It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

Longwalker

You ladies are so brave cutting your own. I can cut my fringe using the twist method but thats about it

Im so very lucky, my hairdresser worked in her own salon, a portacabin at the back of a tattoo place so I felt very safe going there. Just only ever 2 ladies in at a time - one one end getting a colour and the other the other end getting a cut. Shes moved from there now and has a chair in a salon, I go Tuesdays where there is only two in, feel so much more comfortable 

Its funny, I rarely think about covid now, but as soon as its up close and personal the masks come back into play and I still pick quiet times for shopping and I do ask people to move back if they get too close in a queue

joedenise

I'm really lucky in that I have a mobile hairdresser who comes to my house and is extremely cheap.  I was really surprised that she didn't put her prices up after not being able to work during the lockdowns.  I'm still paying the same price as I was when I first started using her about 6 or 7 years ago.

Wednesday2000

Siebrie said:

Nelliegrace said:

I still haven’t ventured back to the hairdresser since lockdown. Every time it gets long, and I plan to go, I chicken out and get my sharp scissors out. If it is crooked it doesn’t show in a plait. 

There are special hair scissors, they are nonslip on the inside somehow. They are not expensive.

The way I cut my long hair: bend over, brush and comb all the hair until it is all on the top of my head (so, hanging down, seeing as I'm bent over). This may take five or more minutes, just making sure all the hair is as straight as possible. Then I put it in a ponytail, and put a second elastic band where I intend to cut, near the tip of the ponytail. I then cut below the band, at the tip-side.

I did that to my hair during lockdown too although I wet my hair first. It came out fine.

YorksLass

I received an email today from our energy supplier entitled "An update on your energy costs" but the text refers to what was happening to fixed tariff prices from October last year - i.e. they'll be the same as for those customers on a variable tariff.  When I logged into our account there's nothing different there although there is an inactive link for April changes.  I shall just have to be patient.  

I did a small shopping trip this morning and bought 2 bananas (for me, DH doesn't like them), a TV guide, a ys pack of cod fillets (tonight's tea), a clearance jar of Balti sauce for 60p and a pack of chocolate wafer biscuits that were on promotion.  Last of the big spenders!     Still, it was a bit of exercise and a breath of fresh air, even if it was drizzling.

I've yet to do a meal plan for the coming week and will be concentrating on incorporating as much as I can of the stuff that's been in the cupboards for a fair while.  I don't think there'll be very much that's gone past its BB date but it will help to keep the grocery bill down and hopefully make a bit of space on the shelves.

euronorris

Well I went to Morrisons after work last night, and boy was that a good time to go! Punnets of strawberries, grapes, mushrooms (so.many.mushrooms!), bags of potatoes, heads of lettuce and tenderstem broccoli all heavily reduced in yellow sticker section! Mushrooms were 24p a punnet. I grabbed two. There were 3 big trays of them!! Went in for yoghurt and cheese and came out with 2 bags full of shopping. In the chiller section I also managed to get reduced cream and a pack of Lincolnshire sausages for 57p!

So that was great as it was all on my list to get today 👍 and...the thing I liked best about it, is that everyone was so polite and helpful to each other. Passing things to others who couldn't reach. There was no one pushing anyone out of the way or stopping others from looking. So it was a really nice contrast to how it usually is.

YorksLass

@euronorris - That's a fab ys haul and nice to hear it wasn't a scrum!

Email no 2 from energy supplier arrived with apologies for sending out the wrong info on email no 1.  Grr.  Bottom line is:

You will no longer receive the £60-odd pm from the EBSS (yes, I know that)
You will still get a reduction on unit prices via the extended EPG but not as much as before (OK)
Our estimate for what you will use/pay over the coming 12 months is the same as now for electricity (it hardly varies each month) but slightly more for gas (not sure how they work that out, as the heating won't be on over the summer months)
We will review your DD payment to see if it needs to be amended (hopefully down rather than up, given our credit balance)
A change from your current fixed plan to a standard variable tariff could save you c.£39 over the year (It finishes at the end of August anyway)

Really struggling to come up with a meal plan for the coming week.  There's plenty of choice and we'll not starve but I'm just not in the mood.      I didn't do one this week just gone and boy, did I notice the difference - I felt really disorganised so I'll have to make the effort.  

Weather today is dull but not raining and from tomorrow it's forecast to be fine, sunny and milder for a week or so.  I hope so as I want to clean the outside of the windows at some stage - they're well overdue.  

Florenceem

I have done a meal plan for next week to avoid shopping and therefore spending.

newlywed

@YorksLass I know how you feel about the meal plan. We have a fairly full freezer but I seem to be sulking and wanting low effort rubbish food (that isn’t in there) and yet know we eat more healthily if I plan… and I have a lack of room in my waistband that doesn’t need any more pizza foods to add to it. 

Sigh. 

Nelliegrace

The heating is off most of the time as the thermostat says it is warm enough. B Gas has reduced the estimated of the amount we use in a year.  We have increased the DD from £140 to £150 a month to reduce the arrears from the Winter usage before B Gas decides to increase it a lot or sends round the thugs.
We are spending as much on heating a small semi as we are on food, even with the heating at 14°C just in the day, which isn’t extravagant. 

I noticed in an article on state pensions that the gap between the old state pension and the new one is increasing. If you are over 72 you will get nearly £48 a week less state pension. It has gone up from £141.85 to £156.20 a week. 

YorksLass

@newlywed - So glad it's not just me!  

Meal plan now done and I've managed to incorporate some items that are getting near their BB dates plus a couple that have gone over (but will still be fine to use), so I'm feeling much happier.  I sometimes think it's easier when there isn't a huge choice!