Dusty's Frugal Fortnights Return!

Paspatur

dustydigger said:

Looks like  I was clear as mud,as usual! :)These figures are present spending,beforeI start cutting down 

All the bills are paid online,out of a monthly budget of £556,then every fortnight I get £123 in cash. So the whole monthly budget is £556 + £246=£802. 

So the £556 is your small pension plus pension credit? And the £123 in cash fortnightly is from your husbands pension, where is the remainder of his pension included? Or am I missing something? Or is that going on council tax and rent/mortgage which are not mentioned?

dustydigger

I have a small pension of £39 a week,but Mr D hasnt any pension ,we get Pension Credit,so we  dont pay rent or council tax,.

My pension is paid weekly in my bank account. We budget fortnightly,with Mr D transfering £200 straight to my bank,making £556 available for all bills ,and food deliveries,and anything I need to buy online, over a month.I never see any of that,its all online,out of sight out of mind,bills paid by DD. I then have £123 cash he gives me each second Monday,and we buy any other groceries or whatever from that HBB(Home Budget Box) ,a literal box that we put our £123 each FN,and use for random expenses,and whats left over goes to savings. I save between £100- £150 depending on expenses.

Its all quite simple and suits us well.

But finding an extra £200 a month for dual fuel? In your dreams -or nightmares

dustydigger

annieb64 said:

Dustydigger-I pay for Kindle unlimited too. I read very fast so get through a lot of books . It was brilliant during the lockdowns so have kept it on. Most of our local charity shops seem to charge £1.99 a book and the library doesn't seem to have had any new stock for ages.

Still prefer a "real" book if it's nonfiction. 

Call me Dusty,Annie.

Yes I use it a lot too,its my one indulgence.

I know what you mean about the charities. Once upon a time you could take even tatty books to a charity shop.Oxfam had a collection old shabby books tucked away in a corner,and you could find all sorts of intriguing books.No longer.

I took about half a dozen science fiction books to Barnado's a few years ago. I was doing a read of all the Hugo and Nebula winners (major awards for SF) and bought really old shabby copies  online. But they were of famous or classic books. Any knowledgeable SF fan would have eagerly accepted them. But the lady in the shop nearly fainted from horror at the thought of putting such books on her pristine shelves full of glossy immaculate shiny books,probably unread rubbish to my mind. and refused to take them.Havent been back since
As for libraries,when the govt started starving councils  a few years ago,(in one year alone our council's budget was cut by £20 million) libraries were an easy target to scrabble for cash. The library budget was slashed from £6 m to £4.5m,then to £2 m.Hate to think what it is now. Our county didnt close branches down entirely as many did,but they did cut down opening hours,then number of days open. Most are now open only a few hours or days a week.As a former library assistant it is so sad and painful.

A few years ago the new adult fiction books per month was over 600 titles.This month it is 160. Tragic

otb666

@dustydigger So you get approx 14490 pa  1207pm with no rent house maintenance or council tax.to pay.  Help with NHS, glasses/dental costs Free TV License (If and when over 75) and Warm Home Discount.  
Myself I have a budget of £600 bills £600 food
£600 everything else.including dentist/glasses house maintenance/ insurances (which you dont have)
So you are better off on bills than me and we are the same on food budget
I have found it good to pass the food buying onto my extravagant husband as this shows them whats available for our budget Also had a lifetime of doing it now his turn, This has worked out very well for us albeit after some big mistakes

Floss

dustydigger: 
 

My May Budgets 2022 online

<u>Online funds</>

my pension  £39 x 4 = £156

to bank from pension credit £200 x 2=£400  total  £556

£556 / 4 weeks = £7,228 / year, £602 / month

,u.paid online</u>

Charities  £14

water rates  - £36

broadband - £38

scottish power - £106

kindle unlimited - £8

insurance  - £30

asda groceries - £300

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

total bills  -  £532

cushion -   £24

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

I also get £123 cash each FN.

£246/ 4 weeks = £3,198/year, £266/month

Mr D buys some things,not many since Tesc0 closed down,just perhaps milk and bread,fruit and other odds and ends . Only cash bill is windowcleaner £5 each FN and my monthly phone topup - £10

All cash left goes to the savings binder,between £60 and £80 per FN.

Its all been very comfortable and satisfying. Got to scrutinise everything now,and decide how much extra to save now for my fuel.

I've put the 4-weekly, annual & monthly figures in bold for visibility - £10,426 pa / £868 pm

Floss

otb666 said:

@dustydigger So you get approx 14490 pa  1207pm with no rent house maintenance or council tax.to pay.  Help with NHS, glasses/dental costs Free TV License (If and when over 75) and Warm Home Discount.  
Myself I have a budget of £600 bills £600 food
£600 everything else.including dentist/glasses house maintenance/ insurances (which you dont have)
So you are better off on bills than me and we are the same on food budget

Could I ask how you got those figures please?

otb666

@Floss    https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit/what-youll-get    

• your joint weekly income to £278.70 if you have a partner

dustydigger

Wow,I feel I am being reproached for being too well off .It is what it is.I did say I could live comfortably on PC.,and could save substantial amounts.,but if I am offending people I can just chat about any old thing.Comes easy to me.

I only came on here to articulate my thoughts on sorting my finances in the coming hard times for everyone.and dont forget,I naturally want to help out poor family  members . My poor GD3, a single parent with a year old baby,is distraught at them putting up her fuel payment from £80 to £240. Having spare cash is a blessing for me,so I can help others,and I wouldnt like to be in a situation where I couldnt help outbecause energy companies were grabbing all my cash!

London_1

I understand where you are coming from Dusty, I too help my DGS's out as I have all my grandchildren The second youngest Henry is in his final weeks of Uni and I have been giving hime £50 per month to help with his food budget for the past three years.
His year older brother Jack for the past year has had £50.00 per month as he is doing his teacher training certifcate, and gets no help at all towards it as he lives at home, and you only get a grant if its an English,Maths or Science subject you are specialising in His subject is RE. and he is hoping to get a teaching job by September, although he works weekends at the moment in a coffee shop

Both boys finish next month, and then the youngest boy Mikey starts his Uni course in September, and has just had his student loan granted to him and its £5.980 per year.
His Halls accomodation is £6900 so his parents will have to make up the difference, and I will help out with the food bills.  

As I will be £100 better off after next month per month I will use that from September for the youngest boy for a monthly allowance of £100.00 and hopefully that plus what he has stashed away in cash over the past year by working every shift he can will get him through the next three years, but I can see it wont , but we will take one term at a time . He will have to try and get a part-time job when he's at Uni to supplement his food, and all his birthday and Christmas presents are likely to be clothes  

Giving all the boys a chance to get a degree was hard as DD has four sons , but all three of them have got through, and now its the youngest one's turn.

To me my family and their needs are top of the list of importance, and I know that we will do it. Both my Dd and her husband had to work whilst the family was growing up and I was their substitute 'Mum' for 16 years so although my life is a lot quieter now they are grown up they are still a very important part of it All good lads whom I adore bless them Huge hulking young men who tower over me, but bless them they are smashing chaps and all hard working guys.To me they are worth their weight in gold. 

We all have different priorities in life and 'luxuries' as well. Mine is nice ground coffee, and a good book from the local library, which at the moment seem to be coping pretty well despite the cuts. And the occasional doughnut when available of course  

JackieO xx

dustydigger

Its nice you can help your grandsons.well done.

My family of course are all grown up and I no longer need to help them,but I think there is something in the water here,because I have gained a granddaughter and no less than five great grandkids in the last five years! Gifts at birth,then all those extra birthdays on top of my already big family is not cheap