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

missymoo81

Hey @Elisheba I just wanted to check in and say hi and see how you’re doing.

Elisheba

Hi everyone, 
My goodness it has been quite a while since I posted. Terribly sorry about that - just a lot of work busyness and stress. The problem of course in MSE terms is that that leads to lack of planning and excess spending. Well, for me it does anyway. 

However, the worse is over now and I've had a long weekend where I've gotten up to date with my finances, and got on top of all the tasks needing done round my home. My driveway in finally weeded, I've batch cooked, and my house is lovely a clean. Not that anyone really sees it, but it's good for my mental health living in a clean and presentable space. 

Least said about money up until this weekend the better. Its all totted up though, and budget set for the month. I will be deleting my bank card from Amazon again as I have bought so many books on Kindle deals. It's just far too easy.

I have a London trip to see an outdoor immersive event at the end of the month that I have realised I've not yet paid for. I'll have to split that over this month and next. Any excess next month will go towards the car MOT and service, and then it will be Xmas, so it's likely I'll not be able to put much more towards debts until the New Year. 

I've made a huge cheese and broccoli pasta bake which looks like it has 6 good portions on it. I'll let it cool over might and portion it for the freezer tomorrow morning. I've also oven baked 6 potatoes I'll put in the freezer and defrost for lunches when I feel like them.

I've got bread baking in the bread maker, and enough UHT milk for the month. I've probably got enough food for the rest of the month, except for maybe a few salad bits I need to buy weekly.

I'll try and make time throughout the week to catch up with all the diaries I follow. I've zapped my receipts, and am still watching my frugal YT videos. Everyone seems to be prepping for power cuts. I have the stuff I need anyway just from camping and the like, but I'm not hugely worried. The energy companies say its very unlikely in the UK, and of we do then I'll cope. 

Even with my stressed out spendy ways I have been keeping a beady eye on my energy use. My heated hoody is fabulous and I haven't needed or even missed the heating at all - long may that continue! The only thing I notice is my feet sometimes get cold, but they get cold with the heating on as well, so not much difference there. It does amuse me, in a bitter and twisted sort of way, that my current energy bills, being extremely energy efficient and using no heating, are currently what they were last February when I had the heating on all the time and decided I needed to cut right back to lower the bills. Still, if I hadn't done that I would be paying double what I am now I suppose.

I hope you have all had good weekends! I'll try to post more frequently again going forward 

Elisheba

Morning all, 

Not much to report in money saving news. My heated hoodie is keeping me warm, and I've not been tempted to turn on the heating. I've been sticking to my meal plan, although I'll veer off it slightly tonight and have bean on toast, as I need something super quick as I'm going out to a book festival event this evening.

Now I know I don't have any cash to spare, it's very easy to stick to budget. My problem always comes when I know there is money in my account. If its not allocated to something absolutely necessary, subconsciously I always feel like I can spend. 

It may be more expensive up front, but I think me transferring that 'spare' money into another account, or even premium bonds if its not needed soon, is the best way to go. I say more expensive up front as I've been keeping that money in my personal account to keep overdraft charges low. Its mot working though, and if the money is being spent them it would be cheaper in the long run to transfer it away somewhere else.

I'm going to have to keep an eye on my budget and make sure I'm allocating enough. I'm back in the office sometimes now, so I should probably add the train fares for that back as line on the budget. I'm think I'm okay with food, and sticking to my pocket money budget is a constant struggle. I'm loathe to increase it though, and instead I think I should work out how to make the things I do cheaper.

I'm having a think about moving the furniture around a bit in my living room and dining room. It would mean I no longer got Freesat on my TV as the wire doesn't stretch that far, and if I bought one that did it would look awful and may trip me up. I can't actually remember the last time I watched live TV on Freesat, but there are a few channels on there you can't get with a Firestick so that needs to be taken into account. 

My Disney plus subscription for £1.99 ends soon, so I've cancelled that. I do have a voucher for 3 months free, but I'll wait a bit before I use it. I'd quite like to wait until Season 2 of Loki is out, but not sure when that will be. 

I'm very much enjoying having a clean and tidy home, so all the work I did at the weekend was worth it. I've been slowly sorting out my summer and winter clothes as well, and have most of the summer clothes out away and winter ones out. There is just a small pile of clothes I need to try on, and if they don't fit they can be added to the charity shop pile. I've currently got 4 bags in the car stuffed full of things for the charity shop so must drop them off at some point. 

I hope you are having a good week so far. I had a lovely zoom call with a friend last night, so that was enjoyable, and as I said I have a book festival event tonight with another friend. 

