2021 Frugal Living Challenge

slm6002

I too have the bank above that allows several digital pots.  Each payday i put money into these pots and the main account has my bill money left in it.  It works for me

Beebearandme

@fiwen30 you have my sympathies. I have a cat with heart disease and she occasionally likes an emergency visit out of hours to our local animal hospital. She won’t get out of her heated bed for less than a £1k. For a change it’s one of the rabbits this week and he has blown ££570 all in for visits, teeth op and x-ray. I know you said you are staying with your preferred vet but the Rspca and PDSA are there for emergency situations and may be able to offer some assistance. 

willow_loulou

I’m with the horse bank which allows me 2 savings accounts, an ISA and I can manage a loan attached to my main account too. Apps make it very easy but I’m afraid still too much temptation for me so my little pot saving is in cash. 

RainbowHippie

@wishus so sorry to hear about your dad. take care of yourself.

@fiwen keeping my fingers and toes crossed it was good news from the vet, your doggo is clearly much loved and part of the family, i hope the problem turns out to be manageable.

@Hughesfamily hope your headache has improved.

We're in our 'use it all up' week as we're moving on on Sunday. Dinner the last couple of evenings has been various frozen veg, mixed up with spices and roasted, tinned mixed bean salad (with a spoonful of pesto mixed in - makes anything taste amazing!), anything-in-the-fridge-chopped-up salad, and a linda mccartney pie and roast potatoes for DOH (i'm not a fan). Tomorrow's will be spanakopita, using up the last of the stuff from the freezer, it will be too much for one meal but the cold leftovers make great journey snacks.

Managed to arrange someone to collect the chair we acquired in our first week here - DOH found the wooden dining chairs here in our accommodation too uncomfortable for working all day, and some lovely person was giving an office chair away on marketplace. So we've had it for a few weeks and now somebody else can make use of it, and i don't have to take it to the tip (bonus). Nice when things work out

Stay safe everyone x

fiwen30

Thank you everyone for thinking of us today. Vet confirmed that the cruciate is ruptured and will need surgery. They’ve recommended TTA surgery at around £1.2-£1.5k, if his X-rays pre-surgery show that the angle of his leg makes him a suitable candidate. Otherwise, they’d recommend that we get referred to a larger practice for a TPLO surgery at around £2-£3k. Bear in mind, that cost is per leg, with a high percent chance he’ll need the right leg doing within the next year as well.

We booked him in for the TTA surgery on Tuesday morning, which will go ahead unless we hear otherwise. It’s a long, gruelling 12 week+ recovery and rehab period post-op. It’s going to need to be a very frugal first month, whilst I kit the living room out into a hospital ward. Thankfully(?) I’ll likely be so preoccupied with his post-op care that it’ll likely be a no spend few months - at least in things which aren’t for the dog. All of the few packages we’ve received recently have been for him!

So far, a thrifty solution to our slippy floors, which aren’t suitable for wobbly dogs, has been to chop up a few old exercise and yoga mats and stick them
over the laminate. Helps the pup get around easier, and spares us the guilt from not doing any lockdown home exercise!

welshspendthrift

@fiwen30 So sorry to hear your pup is going to have to go through an operation, I once ( quite a long time ago) had some financial help from the Cat protection league for a cat operation, wonder if it worth contacting the dogs trust or RSPCA to see if you could get some help towards the operation. Hope it all goes well , well done on the yoga mat idea

cuddlymarm

Hi guys
Well done to everyone who’s managed ( or nearly managed ) to keep to their goals for this month.
My main aim is to clear the credit cards so every spare penny is heading that way. I managed to knock just over £200 off, I had set my self a hefty target which I didn’t quite get to but I’d rather aim high.
We ate the freezer down and am gradually restocking with healthier options. The last of the Xmas stuff has now gone ( well apart from some smoked cheese with a long date on ) 

OH has now started his new job so there will be more money coming in. Last year there was no work during the first lockdown, and no money because he was a self employed temp. Then when the work finally started again it was sporadic and not worth having, and when it finally picked up an operation on his shoulder that had been cancelled in the spring finally happened and then he couldn’t work again so it’s been a rough year. But not as rough as a lot of people have had. I count my blessings on what we have.
My February aim is to knock at least another £200 off and more if I can off my debt,  I aim to walk to and from work as much as possible ( weather permitting) so save on bus fares and keep my food budget as low as possible while eating healthily. Not very exciting goals but necessary.
Keep warm and well fellow frugallers 😀

Frugaldom

Welcome to our newcomers! It's never too late to join the fun of frugal living.

Good luck with vet visit, dog op and pet-proofing your slippery floor, @fiwen30

Hope you feel better soon, @Hughesfamily. Out of interest, as I know of several people suffering similar, which area are you? Everyone with the symptoms has tested negative with the current Covid testing. They are different areas, as far apart as northeast Scotland and southeast England.

My spending month is complete - £261.81 - which includes a supermarket order due for delivery start of week 2 in February. There have been no delivery slots here for many months so I jumped at the opportunity to stock up n sugar, flour, porridge, tins and dairy.

The longer days are allowing me to work outside until 4.30ish on dry days so I have been planting more trees and edible hedging, mulching and spreading the spoiled pony over the poached areas in the hope it promotes new grass growth in our herb paddock. The herb beds are doing ok but I need a much bigger area for growing things like potatoes, carrots and onions. I'd also like to try and salvage all the rescued parts from our storm damaged portable poly-tunnels and try to make at least one out of the parts from 2. I need more help than I can get so Covid and lockdown is very frustrating while I can't have anyone to stay at the caravan and share the workload.

Weekend jobs include marmalade making, turning the compost, digging out composted manure to fill some troughs for seed sowing and planting more hedging. Most of my plans will be scuppered if we get bad weather.

willow_loulou

@fiwen30 sorry your doggie is suffering so - I hope the op is the cheaper option! 

@Frugaldom I feel your weather pain, my garden is a bog right now so I can’t even start on anything. How many trees are in now? 

welshspendthrift

Starting the new month well, picking up some Olio vegetables tomorrow morning, got a too good to go bag from Costa which was very disappointing , won’t bother with them again. Still haven’t managed to catch a Morries one! DD needs a few things for new baby arrival this month so the half the money saved on fuel last month will cover that. Done the main meal plan for the week so OH will go to Mr T tomorrow for that. I would go to Aldi but I’m wary of the shops and I’m on childcare for DGD tomorrow. I’m planning at least 2 vegetarian meals a week to cut down on meat costs. Still battling with the food budget. Have a good weekend everyone 😀