Budgeting by the beach

DaisyCheerings

Thanks savingholmes. I do have an electric blanket but I find it a bit difficult to use when working, especially if I have a day of meetings where I need to have the camera on.  My office is also very small and at the front of the house where the sun comes past so I think it wouldn't cost too much with a little 500kw heater used just to take the edge off.  How are we living like this in 2022???

If I get a little heater I can compare the costs and report back. 

savingholmes

I just use the blanket underneath my feet and up to my waist. I have another blanked doubled over on top of the electric throw.

doingitanyway

A little heater might make you feel less like you are in a Dicken's novel  As long as it isn't on constantly you should be ok. Just monitor it and assess?

DaisyCheerings

doingitanyway said:

A little heater might make you feel less like you are in a Dicken's novel  As long as it isn't on constantly you should be ok. Just monitor it and assess?

The Dickens Novel made me smile. I'll keep an eye on the amount of electricity it uses.  Thank you.

DaisyCheerings

Happy Halloween! 🧡👻🎃🧟‍♀️

I got paid today and have distributed the money around to where it needs to go.  I'd overspent on the credit card, and so have had to move a few things around to get that caught up.  I was actually hoping to use that "catch up" money for Christmas, but that's not going to happen this month.

I've received the little heater, but not needed it on yet and so not sure how much it costs yet.  It's been so mild I've only needed cosy blankets so far.  Thermals are at the ready.

I had a weekend away recently.  A friend paid for it as a thank you for some work I did for her, which was lovely.  It still cost a bit more than I'd budgeted for with extra diesel and takeout food, but it was worth it for some solid quality time together.

Last week I had my trip into London for work, which went well.  I should have taken lunch with me, but it only cost £3.40 for a Tesco meal deal.  That's 40p more than here, but still a decent price.  I went out for lunch with a group who all ordered a large meal in the pub we went to, and as tempting as that was for a big hot meal, I declined the food and just had a drink, which my boss bought me and the others.

All budgets are doing pretty well.  My commute budget took a hit, but that's ok as I won't need to go in until next year now.  My energy account took a hit too, but that was for the bulk bags of fuel for my burner which I still haven't put on so have all that still.

Over the last couple of months I've been picking up bags of sweets for the trick or treaters.  I've managed to put together 45 little bags of sweets (I do a little mix bag for them so that little hands get as much as big hands).  I managed to put 7 sweets into each bag so they have a nice little selection.  I also carved 2 pumpkins which I'll put out as it gets dark in the hope of attracting the little monsters tonight.  I hated doing this in my old house, but really enjoyed it here last year.

So, that's me caught up.  My big payments go out tomorrow so I can then recalculate my overall debt and update my signature.

doingitanyway

Aw, you have done great on the T/T bags for the children.
It all sounds as if everything is going in the right direction.
Most important of all, you sound happy 

DaisyCheerings

Hello doingitanyway.  It feels like I'm going in the right direction, thank you.  I love this time of year too, it's my absolute favourite season and I'm glad that's shining through.

DaisyCheerings

The beauty of being aware of what money goes where means that when there's a surprise you can go through it and work out the issue!

I went through what I spent on my credit card and it was all for gifts for people as I have a lot of friend's birthdays at this time of year.  So I think I need to go through each friend I buy gifts for and work out a per person budget to make sure I'm putting enough money aside.  Fortunately I only have 3 more gift purchasing birthdays to worry about this year and those people only get small gifts, so my normal budget should suffice.  It does mean that I haven't got a decent budget for Christmas though, so the gift budget definitely needs more focus, ready to start in January.

My pay rise kicks in today, so at least I have any little extra covered if I need to.  I'm also going to cancel a couple of services that I pay monthly for (Sky TV etc) so that will help.  I've been told that Sky can be quite brutal at keeping you subscribed, so I need to work out how much Broadband only will cost so that I'm ready for them, if I need to be.

Last night went so well.  The first trick or treater arrived around 5pm and was a littly with his parents.  He seemed a bit confused by the bag of sweets but was very happy when I told him to take one.  That then started the regular knocks of the smallest children with their parents.

At one point about 10 teenagers turned up together which was a bit overwhelming for me, although they were all fun so I felt comfortable pretty quickly.  Only 4 of the lads had dressed up but they were all so respectful and nice that I was happy to hand them all a bag.  They walked off making lovely comments about how many sweets they had.  I then wanted to watch my doorbell video of them arriving and it looks so ominous having such a large group walk up the path 😂. 

All in all, there were some great costumes, all children were respectful and lovely and I think everyone had good fun.  Lots more children knocked this year than last so I'm hoping word is getting around and more will arrive each year.  I think I'm the only person along my street who goes in for the trick or treating though so I'm hoping more people will start as it's a bit of a trek out just for one house.  Maybe I need to decorate the whole front of my house to encourage others to get in the mood????  No, I don't think that would work here 🙈.

Right, I'm off to figure this gift budget out.  I hope everyone is enjoying the crisp autumn day. 🧡

savingholmes

Glad you enjoyed giving.

DaisyCheerings

The gift budget is sorted.  All friends and family have now been given a per person budget for Christmas and birthdays and the new amount will be put aside from January.  The amount I was putting aside was nowhere near enough, just based on my now very minimal budget for each person.  I know I could go to some friends and ask that we stop gift giving but I love doing it so I wanted to find a way.  I've jiggled other budgets around to accommodate, but I get my pay rise this month so I may be able to put those other budgets back to where they were.

I've also ordered some very old person soft thick bedding (I seem to associate this with grandparents).  I bought a super king Duvet, pillows and fitted sheet which came to £47 from Amazon which I feel is a really good price.  Great reviews too.  I'm thinking of renaming my energy bill budget to a keep warm budget so that I can invest in things like this from that budget as a way of preventing the need to put the heating on more.  I'll see how my next bill looks, although I've not put heating on yet so should be the same as the last one, other than recent price increases 🙄.

I did purchase some kindling from the energy bill budget but it was only £5 for a huge bag.  I've found the burner instructions and have set it up ready to go and will put it on tonight while I wrap myself in a blanket to watch a Christmas film and drink hot chocolate.  Is it too early to put my Christmas tree up????? 

One of the things I make is Christmas ornaments and I saw a 6ft (quite frugal looking) Christmas tree in the charity shop for £10.  I'm so tempted to buy it so that I can use it for ornament photography, but the thing holding me back is that a family may do better to have that during these difficult times.  It could really brighten up a Christmas for someone, whereas it'll just sit in my workshop.  Am I being selfish if I buy it???  At the moment I've decided to let it be for a week and then if it hasn't sold I'll get it.  Or should I leave it longer (although I need to take photos asap)?  People do put posts up on the local fb group if they're struggling and need something for free, so maybe I could get it and donate it if a tree requester crops up?  I'm in such a dilemma about it.  The cheapest one online I've found is £24.99 for a 6ft one and £20.99 for a 5ft one so this would be a really good budget buy, and I definitely need one.

In brighter notes I've managed to keep my grocery budget in check this week.  I feel like an addict who's done well for a few days!  Probably because I was able to spend on other budgets so I'm not getting over excited.

Yesterday I also managed to pop out and grab a little Christmas gift for my Mum.  I bought myself a very cheap advent calendar (£1), as I love the old fashioned ones with a cute Christmas scene where you just turn a piece of paper aside and there's a little angel or a star etc.  Exciting times.

It's gorgeous out today!

Yay to the weekend.