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

Elisheba

Afternoon, all!  I'm good, thanks @missymoo81, just been a bit busy and rather spendy so not been on here much!

I had a lovely little break last week, away camping in my car which was brilliant.  So good to be away!  I tried out the Park4Night app sites, where they say you can stay overnight for free.  Although it was perfectly fine, and good not to have to spend money on accommodation, the limitations of being in a car do mean I think I would book a campsite in future - just for 24 hour access to a loo if nothing else!  I have also come back with grand plans to buy a tent to attach to my car so I can cook easily when it rains but as they are about £300 that will have to wait.   So looking forward to some lovely holidays in the future though - and it all worked really well with my dog.

Financially though, my car wouldn't start one morning and I had to call out breakdown.  £150 for a new battery!  When that last happened about £12 years ago  I think I only paid £30 or £40 for a new one!  Crazy prices these days.

Back to work now after a week off.  I read a book called Homesick: Why I live in a shed by Catrina Davies when I was away, and I was genuinely considering this morning if there were any convenient sheds I could live in so I didn't need to go back to work   
It is a very good book if you get a chance to read it though.  I got it from my library, and its discussed our housing crisis and things that can be done, as well as the difficulties she had in living in a structure not marked residential. 

I always find it so interesting reading about ways people have managed to opt out of the normal system and how they manage.  I was dreaming of how, if my Gran was still around and had her farmhouse, I could make her old pigsty liveable, and I could sit outside in summer cooking over a fire, and coorie up inside in winter with a woodburning stove. In this dream I was keeping alpacas and hens in her fields, spinning yarn and making clothes and bedding from the alpacas, and somehow supporting my small financial needs through some sort of writing.  Although to be fair, if Gran was still alive and had her 5 bedroom farmhouse, she would be more than happy to put me up in it, and living in the old Pigsty wouldn't really be an issue.  It would be pretty cool to have The Old Pigsty as an address though!

I've started the monthly money paperwork but not finished it yet.  The overpayments have been made, but I haven't gone through all the credit cards yet and worked out where the debt currently stands. My little holiday took a slice out of the annuals money I have been putting away and general overspending means its not as great a fund as I would like, but at least I know where I am.  I need to get pet food tonight, and make a food plan and do the shopping for the month at some point this week.

Elisheba

Oh, have managed to get a pair of ski pants for £12.99 plus postage in a sale, reduced from £59.99.  Hope they fit!  I want to keep the heating off as much as possible next winter, but I was cold last winter so hopefully these will help! They only had a really big size left, but if its too big that shouldn't be a problem as I will be wearing them over leggings and trousers, and they are salopettes so have shoulder straps to hold them up. They are designed for down to -20 degrees c, so fingers crossed they will be useful. They are a dark grey colour so should go with most things.

Elisheba

Hello all,

I have remembered to zap some of my receipts onto Huyu and Shoppix today so that's something.  Only one receipt away from a £5 voucher on one of them.  I really need to remember to zap more of my receipts - I'd be able to cash out a lot more. I've still got £20 on a cashback card, so I might buy some towels on Am*son and all my bath sheets are basically in rags.

I should be able to claim about £15 back on some travel from a couple of months ago for work, but can I find the tickets???  No I can not - how frustrating!

I have decided food wise this month to try and run down the freezer a bit - I have loads in there and it does need eating.  So I am going to make a veggie bolognaise today in the slow cooker, and alternate that for dinner with Quorn escalopes (of which I bought about 14 on yellow sticker), potatoes and veg.  Lunches can be soup and sandwich or French toast for the next week.  Once I have run things down a little I can do a small shop for the rest of the month if I need to.

I had ordered a spade off Am*an but got told it was undeliverable and would be refunded for some reason.  As what I wanted was actually a shovel, I have now ordered one of those instead.  Hopefully the Amazon refund will come through fairly quickly.  I have also returned a few Kindle books I bought on the spur of the moment and don't really want.  I wish Am*zon didn't have a limit on how many you can return at once without having to call them.   The one time I did call them I got a very snippy young man who basically told me I shouldn't be trying to return books once I had bought them.  As the entirety of the book buying system on Am*zon is set up to encourage impulse buying, and as I buy A LOT of books form there and most I don't return, I thought he could take a running jump t be honest.  Anyway he did return them and I got a refund, he was just very moody about it all.

