Dusty's Frugal Fortnights Return!

dustydigger

Shock horror that Covid went up 20% this week. Well,if hundreds of thousands watch a parade down the Mall,or attend a Jubilee concert,or millions go to street parties,and not a mask in sight,why be surprised? I sometimes wonder about peoples' brains these days. We live in denial,and are shocked by the consequences.

dustydigger

Thats weird. Suddenly out of nowhere,the signature details from my former time on MSE have shown up here! I removed them from my signature when I returned in April.I was intending a lament today on missing the old colourful  signatures,and here the details have returned,though in blue!

Looking at my house and home fund,saving to do a total makeover of my living room had reached £566. This was Jan  2019. Last month I put in my final deposit,making £2500. I was telling my family I was ready for a real change. Strip off the old sittingroom paper,professional skim and painting. New carpet,sofa,two comfortable higher fireside chairs for our old bones. New curtains,blinds coffee table.. I said this would probably be the final decorating we would do. Mr D is 82,and my health isnt good,we should really make ourselves comfortable for our last years. Ouch.

We were planning the great renovation for August,and I will have to wait for test results to see whats ahead so as to decide what to do. Definitely need new furniture and painting,but if prognoses are poor I wont be bothering with the new interior doors,pelmet,shelving etc(huh! have you seen the cost of joinery lately) mirrors ornaments etc I had in mind.Waste of money if I am not there,Mr D hasnt a clue....total savings were at £1992. All achieved putting MSE advice to work. A few months later I went to the USA to visit my stepson and his family. Two of the girls were graduating from university,and it was a bit shocking just how much people were contributing! :#My savings were a bit depleted but I was glad I had got into frugal ways,and had the money. Since then I have really got into the savings habit - hah,thank you covid! - .I must do a post on my long term savings pots.

What else.AFDs were amazing,but sadly I never got back into them after leaving MSE. And I fell into really bad ways there. Ah well,I'm back now and am trying.58/200 is my position now

Books read  in 2018.153. Not too bad. I am on about 88 right now.

Prolific £5.20 I did a lot of surveys and the like back then,a real frugalista. That £5.20 is probably still there. As is about £8 on YouGov. Typing is much tougher now,I read and type much slower,cant be hanging around doing a survey for 30 mins to get 50p.

Nice to see I saved £145 for Xmas with Tesc* and Icel@nd.  through the year. All my Xmas drinks,sweets and selection boxes any frozen stuff were covered.Got a £6 bonus from Mr T for saving £100. When bank rates were 10p!.And of course free delivery to my door. Cool.

Still saving about £5-£10 a month on Icel@nd,but Mr T closed down in March and you cant save online with them,so thats that.No £6 bonus. :

So,nice to see the old figures. But where are my NEW figures?

dustydigger

Hmm,I see the old 2019 signature details are still showing,with 2022 info gone AWOL Weird.Anyone know anything about it.

Today is the end of my second frugal fortnight.As usual all bills are paid from my pension and the £200 Mr Dusty puts in the bank for me each fortnight.The other £123 of my total £323 goes in the HBB {Home Budget Box} wentand is used for daily expenses. Very few now thar Mr D isnt rampaging through Mr T buying the most exotic stuff he can find. We only spent £23 in the fortnight,a straight £100 to savings.

Let me explain my saving procedures. I have a savings binder for longer term savings. I find it too fussy having a lot of categories,so I just have general ''pots''

1. Christmas and Birthdays.- !9 birthdays to remember!I save up physically and then put in a placeholder and its moved to bank. Handy having a physical presence for savings,concentrates my fuzzy mind! I have £500 so far,was saving £100 a month. Now its up in the air how we celebrate Xmas,we may reduce sinificantly. Still not decided. We have a few birthdays in July,but the monster month is September. Mr Dusty,DD1,GD1,GD4,GGD3,GGS2,GGS3. Aarrgghh!! No wonder I save all the year round .And September is also my home insurance annual payment. So it would be a tough month if I didnt save.

2.Household.- I always want to be prepared for the next white goods item that breaks down! .Last month I got a new microwave. And I have been expecting my oven to break down for years. Its 12 years old and whines like a Boeing 747 taking off. All the seals have deteriorated and heat escapes all round,making the whole kitchen an oven. And costs a lot of dough,so an oven is next on the agenda in these expensive fuel times.No problems with my washer yet,but its nearing 9 years old,so you never know.I also want a new mattress. As my aches and pains get worse,I need a comfortable bed.And last but not least,I want a nice garden shed. I am sick of the little cupboard under the stairs being jam packed with the carpet shampooer,the mower,and clippers,and strimmer.And the hoover has to lie on the kitchen floor . I have things stacked under the kitchen tables and boxes of books behind the couch because there is no where else to put them.If I had a garden shed I could store a lot of things there. I have £600 in that pot.I need at least £1200 in case everything breaks at once

3.- Personal. Its empty now,I got a £300 laptop last month that I ransacked the pot for. I need new clothes,shoes. After my eye op( whenever that is) I may need glasses. I also regularly need vitamins ,knee bandages and other small medical things. This latest £100 savings is going in there.

