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

Cheery_Daff

Excellent work, that's the spirit! I never put oil in my hummus type stuff - most just mash up chick peas and add a load of garlic 😁 (but then I don't really like shop bought stuff so...)

missymoo81

Going back to the plant milk conversation. I like soya in tea and oat milk in coffee. I find soya curdles in coffee 🤮

Elisheba

Been working from 7am, and out of the house from 7.30am - 9.25pm today for work so I'm totally shattered. 

Spent money on petrol which I'll get back more or less from work at some point. Didn't buy anything else so a very cheap, if exhausting day.

Had planned on wraps for dinner but was so hungry and tired when I got in I was craving carbs, so made marmite pasta with cheese. 

Totally forgot about going vegan when someone offered me a drink earlier and I asked for a latte. Also some salt and vinegar crisps they bought me had milk as an ingredient. Ah well, live and learn.

Off to bed now and hopefully I won't wake super early! A day at my desk in the spare room tomorrow so that will be restful. 

Elisheba

Morning all. 

Think today should be a quiet one. No plans to go out and unless I can be bothered going to the shop later to get dog food it will be a NSD. 

House wise, I have a few dishes to put away, and a quick hoover wouldn't go amiss.

It's nice and cool, and may or may not rain so a good day for desk working. 

I had an idea for a book earlier on - Vegan: The Facts, or Why on earth should I go Vegan? A sort of balanced researched book on all the issues and the facts on both sides, letting people makeup their own minds. Reading books where someone has gone off on one and it's just opinion and not backed up scientifically drives me up the wall. Or where facts and figures are twisted so much you can't tell up from down.

I read a book recently on natural health. The author was a fully qualified doctor, but she made a statement in the first chapter that milk specifically, and dairy in general were bad for you. No studies were quoted, no evidence given, I've no idea what she was basing this conclusion on. Later on in the book she mentioned it again, but this time referenced herself earlier stating it. I actually tweeted her to ask her where she was getting this from, but she never got back to me.

Later on she said bathing in Epsom Salts would help magnesium deficiency. Now Epsom Salts are basically magnesium, but I looked into this and since we don't absorb things through our skin like that, there is no evidence Epsom Salts help magnesium deficiency. I gave up on the book after that.

So I might draft some chapter headings after work and have a think about how I'd put it together. It might be quite interesting to research and me useful for me. 

Elisheba

Evening, frugal chums. 

It was indeed a NSD today. After work I went out for a couple of hours with my dog, and picked 200g brambles, and 2 1/2 kilos of plums. I've rinsed the brambles and put them on a tray in the freezer to bag up later and store in the freezer to go with apple crumble later in the year. The plums are in the fridge and at the weekend I will do something with them. Make a crumble and some jam probably and work out how to freeze the rest.

I'm out tomorrow night for a chippie in the park with friends so hope it doesn't rain! I'll also need to get dog food, but I have a £5 gift voucher for T£sco, and £2.50 in points I may as well use so it'll only be £2.50 if it hasn't gone up.

I had the rest of the wrap mixture in tortillas with vegan yogurt and cheese for dinner tonight. Very nice it was too - I think the mixture might be nicer two days later than it was when I made it actually. 

My niece started school today which is exciting. She's on the autistic spectrum and my sister tried to get her a place in a special needs school with support from her nursery and various other professionals, but the local authority (or whomever makes these decisions) felt her needs could be accommodated in mainstream. I just hope it all works out. I'm not sure how much classroom support has been put in place for her - she's not out of nappies yet and doesn't really interact with other kids so she will need some. She's great with numbers and her alphabet and can tell me that 49 is a square number, so I hope she gets lots of educational support as well. 

Other than that not much to report. A quiet day and evening, and I'll play on my phone reading on here and watching You Tube before bed I think. 