Elisheba

Oops, I spent £6.66 on a Kindle book.  That was naughty!  I mean, it'll come out of my pocket money allowance, but with the London trip later this month that's already stretched. Oopsy daisy.

Other than that no money news to report.  Didn't spend anything at the book festival thing last night (I has bought the ticket a few weeks ago and the car had petrol in it and parking was free).  My friend asked me if I wanted to go for a drink afterwards, and i said no - more because of the time it would take to get home than money, but it did save me a few pounds  .

I've seen another house I absolutely love.  Probably a good thing I can't afford one yet as it was also a bit beyond what I want to pay and would take me 15 rather than 10 years to pay off and that's before I take into account much higher interest rates in the future, which would delay my early retirement etc, etc.  It needed no work except maybe a bathtub fitted, and some dog proof fencing in the garden. So lovely!  Well, it should give me added impetus to be frugal and thrifty.  While a good balance of work and play is needed in life, every penny spent is a penny away from that house, and that little cottage in the countryside lifestyle, and needs to be thought about.

I haven't actually added up how much debt I paid off in September.  I've been putting it off as I paid less on one card than I normally do, and it'll be the same this month and probably the next.  The money was supposed to be for a few things but just got spent, so I'm annoyed at myself.  At least next month it will be put towards a good use.

It looks like my Union has voted to accept the payrise for this year, and is just waiting an 2 other Unions to complete their consultation before they come to a joint position - so it could come in and be backdated before Xmas. I'm not sure what they do if the 3 Unions vote differently!  So there will be that, about £20 decrease on income tax, and about £30  less on Nat Ins once all Truss's cuts are sorted, if that ever happens.  I must say I'd rather not have the extra money than the economy be up the spout, but there we go.  I'm not sure how much better off I'll be as what I'll be taxed depends on how the much pension payments and tax are after the payrise, and my student loan payment will also go up but it'll probably be at least £150 odd more a month. Which for me will cover the increased cost of living as its just me and the animals, but I know it won't for everyone.  

A totally random thought, but I've just realised my student loan payment comes out after tax.  I really do think we shouldn't pay tax on our education.  Well, I think we shouldn't pay for it at all, but in the current situation I think it should be like pensions and you shouldn't pay tax on that portion of your income.

I'm not sure if I said, but Shell reduced my energy DD by about £15. I'm currently in about £300 credit with them after the 1st government payment.  I'm going to wait and see what my October energy bill looks like before I decide what to do about the DD.  I suspect that my usage is much less than predicted, so potentially my DD could go down a lot more but I'm not sure if I want to keep building up credit to give me a bit of leeway for after the £400 payment is done.  I know roughly what I expect to use and what it will cost, but a month at the new price should back up my calculations and I can make decisions from there.

I have a night off from any tasks tonight, so I may move the furniture round in the living and dining room.  Will see how I feel later.  Going to have bangers and mash for dinner.  I was supposed to have hm soup for lunch but I ate too many jaffa cakes at elevenses and wasn't hungry for it . 

Hope all your weeks are going swimmingly.  I'm looking forward to a sit down with a good book at some point this evening!

Elisheba

Well, I actually did a little bit of financial rejigging after I posted earlier. I noticed my BC was offering a 0% interest balance transfer for a year. I already have a balance on there that is interest free till June. The amount on the offer was just enough for me to transfer the balance on my RBS card over to it, and the transfer free was the cost on 1 months interest. So that a saving of £20 odd a month on interest.

So that's me down to 3 credit cards with balances, which makes it a bit easier to count up balances each month etc.

I'm far too tired tonight to move furniture around. Think I'd better leave it until the weekend.

The problem I'm noticing with my heated hoodie is that I'm so cosy and warm I keep wanting to fall asleep  .  I suppose it makes a difference from last year when I switched the heating off when I could move for being wrapped in blankets and layers, and e en with a hot water bottle I still wasn't that comfortable. 

Elisheba

Afternoon, everyone.

I feel like I have a lot on my mind right now.  A friend and a family member are facing potentially serious health issues, and another family member is  giving away her dog due to a health issue (I can't take the dog for various reasons).  These are all things that are completely out of my control, and I know worrying about them achieves nothing, but it is hard not to.  I suppose the good thing is that I am back in control of my finances, so I don't need to worry on that front.

I know people who are really struggling with the new energy costs and the cost of living crisis, and I'm not struggling so that should be a comfort to me.  If things go up I can just pay less off on debt.  Its hard not to feel somewhat guilty about that, but I don't wave it in people's faces and try to be as generous as I can be bearing in mind I do have debts that need paid off.

