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

Elisheba

Evening all. 
I'm a bit tipsy and ever so cross. Spoke to my Uncle tonight, who is a hard working chap in his 60s. For various reasons he rents, and supports his daughter (my cousin) through Uni.

His estate agents called him today to say the 2 bed semi he rents in the Cambridgeshire area (not Cambridge) is not worth £850 these days on the market, but as a kindness his landlords were willing to only raise the rent to £775, which is a £110 raise as far as I recall. 

So he's sitting there wondering how the !!!!!! he can afford that, and the energy rises and all the rest. He's in his early 60s but has been abroad for a lot of his life, and only paid toward his pension in the last 10 years so no way he can use that. Apparently his work are also taking about changing base, but not till next year so loads of uncertainty with that as well.

I'm just so cross. He's helping to pay his daughter through Uni, hes a proper grafter and I don't know his salary but I think it's within the £30-40k bracket. He doesn't live extravagantly, but with the rent rise and energy rise he reckons it'll be at least £300 a month extra and that's above what he can afford.

He wasn't in a mood to hear about all the frugal things he can do right now, understandably. It's just awful though. People previously comfortable aren't any longer, and those who are already on the breadline are screwed 

missymoo81

Oh @Elisheba that’s ludicrous! Honestly the world is crazy! I feel like everyone has moved down in the world, we were once, years ago, comfortable, but now we’re having to fight for every penny. Which is the position it sounds like your uncle is in. I really feel for him.

Elisheba

Evening all. 

It's been a bit hectic and busy work wise, the last week or so, so I haven't been on MSE at all. 

Money wise, everything is due out on Tuesday and I get paid on Wednesday. Annoyingly I have overspent this month. I've had to spend £100 on petrol for work which I hadn't budgeted for, and with having been on holiday this means I've spent too much and will have to borrow from the old joint account for a day. I'll get the petrol money back, although not until October, so I'm not too worried about it all.

Forgot to cancel the Now TV trial I had - oops. Its cancelled now but that's £10 I wasn't planning on spending. 

I made jam today with plums I'd foraged. Got 9 jars so that'll last for a while, although I know at least 3 people who would like me to give them a jar so far  .

I got £20 for some old dresses yesterday, which paid off my library fines and the coffee and cake I had with a friend.

Sadly I'm working tomorrow, despite it being a Bank Holiday. Its my choice-I need to get caught up with some things, and I'll get the hours back on flexi at some point. 

Crazy news this week with energy prices rising by 80%. I'll need to plug the numbers into some energy use sums to see how much I should raise my DD by. I pay £85pcm right now, but never use more that £65. I'll plug in my February usage figures, when I was cutting back but needed the heating on sometimes, and see what the damage is.

Other than that it's been a pretty quiet week. Had dinner out with friends on Friday night, but drank water and the kitchen was closed by the time it cane to dessert, so that only cost £9.50. Ordered the new Rev Richard Coles murder mystery book from the library, and collected it yesterday so looking forward to reading that. Did a weekly shop yesterday, so all set for the week.

I saw a really interesting Under the Median YT video yesterday about how they food plan. I think it was an older one, but it was very interesting. That area  bit more systematic than me, and I think it would lead to greater variety, so I'm good to give it a go. Still working to cut out dairy, so it helps they are vegan! 

Hope you all have a lovely Bank Holiday Monday 

Elisheba

Evening all, 

Had to do some work today which involved me having to spend £30 on petrol, which I knew of have to do and will get back eventually so that's okay. 

Bit worried about some noises my car is making. Its hard to pinpoint exactly what is wrong, it just seems a bit to loud at times but it doesn't necessarily seem linked to anything the engine is doing. I'll see how it goes, but might mean an expensive garage visit at some point.

I had intended to do a bit more work when I got home, but I was so tired I had a bite to eat them went for a nap. And I've woken up with a headache, so won't be getting anything else done today. 

Just thinking about what to have for dinner. I have wraps in the fridge but they might be better for lunch. I'm not super hungry yet, but might chuck some pasta together with some passata and dry some veg to mix in.

I'm at a bit of a lose end this evening, mainly due to feeling tired and the headache. I'm not in the mood to start anything, and not really in the mood to sit back and watch some telly or read a book either. 

All my bills come out tomorrow. Just hope my record keeping hasn't been too far out - it shouldn't have been. With the extra petrol I'll have overspent by about £100 which I'll temporary borrow from the old joint account, so will need to stick properly to my spending budget to make up for it as it will come out of next month.

Hope you've all had good weekends 

Elisheba

Well, I managed to work out what was wrong with my budget last night.  Having already paid my August amount to a credit card at the start of the month, as the joint debt is now gone I had transferred the DD to my personal account, and it was also coming out this month  . 

Its £350 I don't have spare right now, so I am just going to borrow it from the joint account overdraft each month, then pay it back when I get paid.  It'll mean OD charges but as it will only ever be a day or two it will only be pennies.  Once I have all the upcoming expenses out the way (car service and MOT and any work needed, birthdays and Xmas, and car insurance) I will put some money towards it so I don't have to borrow each month to cover it.  

Other than that I actually found I was about £60 under what I thought I should be.  Went through my budget and found £40 I had counted twice, but no idea what the extra £20 was.  It'll be from the holiday though.   I'll have counted something Mum paid me back for, or something like that.  

Nice to know where I am financially for definite, and that I hadn't made any huge mistakes (other than that DD coming out twice in one month, but its debt repayment that needed to happen one way or another so not too worried  ).

I have a lot of work on this week, so probably won't be on here much.  I need to plan what my expenses will look like this month and foodplan for a shop this weekend.  I've done a rough plan based on the Under the Median YouTube system, and just need to fill the gaps and a few treats shopping wise.  Also got lot of house things to do, but I'll just try and work through them slowly.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Elisheba

Massive work project is finished now, so I'll get myself up to date and start posting here again soon.  With being so busy I've been rubbish at food planing, so will need to get organised again!

Elisheba

Oooh, did my monthly sums and I am finally under the £10k mark debt wise!  Woo hoo! Down to £9831 with a reduction of £644 last month.  Granted I paid about £100 more than that but it went on interest, but not much to be done about that at the  moment.  
It's always nice to feel I'm getting somewhere!

Elisheba

Had a look at energy now I have time, and based on the average tariff cost I will be raising my DD to £145 after this month.  That's up from £85 for the last 6 months, and £38 when I was on a deal before that  .  

I using energy use figures from last year when I was very frugal with energy and rarely had the heating on.   My only real indulgence is that I do have a shower everyday and once a week a long, hot bath.  I hate to think what it will cost for people who need to have the heating on!

I can't give up my showers as my skin goes weird, but I'll have to think of other ways I can save on energy. Working at the library 2 or 3 times a week will save on my laptop energy cost, and its nice to work in a heated area rather than just wearing masses of layers. Better planned batch cooking and using my slow cooker more.  Shorter showers perhaps?  I think I am doing pretty much everything else I've seen suggested but I'll have a think.

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Hi Elisheba
I think libraries will become very popular this winter. I have been using them for ages to save money & the environment by borrowing rather than buying books; hopefully people who go there to keep warm will also borrow books so they stay open! We have lots of libraries in my area. 
I batch cooked some soup and have 7 portions in the freezer and 2 portions of quiche that i made to maximise use of the oven.  
I think Edwina Currie may have some energy saving ideas you may not have thought of (can't find an emoji for an angry face)
love Deni

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Also, fab news on getting debt below 10k - those milestones feel great!