Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Onebrokelady

I'm just catching up on your diary (page 201) but wanted to say I am sorry you have been having lots of health issues and I hope they get sorted to ASAP . I've read Atomic Habits and thought it was really good. I still use some of his ideas now but I could do with reading it again really 😊right back to reading 

threepenny_bit

Sun_Addict said:

I think it would be a brilliant programme you could ask people if they could shop from home first 😆

I used to like Your Money or Your Life with Alvin Hall, he used to delve into people’s shopping habits. 

With the programme last night, I knew there’d be something afoot when the woman said she ate loads of broccoli. Of course we all know that cancels out the bad stuff 🤣

Oh I used to watch that when I still lived in the UK @Sun_Addict , I used to really enjoy it! 

threepenny_bit

foxgloves said:

The ease of borrowing money has unfortunately blurred the line between 'our money' & borrowed money, which is of course 'someone else's money' & I'm sure this has contributed to people 'getting by' without a functional budget until they hit either a problem, an LBM or both.

F

@foxgloves I can relate to this totally - for a while I thought the overdraft was ‘my money’ and sadly I used it each month accordingly . Part of the reason I have a much stricter budget this year and am trying to spend so little on the shopping and use what I have. I have played with budgeting before but not always succeeded till last year when I started to pay down debt. 

Crazycatlady2

I enjoy reading your posts even so please continue with your musings lol

I do think about you when I think I need something and wonder if I can shop from home instead

I'm not much of a cook gardener or knitter but I know where to come if I had a question 😂 I have sorted my packaging and put it away ready for next Christmas and I reuse all the gift bags but donated all my big ones to the food bank and now kids older and don't have big toys etc I won't use them 

ladyholly

badmemory said:

I didn't think the CPS was involved that is why they have changed the rules so that only the CPS can prosecute in future.

According to the telegraph a few of the  cases were prosecuted by the cps rather than than post office. I don't know if this is so but that's what they reported. Of course you cant always believe what newspapers report.

Toni'sfriend

I used to work for PO before they computerised everything. Everyone manually balanced their own till. Sub postmasters balanced their branch. There were usually only a couple of clerks in a sub post office and it didn't always balance exactly because there is human error. But that would only be a few pounds. What I don't understand is why, when they were talking about thousands of pounds, someone didn't go in and manually balance to find where the error had occurred. There is a paper trail for every transaction and they can be double checked. Too much reliance on the infallibility of technology or the arrogance of those at the top to admit they might be wrong?

