We will get this debt down & the savings up

Makingabobor2

Another nice sunny day, after a very wet & overcast start.  Went down to L*d*! & !c*!*nd  this morning, armed with my list, that I wasn't going to move from.  Got through the tills in L*d*! and spotted one of their bit fruit & veg boxes. First one I've ever managed to nab. Grabbed it quickly and got back in the queue.  Absolute bargain for £1.50....apples, apricots, plums, oranges, 2 tubs of blueberries, 2 large tomatoes, 3 carrots, a banana, a grapefruit and a couple of peaches.  The blueberries alone were worth more than £1.50.  Too much for us, so dropped a 1 tub of the berries, a few of the apples, oranges and the grapefruit, off for DD & the GKs. Little one has lots of smoothies, so it won't go to waste. 
Then I nipped to the land of ice to take advantage of 10% over 60's day. I didn't have my card with me, and couldn't get the app to work, but the girl let me have the discount, but did advise me that after the 27th you can only get it if you scan your card.   Some good bargains there, £20 reduced to £18 and got mince, sausages, chicken fillets, fish cakes, and several other bits.  Think once the freezer is run down again, I'll go on a more regular basis, as I hadn't been for ages and they had some really good offers.  Plus if you put £20 on your card, they give you an extra £1.  Although I do like to buy meat from the butcher, sometimes I just need to stock up the freezer with better value things, just to try and save a bit more money. 
At the weekend we went blackberrying and so far have 2.5kgs.  Some frozen, some given to DD & a bag promised to my friend. I know we will get more, and we are already over run....lol.   I made a blackberry tray bake and now I have some apples, I will make a crumble or pie. Freezer is full to bursting as we already had a load of reduced bread in there. 

Got home to find the CO2 alarm beeping, turns out it was at the end of its useful life as it is many years old.  Checked online and Arg0s had a good price one, plus N*ctar points.  Wish I'd known I needed one before I went out, as it was back down where I'd already been shopping and too far to walk Never mind, can't put a price on something that could save your life. And luckily I had enough money in my Appliance Replacement pot. Back in the spendy days, I wouldn't have had, and it would have ended up on credit.  

In garden news, the first of my "sown from dried out seeds" butternut squash is showing itself, about 2" long at the moment and very green, but its a start.  Few more tomatoes are starting to show as well. I did some runners from the strawberries, with instructions from my very green fingered friend. Hoping that works well as well. 

So that's about it at the moment, surveys been a bit slow this week, although TBH, I have been busy so not logged in as much as I could have done. Hoping it improves. 

Off to wash the dishes now and get some veggies chopped for dinner. 
Have a good afternoon everybody. 

foxgloves

Greenhouses come in all shapes & sizes, @Makingabobor2, & I've seen some amazing ones online which people have made from salvaged doors & windows, etc. You can also get narrow lean-to ones for fixing to a sunny wall of the house.
F

Makingabobor2

foxgloves said:

Greenhouses come in all shapes & sizes, @Makingabobor2, & I've seen some amazing ones online which people have made from salvaged doors & windows, etc. You can also get narrow lean-to ones for fixing to a sunny wall of the house.
F

Yes, DH is very handy, so might see what he can make. 

Makingabobor2

DH's pay day today, accounts checked and money shuffled.   An odd £10 sent to the mortgage OP. Hope to shuffle a bit more soon, to get it to a nice round figure. £14,430 might end with a 0, but it would look better if it ended with 2 zeros, or even 3.  Its like being on the home straight in a marathon, just makes me want to go faster.  Would ideally like it to be under £10K by the end of the year. Not sure if that's possible, its an awful lot of  extra OPs, but will see what we can do.  

A good money saving thing, was that DH brought home a few boxes of biscuits that were freebies from work.  Always a help, so 1 box put away from Christmas and 1 for our few days away at end of September. We will be self catering, so already starting a bag of goodies. 

Just been weighing out some ingredients to make an apple & blackberry crumble. Apples from the L*d! £1.50 box I got and the blackberries from the weekends foraging.  Leaving it till I start dinner, so as not to have the oven on just for one thing. Going to make sweet potato wedges & chicken fillets for dinner. 
 The other thing on my list for today, was a meal plan for the days up to 19th.  19th is pension day again and start of next 4 week period. Can't believe how quickly it goes.  Housekeeping pot is quite low, but I did do a stock up, so think we should be ok.  Hoping buffer pot will be untouched, although I may need some extra petrol as we have top visit my dad on the 18th. 
Today was an NSD, number 4 of the month. 

So off to the kitchen now to peel the apples and make the potato wedges. 
Then some more Olympic watching. 
Have a good day everyone. 

Makingabobor2

Started a post earlier and then had a lap top problem and lost it.....hey ho.  Now what was I saying?   Oh yes, things are going along in the right direction, savings up and debts decreasing.  Studies/surveys had been slow all week, but this afternoon seems to have picked up a bit and have had over £8 worth so far.

