2022 Frugal Living Challenge

elbree

Morning frugal friends, hope all of you and animals/buildings survived fairly unscathed. I don't feel like I've had a very frugal month, am still under budget for groceries and toiletries so far but have spent some more entertainment money than I should have. Think I am just excited about being able to go out again! One frugal win, bought 2 new wheelie suitcases for taking 8yo to Paris in April from Arg*s, thanks to my nect@r app they were totally free! So pleased I've been hoarding my points! Now I need to get to payday (28th) without spending too much more!  Lovely and sunny here, hope you have good days. 

zafiro1984

Want a laugh...........

We do have electric but no water after the storm.
Checked with neighbours - just in case the problem was on our property - they also had no water.
Rang the water co to report it. Apparently the power is out at the pumping station. Obviously they are working flat out to restore the power.

Now for the laugh.... When I told them just how many animals we have on our property, they were concerned. I told them we would be ok for today but tomorrow having no water would become a problem even a welfare issue and could she suggest who I got in touch with. The woman said (and I'm not joking) "We advise our customers to buy bottled water from a supermarket!!!" 

willow_loulou

Considering the red zone and 122 mph just south of me I’m delighted we have no obvious damage other than a popped panel. We have concrete posts so it can go back in and just be wedged. 

Got my first odd box and I’m pretty happy with it. I’m having a much needed nap then I’m baking apples and trying to decide what to do with the beetroot’s. My fridge is full though! It was an offer price so well worth trying and I’m going to keep it going though I may change to fortnightly delivery. The only thing I’m missing is bananas but I’ll survive! Going to get cooking creative for sure. 

Primrose

jZafiro. Obviously your call centre advisor has no idea of what rural life is like or what it,s like to rear animals on a farm or small holding.   Not her fault i guess but a little shocking how lacking in knowledge some people are about the origin of their food sources.  They'd probably be quite shocked to realise milk actually comes from cows and is not manufactured in a supermarket owned factory somewhere.

on a more serious note, how can you value the food which keeps you alive if you don,t understand where it comes from, and at what cost?

DawnW

zafiro1984 said:

Want a laugh...........

We do have electric but no water after the storm.
Checked with neighbours - just in case the problem was on our property - they also had no water.
Rang the water co to report it. Apparently the power is out at the pumping station. Obviously they are working flat out to restore the power.

Now for the laugh.... When I told them just how many animals we have on our property, they were concerned. I told them we would be ok for today but tomorrow having no water would become a problem even a welfare issue and could she suggest who I got in touch with. The woman said (and I'm not joking) "We advise our customers to buy bottled water from a supermarket!!!" 

Seriously????

Elisheba

zafiro1984 said:

Want a laugh...........

We do have electric but no water after the storm.
Checked with neighbours - just in case the problem was on our property - they also had no water.
Rang the water co to report it. Apparently the power is out at the pumping station. Obviously they are working flat out to restore the power.

Now for the laugh.... When I told them just how many animals we have on our property, they were concerned. I told them we would be ok for today but tomorrow having no water would become a problem even a welfare issue and could she suggest who I got in touch with. The woman said (and I'm not joking) "We advise our customers to buy bottled water from a supermarket!!!" 

Obviously not used to dealing with anyone with smallholdings, farms etc. 

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

We escaped the worst of the storm damage thankfully, although we had our garden gate blown off and I think a fence post has cracked.  Lots more windy weather forecast in the next week though, having had damage to our roof twice I hate it.

We were out for a very rare celebration meal with family last night.  The bill for our share (5 of us) was £117.  The both boys gave me something towards it but I have been thinking all morning that it was a waste of money and I could have done something much more useful with it.  I am turning into such a skinflint.

I am having a cuppa then off to sort some clothes to sell.  I have a lovely work jacket that is slightly too big so I never wear it, I am reluctant to sell it because I know that I wont get anything near what I paid for it, but it's pointless having it sitting in the wardrobe.  I will try to be ruthless.

Need to mealplan too, I think a proper shop will be needed this week.

Effician

Elisheba said:

zafiro1984 said:

Want a laugh...........

We do have electric but no water after the storm.
Checked with neighbours - just in case the problem was on our property - they also had no water.
Rang the water co to report it. Apparently the power is out at the pumping station. Obviously they are working flat out to restore the power.

Now for the laugh.... When I told them just how many animals we have on our property, they were concerned. I told them we would be ok for today but tomorrow having no water would become a problem even a welfare issue and could she suggest who I got in touch with. The woman said (and I'm not joking) "We advise our customers to buy bottled water from a supermarket!!!" 

Obviously not used to dealing with anyone with smallholdings, farms etc. 

Suprised anyone with a smallholding would not be storing several 1000l of water in ibc's

florianatwobob

To be fair to that contact centre worker (having been one myself and then having trained them) they do only get trained to deal with the most common scenarios. Small holdings and farms etc aren’t the majority of the call they would be expected to handle. Call handlers often have the best idea of what is happening in an organisation as they get asked all the weird and wonderful questions. They are often amongst the lowest paid staff to because ‘they’re just answering the phone’. 

Primrose

YORKSHIRELASS said:

We were out for a very rare celebration meal with family last night.  The bill for our share (5 of us) was £117.  The both boys gave me something towards it but I have been thinking all morning that it was a waste of money and I could have done something much more useful with it.  I am turning into such a skinflint.

I don't think you,re becoming a skinflint   A close relationship with miney forces you I to the position of understanding its value more closely and you start to understand the difference between "must have" and "nice to have" and the the fact thst some items are not necessary to have for your survival. Most of us can look guiltily around our drawers and cupboards and find them stuffed with items which fall into the second category