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

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Elisheba

Morning everyone,

I'm definitely on the mend now so thats good. Having another day off work - I thought I'd start back but felt absolutely exhausted after just getting up to feed the cats, so 8m having another sick day.

I'll try to get moving a bit today, and get a little organised. Having clean dishes and clothes and what not will make me feel better mentally.

I'm reading Down to Earth: A Guide to Simple Living by Rhonda Hetzel. I have tried reading it before but always got depressed and gave up when she suggested what we should be doing at what age. I wasn't in a wonderful place in my life back then, and found it very discouraging.

Reading it today is very different. Yeah, I'm seriously behind on the curve, but I'm doing what I need to do to get debt free. Being single now it's also much easier for me to make moves towards simple living. Looking back I could have done all this back then, but I need to be forgiving of old me. I was depressed and stressed and what seems easy now seemed impossible then.

I'm feeling very inspired by the book. I'm taking notes and seriously thinking about what she says. There is no point waiting till I have a house in the country, 2 dogs, hens and a goat to start living my life more simply. I need to do what I can 'where I am planted' as she says, and start appreciating every moment now.

I'm definitely on the right track with my new frugal lifestyle. I've also been offered an allotment, and although I have absolutely no idea about gardening, I'm going to have a go. Hopefully my friend can give me some of his old tools so it should be minimal outlay. There are 2 sheds, a greenhouse, and a lot of raspberry canes and a few herbs there already so I've got a good start!

Hetzel, and the last author I read, Cait Flanders, both agree that organisation is key, and not wasting hours. If I only have so many hours in my life, what do I actually want to do with them? Watch mindless TV, or endlessly trawl the Internet looking at nothing in particular? Or learn something, make something or do something?

They both advocate working out your values, what you want from life and what you think you can do to achieve them. Sounds basic, but not many of us do it. We just accept where we are and feel miserable without making any changes.

I was thinking quite radically about all this last night and asking myself what I actually need. Do I need the car? Do I need TV? I use both mainly for leisure these days. I'll need to ponder on it all some more...

astrocytic_kitten

Elisheba wrote: »

I'll try to get moving a bit today, and get a little organised. Having clean dishes and clothes and what not will make me feel better mentally.

I'm reading Down to Earth: A Guide to Simple Living by Rhonda Hetzel. I have tried reading it before but always got depressed and gave up when she suggested what we should be doing at what age. I wasn't in a wonderful place in my life back then, and found it very discouraging.

Reading it today is very different. Yeah, I'm seriously behind on the curve, but I'm doing what I need to do to get debt free. Being single now it's also much easier for me to make moves towards simple living. Looking back I could have done all this back then, but I need to be forgiving of old me. I was depressed and stressed and what seems easy now seemed impossible then.

I’m a big believer of the power of clean dishes and clothes (or clean pjs often for me :rotfl:) to help you feel human when you’re starting to recover from an illness.

That sounds like a thought-provoking book... I’ve also been thinking a lot lately about how I can make changes in my life now, rather than waiting till some undefined point in the future when I’m ready. Your comment makes me realise I’ve totally been waiting for the country cottage, hens and dogs too.

The allotment sounds very exciting and a great start!! Sounds like it will be a big learning curve but very worthwhile, especially with so much there to get started with.

Elisheba

Hey AK, Yeah, that was a bit of an 'oh' moment for me yesterday! That realisation that I need to start living the life I want, now. Its like a whole paradigm shift in my thinking!

Elisheba

Still recovering today, but I'm definitely nearly there. Tonight I was actually a bit irritable because I hadn't done enough, so that means my energy has come back! Woop! Hope it had a nice holiday and is ready to get going!

I've been thinking seriously today about how I can simplify my life. Should I get rid of the car? It would save up to £75 a month. I mainly use it for grocery shopping, and visiting people, these days. I don't need it for work any more. If I sold it I could buy an electric bike and a trailer for shopping with the proceeds, and put a few pounds by. It would mean freedom from saving for increasingly expensive car repairs every year, but would be much less convenient.

I'm also still thinking of getting rid of the telly. Perhaps just the paid stations, and the BBC? Or perhaps get rid of the whole telly box? I don't like it much anyway - my ex bought it and it's huge and black and dominates the room. That would mean I couldn't ever watch DVDs though which is sometimes nice to do...

