Dusty's Frugal Fortnights Return!

dustydigger

beanielou said:

Keep plodding Dusty  xx

Girl,why are you worrying about me,your falls are very worrying,your physio hopefully can help. I know I went through a phase about 6 years ago where I had many falls,its such a shock to the system so I really feel for you. I only have falls occasionally now,just stupid buckling knees. So I say back to you

Keep plodding,beanielou!

Must be nice to just stride out confidently,wonder what that is like?  :DTo think my fave thing when young was youth hostelling,10 or 15 miles a day through the lovely lake district,or the wilder but still fantastic Scotland.

Now I walk 10 or 15 minutes like last week going to the hospital and take a week to get over it!

beanielou

Yes, I try not to think about it too much.
However with a big birthday looming I keep going down memory lane.

weenancyinAmerica

Dusty - some of the sites are just fun to follow along. I haven't done any crafty things for a number of years due to time problems, but I read the Fashion on the Ration thread everyday. Some things are just fun to read. 

dustydigger

Hi folks! Took a couple of days off to rest my hand. The little finger on my main typing hand has been so curled under it was touching my palm,and the wrist is painful,so I had to keep off the laptop mostly,though I have been reading from my kindle books on the computer. Nice big letters! In fact I finished 2 novels that had been very slowly progressing for weeks. That makes 12 titles read,though half of those are only short stories,less than an hour at the very most to finish.But every little bit helps.

I was much more speedy completing the Saskatchewan challenge this month because of posting it on here. Some months I have been scrambling to finish around the 28th of the month. I also finished my Pick a Friend challenge very early,reading some Beatrix Potter tales,which was fun - and very short too. Focusing on ANYTHING this month has been very hard,I was happy to have simple and easy reads.

Wrapping up the Frugal Fortnight #3,I was happy to see £100 go to the Personal savings envelope. Will wait till the results of my scan to decide what exactly my financial priorities will be

I spent a total of £116.26 on my 2 asd@ deliveries this fortnight. Between £116 and £120 sems to be normal now,before it was £130-£150,and on top of that Mr Dusty was spending around another £50-70 on numerous vists to Mr T. Good job they closed down,I have added things to the asd@ delivery,others I have cut out. He has certainly curtailed his spending! Plus he is buying his more expensive items himself. Probably saving me a tenner a fortnight. Cool.

I have been whingeing about the cost of living crisis for ages,he was in total denial(he never believes a word I say! ) but the last few weeks its been all over the telly and has shocked him.. We'll wait and see how much the govt handouts cover. If they are markedly inadequate some re-arrangement of allocations of our cash are likely to be necessary. Already he is sending money to DD2,who has started chemo,poor girl. We have no idea in this country of what effect poverty has in the 3rd world..You take your own needles to the doc(because of AIDS mostly.) Your bring your own mattress to the hospital,someone has to bring you food.The WHO recommends that 3rd world nations spend a minimum of $86 per capita.Uganda spends $38 per capita,and that is a14% drop in a decade real time.The situation is dire.

My blood boils when some idiot here yells about the UK  health service being like a 3rd world nation, I froth at the mouth. The latest figure I have for our health budget is $4306. per capita

Hmm,let me compare. Uganda,$38,UK $4306. Not much difference is there?

Oops sorry,major rant over.

I have my scan tomorrow,6.30 pm. Mr D was shocked when I read out that they dont want anyone to come with you. Then there's all the faff with drinking 2 pints of water within an hour of the scan,then another 2 pints afterwards.And they apologise that water is not sold in the department,you have to trek across the hospital to find the visitors shop. I will drink what I can at home before I leave,and take a small bottle of water from home(tap water,I'm not fussy ) Both sons are away this week again,one in Worcester the other in Oxford,and I wouldnt ask them to come anyway,the parking costs are crazy at the hospital.£3.00 to cover visiting time ? It hurts my frugal brain to think of it!

Better stop here,the hand is killing me,but I am glad to be talking with you all again,very sparse posts this week.Here's hoping to get back to normal after tomorrow

beanielou

Hope you get to the scan without incident.

dustydigger

beanielou said:

Hope you get to the scan without incident.

