Dusty's Frugal Fortnights Return!

dustydigger

Morning all. Hiding from the heat,,,already 26 C in this area.  Glad I'm not down south.

Back is almost better,except if I sit at the computer too long,so  quick post. Nothing to tell anyway,just lolling around doing nothing whenever possible. I think around 5-6 pm felt the hottest yesterday indoors.

Expecting asd@ home delivery at 10am, Cut the bill to the bone but it was still £62. I intend to use up some of the frozen veg in freezer. Mr D will have a lot of green beans this week!

I really need to get out to a butcher,we havent had meat for a fortnight. Doesnt bother me but Mr D normally has lamb or beef at least 3 days a week. Our kind friend who often gets us fresh lamb hasnt given us any for a month,and I have not been in shape to get out. Hopefully normal service will be esumed from next week.

On the budgeting side I am pondering on my allocation of funds. I have quite big surpluses these days,each fortnight from the HBB (Home Budget Box), between£50-£100 because of my circumstances lately. Not spending,or ordering much online. I only have about 6 weeks left of my fixed rate dual fuel deal,then I have to reorganize to be on a variable tariff,because Scottish Power new fixed tariff is a ridiculous £367 a month. Was around £310 two months ago.! I pay around the average bill as Martin Lewis judges things,£1280,so he thinks the new crazy level will be £3200 plus. But thats still only (ONLY????) £270 a month,whats with this £367 SP want to goudge me for. Plus last year they put up my  price by £16 a month,quite unnecessarily.I immediately cut down consumption,and  I am now over £400 in credit despite higher prices.

So I need to put more in the bank each fortnight,less in the HBB.£50 per fortnight will leave only £73 per fortnight for daily expenses,probably adequate with care,but the days of big chunks to savings will be over. My emergency fund is fully funded at £500.. As and when I get to £100 in my ''in transit'' envelope,I will grudgingly allocate it to the energy savings pot instead of to my other ''pots'' till I see exactly whats needed.

I am just so grateful for what I have achieved because of MSE.I have good cushions,which will be needed. I think we will get around £1000 in govt help this year.I will only (!) have to pay about £80 a month extra from my own funds.. I can do that because of my saving,but what are the general run of people,especially those with families who have blithely been living paycheck to paycheck and with high CC debt,going to do.Ouch

dustydigger

Phew! What a day yesterday.All those poor people losing their homes to fire. Apparently the one in Wennington that destroyed numerous terraced houses started in a compost heap. They are of course a danger at the best of times since methane and other gases can build up.In hot weather they need regular turning over,and shouldnt be too near the house.  Major object lesson yesterday.

Glad its only 19 C here this morning. Even in the cooler northeast we had 35C and more yesterday afternoon. Amazing it got so high,and its even more amazing how it can drop so suddenly.

I see lots of people out walking their dogs today. Most people were sensible yesterday but I did see one moron walking his dog at 2pm yesterday,at 34 degrees!

dustydigger

Hi folks,quick post to show I'm alive

On the hottest night ever,Tuesday ,day of 36C even in the northeast,and 25C even that night,I was just dozing and tossing and turning,and forgot about my back which seemed to be almost well,just a dull ache. I turned over carelessly,twisting my back and had a terrible night as a result Its taken 3 days to even get to a reasonable state,though I dare hardly bend over,I have to do knees bend to to put things on a lower level,not very nice for my knees. Sitting at a computer is a bit problematic,5 mins at a time is more than enough.

Nothing achieved anywhere,barely reading,and I am struggling against brain fog and other immune problems,the heat not helping at all.. So I am spending most of my time watching the gogglebox.,or youtube . I spent hours the other day watching a book collecter using a toothbrush to clean his books,then rub out pencil marks and polish the covers. Quite soothing actually,loved looking at vintage book covers of books that were NOT vintage when I first knew them! As a former librarian I am  very familiar with a huge number of book covers,then a decade of goodreads and Librarything makes me familiar with even more.So that was quite fun,if not particularly useful ! Got to be better than the daily football match,which Mr D watches,but denigrates because women are weaker than men and cant kick the ball as well.

Will have to end now,will try to pop in occasionally over the weekend,hope to be restored for the next Frugal Fortnight update on Monday.

Katiehound

dustydigger said:

At last I get round to the quiz results! How did you do? Have you read some of the books? Did you know all the authors

The first list was the most famous work,the second a lesser known one.Did you match them all up right?

 

Oops- a possible 18 correct there and I only got 12.
Austen, Hardy & Eliot both titles , one correct for each of the others   but nada for Joseph Conrad!!
these days I tend to read thrillers, murders etc.

As far as children's books are concerned I remember particularly those that featured (or were mentioned/ reviewed) on Children's radio,
 so,
 Hans Brinker & the Silver Skates,
Anne of Green gables & sequels,
Heidi & sequels
The Good master by Kate Seredy- have just looked that up- written in 1936 & won an award
Fell farm books by Marjorie Lloyd- printed by Puffin, set in lake District. I remember in one of those someone had a hay box to cook with- this idea returning!.
I also had a few books in a boating series- Puffin again- but can't remember the name at all.

I had Winnie the Pooh but never liked the book
Lover Peter rabbit- the only title I had
little grey Rabbit Books= I must have had the whole set

Sorry this a reply to a long ago post: been away for 5 weeks and only just got to your author quiz - so many postings on interesting threads!