Been AWOL for a bit as we went to visit my dad for a couple of days to help him out with some DIY.  I managed to scrounge a few carrier bags from his cupboard as he has literally hundreds. Its not something I every get these days, but they are useful when taking things to CS's or also for wrapping things to post.  Also got some freebie books that he had read for DH to read, and then we pass them onto a friend, so they really get used, 

Yesterday I went to L*d! and managed loads of orange stickered stuff, saving over £5.50, on things I actually wanted.....bread, mince pork, pork steaks, fish, salad and cold meat. All divided up and in freezer and cooking the mince in a bit to go on jacket potato, there will be enough for more than 1 meal.  Going to do the meal plan in a bit as the freezer is quite full and I think there is enough to do at least 10 days, if not more, without buying anything else except maybe some bread next week. I stocked up on pantry good yesterday as well, so plenty there as well.  Isn't the price of loo rolls and washing powder shooting up?  Fed up with rubbish loo rolls but am trying a cheaper washing powder this time, to see how I get on. I have allergies and usually use F**ry but am trialling Mr S's own non bio this time to see if I'm ok with it. Big difference in price. 

Been cutting up a load of old sheets, tea shirts etc to make cloths, and also to make reusable kitchen towel, that's another thing I am trying not to by now in an effort to save more. 
Also I drink ginger and lemon tea. So I've decided to always make my own as I always have the ingredients in the house, even adding a drop of local honey.. The good tasty tea bags, are so expensive I can't justify buying them, even though I would use the same bag 3 or more times.......but then in this warm weather they dry out. Also I want to stop using them due to the plastic element.

Had letter from Building society to say mortgage will be going down with the new interest rate, but I will keep it the same and still make more OPs, no point paying less when I am trying to clear it quicker. 

In garden news, the tomatoes are starting to appear a bit more, but very slow at ripening. We obviously need more sun. I am still telling DH I want a green house of some description next year. 

So think that's about it for today. Need to get on as I just realised what the time is. 
Have a good evening everyone. 

Makingabobor2

Very wet & windy today, so my garden bits didn't get done. I did however do plenty of indoor jobs & did a freezer inventory as it is bulging at the seams with all the orange sticker stuff & blackberries we picked. Looks like enough for at least 12 dinners, plus there was a bag of blueberries & raspberries. So enough fruit for porridge etc to keep us going a while. Also 3 loaves of bread & some veg. Cupboards quite well stocked as well.  So looks like I might not need to shop next week, apart from toothpaste that I forgot this week & possibly a bag of flour. 

Quick question. Are any of you on the Tracker tarrif with the tentacled ones? My nephew was telling me about it & I was reading up on it.  We've always been on a good fixed rate tarrif with them, and don't even have a smart meter. Can't decide if it would be a good money saving move for us or not. Interested to hear others' experiences. 

Sarahwithlove

Everyone I know who is on it has said how good it is as you get it at today's price. But i always worry that it will suddenly jump up in price. I like the security of a fix but suppose even if it does jump up you have the security of the price cap. 

MFWannabe

Makingabobor2 said:

Very wet & windy today, so my garden bits didn't get done. I did however do plenty of indoor jobs & did a freezer inventory as it is bulging at the seams with all the orange sticker stuff & blackberries we picked. Looks like enough for at least 12 dinners, plus there was a bag of blueberries & raspberries. So enough fruit for porridge etc to keep us going a while. Also 3 loaves of bread & some veg. Cupboards quite well stocked as well.  So looks like I might not need to shop next week, apart from toothpaste that I forgot this week & possibly a bag of flour. 

Quick question. Are any of you on the Tracker tarrif with the tentacled ones? My nephew was telling me about it & I was reading up on it.  We've always been on a good fixed rate tarrif with them, and don't even have a smart meter. Can't decide if it would be a good money saving move for us or not. Interested to hear others' experiences. 

Yes we are on tracker and have been for the last 15 months, always been consistently cheaper 
Yes it can jump in price (that’s what probably scares people) but you can leave it should that happen, which in the 15 months we’ve been on it it hasn’t 
You do have to have smart meters though 

Makingabobor2

Sarahwithlove said:

Everyone I know who is on it has said how good it is as you get it at today's price. But i always worry that it will suddenly jump up in price. I like the security of a fix but suppose even if it does jump up you have the security of the price cap. 

That's it isn't it? Fixed feels more secure. Also I wonder if I'd be constantly online checking prices

MFWannabe

Makingabobor2 said:

Sarahwithlove said:

Everyone I know who is on it has said how good it is as you get it at today's price. But i always worry that it will suddenly jump up in price. I like the security of a fix but suppose even if it does jump up you have the security of the price cap. 

That's it isn't it? Fixed feels more secure. Also I wonder if I'd be constantly online checking prices

Don’t need to check constantly; there’s an App that gives you tomorrows rates 
It really is simple (probably easier than it sounds) 
People need to compare kWh costs and not the direct debit payment the provider tells you you’ll be paying (that’s not what the actual charge will be); I think a lot of people make this mistake imo 

So my last bill the electric was an average of 17.48p/kwh and gas was 4.12p/kwh 
This does differ by region but as you can see quite a lot cheaper