Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

PennysIntoPounds

I'm very envious of all of you with PA surveys, they said they were full when I tried to sign up

Blast and bother re the tyres, but how fantastic to have a pot to cover that expense! 

Tescodealqueen

I always kind of begrudge spending money on car related stuff and then when you are told the price of a tyre then they  add balancing alignment  and disposal I almost have a heart attack

joedenise

Another needing new tyres shortly - only these are even more expensive as they are for the motorhome and it's got 6 wheels plus a spare and they're nearer £200 each!!!!  Good job I have a separate motorhome pot, it's had to have other work done already this year which cost over £1K but at least the money was there for it!  It's coming us more and more as it's getting older but still cheaper than buying another one!

foxgloves

Sounds like several of us are finding out how much tyres cost these days, doesn't it? I've told Mr F to go ahead & get the car sorted out, anyway. At least we do have a car Maintenance Pot - it was the cost per individual tyre that shocked me.
And Good Afternoon Frugalistas,
After a pee-down most of the night, I was surprised that we have only had a fairly minor shower today & now (that it's too late to do much) the sun has come out. Nice to see it. Might get an hour in the garden with my book in a minute.
Today is Big Budget Day & I decided to get off to an early start. And I did......until I signed into our bank account & discovered that Mr F had not been paid. Pinged him at work & he chased it his end & that was when we heard that other employees who bank with the C**p were having the same problem. Payslips issued, wages sent, but not processed at the bank's end onto people's bank accounts. By then, the problem had been clearly flagged by the bank on their FB page, so rather than join in the growing chorus of moans, I decided to check regularly & before too long, the money arrived. Phew! I know we are now in a position to have been able to arrange a temporary bridging loan to ourselves from our own savings if this emergency had persisted, but for those people who are not in that position & who were desperate for their wages to land today because they had no money for food & bills scheduled to go out, well, it must have been scary.
Big Budget Day completed. Nothing particularly of note. I wasn't too pleased to see that August, like June, is another 5-week month for groceries, so I budgeted a little more, but not another week's worth as I think I am quite generous enough for a 2-person, 2-cat household as it it.......though tbf, the silly price increases for cat food doesn't help. I was able to pay our agreed £100 per month into the Car Fund (with which we hope very much to avoid car finance of any kind again next time we need to buy), & divided remaining disposable monthly income up among 5 of our Savings Pots: Car maintenance, clothes, house & garden, presents & holiday. After that, I had a humungous filing session. Not just financial stuff, but also my expanding collection of hospital letters. I have been seen by different departments so even more need to be organised.
Other small wins: Sold some marmalade. Very speedy meal tonight as I'm just doing pasta with some of the pesto I made earlier this week & a bung of grated cheese. Mr F (as is now his habit) is calling at W*itbl00m on his way past tonight to pick up the grocery shopping. Have also written a list for town tomorrow morning to make the most of having the wheels & the parking charge. Oh & I have cancelled both those genealogy subscriptions so that I don't forget & over-run into the next payment period. 
Right, time for a super-quick tidy round, then I reckon I can get a bit of time outside on the coffee bench with my book.
Cheers,
F x

scandimore

Another one who has paid out for all 4 tyres recently, and it's back in again next week for service and a small repair. We do have a car pot but clearly hadn't budgeted enough as I think we will be short. Will have to increase the monthly amount I think - everything is bummin expensive at the moment!

starnac

Yikes, my car needs two new tyres that we were going to sort this month. Thanks for the heads up. Thankfully, we too are MSE veterans so also have a car maintenance pot but wow they do sound expensive!

foxgloves

Evening m'dears,
Relaxing evening. Cats settled & snoozing - not even Soot on a biscuit-pester. Anyway, just checking in with today's small wins:
*This week's grocery spend looks as though it should have come in roughly on target.
*Today's garden pickings: Courgettes, beans, tomatoes plus some flowers for my favourite vase.
*A message from PA this afternoon to inform me they have paid me a £7.60 bonus. I have now more than met my goal of earning enough to neutralise that £49 from my Personal Spends. Will cash out on last day of the month.
*Turned a container of leftover chicken chunks which I froze a while back, into a nice chicken & mushroom supreme with rice for tonight's nosebag.
*Wrote a list for tomorrow's little city centre trippette & put vouchers in my purse ready.
F x
Oh.....& i nearly missed out a biggie. Mr F called in at the local car accessories shop & bought a tyre tread guage for £5. Money well spent. He likes a new gadget & went straight out to test it. And the verdict? We apparently don't need 4 new tyres. We don't yet even need one!!

Sun_Addict

That’s brilliant news about the tyres 🥳 I did a short PA survey tonight that’s worth £9 if it goes through 🤞Good news on you hitting your target. 

Suffolk_lass

I had an advisory on my MOT last December for all four tyres on the 4WD; we use this vehicle for beekeeping, so it needs to be able to drive over farm tracks and carry equipment, tow the trailer and so on, as well as driving to and from my Mother's in Scotland and then on up to the highlands, twice a year). So I got four new tyres (not from the dealership that includes the MOT cost in the service pack). Just over £600 but I was asked by the manager of the branch why I was changing four perfectly good tyres. I do know I had a slow puncture in two but the garage suggested I had over 20,000 miles of wear left. This last service the same dealership has told me the brakes need doing (and the discs). I have declined to have this done (another £600) and checked elsewhere. There is over 50% above the legal minimum. 

I really felt that for insurance purposes I needed to get the MOT advisory item done, but I think that was the last time my car was going there. 

joedenise

@Suffolk_lass - you definitely need to find and use a garage you can trust.  It took us a while to find a trustworthy one when we moved to where we are now but once found we don't go anywhere else.

Advisories on an MOT are just that advisory.  If you're not sure it's always worth asking another garage particularly with something like tyres.