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

Elisheba

Yay - payday at last! So nice to see my bank account in credit for a few days! 

Elisheba

Evening all, 

Lovely to see money back in my bank account - thank you, payday! I've siphoned off just over £350 to go towards a joint debt with my ex, and just waiting for a £300 direct debit for a credit card to come out. After that there won't be much actual money left in the account, and the trick will be to try to keep it from the OD for as long as possible to keep to charges down. Almost all bills come out on 28th on the month and payday next month is 29th, so there won't be long to be massively OD for.

It's been another NSD so that's nice. I've done a super easy food plan for the month that involves as little actual cooking as possible. I ever feel like it after work, and I have a freezer full of batch cooking I'm never in the mood for. So there is one of my hm frozen meals a week, wraps one night, baked potato and salad another, cheese beano one night and hm pizza another. Everyday had at least 5 fruit and veg, but nothing very complicated so hopefully it will be both easy to stick and, and quite nice so I'm not tempted to pop out to the supermarket for something else. 

Made hm bread in breadmaker today and it turned out perfectly! Which is the first time that's happened in a very long time. So had that with cheese and beans for dinner and very full now.

I'm reading a great book about thrift in the early 20th century, and some of the ways they reused things would put us to shame. They did have some really weird food though, even accounting for the fact they ate a lot more of an animal than we do. Tinned celery really stood out for me. What is the point of putting celery in a tin? It's easy to clean and chop, and lasts for afes.and although I was very find of kidney soup as a child, even if I still ate meat I doubt I could bring myself to eat fried brains on toast. It is all very interesting though! 

I've been thinking I am probably going to post on my diary once or twice a week, rather than everyday. Most days there isn't really much in the way of financial happenings to post about, but once or twice a week should still hold me accountable. 

I hope you have all had lovely paydays, those of you who have been paid! 

Cheery_Daff

Excellent meal planning there! That book sounds really interesting, I really like reading that type of thing. Oddly enough, my copy of Ruth Goodman's How to be a Victotian resurfaced during Mr Cheery's excavation of the wardrobe today - must read that again as it has some similarly 'interesting' tips!

missymoo81

Just caught up with your diary! Loving all your posts. Have you got your ski pants yet? Such a great idea. I would love to have that country lifestyle, I said to OH yesterday, I want to live in a house in the middle of a big field with a great big fence, can you tell I’ve had enough of people! Keep up the great work!

Elisheba

Just wanted to post quickly because I am super proud of myself!  Managed to go through all 110 pages of the new month's Kindle Deals and didn't buy one!  I'm using this awesome app I saw recommended on one of the boards on here called Library Extension, so when I look at a Kindle book it will tell me if my library has it and I can then go straight to my library.  So there were two ebooks that I was able to order from my library for free, one hard copy book I ordered for 80p, and I put a lot of books that i know my library has on a Kindle list so I can possibly order them at some time in the future if I think I'll have the time to read them and still fancy reading them.  That library extension app is a game changer.

Elisheba

Thanks @missymoo81 Yep ski pants have arrived.  They are utterly hideous on so I won't be wearing them outside, but will be fine for keeping me warm in the house.  I was rather hoping I could use them as waterproof trousers for dog walking as well but there is no way I'm being seen in them.  I'm not vain but these are massive every where except my waist, which pops open if I bend!  I don't mind much as they will do for what I want, and I didn't pay much for them.  If I'd paid full price I would be furious and would have sent them back straight away     

Elisheba

I have How to be a Victorian, and How to be a Tudor waiting on my Kindle 'To be Read' pile @Cheery_Daff.  I really should get round to them.  I read another Ruth Goodman book last year called The Domestic Revolution.  It was quite hard going and dry at times, mainly because there was so much detail she had to explain about how wood used to be grown, sold and used in cooking.  But once you had those basics she talked about the absolutely massive changes that society went through when we moved over to coal as our main fuel.  Really fascinating, and something I had no idea about before. 

missymoo81

Ah @Elisheba that’s annoying about the trousers. Maybe go for 5am dog walks so no one will see you 😁. 

Elisheba

Morning all, 

Happy Sunday, everyone! It looks lovely right now out of me bedroom window, as I lie in bed with a coffee. I believe it will be showery late but nevermind!

I did my monthly shop yesterday in Ald!. Came to just over £60, which included 12 cartons of UHT milk. I know it's more expensive but I am experimenting to see if having to go to the shops less will save me money in the long run. Its only semi skimmed so I don't know how it will taste being watered down, but I'll give that a go as well.

After Mr A's I popped into H0me B4rgains and got 4 of the 99p shampoo bars which should do me until Xmas. That's also good because last time I ran out I bought one in the plastic free shop for £8, so having them in will avoid that. While I very much would like to encourage plastic free and genuine green businesses, I am following the guidance in The Tightwad Gazette that advised that when debts are paid and a measure of financial freedom achieved then you can choose to spend more money supporting the causes and businesses close to your heart, but until that point you do not have the spare cash to do so and you need to focus your money on getting rid of the debt. I'm sure Amy put it a lot better than that but essentially that is what she said.

I was very good in HM and resisted buying a lot of things - some ice lolly cases, a new cat bowl. Although I did buy a ham bone for my dog, and some elastic to try and fix some PJ bottoms that keep falling down. 

I finally got round to making the laundry liquid from Rhonda Hetzel's book Down to Earth. It was super easy and I don't know why I didn't do it sooner. It didn't seem to thicken up which she says it would do, so I'll have to see how it is when I use it. 

I'm up to date with dishes and downstairs hoovering. I have lots of things I could be getting on with this afternoon after Meeting like wrrding the drive, cleaning the oven and fridge etc, but I'll see how I feel. My throat is hurting a tiny bit, and that is often the start of a virus for me so if I start feeling worse I'll rest up. Hope it comes to nothing, and if it is something it's not covid. I've not had it yet and even after vaccinations you hear some horror stories.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day filled with relaxation and joy. 

Cheery_Daff

Fingers crossed your sore throat comes to nothing...

I've been meaning to make that laundry liquid forever. I might copy you, or rather be inspired by your good example 😁 I've just checked, and I have all the ingredients - I've found a couple of hotel soaps that have been knocking about in the bathroom that I can grate and use, so that's a bit of decluttering too. By good fortune we also have a 6 pint milk carton knocking around. I might just make half the recipe - it'll take me all year to get through 10 litres of laundry liquid! 

Won't save me any money - I usually just use washing soda in the washing machine anyway - but it might mean some things come out a bit cleaner 😂😂