I'm basically on top of house things.  Hung up a washing this morning, and will need to put bread on at lunch time.  There are some dishes needing done, and I have hm soup for lunch in the fridge.  I was far too hungry to cook after my dog walk last night, so I had a portion of cheese and broccoli pasta bake I had frozen.  I'll have the bangers and mash I planned for last night tonight instead.  

Looks like the balance transfer I did yesterday has gone through.  I can't update my debt figures until everything has cleared though, so will wait to do that.  I'm starting to look forward to next month now, when I can squirrel lots of cash away.

Hope your days are going well 

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Hi Elisheba
Glad you are back posting again.
Sorry to hear about the health worries of your friend and your family member.
I think i'm in the same union as you, waiting to hear how the other unions voted, which i think will be announced around about now (mid October i think). 
I bulk made soup for the freezer and am trying to heat things up on the hob rather than the oven. I haven't put my heating on yet but my hot water bottle has been in use every night for weeks and sometimes in the day as it's very comforting when sat at my desk working. I have to go into the office a couple of times a week, it's not warm in there though, it is really cold!
have a good afternoon 
Deni 

Elisheba

Thanks, Deni.  Yeah, I hope the Unions sort it all out soon - would be nice to see the extra dosh before Xmas.  I've used my oven once in the last couple of weeks and you can see the gas use spike on my energy usage charts.  Will just have to be very parsimonious with its use I think.  

I got the TV moved into what is now the living room over the weekend.  I just need to decide how to lay out the dining room now.  I have too much furniture basically, and a small sofa and big armchair need to go into the dining room as well.  I would chuck out the small sofa, but it is my dogs preferred bed. I'll have a proper look at tonight and maybe try a few configurations and see how they look.

I was pretty busy yesterday and had Greggs for lunch when I was out.  A bit a  doubly naughty treat as not only am I paying for food I could pack at home, but it seriously doesn't agree with my hiatus hernia and I had the most awful heartburn later and had to take lots of tablets which took ages to work.

I wasn't hugely hungry for dinner until after 8pm, and couldn't think what to make as wasn't in the mood for cooking.  Then I remembered someone telling me you could sue soup as a past a sauce.  I always have soup around because its so easy to make in the soup maker, and as I get bored of it quickly it it can go to waste - so I took what was left of the mushroom soup and cooked the pasta  in it, and a very nice and healthy pasta dinner was created with close to no effort.

After from that i spent some money on Friday, getting to work and having some drink and dinner after work with friends.  I have one more journey to work this month I haven't budgeted for so will need to put that in the budget.  I have a curry out with a group I belong to this Friday which should be fairly cheap as not drinking, and a trip to London on Saturday which will be expensive.  

We are just over half way through the month now, and if my energy bill is double what it is now it will be about £12 more than last month (£72 up from £60),  I can't see that it will go up to much more than that as I won't be putting on the heating as my heated hoodie is working so well.  I suppose I might use the TV more now its in the room I sit in most often. Still at that cost, it is the government paying for most of it so I'm not worried.  And I know I can cut it a bit more if I really have to - working from the library, and less showers would both save a few pence, but the showers especially would be a last resort.  I hate not having a shower in the morning, and also sink washes seem to cause my skin to react if I have them too often.  

I'm hoping to get in some nice light TV this week as everything is so awful and/or ridiculous in the world.  I want to watch The Larkins as I loved the books and the first TV adaptation, and also catch up with All Creature Great and Small.  I might be able to sneak in some mending if my dog lets me as well.  I need to do normal house things - washing, bathroom, dishes and hoovering but I won't put anything else on the list this week as I'm pretty certain I won't get it done.  I need to pop to Lidl tonight and get cat food.  I'll have a quick quick to see if I need to pick up anything else but nothing obviously springs to mind.

Meals this week are (all meat mentioned is Quorn):
Sausage and mash with peas
Cheese and broccoli pasta bake
Irish potatoes
Mince and tatties
Spag bog
HM Pizza
Roast dinner

I'm out Friday and Saturday, so that'll last until into next week.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elisheba

Oops, maybe counted a few too many chicken before they hatched there.  Income tax reduction canceled, and energy price cap only until April.  What an utter mess. 

badmemory

They all seem to be acting like a pack of teenagers at the moment & it is getting really tiresome.  Actually that comment was unfair to teenagers as I know a few that would have behaved more sensibly.