credit limit on quite a few cards. My credit rating sank like a stone! I won't be doing that again!

I don't think my bread maker is that economical really, not when you can buy a loaf for 40p. I agree with @badmemory though that homemade is healthier, and I find making my own saves me popping to the shops so often which cuts out impulse buying! 

Yeah, with car insurance I think I'm just lucky I've never had to make any claims. It's fully comp with business use and breakdown, but I think it was only about £170 last year. Can't remember exactly offhand. It'll go up though next time no doubt, due to the changes to the law and needing to offer new and existing customers the same deals. 

Elisheba

Well, it feels like I've not stopped all day although I've not even done half my list! 

Two walks with the dog and over 15000 steps so that's not bad. For some reason he's absolutely hyper this evening when normally he's asleep by now.

Library visit done. Lots more books taken out. One about the terrible winter of 1962, one about handmade things (although having glanced through it most of it seems too fiddly or needs too many bits for my liking), one about perimenopause (can't be too prepared), and absolutely loads about living on a farm and farming life  . So I can curl up in the evenings after a hard day sitting at a desk, and pretend I don't have various aches and pains and went out to work in the bitter cold to earn my keep like days of old.

I went to PAH and was really annoyed to find the dog food I wanted more expensive in the shop than online. It meant that even with my 10% discount it was cheaper at The R@nge. I was also going to buy two months worth of cat food because I had the discount and the cat food was on special offer, but typical of things on special at PAH they didn't have enough in stock. So I've only bought just over a months worth of everything and have got a new dog food for him to try as it was cheaper. Probably shouldn't have bought a 15kg bag of untried food but he'll eat anything. It's just some foods can make him a bit windy and upset his tum.

Got the flowers bought and delivered, and dinner was hm bolognaise from the freezer and pasta.

Caught up on two episode of Our Yorkshire Farm and as I've read somewhere (possibly on this forum) that folding newspaper up and concertina-ing it means you don't need kindling, I did some of that to old newspapers when I was watching the TV. I also got another two paper logs made earlier from my bucket of scrap paper. None of the ones I've made are dry enough yet to burn so I'm not sure how long they will last, but it'll save me some coal/wood even if not a lot.

I remembered to zap my receipts although 2 were too old. Should have one or two more after tomorrow's food shop as well. 

And now I think I shall curl up and read one of my books. Probably the one about the terrible winter of 62 as I ordered that one so it cost me a whole pound.

Hope everyone is snuggled up and warm and cosy, and feeling lovely and relaxed this Saturday night. Remember you'll have a whole extra hour tomorrow, completely free ! 

WinterWarrior

You have some very factual reading there. I always go for escapism. 

I find a combination of amzn and Zooplus is cheaper than PAH. I spend hundreds a month though, as there are a lot to feed.
have a lovely evening. 

Jellytotts

We tried making paper bricks but they’d gone mouldy before they were fully dried so we made paper eggs instead, just small handfuls of well squeezed wet paper left to dry in an egg box on a sunny windowsill - then burn in the box.

Elisheba

That's interesting @winterWarrior as I've always found Am@zon extortionate for cat food (they are very fussy and won't eat shop's own brands, but seem keen enough on tins of Butcher's Classic, which at least is cheaper than Felix and Whiskas, although is much harder to find than it used to be. It has also gone up about 50% in price in the last 6 years).

Not checked Am@zon for dog food though. I have been feeding him Harringtons biscuits, but have bought Chappie to try next month.

Not heard of Zooplus but I'll have a look.