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

SuzeQStan

Hey Elisheba - do you drive your car to do work or do you drive it just to commute to work?  I don’t think you need to add it to your insurance if you are just commuting. And when you got your insurance did you advise your average miles etc?  If it costs extra then shouldn’t your employer pick up the tab?

sorry if that sounds naive - just indignant on your behalf 🤣😉

I seem to remember you saying you were on amitriptyline - when was your last review perhaps it needs increasing?  I went up to 50mg a few years ago (I take it for nerve pain) and that still works for me now thankfully.

the butter mystery made me smile - sounds
like kitty had a banner day!

re hols - it’s always great to have a plan with something to look forward to. I love seeing my family & have to travel to do that too, but the best holidays are the ones where I can do whatever I want.  You need to plan some fun in Elisheba xx

daintydaisy

Glad you found the butter (and glad to know I’m not the only one who does things like that!! 🤣) 

WinterWarrior

I was going to suggest the microwave…I think there’s a wormhole to mine, the amount of things I find in it 😬

Elisheba

I had already checked the microwave @winterWarrior as I'm always putting stuff in there as well 😂

@SuzeQStan I do drive very occasionally to work so should really have the commuting on there, and often I'll use my own car rather than a pool car for site visits so business use is fairly essential insurance wise. It only cost £7 odd to add it so no great expense, and it'll pay itself back in mileage quickly. Not sure what my thought process was not adding it this year.

I am on amitriptiline, but that's mainly for nerve pain. Tried increasing it before and I got palpitations so that's not an option. I take mirtazepine for depression and anxiety, and am on a dose (30mg I think but not sure) that doesn't make me sleepy. It's a weird medication - the more you take the less sleepy it makes you. It doesn't seem to be as effective for me as SSRIs were, but so many less side effects, so I'm sticking it out for now. 

Elisheba

Morning, all,

I'm feeling a lot better today, thankfully.  I had a quiet evening watching YouTube videos which always makes me feel better, and have woken this morning determined to be proactive in helping myself.  

First day of the new month and that means... new Kindle deals!  I went through them all, and put all the ones i was interested in in a list.  On realising there are 49 of them, I'll wait a while and see which ones I still fancy after a week or so.  Some of them are available as ebooks from my library, so I will put them on my watch list on there, to get them out when they become free and I have time to read them.  Other ones my library has in normal book format, but its not really worthwhile to order them. Its costs10p less than buying them, and I have to read them within a time limit.  Bearing in mind how I have been feeling this week, there were quite a few self help books, and I'm sure I don't need them all, so I'll just  give myself some time and let them percolate and see what I fancy later in the month.

Moneywise, I went out to buy butter yesterday (which I got 50p off with a Waitrose voucher) but was hungry and managed to spend £26 somehow  .  Since that is about a quarter of my monthly food budget, and only on a few meals, some milk and a few puddings that was not good value for money! I still need to make a list and do my big monthly shop, sometimes soon as I'm on my last loo roll!

Hope everyone has brilliant days, although the sun seems to have disappeared here despite it being forecast.

SuzeQStan

Happy Thursday Elisheba xx

I’ve been a onlineweekly shop !!!!!! this last month - I’ve done a weekly shop at MrT, Mr M, and this week Mr S - just taking advantage of their money off threshold spend for 1st time online shoppers.  Did similar with MrO some months ago too.  So far my fave one is still Mr A where we did our online shop throughout pandemic.

good to get the money off tho - MrS was particularly good - £18 off spend of £60 and delivery was £1

glad you are feeling better xx

Elisheba

Morning, all,

Another day and I am feeing fine again.  I'm wondering if it might be related to my cycle - looking at my calendar its possible I was ovulating when my anxiety was at its worst.  Not sure though.  I might start filling in the moods section of my menstrual diary to see if I can find any rhyme or reason.

Got upstairs hoovered this morning, and downstairs yesterday so I'm feeling on top of the house.  The dishwasher is just such an absolute gamechanger for me.  So easy to stay on top of the dishes now.  Now only really the bathroom to clean this weekend. I mean i could do some dusting if I really want to, and I'm sure there are all sorts of other jobs I can think of, but in terms of the basics I'm almost there.

