2023 Frugal Living Challenge

London_1

nearest collection for me is around 4-5 miles away so not worth driving I think but if you live near one then it sounds an excellent way to reduce wastage of food 

JackieO xx

Frugaldom

WELL DONE @RavenRover and anyone else who has joined the olio food heroes. Cucumbers are definitely the thing as I've had ,loads handed in for the ponies, who live them. I think I've enough to last until new year.

Storm winds are upon us now after a dismal, wet day. The gusts are ferocious. I'm at the hut tonight and there's a Frugaldom friend parked up in the yard in their campervan. I can't see us having any sort of winter solstice campfire tomorrow night! I'd love to say everything was fully charged in case of a powercut but I've no power here to lose, as it's totally off-grid. Hope everyone stays safe and doesn't experience any storm damage. Take care!

leftatthetrafficlights

Frugaldom said:

WELL DONE @RavenRover and anyone else who has joined the olio food heroes. Cucumbers are definitely the thing as I've had ,loads handed in for the ponies, who live them. I think I've enough to last until new year.

Storm winds are upon us now after a dismal, wet day. The gusts are ferocious. I'm at the hut tonight and there's a Frugaldom friend parked up in the yard in their campervan. I can't see us having any sort of winter solstice campfire tomorrow night! I'd love to say everything was fully charged in case of a powercut but I've no power here to lose, as it's totally off-grid. Hope everyone stays safe and doesn't experience any storm damage. Take care!

Solstice is on Friday this year @Frugaldom so you may get your fire in after all 😉😁

Asparklierblonde

Morning all

I thought I would share a couple of interesting (well, I thought so!) things I have encountered this week. Firstly local lady advertising on village FB group for domestic cleaning. Very very valid job and boy if I could afford it I would have a cleaner, but that’ll never happen! A few people enquired as to her hourly rate. £27.50 per hour was the reply… I was shocked.

Secondly, my son’s room has been bare plaster for a long time and needs painting. Being so time poor I wondered if I could pay someone to do it out of my ‘fun’ money pot - it is fresh
Plaster so no prep needed at all etc etc. He said it could be done in a day, which I expected because it’s small - his day rate is £450. Wow. Instead I have bought a roller set from the discount shop for £3, and my uncle has given me some leftover paint he has which will do the job just fine. That is a job for tomorrow all being well.

I acknowledge that people need to earn a living but these figures shocked me. If I could earn that much cleaning I really am in the wrong job!

leftatthetrafficlights

@Asparklierblonde 😳😳😳 those rates are ridiculous!! 

A 35hr week at £27.50ph is an annual salary of over 50k!! I would suggest that the reason she's advertising on FB is because of a lack of work due to pricing! 😉😂 I do have a cleaner (she is my daughter but I pay her her normal rate) and all of her other clients have been gained through word of mouth - she's never needed to advertise and has frequently turned work down as it hasn't fit in with her desired amount of working hours. 

The day rate for the decorator is also ridiculous - it's twice what I would expect to pay/have paid any tradesmen!! I'm sure you'll do a fine job yourself! 🙂 

London_1

My decorator that I used was really good, and a days work was £170 a day, but I was pleased because he was very good and worked hard and cleaned up after himself every day, and he had my conservatory to do, my kitchen and the bit between the kitchen /back door and bathroom, a small lobby it was done in three days, and all the ceilings had three coats, plus the walls and all the wood work and radiators as well.

 It was spotless and worth every penny He moved heavy stuff that I couldn't move, fridge freezer washing machine etc plus he filled in odd holes and not a drop of paint was spilled,(which I was pleased about, as I have a rather costly oak floor in my conservatory that I was worried about) and I couldn't recommend him highly enough. So much so that he also did the front of my house to smarten it up a bit as an extra job for me.I

f you get a good tradesman that you're happy with who does a good job hang on to them they are worth their weight in gold. I go by recommendation from others
 Where I live a good cleaner is between £15-17 an hour. My gardener only charges me £12 a fortnight and he weeds and mows the lawn for me ,and even takes any weeds and cuttings away, but thats because I was his first customer I think his going rate is £17.00 an hour.

JackieO xx

Asparklierblonde

JackieO those are the sorts of prices I would have expected, and I would have gladly used £170 out of my "fun" pot to get the job done properly. 

@leftatthetrafficlights she has since posted saying she is now fully booked up! I have no words. Maybe I should set myself up as a cleaner on the side of my F/T job and charge that rate! xx

AnimalTribe

RavenRover sounds like the Olio collection was great. It’s so nice to see things being saved from the waste pile. There’s no Olio near me but I’m pleased other people get the chance.

Asparklierblonde I hope you don’t lose your water supply. When it happened here DH bought a new rain barrel filled it at the neighbour’s standpipe and then pumped the water into the loft tank. It took us 9 months to get a new well dug (long story) it wasn’t fun.  The £27.50 an hour shocked me too, as for the £350 day rate - wow.

Raging winds here still, but being high up on exposed moorland I’m used to it. I hope everyone stays safe and nothing is damaged.

I’ve got two things left on my finance ‘to do’ list before the end of the year. Sort out any online sites that still have points left in them, and make a note of serial numbers on household tech – laptops, TV etc. I should be able to sort those out by next year. I decided to do a cash-flow statement which has helped me see the major pinch points throughout the year.

On the tidying front I aim to sort out my embroidery supplies.

mumtoomany

@Asparklierblonde, before we moved here, I worked as a "fairy godmother". Cleaner, shopping for the elderly, decorating, weeding, de-cluttering, accompanying to hospital appointments, etc. I charged £15, per hour, for most people, £10 per hour for my 98 year old customer. That was ten years ago. I thought that was quite good money then. Those prices are crazy. 

Looking forward to starting new years challenge. Merry Christmas all, I hope Santa is kind to you, hugs to all, mumtoomany.xxx

Frugaldom

Weather here is still horrendous so the closest I'll get to having a campfire is sitting by the log burner.

I'm not surprised at hourly rates or day rates. I've just paid around £4,200 (including all parts and labour) to bring the electrics and alarms up to date and replace ancient night storage heaters with more economical radiators. Electrician's  rate was £31.50 per hour. They had the keys to the tiny cottage for several weeks trying to fit the work into their grossly busy schedule so there's no shortage of work. The painter was diabolical - took 8 weeks of fitting in an hour here and there to supposedly decorate 3 rooms with materials bought in advance. £850 later and I'm going to have to finish the job myself as I don't want him back near the place. Hate to think what the roof and exterior repointing & painting will cost but it all needs done no matter what we decide to do with the place - sell, find a new tenant, offer holiday lets or move in. The latter appeals to me as it's less that 10 miles from Frugaldom, whereas current (still not fully renovated,) home is 20 miles. Decisions, decisions...I keep hoping for a Premium Bonds win. Maybe next month.   The short term let industry is on its head at the minute as the councils just don't seem able to cope with implementing the new kegislation. It could take best part of a year just to get the licence but they need paid up front, almost £300.

My plans for retiring with a passive income are looking a little further off than first planned.