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

Elisheba

Morning all,

Yesterday was a very wibbly wobbly mental health day.  Probably just because I had to think about funerals and things - I'm not organising it but I was made aware of arrangements and had to speak to my brother about his arrangements.  Its just a massive anxiety trigger for me.  Anyway, hopefully today will be better.  I'm sure the special measures are helping, but its a difficult time so I can't expect it all to be fair sailing.

Moneywise, I have transferred little dribs and drabs I have around to the 5% Rainy Day Saver account.  I left £25 in my premium bonds and I might transfer that over as well.  I wonder if I need to leave anything in the PB account?

Frugal things I have done so far today - watered down the milk, made a pot of tea and filled my big Stanley flask with it, kept my shower short and didn't put it on at full power, no heating on and checked my bank balances.

I have the chimney cleaner due this morning and a pub quiz tonight.  I've budgeted £10 for the Quiz, but I think I'll eat before I go, so it'll only be about a fiver I think - allowing for a couple of cokes and entry to the quiz.  Soup and bread is already made for lunch, and I have pesto pasta leftover for dinner.  

I think that's its so far.  It's looking likely my brother will stay with me for a bit after the funeral - not sure if it'll be until Xmas or not, but hopefully he is paying for the train himself.  Optimistically I can train him in all my frugal ways, but realistically its not likely.  I suppose I'll have to at least buy toilet roll  but if he wants real not UHT milk he can buy it himself  .

Have a good day, everyone 

SuzeQStan

Big hugs to you Elisheba 💞❤️‍🩹 go easy on yourself.
Not sure re PB acct - I tend to leave a nominal amount in any account I’m tempted to possibly go back to in future just to save the hassle. I’ve left the grand sum of £1 in my Chase savings account just in case they raise the interest rate above the 2.75% I’m getting from Santander which I believe is no longer available to new applications (or just at a lower rate) I still want to use Chase for the cash back on purchases so will dump both current and savings Chase accounts come April when the cash back ends unless they significantly raise interest rates etc. 
suppose with PBs you could always land lucky in a win? But I’ve not had those before so really know nothing.

very pragmatic approach to your bro visit - let him cater for himself as he knows what he likes/wants and I’m sure he wouldn’t want to put you out financially. 

Ps - I got a firm ‘no’ from OH when I was telling him about your TP savings - personally I think if it works for you it can only be a good thing.

chigleybottom

Great news for savers though. Interest rates getting back to where they should be and possibly (but unlikely) a resulting drop in house prices. The way it's going 40- somethings will be able to buy their first home, although not if they want to live in London. And if you can't quite get that big deposit saved, is it possible to bequeath an expectation of home ownership to your kids instead of the actual house itself? They'd still love you I reckon. 
Things are on the up. 

Elisheba

Well, @chigleybottom as a 40 something I am still hoping to buy, but with the 2 years recession that's forecast I'm quite glad its a 3 - 5 year plan at the moment!

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Morning Elisheba
2 years recession and public sector cuts is a grim forecast
You sound pragmatic about your brother's visit, hopefully if he wants other types of food he will be willing to pay for them himself. It's hard having a house guest when you're used to being on your own. 
We had a staff briefing from our chief exec yesterday who said HR are working hard to sort our pay award for November's pay!! That will be a big help. I expect the budget statement in a few weeks will remove any hope of future pay awards for the short term?
The sun is shining today and I have lots of layers and a hot water bottle so i'm toasty. I'm going to make a flask of coffee in a bit to stop me boiling the kettle for cups of tea
How was the quiz?
Hope you have a good Friday
love Deni

Elisheba

Morning all and happy Friday to everyone!

I had a nice time at the pub quiz last night, and although we didn't win, we did respectably.  A grand total of £5.09 was spent on onion rings, and a blackcurrant and lemonade, so that wasn't bad.

I was going to say today would be a NSD, but I've got the car going to the garage later so actually if I spend less than £500 it'll be a win  .  I really hope it costs less than £500!!!!!  Fingers crossed.

This evening I think I'll have the remains of the pesto pasta, and then coorie in and and watch the rest of The Accidental Renovators (about a couple who accidentally bought a house in Dunoon that was falling down, and then did it up on a shoestring - on iplayer), and then possibly start in on this years Bake Off on catch up.

As part of my self care special measures I want to have a fairly firm structure to my weekend.  So the plan is:

Saturday
8 am - up, shower, eat, feed monkeys etc.
9 - 12 am - house work
12  - 1:30 pm - lunch with a friend
1:30 - 3 pm - look around charity and junk shops
3 -4 pm - dog walk
4 - 6 pm - batch cooking
6 - 6.30 dinner
6.30 pm onwards - chillout

Sunday
8 am - up, shower, eat, feed monkeys etc.
9 - 10.15 am - read paper over coffee and make packed lunch
10.15 am - 2 or 3 pm - Quaker things and packed lunch
3 - 4 pm - dog walk
4 - 5 pm - chill with a  book
5 - 6 pm - make dinner and anything else that will need an oven
6 - 10 pm - write letter, polish boots, bubble bath, TV

I mean obviously there is a bit of flexibility - I have no idea as yet when I am meeting my friend on Saturday.  But that covers most of the things I want to get done and I can adapt as necessary.  I think without a structure like that it would be too easy for me to just vegetate on the sofa like last week, and I don't think its good for me.  One weekend was quite enough.

Frugality wise I think I will only be definitely spending money on lunch. I may find some charity shop bargains, but whether I feel comfortable buying anything will depend on how much the car costs.  I do have money budgeted for Xmas presents and such, but how much I actually have this month will depend on the car. I also need toothpaste though, so must remember to buy that at some point.

Have a great Friday and weekend, everyone 

SuzeQStan

Hope you have a lovely weekend too Elisheba  - everything crossed for the result you want with the car! Good to get out and about - leave the vegetating to lazy ones like me 😉🤣

SuzeQStan

Ps hope everyone is keeping toasty - it’s proper chilly up here in NW. the log burner is really not getting the house warm tonite - might have to give into the GCH 😱

Jellytotts

Your PB account stays “active” with nothing in it.  I withdrew all of mine about 4 years ago but started putting some back in last year. Very easy.

Elisheba

Evening all, 

My car came in at about £430 which was within budget. Would have been lovely if it had come in significantly under budget, but you can't have everything, and it hasn't needed any extra work the last 2 years.

Annoyingly the garage didn't take Amex so no cash back for me, and I had to transfer cash back to my account from the savings account. It has still left me OD, although not massively so the charges shouldn't be bad next month. 

I'm feeling very unmotivated to do anything right now, which is fine for money saving but not so good for life tasks 🙄. It's great I've already done most of my shopping for the month as I have everything I need in to make meals. I know myself and feeling like I do I would just be buying expensive junk food if the cupboards were bare. 

My car was in the garage all weekend, but I did remember to pop to Lidl when I collected it to use my £2 off coupon. I bought dog food, and 'treated' myself to a loaf of bread as I haven't gotten round to making one this week.

I've been using my heated hoodie as the weather is a bit colder. Not really felt like I've needed the GCH with that on. It's so easy as well - I don't need to think about staying warm, or what extra layers I can put on. I just dress sensibly and put the hoodie over my clothes. It's that thick in and off itself that I often don't turn it on. It doesn't keep my legs warm but if I'm sitting a blanket dies the trick, and of I'm standing I don't need anything anyway. 

I'm off to have an early night. I've been super tired for some reason.