Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

PennysIntoPounds

Good service is one thing (that one would hope would be built into a business anyway) but over 37% rise is quite another, especially when you've been reasonable customers! Deffo make a call 

How nice to be able to start thinking about a lovely future trip for your anniversary 😊
And for you too @Makingabobor2- would it be worth foregoing or doing a smaller 2025 or 2026 trip to get the money in the pot for your bucket list 70th?!

Hooray for less ironing foxgloves 🥂 The smell of the air has certainly turned autumnal so great to be able to make the most of any decent weather 

Makingabobor2

Yes @PennysIntoPounds, definitely only small holidays at the moment. The 2027 will only come off if money saved & all debts paid. Which by my calculations, should happen way before that....fingers crossed. 

Blackcats

Cost of food and drink on journeys is exorbitant and a hidden cost of holidays.  We are going away soon and I plan to take a pot of overnight oats and fruit for when we arrive at the ferry terminal and flasks of tea and coffee plus a m n s iced and sliced bun for the crossing which takes all of 20 minutes 🤣.  I'm sure that the people at the back of the queue for coffee on the ferry probably don't get served before it's time to go back to their car!

foxgloves

Hello Frugalistas, & thanks for your comments.
Well, I don't think I've done anything today that hasn't been money saving or involved money in one way or another, so I shall kick off today's helpful activities:
*Big Budget Day. I did all the usual reconciliation, but couldn't get started on setting September's budget because I had a few 'unknowns'.....whether I could get a gas servicing appointment during the next month, ditto piano tuner, & of course I wanted to phone our breakdown provider to complain about their p*ss-taking renewal quote. Useful half an hour sorting these out - gas servicing booked so decided to book piano tuning for October. A very positive result from breakdown provider. I asked how they can justify a 37%+ increase when we haven't called them out for several years, current UK inflation rate is about 2.2% & even if they were basing their quotes on last year's higher inflation, that was still 6.6%, not 37%. The reasons given were woollier than a very woolly ball of wool on National Festival of Wool Day.....interest rates only one of the things they base prices on, etc, but my policy details were gone through to 'see what we can do for you' & the renewal price was reduced by a third so down to £76-16, which was actually £1 less than we paid last year. I suspect I have been given a 'new customer' rate. I am much happier with that. I would have accepted a reasonable increase, but 37%? I'm afraid I could positively hear mickeys being taken! Anyway, a result.
*Getting back to Big Budget Day.....all written up in my trusty Money Book as usual & am keeping up with regular savings, I'm pleased to say as we have come rather later than most to the concept of saving. Have paid into our Regular Saver, the Car Fund & Premium Bonds. Also made some small payments into 3 of our Savings Pots. I would normally have paid more into these, but had to be realistic about the bill for the gas servicing & also putting a budget in place for living expenses during our mini-break. Without those, I'd have topped up the Pots with an additional £300.
*Got dinner into the slow cooker bright & early - a bean chilli recipe which I made a couple of months ago & we both enjoyed. Shall top with some grated cheese & eat with.......
*A rosemary & shallot bread which I baked in between phoning breakdown & gas people.
*Made tomorrow's packed lunch & breakfast.
*Did a few surveys - nothing very well-paying today, but it all adds up, especially as end-of-month cash-out looms into view.
*Garden pickings: More tomatoes. I might do a little bit of bottling tomorrow, depending on how many are ripe. I used 900g of skinned, chopped ones in the slow cooker chilli earlier instead of tinned, but it seems quite a good year for them after a slow start & they keep coming.
Well, that's it for today's efforts. Shall need to explain to Mr F later how the mini-break expenses money is going to work. Basically, I have budgeted a core amount & we shall have the money from Grocery Budget Wk 3, but can also add in any underspend from Week 1 & 2's grocery shopping. Nothing will concentrate his mind on those grocery target spends than the motivation of extra money for a meal in one of his favourite coastal pubs which also happens to have some of his favourite beers on tap! If I come back here at the end of the week & tell you we have only spent £5.99 on groceries, lol, that will be why!!
F x

Makingabobor2

Blackcats said:

Cost of food and drink on journeys is exorbitant and a hidden cost of holidays.  We are going away soon and I plan to take a pot of overnight oats and fruit for when we arrive at the ferry terminal and flasks of tea and coffee plus a m n s iced and sliced bun for the crossing which takes all of 20 minutes 🤣.  I'm sure that the people at the back of the queue for coffee on the ferry probably don't get served before it's time to go back to their car!