I really want to stick to budget this month.  Although I haven't gone mad I have been frittering money away for the last two months, and the money I have been putting towards debt could be higher.  

I'm looking forward to the ski pants I ordered arriving.  I've measured myself and obviously my bum has got bigger as I think they will only be a little too big, which will be ideal to have layers underneath some winter.  I can see me living in the things!

Hope you are having wonderful days   

Elisheba

Afternoon, all.

I have done my monthly sums and am now at the bottom of £10k in debt so getting there! About £5k of that is interest free one way or another, so just got to get the other £5k interest free somehow or other and then it'll be a race to get to the end! Hopefully towards the end of next year. Annoyingly the paid off credit card with £3-4k credit on it isn't offering me any interest free transfers yet.  Fingers crossed soon.

Other than that I have been very sleepy for some reason.  I am going to bed early and getting up late, and even had a lunchtime nap today.  Hopefully I'll be all caught up soon and can get on with doing things.  

The forecast says it should be dry for the next two days so I'll put a washing on and out later I think.  Either spag bog or Quorn escalopes for dinner tonight.  I'll see what I fancy. I should probably do some hoovering as well, and with dinner and dog walk and dishes that'll be the evening gone.  I have a book on sheep farming to finish, and that will take me up to my 2 books a week aim for the week.

Saw a 3 bed ground floor ex council flat for sale in a village in Scotland earlier with a garden and parking, guide price £5k!  It needed gutted - new windows, electrics, kitchen, bathroom, insulation, walls etc. Only thing I reckon it wouldn't need is a roof, as its ground floor. I imagine doing that would probably be about £30k if you weren't fancy.  So that could be a family home for £35k.  It'll go to developers though, and they will rent it out at double what a £35k mortgage would cost a month.  Hence the housing crisis.  Its such a shame.  

Its funny. I was out with friends at the weekend and we started talking about clothes, and they were saying they had bought this and that - and I realised just how far away from that mindset I am now. I think about whether things will wash well, and if I'll get at least 100 wears out of them, and whether I actually need them before I commit to buy anything now.  Where possible I'll buy second hand as well, or in a sale.  What I haven't been so good at up until now is thinking ahead - so for instance for this winter coming I have thought about what I'll need, and bought the ski pants and got them in a sale because they are off season.  This is helped by the fact that I have a little bit of financial leeway now, so can afford to buy in advance rather than just scrape around when its urgent. Well - most of the time anyway!

When I'm feeling ab it more awake and motivated, I have a few plans for things I would like to do which may end up frugal.  Collect chestnuts in Autumn for making washing liquid, and start growing some herbs outside in pots.  I only have a path basically and can't put anything on the ground as my dog will pee on them, but I could get some tables out there and grow pots on them.  

Hope you all have a good day!

Elisheba

Afternoon 
I have the bread maker on, and hopefully it will make a half decent loaf.  The last few have been severely lacking, but I have bought new yeast so hopefully that will solve the problem.  I'm blooming staving and planning or having toast and eggs for lunch, but not sure I'll last until the bread is ready!

I blew my budget again when I was out with friends at the weekend, but I'm just noting it all down and trying to stick to it from now on.  Still haven't done a big shop for the month.  Got about 2 or 3 potions of bolognaise, and some whole meal pasta to have it with, and lots of frozen food.  I'm not trying to empty my stocks, but would like to run the freezer down a bit so I can fill it with some new meals. I might do a small shop this weekend - fruit, jam, yogurts, that sort of thing.  Just to fill the gaps. Maybe some salad as the weather is due to get really hot.

Bought milk yesterday with a 50p off voucher from Waitr*se, and toothpaste that already had a a third off and another £1 off voucher.  Although I don't actually think £2.30 is particularly cheap for toothpaste.  Still I have sensitive teeth, and don't want any more dental appointments.

I got a second load of washing on earlier - already have one out drying on the line, and this one will go on the drying racks indoors.  Its feel good to know I am just about organised.  Got a few household jobs to do over the weekend but nothing major, and its mostly outside.  I need to clear the driveway a bit.  I'm going to make some natural weedkiller with vinegar, salt and dish soap and see how I get on.  I want to move some furniture in my bedroom, but I'll see how hot it is.  Don't fancy doing that if its roasting!