Hi beanielou. The wanderer returns.I went to the hospital well ahead of time and sat in a little sheltered garden in the grounds and read for 20 minutes,and arrived at 6.27pm.Spot on. Its my 3rd CAT scan so I thought I knew the ropes,but I didnt factor in 10 years deterioration of my athritis in my arms and shoulders. They require you to raise your arms back over your shoulders,and I suppose expect you to rest your fit extended arms flat on the pillow. Hard luck with arthritis and rotator cuff issues. The nurse said well put one arm up and let the other support it. Agony. I think they must have a two way mike and heard me groaning because halfway through they came in and found the fluid drip had detached,and they had to start again. They called the big boss and she agreed to let me put the arm with the drip feed - and the rotten shoulder -  down by my side. She was a bit impatient and shoved my arm in nearer my side and tried to straighten it.Good luck with that,havent been able to straighten that arm for a decade!

So the 10 min scan ended up taking 30 mins,and they hustled me up and out,where at least 3 people were waiting. Took time to pull down my rolled up sleeves and pull myself together then it was off home. Hope the second lot of pics were clear. Now the wait for the results.Today I am aching all over with all the  walking (why does every hospital corridor feel half a mile long)and of course the shoulders are in a pretty bad state,so I think I deserve some ibuprofen.

Off now to tidy the kitchen for my asd@ home delivery at 10 am .Will do the potatoes (for roasties,surprise surprise).and we have fish (again,surprise surprise). Not a clue about what I will have. I must get down to sorting my meals out.Read an interesting if depressing article about weight loss and thyroidism which I will share with you later. And of course,better late than never,my Frugal Fortnights#4 budget.For now,off to the kitchen.......If I got a pound for every time I say that I could have a lovely long trip somewhere nice. Not hot,not a beach,but a fine hotel in Central  London within walking distance of the museums and art galleries. Thats my idea of fun......

dustydigger

Quick post.Delivery didnt come till half past,got it packed away,but first must share this priceless quote with you:

Marriage is like a deck of cards. In the beginning all you need is two hearts and a diamond.

By the end you wish you had a club and a spade

Bring on the club and spade please.Immediately! Mr D has hogged the TV all morning with stupid morning ''television for morons'' content.Doesnt he know I am a grumpy old woman with no sense of humour,no empathy for idiots and a complete lack of interest in celebs,gossip and moronic chatting. THREE hours so far! Unbelievable.

beanielou

What a blooming carry on 
Hopefully not too long to wait for the results.

I can't abide day time TV either.

dustydigger

OK,this Frugal Fortnight budget,better late than never.Because of budgeting for 2 weeks at a time,the dates change,and so my water bill will now fall into the next budget,freeing up a little cash here,so I am hoping to leave the £79 rollover last fortnight untouched if I can reduce my asd@ delivery bills. I'll try.

Dusty's Frugal Fortnight #4   Budget for 27th June to 10th July

part is online,part cash

online income: £79  pension ,£200 to bank from our Pension Credit,then£123 cash to HBB (Home Budget Box) .

Total income -£402.

All bills paid online as follows(rounded up)

Charity DDs - £11

Scottish Power -  £107*

Broadband/phone -  £40**

Kindle Unlimited - £8

Asd@ monthly delivery pass -  £6

Asd@ food deliveries  - £107***

-------------------------------

total -£279

* my fixed tariff will end in August,after that your guess is as good as mine!

** Talk Talk have put up prices yet again,this time for anytime call boost.And they have already warned me that in April (when my contract ends their prices will go up CPI rate(expected to be maybe 8%,9%) plus  nearly 3% unexplainied costs. That will be about another fiver a month.Oh joy

*** Ouch that will be tight. But I am well stocked up with salmon,six days worth in the freezer.And I am stacked up with rice,cerealsand store cupboard stuff,so it may be possible. At least I have that last rollover of £79 available,so no problem. I am not up to stressful situations right now,so I wont kill myself trying to achieve hard things.

--------------------------------

cash for my HBB - £123.Only bills from that is £10 for my phone,and £5 for the window cleaner.Even if I am going to be buying more food,meat bread  etc  this fortnight,I should still have a useful little chunk for savings.. I have £40 in twenties,so if we manage to save £60 that hunded pounds goes into my savings binder. Not sure yet which pot.......

I received my £150,from the council last week,unexpected but welcome. It is in the bank,with a placeholder card for £150 in my savings binder. Cool.

And thats my rather pedestrian and commonplace budget for FN#4. Pedestrian commonplace and not causing heartattacks is the way to go these days!

What regime do you other Frugalistas have - just the outline,I'm not pry out your actaul figures

dustydigger

25/25 target reached on Cutting Down on Alcohol thread/ I only had one drink this month,hope my liver is showing appreciation by becoming healthy,thus not affecting my pernicious anaemia badly.    It wa sthe only falling off the wagon in 77days.