We are going to do exactly the same thing, as we are off for a few days at end of September and it involves a ferry crossing and we chose a very early morning one as it was cheaper. We have a flask and DH likes porridge pots and I am happy with a bread roll or something like that. Its too early to eat breakfast before we get on the ferry as have to check in at 6.30. Our crossing is about 40 mins Wondering if you are going to the same place as us, but from a different departure port. 

PennysIntoPounds

What a great result with the energy company, always worth a wee indignant brolly wave! 

Blackcats

@Makingabobor2 - we are sailing the high seas - well actually we are crossing the Solent to the Isle of Wight.

Makingabobor2

Blackcats said:

@Makingabobor2 - we are sailing the high seas - well actually we are crossing the Solent to the Isle of Wight.

Yay....so are we, sailing from Portsmouth

foxgloves

@Blackcats & @Makingabobor2 - Enjoy your holidays. Always nice to have change of scenery.

Hello Wednesday Pence-Wranglers,
Well, I am wondering if the vertigo is improving as although I still have it if I turn over in bed, it isn't as noticeable & as I have been avoiding deep bending if feeling wobbly, I haven't had any further daytime attacks. Still being cautious though & definitely not feeling ready to try putting my head upside-down. I was feeling quite down about not being able to tackle all the stuff which needs doing in the garden, but this afternoon, I went out for an hour & removed 2 trugs of thuggy weeds using my long-handled fork to loosen them & the old grabber to pull them out. It was slower than more energetic methods but worked perfectly well. Where there's a will, there's a way, as my Mum was fond of saying. My Mum had myaesthenia but managed to keep up with her lovely garden despite getting tired, achy & out of breath. She used to say she was going to do it even it she could only do 10 mins a day, & I can do a huge amount longer than that. Anyway, it made me feel more positive. Right, less yakk & more of today's budget-helping activity:
*I shall start with getting 2 trugs of weed baddies into the garden waste wheelie before it's collected tomorrow, as this bin is a paid for service & I like to get my money's worth.
*Today's garden pickings: 5 courgettes, another punnet of blackberries & more tomatoes.
*Bottled 6 big jars of tomatoes which has taken care of the current surplus.
*Zero-effort meal tonight as we will be eating the remaining 2 portions of the veggie chilli I made yesterday with the leftover shallot & rosemary bread, so I just need to grate some cheese. There was a 5th portion frozen for a work lunch for Mr F at some point.
*Baked a wholemeal loaf.
*Had to take to live-chat to recover the 10% discount I was unable to apply to my order. It can be credited to my card as soon as I hear that the order has been dispatched as that's when they take the payment, so I have to get in touch again to ask them to do this. Bit of a faff for £3.99, but the thing is, it's OUR £3.99. I placed my order with this company because I had a 10% discount code so it's the principle of the thing, is it not? There was nowhere in the check-out/payment process where the code could be input, as I pointed out during the live-chat. It is apparently on the 'Basket' page, but I defo didn't see it so afterwards, I went back online & put an item in my basket solely to test this out. Hmmm. It turns out that if you click 'View my basket', there is a box for inputting discount codes BUT if you do as I did, & click on 'Go to check-out', you go straight through to the payment page (I didn't realise they were different, as the payment page also shows the customer order in full) & therefore miss the opportunity to use any discount codes you may have. I shall mention this when I get back in touch for the credit as it is an anomaly that a web-team ought to have spotted. Anyway, it looks as though I will get my £3.99 back.
*Did a couple of surveys.
*Veg garden currently being watered by Mr F as we have only had about 6 blobs of rain today & everything was looking dry. Got to look after those food supplies & keep them coming for as long as possible. 
Well, m'dears, that's my lot for today. I would like to finish my book today. I don't think my theory on what happened to Charlotte Salter is going to be correct, but as I don't have much left to read, it is great that the author has kept me guessing for as long as this. Also started a Val McDermid on audio as I am always busy with kitchen witchery this time of year & like to listen to something.
Best wishes to all,
F x

Makingabobor2

Can I ask, when you bake bread, do you only put it on the oven, when using oven for something else? I keep saying I am going to start but TBH I am trying to limit use of oven & can't decide how cost effective it will be. DD has a breadmaker Ican borrow, but not sure about that.