Dusty's Frugal Fortnights Return!

beanielou

Wow polly, that is some story.
Such highs & such lows.
Boo to the dire one but hurrah for superdoc.
Glad the dire one was struck off.
My respect to two stong women xx

pollyanna_26

I'm not sure if anyone has already asked this  Dusty I'm still catching up but have you tried phoning your council about the 2nd COL payment. My first payment the big one went straight to my current account the 2nd one I picked up from the Post Office a couple of days ago.

The letter for that said it had to be collected from the post office within a month or would no longer be available.

There was a paragraph saying if going to a post office would be difficult to phone or email the local council and they would arrenge for it to go in to the bank account instead.

Different councils have a number of options not all the same but it could be worth speaking to yours most try to comply with the disability act.

pollyx

pollyanna_26

beanielou said:

Wow polly, that is some story.
Such highs & such lows.
Boo to the dire one but hurrah for superdoc.
Glad the dire one was struck off.
My respect to two stong women xx

When I was growing up I had a favourite Auntie she was a lot younger than her 7 siblings when I was born she was 21. She was famous in the area for outrunning firemen and air raid workers to run back into the then family home which had just taken a direct hit from a bomber during the awful Bootle Blitz in world war two.she was a young teenager then but she outran them all raced in to a house with the roof on fire and flames beginning to spread indoors..

When they dragged her out and asked what she thought she was doing she said rescuing her knitting she'd bartered all sorts to get the wool, lipstick and anything she could think of and had almost finished her cardigan so as far as she was concerned Hitler had taken the house but not her knitting.

She was my voice of reason over the years she had a great sense of humour but was very wise. if I was angry about something she'd say use it don't lose it. Get a positive out of a bad situation anger is pointless action isn't ;

Her words would come back to me over the years. I realised if I was fuming about something it  wouldn't solve a problem , I should act to improve things.

I did it with the toxic 2nd husband and anyone else. Then it was horrible uncaring consultants so when we encountered the headteacher who denied there was bullying in school I removed dd from formal education.

The first meeting with that horrible psych I was thinking what would Auntie Joan say? I knew she'd say sort it.

Voting with the feet became a thing if something wasn't being dealt with properly it was a waste of time and damaging where dd was concerned.

When the horrible psych was struck off the thought of those youngsters and young adults who lost their lives or suffered lasting damage trying to be Aspergers due to one obsessive man made me wish they'd all had an Auntie Joan

He was shamed in the NHS but sometimes I worried he may  have set up under the radar in private practice and was still wrecking lives.

We were lucky with an Amazing GP, Those in social services all in home ed. Not one of those attending his beloved meetings ever agreed with him. Social Services kept warning him he was stepping over a line but he was in his own weird world.

I felt really sorry for Tony Attwoods son. His dad was still writing the books but he'd lived in to his mid 30s undiagnosed and struggling with life.

There has been a group here for years for children and adults with Autism they meet up for a break and chat but also advice it's exhausting being a carer. I had bought various books from America trying to figure things out and some would have been very helpful if youngest did have Aspergers. I donated all the books to group except the Damn Book. I told youngest she could rip the pages out tear them to shreds and we'd bin them..

Any sign of your coat yet? Take care love.

pollyXX

dustydigger

@pollyanna_26

 I read the letter carefully and they definitely give only the one option.I could probably talk to them,but must admit I havent really made an attempt to collect it yet,was waiting till the new tariffs came into force,to decide what to do with it... But must do it soon,I think it runs out by 9th November. Still a month to go. I have an appointment on Monday at the docs,and the post office is about 5 mins walk away from there,so I'll combine the two Across the road from the P.O. b&m have closed down,but Heron has returned and reopened. I am hoping once more to get a certain curry ,one of the few processed foods Mr D likes. I made a curried chicken pasty,a nice quick supper meal when I'm not up to much cooking. I also hope they will still sell Slimma,an artificial sweetener that I much prefer to stevia etc. Here's hoping I get lucky. 

beanielou

dusty~~If you phone hopefully they can send it to the bank?

polly~~Yes, my coat came on Tuesday.
Really really pleased with it.
It has a hole in one of the pockets (which I knew) so need to arrange to get it mended.

pollyanna_26

dustydigger said:

@pollyanna_26

 I read the letter carefully and they definitely give only the one option.I could probably talk to them,but must admit I havent really made an attempt to collect it yet,was waiting till the new tariffs came into force,to decide what to do with it... But must do it soon,I think it runs out by 9th November. Still a month to go. I have an appointment on Monday at the docs,and the post office is about 5 mins walk away from there,so I'll combine the two Across the road from the P.O. b&m have closed down,but Heron has returned and reopened. I am hoping once more to get a certain curry ,one of the few processed foods Mr D likes. I made a curried chicken pasty,a nice quick supper meal when I'm not up to much cooking. I also hope they will still sell Slimma,an artificial sweetener that I much prefer to stevia etc. Here's hoping I get lucky. 

That's a good idea combining your doctors appt with the visit to the post office I wasn't sure how long you had left to get your payment and didn't want you missing out.

it had been playing on my mind i needed to collect mine in a month and with no date on the letter or postmark I was glad I'd noted the day it was delivered in my diary. If possible I try to sort things as soon as possible but hadn't been feeling well so understand your difficulties.