Cheery_Daff

Morning Elisheba 😊

Just wanted to say I have been reading back through your diary and enjoying it very much 😊 I love reading back over a whole diary sometimes - really lovely to see the evolution of someone's thinking, and in your case, what fantastic debt repayments! Woo hoo!! Very impressed. 

Also impressed with all your money saving and eco efforts. We had a smart meter in our old house but haven't had one fitted in this house - I might investigate that (i couldn't face it while we had building work going on but that's settled down now).

Love your reusable loo roll too - something I've not tried myself yet, although I did buy a small portable bidet (basically just a squirty bottle 😂) last time I was reading about it - I actually really like using this rather than loo roll (haven't progressed to using cold water yet though, brrrr...). I did make reusable sanitary towels some years ago - got out of the habit of using them but they did work well for me - must dig them out and get back on the case! 

Anyway, I'm inspired by your efforts. I do already have a house in the country, and chickens, and while I aim for a simple life, I often fall by the wayside (and be warned - in our case, chickens are a complete time suck and money waster, like most pets...). Even now, some of my veg is shrivelled up in the greenhouse and I'm lying in bed looking at my phone rather than planting out, oh dear!!

I will think of you and your industriousness this week, and get on with the 'simple life'  type jobs that I've been putting off! 😊

Hope you've been having a nice week.

Cheery
X

Elisheba

Thanks @Cheery_Daff I love reading your diary, and try to keep up with all the chickens and house renovations and such!  I have to admit I have had hens before, and I didn't spend nearly much as you do on vet treatment.  Half the time they got eaten by foxes which was pretty stressful as well, and it was difficult to get someone to look after them when we went on holiday.  So I will be thinking quite carefully before I get them, again, and work out what I want to spend on them and how I can get away for weekends/holidays with them.

Elisheba

Morning all.  It has been ages since I posted which I'm sorry about, but just life busy things getting in the way.  Tomorrow is the day all my bills come off and then paid on Thursday, so almost at the monthly rest. 

I know I have overspend again this month, but I have been writing everything down so can look at where I'm going wrong.  I already have a good idea - I didn't do a monthly shop, but then get bored and just buy things as I want them and the food budget goes whoosh!  I also had some days/nights out at the beginning of the month and just went totally over budget with them.

So what to do?  Well, back to basics for July.  A proper food plan for each week, and a budget of £20 a week max on food, and £20 available over the month for any bulk purchases I want.  That'll be £100 for the month and no need to go over that.  I know if I want I can live of £40-50 a month so £100 is super generous. If I do it properly should have money spare.

Regarding going out - well I have plans with friends, but I am not going to drink at all for the month (in fact I am thinking about doing a dry year and seeing how that feels), and I am also tackling my demon smoking.  Rather then just going cold turkey like I normally do and then relapsing every time I am stressed, I have bought an e cig.  I know they aren't any healthier, but they are cheaper and cleaner so they can be like a transitional tool until I have given up completely.  

The fact I am leaving extra money in my account rather then shuffling it away is what is subconsciously allowing me to overspend on my budget limits.  I knew this would happen, but I still think the almost complete back of charges on the overdraft makes leaving the money there worth it.  What I am going to do is make sure that I have allocated that 'spare' cash to one of my annuals pots in the budget - that way I will know what its is supposed to be for which hopefully will mean I will stick to budget more.  

I have a 2 week holiday with family in August, so all spare cash is going towards that at the moment.  After that it will be for the car MOT and Christmas and birthdays.  I had this all budgeted out at the beginning of the year, but haven't really stuck to it - so need to do that now.

I watched quite a few YouTube video's on frugal living last night and am feeling inspired.  I don't learn much new these days, but just listening to people talking about living frugally and what they do can be quite motivating and inspiring.  I know there is loads more I could do in terms of making a bit of money, but for now I'll just keep focusing on the basics and sticking to budget.  I am hugely privileged in that I can live perfectly well off my salary and still pay back debt, so just going to stick to the core issues for now.  Debt reduction and budgeting.

Hope everyone is well.  Forecast is for showers' where i am all week.  think I do a hot wash of towels etc and hang them out and they can dry whenever they get enough sun - no rush for them.  Up to date on dishes and hoovering, so just need to rush round the bathroom at lunch time and I am pretty much up to date on chores.  

