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

Elisheba

badmemory said:

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.

Well, quite.  This lot seem more like the Lord of the Flies type of teenagers!

missymoo81

Hey @Elisheba it’s so nice to see you back. Argh you’ve just told me something I didn’t know, I didn’t know the energy cap was only until April?! What will happen then?! It’s crazy! I like the sound of your meal plan.

Elisheba

missymoo81 said:

Hey @Elisheba it’s so nice to see you back. Argh you’ve just told me something I didn’t know, I didn’t know the energy cap was only until April?! What will happen then?! It’s crazy! I like the sound of your meal plan.

Yeah, it was originally 2 years, but the new Chancellor reversed most of Truss's policies yesterday and said the energy cap would now be reviewed in April.

Elisheba

Afternoon, all!

I've been bringing one of my cats up to my upstairs office/spareroom while I work for the last few days.  She hates my dog and has decamped to an airing cupboard when she is downstairs, which makes giving her personal attention is a bit of a pain.  There is only so long you can stand in a cupboard!  So she now gets to spend most of her days with me getting lots of cuddles.  However, she was in need of a fair bit of grooming as she's getting a bit to old to manage it well herself, and has always had a dribble.  So now my desk is covered in cat fluff and dribble, and I'm lucky I've not sent any emails full of cnwuidffeufweufb as she keeps running over my keyboard 

I worked out the difference in my energy use for September 2021 and September 2022.  For gas I used 150kwh less, and for electricity it was 31kwh less.  I hadn't turned the heating on last September, so I think that decrease is due to making sure the boiler is on eco mode, having a lot less long baths, turning everything off at the wall except the fridge and freezer when not in use, not leaving things to charge overnight if at all possible, and being more conscious of the energy I use for cooking.

We are where we are with energy costs.  I'm lucky - I can afford it and many, many people can't - and who knows what will happen come April.  I still don't know whether I should leave my existing credit and the government rebate in my energy account for future use/emergencies, or whether to run it down and squirrel the dosh away to some debt or pot. Both ideas have merit.  

Although some of the people on the wider boards (not the Debt ones, or Old style) get on my nerves a bit with how chuffed they are to be right about something, forgetting that means loads of real people are in misery, I do think that in general they are right i that we just need to batten down the hatches and weather this storm. What else can we do? I suppose that's easy enough for me to say when I can fire £700 - £800 a month at debt, and pay my bills and still afford a fair bit of my biggest indulgence which is eating and drinking out. I think my debts attest to the fact I wasn't always able to do that though.  This time 2 1/2 years ago I was still running up debts.  I am a lot more mindful these days about what I spend my money on.

In MSE news, today is a no spend day.  Not sure what I'll have for dinner - depends on how bothered about cooking I can be.  I've been snacking on fruit and biscuits so I probably won't be hungry for much.  Yesterday i walked to Lidl and bought some tins of cat food.  £3.49 for 6.  Tesco don't have any on their grocery website to compare that to.  But that's £13.96 for 24.  Pre pandemic I could get 24 much better quality tins for £10 on special offer.  Its crazy the cost of wet cat food these days.  And there are almost no tins available anymore, just sachets which are hugely more expensive and the packets are non recyclable. 

I'm almost finished moving the furniture, and have cleared the dining room a bit more.  I've got too much furniture is part of the problem, but don't want to get rid of any as it may be useful when I buy.  At the moment it looks okay so I'll stick with it for now.

House wise I need to do some dishes, hoover and clean the bathroom at some point but not sure when that will be.  I watched a great documentary last night on Channel 4 catch up by Davina McCall about the menopause.  Awful how stigmatised it has been.  The only thing not talking about stuff does is lead to suffering.

Hope you all have good evenings, everyone 

SuzeQStan

Elisheba said:

.  There is only so long you can stand in a cupboard!  

🤣🤣👍🏻

Hi Elisheba - I love your positive spirited diary - reading it cheers me up thank you. 

Agree with you about some crystal ball gazing happening on some boards - reminds me of the helpful hypochondriac’s tombstone (I told you I was ill! 🪦). 

I’ve recorded Davina’s menopause docu looking forward to watching.

only advice re furniture is not to hang on if you don’t love it - just in case as things might not fit your new place, tastes may change - but mostly because it costs a lot of money & effort to move furniture. When we moved the last time we paid to be packed up and moved by a professional outfit. Sat here 3 years later I can only identify one or two pieces present across the whole house we paid extortionate rates to move. Definitely not MSE!

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Happy hump day Elisheba!
I've noticed in particular how expensive cat food is. I've been buying whatever is on offer and my cats seem to like most brands now. 
I'm WfH and listening to R2, someone mentioned going into the office to keep warm instead of WfH but that doesn't work for me - our office is really cold  
I'm making a big pan of lentil casserole - i think someone posted the recipe on here and I really love it.

Love Deni

Sallygirl

Deni_debt-free_dreamer I must have missed that recipe. Please can you point me towards it - thank you : )

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

sunshineli said:

I’ve been vegan for almost 7 years now and as much as I love the exciting convenience foods, I don’t think you can beat a simple lentil stew.

Onion, garlic, celery, carrots and lentils in a pan with herbs, stock and a tin of tomatoes. Left to simmer for as long as possible and served with mashed potato or crusty bread. So affordable and straight forward to make.

Re the oat milk I have mine delivered by the milk man. It’s certainly not cheap though but I allow it as one of my few luxuries in life 😂

this is the lentil casserole recipe - posted on here last month

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Sallygirl said:

Deni_debt-free_dreamer I must have missed that recipe. Please can you point me towards it - thank you : )

hi
I copied it so hope you can see it

Elisheba

Deni_debt-free_dreamer said:

sunshineli said:

I’ve been vegan for almost 7 years now and as much as I love the exciting convenience foods, I don’t think you can beat a simple lentil stew.

Onion, garlic, celery, carrots and lentils in a pan with herbs, stock and a tin of tomatoes. Left to simmer for as long as possible and served with mashed potato or crusty bread. So affordable and straight forward to make.

Re the oat milk I have mine delivered by the milk man. It’s certainly not cheap though but I allow it as one of my few luxuries in life 😂

this is the lentil casserole recipe - posted on here last month

Did you use green lentils?