I just managed to choose a day when the weather was appalling.

Enjoy your visit to heron, We've never had a branch here and Iceland , Farmfoods ,Lidl and Aldi are miles away.

Since last October it's become the Drs, Pharmacy and Coop all on the same site a short walk away. It is easier on nice days Tuesday was a horrible day so not the best idea bur now I don't have to go out for quite a while.

I'm always relieved to get something done asap one less thing to remember but understand it isn't always possible I've had the letter a few weeks but really wasn't up to go out earlier than Tuesday.

Take care Dusty.

pollyx

dustydigger

Yup,polly,there's nothing like ill health for making one a brilliant time manager,and arranging appointments in a logical way!

Actually ,lots of people these days are having to think ahead because of the cost of petrol. No just popping out to one shop only,then later in the day to another one,etc.Then they are amazed at how much money they save.

I get off the bus,the surgery is around 5 mins up the hill. After that visit I come back down the hill,and Her*ns is about 4 mins away,the P.O.is immediately next to it,then its about 4 mins walk back to the bus stop. In good weather its a doddle,but of course in the cold and rain its no fun.My biggest annoyance on such a trip is getting a bus home. In theory buses are 12 mins apart,but in practice you can wait 30 mins or more,and then two come together. I've even waited 45 mins before quite often. The longest I ever waited is 55mins.!. Sometimes when they are hopelessly messed up,some buses will surreptitiously go a different route,and rush off to catch up on their schedule to the city,sneakily bypassing all the poor people waiting waiting waiting! Its notorious in the area just how bad the service is. I live on the outskirts of the town right beside a busy B road we have buses coming and going north and south often on routes that go to numerous places,and they do fine. I see that they usually keep at least broadly to their timetables,but our particular bus that threads through our little town(pop 23000),the only bus to connect with all those other buses,is just totally chaotic. Its crazy. The whole route from city to the local terminus of the route is only 30 mns. And there are 5 buses on the route,supposedly 12 mins apart,yet you wait between 15-25 mins on a regular basis.Incredible.

dustydigger

After more than a week of being unable to enter Scottish Power site because of millions of people putting in meter readings I unearthed by smart meter monitor. So clunky and difficult to read. took forever getting some info. And then AT Last normal service was resumed on SP website,and I can once more monitor usage etc, My monthly payment on the 6th Sep and 6th  are now showing. I had been paying £106 then in Sep the fix ended. I  determined to pay £150  at least for the moment.Almost immediately SP hastily told me that £150 would not be enough,I must increase it to £238,and if I didnt,they would do it for me!'Wow,what great customer service

 I am certainly using less energy. A long hot summer has helped greatly and my new tabletop oven is brilliant. All the seals on my old oven had eroded over 12 years of almost daily use,so much heat escaped. This oven is only 2/3 the size and obviously is using much less power and has good seals

.Sep 2021 my total KWh was 1035 units. I remember it was a nasty wet windy cold month. This year was mostly sunny and mild,and I used only 744 KWh. Over 25% reduction. Of course the price comparisons are nominal only,they have risen 250%,but last year,using this years tariff price and last year's consumption,I would have paid £189,but this year only £139. Of course usage will increase significantly with winter,so £238 in the worst months will probably not be enough,thats normal,but the easier months compensate for that.This last year only Dec and Jan costs were higher than my payment. In earlier years it was probably 6 or 7 months would be higher than my fixed rate,and my credit balance rarely exceeded £120

Every single month this year I have used 200 or more KWh less than last year. As a result my credit balance has sky rocketed.. I dont want any problems with SP over the next few months of high winter usage etc. Who knows what our health will be like,when my arthritis is bad,or my lungs are in a parlous state,I need the heat. But there will be some mighty tough discussions with my not so delightful energy supplier in the spring!  

dustydigger

In the throes of making dinner,spuds and stuff roasting,carrots,onions  ready, But have to boil water to peel tomatoes,Mr D hates the skins. Then it only needs frying up the onions,mushrooms and tomatoes into a topping for Mr Ds lamb. Weird,but thats what he likes. Then a quick sauce ,to which I will add the carrots.He doesnt like gravy so I always have to be making sauces as a substitute

20 minutes should be finished then I flake out the rest of the day,watching gormless TV and dozing. .

Why do I feel as if today is Sunday. The whole week I have been wrong about what day it is. I was telling Mr D to remember to go for his weekend massive newspaper,and it was wrong day. Now I feel as if it is Sunday. O the joys of having a wonky brain!

dustydigger

Hmm.....looking back at recent posts I think there is a little confusion. The money I have to collect at the P.O. isnt the govt's £324 grant. That will come sometime after 8 Nov,into Mr Dusty's bank account. This little £75 gift is from a special fund set up by the local council,a support fund for pensioners on low income.. Very grateful for it,and I expect using the post office is a way that reaches a lot of old people who still look upon the Post Office as an old reliable friend whom they collected their pensions from each week till forced into using a bank account. Like Mr Dusty a lot of old people still dont like ATMs. And giving 3 months time to collect it is useful.