Reading further into Hetzel's book she is a big advocate of homemade cleaning products and toiletries. I've read about them on here as well. I currently probably have enough soap, washing powder and fabric conditioner for at least a year so not an immediate concern for me, but something to bear in mind.

On the topic of homemade toiletries, I lighten my hair regularly so I thought I should see what I can do with natural products if I want to move to more simple living. A bit of googling later, and I am currently sitting with my hair full of honey, cinnamon, olive oil and a bit of conditioner. Apparently the honey and cinnamon activate hydrogen peroxide and it should lighten my hair by a couple of shades. I reckon if I do this one week, and lemon juice on alternate weeks, and then put salt spray on my hair in summer, I might be able to get away from chemical dyes? Worth a shot!

I got the washing and dishes done today, but didn't manage to get to the next level on the 'Being a functional adult' game and do any baking. I did make a chocolate mug cake though :rotfl:

Other than that, a NSD. Everything is gearing up for next month now. I think my catalogue payment is going to come out at the end of this month as well as the beginning as its a 28 day cycle, so I'll need to do some financial jiggery pokery to make sure that's covered. It is the first debt I'm tackling so it doesn't matter too much - all the extra next month was going to go towards it anyway. As I've never done it before, I'm looking forward to adding up how much debt I'll have paid off in the month, and what percentage that is. Always good to watch numbers fall!

Honeysucklelou2

If you got rid of the TV, could you get one of those portable DVD players with a screen? There's probably a technical name for it! We just use a TV set for playing DVDs and haven't watched mainstream or satellite television for about 15 years...don't miss it at all!

Great news about the allotment.

Elisheba

Morning, frugalistas! Welcome to another day of Elisheba's Lovely Life! My zing is back so today I can really enjoy getting things done. My bed is already made so I'm already scoring in the Life game

First of all I'm having a very hot bath and will wash out all the honey and cinnamon from my hair. I smell quite Christmassy just now so thats nice. Due to having a cold head during the night, I did discover the perfect use for an old fashioned swimming cap I bought years ago and never used. It will also be very good as a shower cap in future so I must put it in the bathroom cabinet.

After I'm ready I thought I'd try working from the local library. This will save me having to use my heating and I'll be around people. Having not seen a real person for days this will be good for me.

For lunch I'm going to treat myself and try one of Gr*ggs new vegan steak bakes. I have a voucher for a free coffee as well so will give me an excuse to use that. I'll take a thermos of tea and some fruit to the library as well.

After work, I want to make buns, rolls, freeze the soup and pasta I have out, keep on top of the dishes, and make dinner. I doubt the clothes I have hung up will be dry, so I'll ignore them. I want to read some more, and also try to make a new phone cover tonight. Let's see how it goes!

In the 'grow where I'm planted' vein, I also want to look at some seed catalogues and allotment books, and come up with a basic plan for the year. If nothing else, it will provide me with copious raspberries and a green space to sit out in this summer.

[Deleted User]

Elisheba wrote: »

I've also been uploading receipts on 3 apps - Huyu, Shoppix and Receipt Hog. Are there anymore that do the same thing? I've answered a few surveys as well. At some point no doubt all these little things will pay some dividends, although it's all so tiny I have no idea when. Ah, well. It will be a lovely surprise when they do!

Zipzero its also a receipt-scanning one, you get something like 1% of the receipt total back, and you can redeem it off of bills

https://zipzero.com/

Honeysucklelou2

The RHS produced a vegetable growing handbook a few years ago, which is quite useful as is Delia Smith's kitchen garden book. Online Sarah Raven is a good source of tips and sells quite a variety of seeds. Chiltern seeds sell a larger range which include some more unusual varieties. Happy planning .

Elisheba

Thanks, SSDD23. I've added it to my little folder of money saving apps!

Cheers, Honeysucklelou2. I have quite a stash of catalogues I ordered a couple of months ago, and some beginners allotment books. I think the problem is it all seems quite mammoth and I'm not sure where to start. However, I've decide just to start small with some things I like, and see how I get on. Its better to do something than nothing!