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

Elisheba

Okay, so the weekly energy total is in for last week! 

So for comparison, the most expensive week recently before I cut back is below 

W/C 3rd Jan 
£18.90
Electricity 44.73 kwh, Gas 436 kwh

Now this past week - 
£4.09
Electricity 22.33 kwh, Gas 0.16kwh

So, wow! I have cut my weekly energy bill by more than 75%! And obviously having the heating off has smashed the gas bill, but all my little energy economies have halved the electricity usage!

Hopefully I can keep this up going forward. Its in comparison to a winter week, but looking at summer month energy totals, its still lower than I have used by the looks of it - though nothing like as dramatic.

elbree

That is amazing! Well done - I'm off to check all my plugs now 😂

astrocytic_kitten

That is such a huge difference! Very thought provoking

Elisheba

Happy Tuesday, all! 

I walked down to the dentist today rather than drive, which saved a bit on petrol and parking  . It seems I need a filling so that's all booked in for Thursday. The last time I went to the dentist I'm sure it £42 odd for band 2 work ie. Fillings. Now it's £65. Although that probably says more about how long it's been since I went to the dentist than anything else!

I had porridge with dried fruit and spices for breakfast, and a rather nice lunch of wholemeal wraps with onions, mushrooms, peppers and a tin of jackfruit fried together, with a stock cube and fajita seasoning mixed through. Then a dab of Greek yogurt and a grating of cheese in the wraps as well. Very nice, and 3 or 4 of my 5 a day. Hopefully I've made enough filling for another 3 lunches, and that will use up all the wraps as well. 

Having Internet problems today. It's switch over day to my new provider. The old provider. Has stopped working, but the new one may not work until midnight. It really isn't vet satisfactory at all when I'm working from home. Still, I can use the WiFi hot-spot facility on my work mobile I suppose, so as long as it is working tomorrow it not the end of the world.

The only other thing of any note is I decided I would try wearing a hat after seeing lots of advice on here that it made a difference. And boy, does it! I feel much warmer all over, and my hands and feet feel much less icy.

I feel a bit like my Granny who lived in a big old farmhouse which was only heated by the coal fire until my early 20s. She would put on a hand knit bunnet to walk the dogs in the morning, and then wouldn't take it off for the rest of the day. I can see why now!

It's a funny feeling for me, feeling closer to my Gran through some of these economies I am making. I just took for granted that her house was freezing when I was young but there would be a big warm fire in the living room. She always thought my parents centrally heated home was far too hot  .

Having a bath or a shower there was a mission. As a treat in the 60s or 70s, they had moved the bathroom to a big room in a corner of the house. However this meant that the hot water, which came from a tank above the fire in the living room, had to flow through half the house to get there, so was never very hot. Since the room itself had 2 exterior walls, one facing north, it was bitterly cold - so you needed to put the calor gas fire on in there for a bit before you sallied forth. My Gran would have 1 shower a week and everything else was a sink wash in the kitchen - which made a lot of sense considering! I remember rushing from the bathroom over icy cold stone floors to get to the fire in the living room where it was warm enough to get dressed  . 

Elisheba

Evening all, 
A quick update before dinner. 

My tooth is really playing up so glad I have the dentist booked for tomorrow.

Now I've started wearing a hat in the house I'm so much warmer. I don't think. The weather has been much milder the last few days, so I'm presuming it's the hat! Barely feeling the cold at all and that's without blankets and a hot water bottle. 

There is something wrong with the smart meter, apart from the fact the screen is cracked. When I look at today it will tell me how much gas I used and it looks realistic, but when I look at past days the gas kwh are close to zero or zero, which is nonsense. I'm still showering, doing dishes and using the oven and hob occasionally, so I'm definitely using gas.

I saw a tiny little cottage today in the hills which needs a lot of work, but was only £65k. I started googling how to fit stud walls  but sadly it's not realistic at this time. Wouldn't that be awesome though, only a £58k mortgage? I could pay it back no bother in 10 years, and do the work as I got the money together.

My broadband is broken which is annoying. Might be something to do with changing suppliers yesterday, might not. A company have been asked to look at the fault on Friday, so in the mean time I'm using the WiFi hot-spot function on my work mobile. Just realised it'll also affect my TV, as I moved the TV and the freesat line no longer stretches far enough, so I've been watching everything via broadband through my Amazon Fire Stick. No catch up Escape to the Chateau for me! I've not got masses of data on my phone package either so might need to limit my YouTube watching! 

Elisheba

I was just reading some of the Frugalwoods blog, and they bulk cook, but then just eat the same meal for the next few days and maybe only freeze one portion.  I was thinking how good a solution this is the the fact my freezer is full right now and I'm out of tupperware!  Yes, there are some things I can defrost to eat to make room but a lot of it is frozen ingredients, like veg so can only run that down by cooking it, but as I have no room or tupperware my plans to bulk cook some pasta bake, and veggie mince, in the slow cooker are on hold. 

So why don't I just make a big slow cooker full of one of them and eat it for the next few days.  There is room in the fridge - problem solved! Sure its not the most varied diet, but I eat fruit and veg at other meals as well, and its only for a few days at a time.  I'm really liking this idea 

WinterWarrior

You could mix them up a bit eg a big bolognaise and then with spaghetti one meal, a pasta bake another and on baked potato for a third. Stew could be with crusty bread one day, with dumplings another, with chips or roasts after that? I think one base meal could work well without being boring. 

Elisheba

Evening all. Hope your Thursday has gone well. 

I've been to the dentist and it was hideous, but it's over now. I was just thinking healthcare has cost me about £135 this month, with the dentist, the counselling and my prepayment certificate. And that's all heavily subsidised. It's an expensive business keeping well, even with the NHS. 

Frugal win today - I used some Sugru to fix my leaky kettle. I googled it and ideally I should have used a silicone sealant, but I don't have any and someone had suggested Sugru which I did have. So kettle saved to fight another day  . 

My broadband is now fixed thankfully. Had a chap out earlier on. It was something to do with the changeover. Some muppet somewhere has pressed a bottom to disconnect all service by accident. 

If I get hungry later I have some broccoli soup I made on Sunday I can heat up and try to sip without drooling. There's bread and butter and tinned fruit to fill up the gaps if I want it as well. 

I was reading some more of the Frugalwoods blog. They put 70% of their earnings towards savings. It's admirable but if I did that I'm not sure I would even make my rent, nevermind eat and pay bills. Hopefully once the debt is gone I'll be able to put a substantial proportion of my wages away, but it's never going to be 70%.

Elisheba

My dog woke me ridiculously early so I've just had a lovely couple of hours in bed rejigging my budget spreadsheet categories. Obviously it all adds up to the same amount as before but now I can see really clearly what is household expenditure, what is pets, what is health care, what is debt etc. 

elbree

Well done! That sounds deeply satisfying! I love tinkering with my pots - I probably should get out more 😂