Katiehound

and now I've got to the end of the thread  glad to hear that it wasn't the dreaded big 'C' but sounds as fi you are in a load of pain, really hope that improves as that is so depressing.

had an idea about your phone calls
Firstly you know that you can always attempt the haggle with TalkTalk approach. Each time I have got to the / near the end of an 18 month contract I look to see what bargains are being offered in the weekly MSE newsletter. A couple of times I have managed to almost match the cheapest with TT. I make out that I would be sad to leave them... blah blah....
That's the first thought

the second one is that I use a service called 18185- that was the override number with BT- it's much longer using TT however, you sign up to a payment plan- mine is a DD which pays out every 2 months and of course it depends on your usage.
the rates they are quoting today are: 
Uganda landline- 7 pence per minute
Uganda mobile- 30 pence per minute
USA- both ll & m- 2.5 pence per minute

I have used the service for a lot of years and it has saved me a lot of money. You do have umpteen numbers to press to get into the system but..... save the spondoolies!

Katiehound

Another thought- not linked to the above.
 I have friends who dance. She is a member of  a couple of clog dancing teams and he is in a long sword group. Sadly I don't think either their son or the grand children have any interest in such things which is a great pity. For a big birthday  a few years ago they organised a ceilidh in the village hall with bring- your -own nibbles. It was fun and well attended.

Another friend had organised a hog roast & barn dance but it was during the height of Covid & sadly the thing firstly got postponed and then finally cancelled.

dustydigger

@Katiehound

Thanks for the info about phone charges. Certainly I will be shopping aound when my contract ends. I haggled with TT last time mine contract was ending.They wanted £40 a month and I managed to get them to reduce my anytime calls by £5 a month,but since then they have raised the anytime calls rate twice. Its gone up by £4 in a year,a 25% rise,and even with the money off I am now again up to £40 a month. We are in a rather removed section of the area network,and without fibe the whole thing was so dire,5 minutes clicking to change pages  etc! Major improvement when I got fibre but of course concomitant costs. But I suppose £40 is a reasonable amount compared with people paying for TV services,Sky Sports etc. I have a relative paying £66 a month to Sky ,plus more so their kid can watch on a second TV in his room!

I imagine Sky and BT etc are in for a tough time,people are cutting down on costs now,and things like this are the first to go. I see that huge numbers of people are cutting out the TV licence,willing to avoid using the BBC to save nearly £160 a year.

And its amazing how many people have been having Netflix,Disney and other streaming services,often having 2 or 3 at a time. That is all going to change. When you need £150 a month extra just to keeep your family warm,these things will be the fisrt to go

dustydigger

Katiehound said:

dustydigger said:

At last I get round to the quiz results! How did you do? Have you read some of the books? Did you know all the authors

The first list was the most famous work,the second a lesser known one.Did you match them all up right?

 

Oops- a possible 18 correct there and I only got 12.
Austen, Hardy & Eliot both titles , one correct for each of the others   but nada for Joseph Conrad!!
these days I tend to read thrillers, murders etc.

As far as children's books are concerned I remember particularly those that featured (or were mentioned/ reviewed) on Children's radio,
 so,
 Hans Brinker & the Silver Skates,
Anne of Green gables & sequels,
Heidi & sequels
The Good master by Kate Seredy- have just looked that up- written in 1936 & won an award
Fell farm books by Marjorie Lloyd- printed by Puffin, set in lake District. I remember in one of those someone had a hay box to cook with- this idea returning!.
I also had a few books in a boating series- Puffin again- but can't remember the name at all.

I had Winnie the Pooh but never liked the book
Lover Peter rabbit- the only title I had
little grey Rabbit Books= I must have had the whole set

Sorry this a reply to a long ago post: been away for 5 weeks and only just got to your author quiz - so many postings on interesting threads!

Hey Katiehound,good to hear from you.

Was the series set in the Lake District Swallows and Amazons? I started rereading the series a couple of years ago,then covid stopped my trawling various libraries,and I got stuck somewhere round #4 or #5. Maybe next year I'll get back into them.

I too had are rather unenthusiastic response to Winnie the Pooh for years,but I read them all about 5 years ago and enjoyed them more. One of the series was a poetry book,and somehow it caught the attention of my kids when they were small,and it has been a family favourite since

..................................

Now We Are Six

..........................

When I was One,
I had just begun.
When I was Two,
I was nearly new.
When I was Three
I was hardly me.
When I was Four,
I was not much more.
When I was Five,
I was just alive.
But now I am Six,
I'm as clever as clever,
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

.............................

They just loved the rhythm,I think,especially the last few lines.

Ouch,my back is killing me from sitting at the computer,so I'll take a break now. Later will review this last fortnight,and will look ahead to the next. Still in my old fixed rate contract ,ends in August,so have to sort things in my mind.

H G Well's The Shape of Things To Come seems an appropriate book title when thinking of the near future

Katiehound

Hello
a brief reply

Not Swallows & Amazons- yes, I read them.
Fell Farm series - published by Puffin- I remember they used to alert each other with a curlew type call!! What we remember!
Family Afloat- the boating story
The children who lived in a barn- this is the one with the haybox!

Just had a trawl through memory lane with Puffins- look here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_early_Puffin_Story_Books

My TT package is around £32, depends how many times I use 1571
I pay slightly more to prevent the mid contract increases. package is for broadband & UK anytime calls. It no longer includes their security . However a friend managed to get that reconnected for free! I don't know how- think it's £4 pm.

The 18185 over ride is well worth having- you only pay for the calls you make (abroad)

annieb64

I remember our English teacher at school reading us The Good Master. Do teachers still read novels to children? I went to a village school and the top class-year six- was taught by the headmaster. One afternoon a week he'd do his paperwork and one of the infants teachers would come and read to us. Over the year she worked through the set of children's classics-Black Arrow, Kidnapped, Oliver Twist etc