Dusty's Frugal Fortnights Return!

dustydigger

weenancyinAmerica said:

Dusty - my doctor had to take me off of Metformin because it was making me ill. I am now on Glipizide which is much better for me. The Metformin almost did me in. 

I had been a bit wary of metformin,but I dont have problems really,a little diarrhoea at times,but apart from that not bad - except maybe  the weight gain which seems very common among people using it. I have so many different things wrong with me,with a host of symptoms,that its  hard to know just what causes my various health issues.

 After all,I DID have that massive spike in my blood which nearly always denotes pancreatic cancer. No one has figured out yet just what that CA19 - 9 test dire result meant,or what caused it. Enough to drive anyone crazy. I just say to myself that its just my completely mucked up immune sustem trying to kill me as usual. With an immune system like mine,who needs any enemies?

dustydigger

Did my asd@ order today. It came to £61 80. I did increase my asd@ budget to £130 per fortnight,so what I intend to do is use any extra from my £65,in this case £3,to buy a few household things to stock up.for later - domestos,toilet cleaner,.etc.

Very annoyed that yet again they didnt have any of my 4 packs of still water. Thats 4 weeks!. The only water available,apart from from single bottles of volvic at a ridiculous price was the 12 pack of Buxton water,500ml size,which cost an eyewatering £3,25. Thats the equivalent to only three 2 litre bottles for £3.25.A few months ago I could get my usual water, a 4 pack, for £1.09

dustydigger

Hi people,not been around since I had a bad back and knee,makes sitting at the computer difficult.Limping a bit,but improving.Well,its the end of a strange sort of month. Heatwaves,strikes,a country seemingly ungoverned,price rises,and the notorious energy costs. Add a lot personal stuff,coping with giving up alcohol,the usual illnesses,,coping with Mr Dusty's cognitive issues,the energy crisis,and removing a mountain of stuff to the yard to decorate - its still out there! - and it has been fraught to say the least. Battled mostly mental issues  and stress rather than horrible pain this month,which I find much more difficult to deal with. I have coped with physical pain and illness all my life,its familiar,but I have always enjoyed a clear mind,and intellectual clarity and discrimination,so brain fog, and lethargy and depression,and inability to focus can prove difficult at times.

So lets dump August in the dust bin of history,and look ahead - to more of the same?????   Hope not!

beanielou

Keep plodding xx

dustydigger

I put up my direct debit for Scottish Power up from £106 to £150 per month yesterday.And they sent me my up to date statement. My usage is quite high. Even after making some reductions this past year I am still a little above average  at £3710 as my projected figure up to end of December, £309 per month. I am putting my payment up only a little,(when in the past did £44 ever seem a small amount) we are expecting £324cash  for pensioners in October,(if Mr D doesnt mislay that like the last lot!),then £67 a month automatically taken off our bills each month.. I have a big credit balance too,so I dont want to overpay just yet,I will save as much as possible for the nightmare of 2023 Who knows what if anything the next govt is planning.Will have to make deep plans for 2023,but not yet.

Interestingly,my bill shows my usage same time last year. Last year 1577 units of gas,this year 959. Last year 601 units of electric,this year 489. Nothing like a heatwave keeping the radiators off to get a great result.

But as the weather gets colder we will use a lot of gas,because Mr Dusty hates the cold,and I need heat to ease the arthritis,cold really impacts on my health. My lungs are rubbish,I get severe colds that last weeks,often months, at a time,and cold weather is a major nuisance.

Hoping my new tabletop oven will reduce the cooking usage a little.  I also got a new crockpot,combined slow cooker and pressure cooker,but at the moment it is under a huge pile of stuff rammed in the cupboard under the stairs to clear the decks for decorating. I think I can see the pot under a lot of stuff,but the charger seems to have gone into a black hole,or at least slid down under the rubble,and with the state of my back I am reluctant to drag stuff out

slm6002

For me September has always been more of a new start than January.  We have the new school year to look forward to and autumn with its lovely colours and orchards full of fruit (although my nans has faded to just 1 sad looking tree now).  The promise of Christmas and festivities is on the horizon.   I don't look out of place in my big baggy jumpers that hide  lots of excess weight and we get to eat stew and mash to warm us up. Through my rose tinted glasses I don't think of the money needed for all of these things just the warm fuzzy feelings and the promise of a fresh start.  Enjoy the new month

dustydigger

slm6002 said:

For me September has always been more of a new start than January.  We have the new school year to look forward to and autumn with its lovely colours and orchards full of fruit (although my nans has faded to just 1 sad looking tree now).  The promise of Christmas and festivities is on the horizon.   I don't look out of place in my big baggy jumpers that hide  lots of excess weight and we get to eat stew and mash to warm us up. Through my rose tinted glasses I don't think of the money needed for all of these things just the warm fuzzy feelings and the promise of a fresh start.  Enjoy the new month

Thanks,slm,I love autumn,and love stews too. DD1 s partner just brought me a big bag of Pink Lady apples straight from a friend's orchard. Such a change having apples. The last few years the apples from the supermarket have become more and more bland. Golden Delicious were always my favourites,now I rarely bother,so disappointing. I think they have irradiated all the flavour from their fruit!

slm6002

I loved going to my nans house.  She moved to a plot of land when my dad was a teenager and she planted an orchard and a forest area and built their own house.  When my grandad died we moved there and extended the house.  I love it there and would love to live there now.  In September we would get rosy red apples straight off the trees for school snacks, but my favourite were the pears.   She had plums, greengages, cooking and eating apples (made a fantastic crumble) and then around the boundary of the orchard were blackberries.  I loved going fruit picking for her each week.  I took my children there a while ago and the shock of just picking an apple off the tree and biting straight into was a foreign concept to them.  We should wash it at least - maybe but never did us any harm not to, plus no chemicals been added.  They also couldn't get over the non perfect shape of them either.  Different generation even though I thought I had bought them up the same.

My dad still lives there with my step mum who has managed to turn orchard into an area for horses so all the trees have gone bar the one sad looking tree.  If I do ever move back home I will be replanting that orchard

dustydigger

Snap,I have a nice apple crumble on my mind. 80% of people have never seen normal fruit,no two pieces alike in size,shape or colour!

DD1s partner has been supplying us with tomatoes,strawberries,etc all summer,as he has lots of friends who are farmers or have allotments. I also havent bought an egg all this year,as he brings me a dozen eggs every week. Still with the dirt on,only hours from the hen! Plus occasionally lamb,so tender.I really appreciate his kindness. He is 62,and was brought in a poverty stricken rural life He learnt to hunt rabbits as a small boy to put food on the table. He has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the countryside,birdlife,fishing and the like. I guess there was a bit poaching going on! Seven sons in a poor family was no joke back then. He has masses of friends in rural life,and I really appreciate his gifts'

Wish your kids could have seen the carrots he brought last month. They were fat at the top,but turned into looking like an octopus,as many as 5 ''legs.'' going off in all directions!

I have been eating tomatoes as if they were apples all summer,tender and juicy.

retiredinfrance

Keep keep on going, Dusty, you are doing a great job .
i wonder what would happen if all pensioners wrote or emailed their local social services or Age Concern , for example, to say they can’t afford these price hikes. 
I really feel for you all in the UK, it’s an absolute scandal! 
Keep safe and carry on.