foxgloves

Hello Frugalistas, 
Thanks for all your comments. I read them all, usually over a coffee. It's a nice supportive environment on these diary threads, isn't it?
@Four_Seasons - Yes, I saw the poor chap you mention interviewed. I do think the IT company has a lot to answer for too. Just an awful saga from beginning to end.
@Toni'sFriend - I wondered that too. I think they must have been collectively in utter denial that this new super-duper doubtless very expensive IT system could possibly be the problem. 
@ Onebrokelady- Thanks for your good wishes. Yes, it turned into a bad year health-wise. I have ALMOST been fully discharged from both clinics. I was sent for an extra blood test just to make absolutely triply sure they haven't missed anything. I do understand that the way to continue avoiding colon surgery is to avoid flare-ups, so I am being mindful of what things seem to provoke a bit of a potentially problematic reaction & which things help. Re the 'Atomic Habits' book, which I borrowed from the library, I found the 'habit stacking' method the most useful & intend to try that approach on a couple of things this year.
@Crazycatlady2 - Good idea. Our food bank is always on the look out for decent large sized bags.
@threepenny_bit - Well, that was exactly my problem back in the Spendy Era. When we were debt-busting, my mantra was. "If it has to go on a credit card, or a loan or you have to go into overdraft to pay for it, then you can't afford it, because that's someone else's money, not yours". The problem is that easy credit has made borrowed money seem like 'more of our money' when it is absolutely anything but!
Well, this won't be the shorter post I'd been intending, as I've had a productive day, the budget-helping elements of it as follows:
*Did a couple of surveys.
*Blitzed my email inbox which led to dealing with a few small bits of financial admin, including updating Spreadsheet 1 (Bills/DDs) with a couple of new amounts.
*Cleaned the whole of downstairs using the usual minimal products & washable cloths.
*Dug out dentist quote ready for tomorrow's appointment. Despite having told Mr F how the payments work....i.e I attend the appointment & pay the quoted charge, he seems to think we have paid the whole bill. I think I have managed to impress upon him that there is still almost £3K left to pay & reassured him that it is sitting in the Dentist/Optician Pot waiting to be unleashed. If I have the quote letter in my bag, I can query anything that sounds a bit higher, although I am not expecting this to happen.
*Wrote to an old friend. Used a nice card from my stash & a leftover Christmas stamp.
*Mr F received a 20% discount code for a Spring garden event we were thinking of attending. Asked him to go ahead & book tickets, which he has done. They will be full price nearer the time & defo on the gate.
*Baked a loaf.....which is just as well because tonight's meal is....
*Turkey & vegetable soup with chunky toast.
*Knitted a bit more cardi - each row has about a billion stitches so takes ages, but it is certainly producing an eye-catching fabric. A 'festival cardi' for sure!
*We did manage to get an online delivery slot so made use of the £7 off voucher & our shopping is coming tonight. They had run out of tangerines & crumpets, but even allowing for picking these up locally at sub £5, we will have come in at over £20 below our target grocery spend for this week, so am pleased with that. 
*Started a new energy bills sheet for this year, starting with a log of last year's monthly amounts for comparison purposes. Added in figures from our last bill, which was for 21st Nov - 20th Dec 2023. Total amount charged for gas & electricity combined was £207-23, which breaks down into ££65-85 for electricity & £141-38 for gas. For the same period the previous year (2022), the total was £274-10 combined, with £70-54 on electricity & £203-56 on gas, therefore a reduction of £66-07 overall (again breaking down into £4-69 less for electricity & £62-18 less for gas). I think the lower figure is actually more to do with lower prices than anything we have done differently. We were definitely being wary of energy wastage in the 2022 billing period because like everyone else, we were really worried about the rising bills/cost of living, so if anything, I think we were being stingier with energy use back then than we probably have been for the December just gone. I think back in the Nov -Dec 2022 period, we didn't have our central heating turned off at night, so that will have made a difference between the 2 years, as we just have it set to come on overnight now if it drops to below 12 degrees. Both of us are too hot in bed - Mr F is sort of a central heating boiler in human form - so we haven't missed the radiators at all, & they come on again at 6am. Anyway, a new log sheet is sitting in a folder waiting to have subsequent months of energy cost figures added. Knowledge is power & all that.
And talking of energy saving, I am going to sign off now & trot around the house closing curtains to keep the heat in for the evening to come. I've heard there might be a bit of snow coming our way next Thursday, but shall wait & see. There are far too many of these silly media reports predicting "Polar vortex, massive snowbomb, thundersnow, get you big pants on or else, ICE CHAOS!!!" for my liking......I have pretty much stopped giving them any attention at all.....which means that if we DO get a covering, I shan't know until I am faced with 6am snowy paws.
Wishing everyone a pleasant evening. 
F x

foxgloves

@ladyholly - You are right - that is the problem with newspapers. They do all report from the viewpoint of their own political agenda & the newspaper you mention will be getting worried about KS's continued strong polling in an election year.
F

Debsnewbudget

 I Track the actual kw usage of gas and electricity as well as monetary amounts, as then I can do a real comparison of years regardless of prices.  All on one spreadsheet going back years, with a highlight on the month we got a new boiler…… yes I know I am sad 😂

i also use the octo facility to look at full months from 1st to 31st rather than random dates

foxgloves

@Debsnewbudget - I did track kw usage for a few years, quite a long time ago when we were debt-busting, but I just track it in money terms now, as it all equates to that in the end. I do admit I get a bit of a buzz comparing charges with the previous month/year & seeing a reduction. So I think I am in your sad club too, lol.
F