4. The Big Makeover.- I have been saving for years for a complete modernisation of my living room. Remember those Ikea ads years ago saying ''Chuck Out Your Chintz Today''? I still have mine. :DThe last additions to my home were some ornaments,pictures and a china cabinet from my dear sister after she died.Thats over 12 years ago. I have £2500 saved. The furniture would have to be cheap,and I really need a new carpet,12 years of the tribe trampling through hasnt been helpful.But as I said in an earlier post,if things go pearshaped I will drastically cut back my plans. But carpet and furniture are essential items.

5. Tales of the Unexpected. I have £500 in my emergency fund.Hopefully not needed,,we get our pension etc regularly from the govt,I save for all items I need. But if something drastic does happen to one of the family etc I would have a little something to help them.

6. I have a new ''pot'' I am starting up. Energy Bills. Nuff said. The first amount to put in will be that totally unexpected £150 from the council. Cool.

dustydigger

Popped into the SNTs  for a quick look. They are all such busy bees,and achieve so much. So I really loved a mothernerd post that really fitted me!

Word of the Day
Spuddle : a useful word from the seventeenth century which means to work feebly or ineffectively, because your mind is elsewhere or you haven't quite woken up yet. To be extremely busy whilst achieving absolutely nothing.

That's me you see spuddling all over the place. I have been Spuddler of the Year for 3 years. Got to have some award ,since Mr Dusty is Packrat of the Year

dustydigger

And the consequences of my spuddling? I have to scurrifunge. An 18th century word that means to do a hasty cleaning up and hiding away the clutter you never got round to sorting,just  as a visitor,often an in-law or friend with superlative minimalisy organisational skills is knocking on the door

dustydigger

My dual fuel bill just landed. I am still on my old fixed price of £106 per month.my last payment on this tariff will be 6th August. I have worked hard to cut down our consumption,and even after paying this bill I have a credit of £305 . Only twice this year,Dec and Jan,has my monthly usage been higher than my payment.But at least the credit balance will be a big help with the new variable tariff price from September. .They are still offering me a fixed tariff of £302 a month which is downright bare faced robbery,nearly 285% rise. Crazy.

dustydigger

Dusty's Frugal Fortnights #3 13 June - 26 June.

This is the quieter fortnight,very few bills due,so I build up my bank buffer to service next fortnight's larger number of bills that exceed the fortnight's income

Usual income:£401,made up of .2 weeks pension £78,plus £323 from our pension credit,of which £200 put in bank, the other £123 cash in the HBB (home budget box) to be used for daily expenses,any surplus at the end of the fortnight to my savings binder. Simple! No muss,no fuss

Online Bills

water rates - £36

life insurance - £20

home insurance - £10

charity DD - £3

total bills - £69

asd@ deliveries £130 (estimate)

to bank buffer - £79

dustydigger

Absolutely shattered. I wanted to scope out my journey to S Tyneside Hospital in detail in advance,cant afford getting lost on Wednesday morning. Good old Google Maps Street Views I got to know things well,and today was so easy at the hospital finding the clinic. Naturally at the far side of the hospital,couldnt be beside the main gate for Dusty. After scoping things out I got a bus to S Shields,but as I arrived the sky went really dark and the wind got up,so I didnt stay long. Sadly a bookshop I would visit 4 years ago is now gone. So I beat a retreat and hit on to a bus back at once. Stopped in the town for some curries I use,but it was a 15 minute walk to the bus station and by now the legs were wobbling,but I did OK. Dread waking up tomorrow though,I'll be stiff and in pain by then. But at least have confidence now in finding my way on Wednesday so the trip was worth it.

beanielou

At least you know where you are going now 

dustydigger

beanielou said:

At least you know where you are going now 

Google Street View maps was a godsend.Dont know what I would have done without it because I got some rather unhelpful bus drivers. On my timetable I thought the bus would be at 30 mins past the hour and it was 37 mins. When I tried to query the driver he looked at me as if I was crazy and said brusquely ''Take a seat''.When I tried again he interupted and again said''Just take a seat!'' Charming!  I later found that after 10 am there are 3 buses an hour,every 20 mins,but earlier only 2 ,every 30 mins. Would it have killed him to explain that? When I thanked him on leaving the bus he just grunted.

When I got to the hospital stop I was seated right at the front just behind the driver.The nearest bell was past a woman with a kid on her knee,the next was across the aisle and further down the bus,too far for my tottery legs to reach safely,so I just said to the driver,next stop please. He asked why didnt I ring the bell,and I said there wasnt one near me. He replied ''Of course not! There are only 22 bells on the bus'' Not my day for saintly,charming,helpful drivers it seems!

One interesting point. I wasnt sent to the Out Patients,but to something called the Moorlands Day Centre.It seems to be the Frailty department,,dementia assessment,and falls.Hmm,not too promising.........