Elisheba

Afternoon, all, 

I've been at a work conference today. Had to pay for a peak time train, although Tr@inline did automatically sort me out a split ticket which saved me £6 which was nice.

I used to get really enthused by the sort of thing I attended today, but after 2 plus years of working from home and country dreaming I have to say I did struggle to care that much today. I'm just in such a different place in my life and head now. I don't want to dress smartly and put on makeup, I do t really want to be forced to make small talk with 150 odd different people. It just feels like hard work, rather than an enjoyable experience. 

On the plus side I did get a good lunch, and I suppose something different is a good way to mix things up. 

I've decided to try and write down the frugal things I do each day. Today I remembered a flask of coffee for the train and got up early enough to eat breakfast before I left. I zapped my receipts on the apps, and now have £5 to cash out on Huyu. I checked my bank when I work up (everything comes out today) and made sure everything looks okay. A direct debit I set up over a month ago to pay an interest free credit card hasn't come out. I'll keep an eye on it, and pay it manually on the due date if doesn't come out before then. Also, I am posting on here which is my frugal motivation!

I'm really tired and not very hungry, so when I get home ill see how I feel but I suspect I'll only have some salad tonight for dinner.

I have an email about a £1 for 2 months of Now TV film that runs out today. I think I'll get it as I looked it up and there are quite a few films I'd like to see on there. The trick is remembering to cancel on time. I'll put it in my Google calendar.

Hope you have all had lovely days! 

Elisheba

Afternoon all,

There is something very odd going on with the Barclaycard website just now.  I tried to log on, and it seemed to be a new system requiring Pinsentry which was fine.  But it wouldn't accept my identify code, and when I tried to go in via my card number it didn't recognize my card!  I tried in the morning and the afternoon - same thing happened.  So phoned them up, and the chap I spoke to said he had had another person call about the same thing but his team hadn't been told about any changes to the system.  Anyway while I was speaking to him the old log in page opened and I got in fine after that.  Must be making some changes and have made them live before they should have I suppose.

Anyway I finally did get on, and I wanted to check my £300 direct debit to that card was set up correctly.  It seems to be so I presume it will come off sometime soon.  If I ignore that payment I am only out £10 for the month, and I am actually £10 richer than I thought i was.  I'm not surprised I am bit out with my figures as the start of the month was a bit chaotic with holidays and not watching the pennies, and when I decided to take hold of the reins again i got a few Kindle refund so that might account for it.

StilI, its very nice to know where I am with everything again.  I have allocated all my pots for next month.  It will be quite a spendy month as it includes my birthday and there is a London trip for that which will just be expensive - no way round it.  I need a new railcard, and even then the train ticket will be about £30 or £40.  Then lunch on top of that.  Even without alcoholic drinks I'll be lucky if it doesn't break £100.  Then I have some other activities booked it which will cost a bit here and there. 

However, I live on my own and I need to socialise, so I don't mind allocating a bit for nice things.  As long as I stick to budget then it is all under control and accounted for.  I am also going on holiday at the end of next month, and although I have put money aside for it it is currently sitting in my account making it look like my OD is smaller than it is.  Once I spend it my OD will be horrible again!

I've spoken to the council about an allotment again.  I had one before lockdown but didn't have the time for it when I got my dog (who has behaviour problems and at that point needed 2 -3 hours of walking a day), and the lady said she would keep me on the list. Its a new lady now, and she is still trying to organise things, but she said she might be able to contact me about one soon.  Its such a shame I had to give up my last one.  It was on the edge with trees behind it, and had a shed and greenhouse.   To be fair I am not much of a gardener, but I don't have much of a garden now.  I would like to use it as more of a garden.  I think I would fence it this time though as tools got stolen last time, and also it would mean I could let my dog off lead.  I think I'll be here for at least another 3 years, so it might be worth it financially.  Growing things and living seasonally is good for the soul as well.

It'll be a NSD today today - woo!  I had HM muesli for breakfast, and HM broccoli and cheddar soup with bread and butter for lunch.  Not sure about dinner.  Some salad and a veggie escalope maybe, and some new potatoes if I have any left. Think I'll watch another episode of Silent Witness tonight.  I'm catching up on the new series.  

Hope you have wonderful evenings everyone!