Hope everyone is well 

vampirotoothus

Hi Elisheba you have mentioned a couple of things like boots,towels and a heated jumper that you would like, but can't afford to buy at the mo. Could you add them to your birthday / Christmas present list, or maybe ask someone if they would like to buy for you now and save the faff at whichever celebration comes next? Good luck on the rest of your journey, keep up the good work V x

Elisheba

Afternoon all,

I bought a charger for my Fitbit and some shoe polish to try and fix a dog scratched sofa on Am@zon earlier and used a £5 voucher towards it so it cost me £3.50 in real money.  The shoe polish will also do for my new walking boots when I get them.

Was playing around with some figures earlier.  If I retire at 60 my pension would be £15,500 odd a year (at 55 its about £10,000) with no lumpsum.   If I have paid off a mortgage by 60 I could theoretical live on £15.5k a year, but ideally I would have £100,000 in savings to get me through to state pension age so I can do nice things and go on holidays and what not. I don't know how likely it is I can save up £100k before 60 and pay off a mortgage.  Those are worries for future me, once I have got rid of the debt and saved up a deposit and bought a house  . I read up about AVC's but ended up really confused about how much I could claim back as a lump sum, and I have no idea how much buying annuities with them would cost or pay out.

In terms of saving a deposit, One of my credit cards will be gone by January, which I'm paying £345 a month on.  I thought I would put the Feb and March payments, and whatever I don't need from the January one into my LISA, and apparently we've been offered a £1900 payrise this year, which no doubt I won't see till March and as it it hasn't been part of my budget I could just funnel that to my LISA as well, which would be about £2000 altogether, and I would get £500 back on that in the LISA (which pay 25% a year up to £4000 but only if you put it towards buying a house).  Although it will be a bit slower finishing off my debts, I think getting the £500 this year towards a house will be a real boost.  I'd like to put the full £4k in and get the £1k, but sadly don't see how that is possible without ignoring debts I would rather I paid. I'll have a think about what is possible. After this financial year the £335 I would need to put aside each month won't be a problem. 

Will buy dog food later, and use some vouchers toward that, and then out for a chippie later with friends.  I made some lovely lentil soup at lunch time and had that with a hummus and salad sandwich.  That'll last me til at least Saturday for lunches.  

House things I want to do this weekend
* Weed driveway
* Clean car inside and out
* Clean fridge
* Clean bathroom
* Full hoover of house
* Sort out some clothes for charity shop and drop them off
* Sort out the plums - crumble for this week, jam, and stewed fruit
* Foodplan and small food shop

Fun things I want to do this weekend 
* Go a nice, different walk with dog
* River swimming (could combine this with dog walk)
* Bubble bath
* Start writing book
* Quaker Meeting
* Some time for reading

Elisheba

Evening all. 

I'm a numpty and forgot to take my phone to the supermarket so couldn't pay for the dog food with vouchers as they are all on my phone . Still, I'll just use them on something else I need when I need it so it's no big loss. Just means I've gone over my planned budget for pet food this month. I bought a fair bit extra of cat biscuits and litter knowing I'd be away for 2 weeks and not knowing how much the cat lady would need. I'd say it will all even out, but I never normally buy cat biscuits so it probably won't! 

Had a lovely time in the park with my friends having chips, and it didn't rain even though it threatened to! Ran into someone I vaguely know but quite like on the way home, and her and her boyfriend invited me to join them for a drink at an open mic night. I was very good and said no, mainly because I was knackered, but that's about £3-6 saved  .

Did a good dog walk earlier and munched on loads of plums and blackberries as I was walking  . It's lovely this time of year with everything ripe, and although everything is a bit more orange than normal at this time of year, with the late August sun it is very pretty.

I have a craving for something comforting and sweet now so I might make a cup of cocoa and drink that while I catch up on here and do some reading before bed.

Take care all, and hope you sleep well tonight. 

Cheery_Daff

Sounds like a lovely afternoon, and some good pension pondering there too.

foxgloves

Good idea to be forward-planning with pensions, etc. I need to have a good look at mine (frozen LA pension) as although my official pension date is about 8 years away, I could theoretically take it (or some of it) now. I intend to investigate the figures as a back-up plan. 
Re your comment on magnesium absorption. I've read this in several books/articles over the years & had always understood that magnesium is the one mineral which can be absorbed by the skin in this way.
F