So while I was working yesterday, and the afternoon sun was beaming in at me I thought - sod this, I know I get no sun on my back garden (aka the path) but I am going to sit out in the sun.  So I took a camping chair out onto my front driveway, and despite feeling a bit self conscious, I didn't get any odd looks.  So now I am wondering if I can buy some planters with trellis to sort of screen off an area of the driveway to make a little patio I can sit out in.  Yes, the car would be on one side of me, but I could make it fairly private on the other half I think... I have tried to draw a diagram but I can't seem to get it to show on here. Not sure what format it would need to be in.  But anyway, you need to work with what you have don't you.  And if I could have a little front patio to sit in this summer, despite probably looking a bit weird, it would make a big difference for me.  Yes, I have green space near by I can go to, but my dog won't settle there for more than 10 minutes and its not really the same.  

The food shop will happen very soon - I ran out of bread and eggs this morning, so the cupboards are getting a bit bare! Unless I do the food shop today, or decide to buy things for the driveway I think today will be a no spend day - we will see!

The forecast for the weekend is looking brilliant where I am, so if any of you are getting the same I hope your thoroughly enjoy yourselves this weekend.

SuzeQStan

It’s your house you can sit where you want IMO!  A trellis cover sounds like a good idea but don’t let looky loos put you off.  We are the same - morning by sun only on the front so I get my camping chair sit in front yard and wave at the neighbours - have some nice convos that way too

Makingabobor2

Glad to hear you are feeling better.  I think there is nothing wrong with sitting on the front, if that's where the sun is. I used to do it in a house I lived in quite a few years ago and it was fine. 

Do Kindle deals get released at the start of the month then? Didn't realise that.  Must take a look as I've not downloaded anything for a while.   If you want a good recommendation, try The Dali Lama's Cat by David Michie.  Think there's 5 in the series and a really good read. 

Elisheba

Morning all, 

Thanks for your thoughts on sitting out front @SuzeQStan and @Makingabobor2 I'm still thinking about how to make it fairly private and pretty, but in the meantime I can sit out there in a camping chair with a cuppa and catch some rays. I'm not sure I want to spend the money getting the planters and trellis I've been looking at, especially as I don't know how long I'll be in this house. So I'm thinking of looking through the antique/junk shops, and seeing if I can find a room screen I could paint with outdoor paint and see how that looks. 

@Makingabobor2 Yes, Amazon release a new pile of Kindle deals on the 1st of every month - about 80 pages worth, and then have a few Daily Deals every day as well. 

I'm half way through my shopping list and it's going to a big one. I'm out of so many things, although I do have fair bit in the freezer so still need to take a look through that before I make a proper meal plan up. I think I'm going to get bits in for lunches, so dips, pitta, olives, fake sliced meat, pickles and cheese. Now most Quorn slices have gone vegan they are more expensive, with less in them, and I don't like them as much. Such is life I suppose - from my failed vegan experiments, it is good to have lots of options as a vegan and I can see why Quorn have done it. 

Breakfasts will be hm muesli with as much healthy stuff as I can get in there. So now just need to decide on dinners. Cold pasta salad with hm dressing is always a good option. And I know I have quite a few Quorn Escalopes etc in the freezer so can have them with new potatoes and veg. I have sausages but it's a bit hot for sausage and mash so I need to think what I can do with them. Some sort of cous cous or quinoa salad maybe? Quick and easy is the order of the day, as the last thing I feel like doing after work when I'm hungry is cooking for a long time. 

I'm going to see if I can get 3 swimming sessions in before work this week. I could even push it to 4 if I can get myself up and have the energy. I love it when I'm there so it really just about getting myself up to do it! 

I've been reading a book by !!!!!! and Angel Strawbridge about them setting up their Chateau business. Although I love the TV programme, I'm not riveted by the book - and their recipes are fairly meat heavy so not much use for me. Their get up and go attitude is quite inspiring though, so I'm trying do a bit of that in my life. Finding the motivation and energy to do much other than reading has been hard for me recently. 

I spoke to my Mum and she's not nearly as set on me coming up to help her see her ancestry cousins as I thought she was (mainly because my brother has offered) so that's good to know - I'll still go up but at the right time for me. She seems a bit happier and healthier the last few days so that's good as well. 

So today's plan - 
* Make meal plan and shopping list 
* Get ready
* Dog walk
* Shopping (it'll be 3 supermarkets so will take a while) 
* Put it all away
* Clean bathroom 
* Keep on top of the dishes

Then I'll see how I feel - there are a few things that need done soon - sorting out summer and winter clothes, weeding the drive way and cleaning the car. It all depends on my motivation and energy levels though. Sometimes when you are dealing low level depression you just have to take the wins where you can, and getting the shopping in will be mine for the day.

Hope everyone is having a brilliant weekend and remembering your suncreme - which has just reminded me I need to put that on the shopping list! I really wish suncreme put a use before date on them - they stop working so quickly, and I'm never sure what year I bought mine, never mind whether the are okay or not!