Beating Lifestyle Inflation and Staying Mortgage Free!

earthgirl2

Thanks! Things are going well. We had a smart meter installed do I can see the price of everything much more clearly. Off my list I've a couple of things done.

- experimented with cooler washing temps and drying outside under cover in rain. All seems good but obviously nice temperature at the moment. 

- going to wear quick dry fabrics and top up with jumpers and blankets if I get cold. The kids already wear all these sporty things that dry in about ten seconds!

- using the travel microfibre towels as they are actually great at drying and then dry on the line in about 30 mins. 

- switched off dishwasher and using it to store dirty dishes and then hand washing  once per day. I don't think this has saved much money. 

- made up some natural diy shampoo and have combined my love of wild swimming with showering. No more showers for me(until I get really cold!) I love this as a hobby, fitness and cost saving. All members of my family think I'm mad! 

- collected some leftover straw for hens. Must get more. 

-collected some blackberries.

Cheery_Daff

Impressed with your wild showering! 😁 most invigorating!

doingitanyway

Delurking to say you sound as iff you are in a good place. Glad you are benefitting from your new routine.

savingholmes

I wash my clothes on 20 degrees. Not had any issues.

themadvix

I think you’re far more likely to use more water and energy washing dishes by hand - dishwashers are very efficient and use tiny amounts of water compared to hand washing. I know it makes the smart meter orange but for much shorter amounts of time then heatinh the water for hand washing.

earthgirl2

Thanks all. 

Yes as a family of 4 I can't wash all the dishes in one bowl of hot water, so really I'm probably not saving much money washing by hand over using the dishwasher.

I have had a lovely shower in a waterfall today, it was such a beautiful day for a dip. Mondays I can shower at the leisure centre where ds1 is playing. I can do a lift for another child's parent there and she does tonight's lifts. 

I also foraged a big load of field mushrooms from the playing field there. They are so tasty! I'll look for more. We had them on toast last night and as part of kebabs tonight.

I've volunteered to do olio collections on fri and sat, and to help out the larder, also on Thursday. I've not gone them before so I hope it's easy.

I will probably just do one per week and combine it with an outing with OH. 

I know everyone keeps saying that air fryers are cheap to run, but I don't want the cost outlay, so I've got a good selection of slow cooker and meals that can be cooked in the microwave. 

Our usage on smart neater is saying £4 per day  roughly. My first target is to get it under £3!

Karmacat

I agree, earthie, the capital cost of an air fryer seems high to me.

earthgirl2

Hello all, quick update from me before I catch up on your diaries. 

Feel like I've made good progress with a lot of things. The main thing for me - the kids are doing great, DS1 (who would sometimes get into trouble at primary school) has been awarded pupil of the month at secondary for his attitude, work and sporting achievements. We were very surprised! 

We had a birthday party for ds2 at a trampoline park which cost £150. Not cheap but it's probably his first and last party like that, as pre covid I just had parties at the house. 

We had a nightmare lodger situation. They lied to us about who they were - gave false ID and very random documents. They didn't pay rent but quoted the rules on not being able to make people homeless in Scotland so they thought they could stay rent free! They had no food and just ate ours. We were very stressed and the kids were frightened of them. We slept with the kids. We got them to leave actually by saying they hadn't paid rent so we could tell them to go. But I was ready to call the police. Be careful Scottish homeowners thinking of renting out rooms. 

Olio has turned out to be a big job! It does save us money and I think in the future it will save us even more, as the prices continue to rise. 

I had a MRI scan which show fluid collecting around my spine. I'm waiting to see the neurologist but from googling this could be very very bad - or not so bad. I'm just waiting to find out. 

It explains why yoga and an anti inflammatory diet really helps. 

At work we have been told the same as we are always told- that our client numbers are dropping and we might be reallocated to teach elsewhere. It's really odd because my recent project is celebrated in the authority and I've also been given the go ahead to run it again. 

But I am thinking about what I really want to do (if I had to start again). I have decided to start my accreditation to be a yoga teacher. Whilst practice wise I have a lot to do, I enjoy learning about the history and theory and way of living so I thought it would be a good way to cement this knowledge and encourage me to live a bit healthier too. 

I still want to work on passive income streams as well. 

EssexHebridean

earthgirl2 said:

We had a nightmare lodger situation. They lied to us about who they were - gave false ID and very random documents. They didn't pay rent but quoted the rules on not being able to make people homeless in Scotland so they thought they could stay rent free! They had no food and just ate ours. We were very stressed and the kids were frightened of them. We slept with the kids. We got them to leave actually by saying they hadn't paid rent so we could tell them to go. But I was ready to call the police. Be careful Scottish homeowners thinking of renting out rooms. 

I do hope you reported the lodgers to the Police? I could see these sorts of people praying on the elderly or more vulnerable folk! So glad you finally managed to get them to leave - without wishing to be alarmist if it were me I'd also be looking to get the lock changed on any doors they were given keys for. 

Sorry to hear about the results of the MRI - fingers crossed it turns out to be the "not so bad" possibility. As for diet, please don't be in any way thinking you could have prevented ANYTHING with an "anti-inflammatory diet" - that rhetoric is sadly nothing more than wellness nonsense designed to pray on people's fears. A regular healthy balanced diet will be just fine - the only foods you need to avoid are any that you are allergic to, simply don't like, or choose not to eat for example for ethical reasons. (I REALLY dislike the pure rubbish that gets peddled by quacks under the guise of "wellness" now - it creates so much fear around food and eating and contributes hugely to disordered eating. The sooner it is made a criminal offence for someone to give nutritional advice without an actual qualification the better!) 

earthgirl2

It was a very delicate situation for us! I had been given advice at the time. I think that the people who tried this needed help for all sorts of reasons. I signposted them to help in the area, but I couldn't have them stay in the house - children. I wonder if getting the police in hindsight would have gotten them more help. At the time I was just so relieved they agreed to go. 

An amazing doctor talked to me about inflammation and foods. I really liked her approach, very holistic. For me, not consuming these foods has really helped.