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

Elisheba

missymoo81 said:

Hey @Elisheba it sounds like you’re doing a great job of having a good balance. I’m wondering if I need a heated hoodie.

I'm recommending heated goodies to everyone at the moment!  They are brilliant!  there isn't a huge selection on Amazon, but you can also get other things like heated gillets - they are a bit more expensive but probably more versatile.  And with you having kids its different as you will need heating on for them - but if you are home alone they are a good idea.

Elisheba

Morning all,

This is a difficult week for me as my family suffered an unexpected bereavement yesterday when we lost my Uncle.  I hate grief, and I hate having to work through grief.  I'm so tired of it, but sadly it seems to be the only thing that is guaranteed in life.  Thankfully my boss is letting me take yesterday, and whenever the funeral is, as compassionate leave, so that won't eat into the very small amount of annual leave I have left.

In regards to London at the weekend, it ended up costing £60 more than planned as due to train delays (not mine for once) we had to reschedule the event we were attending, so I ended up having to pay for dinner and drinks as well. I've been charged too much for my tube ticket - I remember my card not swiping properly on my last tube journey so that's probably why.  It says online I can claim a refund - its only £4 odd, but its better than nothing.

Otherwise, I think this week is quite quiet.  I have enough food in the house I think to get me to the weekend, and did a fair bit of housework yesterday as part of my grief shock process, before I collapsed on a heap on the sofa watching feel good telly and eating junk food. I need to make some bread, and I'll heat one of my frozen baked potatoes for dinner.  I have a pre-frozen cheese and broccoli pasta bake that I'll heat up for dinner tonight as I'm still not much in the mood for cooking.

One of my little cats is in my spare room office with me today, and is looking very cute curled up between my folded undies  .

Oh, and I worked out how to transfer my Prolific money from Paypal to my bank account yesterday.  Its only a tenner as I never really feel like doing surveys, but better than a kick in the teeth. I've also applied for a partial refund on a couple fo my trains journeys which have been delayed recently so we will see what I get back there.

Hope you all have good days!

Elisheba

Makingabobor2 said:

Ooh...glad I didn't give you any spoilers there then, if you're a bit behind...lol

All caught up now 

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Hi Elisheba, so sorry to hear about your uncle
x

SuzeQStan

Sincere condolences Elisheba - sorry for your family loss & totally understand the associated exhaustion & stress that comes with it.  At least your work is doing the right thing by you re compassionate leave.
An ex colleague of mine received a severe dressing down for not going into work on the day her auntie (was more like a mother to her) passed away.  She never forgot their behaviour and ended up leaving the business. 

Hope you can find comfort in your cats cuteness!

SuzeQStan

Re heated hoodies - I’ve always worried I might electrocute myself! 😳🙄
edit: sorry what a crass thing for me to say under the circumstances - apologies Elisheba!

Elisheba

Thanks Deni and Suze.  I'm very lucky with my work and it's people friendly policies, and to be fair to my boss he has applied the policy rather liberally as its generally for direct relatives.

Just seen in my emails I will be refunded £6.34 for late trains, and I have submitted my Tube refund application.

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Glad you have a reasonable boss.
I'm in the public sector too so we have those sort of policies. 

That's good re train refund, all helps.

I have a hot water bottle on my lap  

Elisheba

SuzeQStan said:

Re heated hoodies - I’ve always worried I might electrocute myself! 😳🙄
edit: sorry what a crass thing for me to say under the circumstances - apologies Elisheba!

Oh goodness, no! Don't worry about it at all 

Elisheba

Bit of a frugal fail earlier on. Put the breadmaker on, went down to see how close it was to finishing (it had 40 mins left), peeked in the window and something didn't look right. Opened it up and I had forgotten to put the paddle in  . So that's half a kilo of flour down the spout!

Other than that, it was a frugal day. Didn't spend anything. Made a lovely lentil soup that will do for lunches for the next 2 or 3 days, topped up with my subsequent and successful attempt at bread. 

I've checked my energy account, and the cut off date for my bill was yesterday. I won't see the bill until the 28th, but I don't think it will reach the £66 government payment. Granted 1 week of this month's bill would be at the old rate, but it won't be that much more going forward. So what should I do about my energy DD? I've just under £300 on credit after my first government payment, and have a DD of £71 a month set up.

So my options are - 
1. Reduce DD to about £10 going forward. Will probably not eat into credit much if at all until government payments end when I can reassess. 
2. Leave DD alone and build up super credit
3. Some middle ground 

Hmm. I suppose the money is better off paying off my expensive debts than sitting earning money for the energy companies. So I'll probably reduce my DD and change my budget accordingly.