Arrietty's Acorns

Arrietty

Hello again,

thank you @Skint_yet_Again for your encouragement. Maybe you're right, I shouldn't worry too much about reading now and just wait for the right weather!

Yard owner has spoken with her hayman and apparently he sources from "all over" and the next delivery will be £1 cheaper per bale so HRH is on rations until then 😂

I suspect that when supplies are tight everyone adds their little bit on top, from the grower on up the chain so by the time it gets to the end user it's ridiculously inflated! Anyway, we have had RAIN this last week and I am so glad because if the temperatures stays in the low twenties for a while we should get some grass growing.

HRH has been taking full advantage any damp areas to have a good roll and coat himself with a nice layer of mud so that's fun but at least it means I'm not covering his face with a fly mask and the rest of his body with fly spray, which we all know does't work for more than 5 minutes but which for some reason we can't help using anyway 🤣

I'm feeling relieved that I bought a new rainsheet rug earlier in the year as - like last year - this will go over any other rugs to keep them clean and him double dry. We've also decided to take his shoes off for winter again this year if the ground is really wet and soft so that will save a bit of money if he's just having trims for a few months.

His account is looking flush at the moment because YD and I have both paid in and the Healthy Horse payment and livery haven't gone out yet. Farrier not due til after next payday day so I will probably do a feed re-stock at some point in September.

HRH account = £412.35

I sent over the payday payments to the Car and Christmas funds so they're also looking quite good:

Car & Christmas fund = £2200.07

No change to the new Monthly Saver as yet because I can only fill it up again in September!

New Monthly Saver = £250

I'm surprised at how much money has been scooped over to my ERF this month; I only do these scoops on weekdays when my balance is untidy and have made payments totalling £ 121.53 which I think is quite impressive. I'm sure it won't be like that every month but as I'm prioritising putting money in the monthly saver each month it's nice to know that the ERF is also continuing to grow, albeit at a lower pace than before.

ERF - £10,194.95

As I joined the Frugal Living challenge this year ( and consequently been the most UNfrugal I've ever been 🙄) one of the pieces of advice I took on board was to save all my grocery shopping receipts to get an idea of my average spend. (I can get a bit out of hand with shopping eg: I 'popped' to Waitrows on Friday morning as I had both Daughters coming over for lunch and somehow spent £89.75😮)

Well, I have saved my receipts religiously since 30th December and can report that my total grocery spending so far this year comes to …. £2105.97. I will point out that this total is based on all my receipts from both Sainsbugs and Waitrows and does include some cleaning & laundry products, some household items (like tea towels, or glassware), some toiletries, some things like socks, cards, gifts, gift wraps/bags, stationery etc…

So, we're 35 weeks in to the year and that total averages out at £60.17per week which is quite a lot for a single person … and yet not so bad taking into account it's not just groceries. Anyway, I think I can reduce that by at least £10 per week which would give a decent saving over the year.

I'm extremely good at buying extra items when on offer and freezing them… what I'm NOT good at is then using those items. I seem to forget the freezer is there - except for when I want ice cream - and I end up buying more. I've also been so determined to eat a lot of salad and fresh fruit over the summer that my freezer is now packed full and yet my fridge seems to always be half empty except for cheese, milk and carrots - there are always carrots for HRH 😆.

I need to use up everything that is in my freezer during September so I can then re-stock for winter. I have plenty of stuff for packed lunches for work and in the evenings I HAVE to use either freezer or store cupboard contents for meals.

I shall report back in due course…

Have a lovely day. x

Arrietty

September has arrived and with it a horrible stomach bug which started rudely, at 4:00am yesterday and kept me in bed for most of the day aside from a quick trip to feed HRH early afternoon which completely wiped me out.

Thankfully, it's nowhere near as brutal as that awful bout of Norovirus I had a few months back. I've not eaten anything since Monday evening and stayed away from work again today as I'm still feeling a bit light-headed and disorientated and may still be contagious.

Trying to make the best of it so being home again today does allow me the opportunity to update the financials;

Healthy Horse programme seems to have gone up by £2 a month and I don't remember them telling me… Livery has also gone out of the account so

HRH account = £175.35

No change to the Car & Christmas fund = £2200.07

I've made the September payment to the monthly savings account ( I don't have to pay it all in one go but I like to just dump the maximum in there so then it's done and I don't have to think about it)

Monthly Saver = £500

I received £33.83 interest on the account where I'm saving for Early Retirement but the interest rate drops as from tomorrow. I don't think I'll bother to change the account though as come April, I'll either be adding the balance to my Stocks and share ISA or cash ISA. I scooped a bit over both yesterday and today.

ERF = £ 10,238.59

I finally received the long-awaited water bill. The total bill was £139.68 but I still had credit so only had to pay £93.18 😁 I worked out that over a year this would mean my average monthly cost is about £23 which is about £15 less per month than I was paying previously. I paid the bill from the linked savings account and I think I'm due to get a measly interest payment on this account at some point in September (.5% I believe is the latest offering from Lloyds) so I shall keep the money in there until then and then either transfer to the ERF or I could just leave what's in there for the next water bill. Either way, I don't need to save £50 a month for water anymore.

Linked Saver = £413.52

I checked my Premium Bonds early this morning and was delighted to have a £200 win 😁 it will take a few days for the money to be paid but once it's arrived I'll be transferring that straight over to the ERF.

I've got it in my head now that I really don't want to work until I'm 67 and every time I have some bug or illness or injury it reminds me how fragile we really are and how I despise spending 8 hours a day Not breathing in fresh air or being out in nature or doing what I want!

I'm away to try a piece of toast now.

Have a lovely day x