Thank god we paid the mortgage off

ladybird1106

FRUGALNESS FOR TODAY.
• maximised our free electricity hour- hoovered the house, put 2 washes on (39mins and 14mins), I had a shower, made a big pot of herbal tea to drink through the day, filled 2 flasks with boiled water, charged the phones, computer, ev, battery packs and a tooth brush. As soon as the hour was up we ran around switching everything off.
• my shower produced a bucket of water to flush the loo.
• used natures tumble dryer.
• free exercise at the plot.
• harvested most of the grapes, pressed them in the fruit press ( which we borrowed from fil, had to sterilise it first, let’s just say it went back cleaner than it arrived 🤢)for juice, which has been frozen. Snacked on a couple of bunches.
• harvested some potatoes, borlotti beans and tomatoes.
• watered future meals in the greenhouse.
• started jarring up my beans ( got rid of those that failed quality control).
• finished making my sweet pickled cucumber ( recycled jars), might be a bit too sweet for me.
• tea used homegrown potatoes, thyme and plum tomatoes 🍅. Delicious 😋.

On a separate note, Mr 🐞 checked to see if our roof bars would fit the new car. Nope. Popped to Hal’s but they’d not got the ones we need. However the helpful person serving us said we would need to order direct from the manufacturer. £315😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱. Let’s just say it was Mr 🐞 job to sort out this evening as we go away next week, I chose not to remind him to do it. Too late to order hopefully. People will just have to pack lightly 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.
love 🐞

ladybird1106

Spent this morning applying for another job, this one is a bit out of my comfort zone but the job sounds interesting and I have transferable skills. Currently looking at another which I would love to do, but it’s not permanent ( the others are), it’s at least a 2 hour round journey ( the others are local) but the money is good and would be good experience from a career progression perspective. Started doing some research and test questions for the job interview on Thursday. Also asked AI to research the councils website for employee support if you are a carer and give me ideas on how to ask for possible job rotas to take this into consideration.
Sm shop discounted pizzas and bread, spent £49 odd. Right best get started at the plot before I pick up the youngest.

Love 🐞

Cherryfudge

Your allotment is rewarding you for all your hard work! I'm impressed.

All the best with the job search - good to be able to look a little wider and imagine yourself into new roles and skill sets. It's too easy to stick with what we know that we know, if you see what I mean, but you are clearly recognising the extras you've added outside of paid employment.

ladybird1106

Thanks cherryfudge the allotment is definitely rewarding us at the moment, we are starting to struggle for freezer space.

The reality of what we are doing is starting to hit us. Excitement on the one hard and regular OMG moments what the heck are we doing.
1) In the past roof bars would have been bought regardless of price as holidays have been a lifeline to us, especially Mr🐞.Having a wheelchair in the back of the car, meant we needed more space. However, I’m questioning whether we need them ( roof bars) as we plan to holiday less. Less money = less holidays but more free time at home . Plus we have an adapted car. Usually I would be the one to sort it out, but I’ve passed the baton onto Mr 🐞and they are still not ordered. I was safe in the knowledge it wouldn’t get done 🤣.
2) A large cc bill arrived £750 ish😱. Almost everything on there was essential, balance of the holiday, freezer, plants for the allotment and some food shopping. Paying this might leave us a little short next month but is doable. We need to start writing down every penny we spend.
3) Woke up this morning to discover it must of been cool last night as some of the windows have condensation between the glazing. So they’ve obviously blown and will need replacing at some point 🤬.
4) The constant increase in the cost of living seems relentless 😮‍💨

I need to remember that once I’m working things will even out.

On a more positive note.
FRUGALNESS FOR YESTERDAY.
1) Tea was pastaless bake( forgot to put the pasta in🤣) and homegrown salad. Reduced bread roll made into garlic bread.
2) lots of reduced bread bought and frozen.
3) Sm shop was less than £50. Started down labelling certain items.
4) Sowed some spinach under cover yesterday at the allotment. Harvested some sunflower heads for seeds for next year. Another apple tree is ready for harvesting🥳.
5) signed up for energy saving session and went to friends mil flat.
6) collected bookshelves ( from friends mil flat), stuff for chazzer and school.

Time to get a wriggle on. Hope you all have a good day.
love 🐞

ladybird1106

Well I was offered the job, but had to turn it down as they felt they couldn’t accommodate my preferred hours due to my caring role. 😢.
Had an ok week away, very stressful due to the above, but moving forwards it’s gave me food for thought. I applied for it as a knee jerk reaction to our unexpected situation. So I need to give myself sometime to look what’s out there. We have savings.
Moving forwards. We are going to the plot today. Lots of tomatoes need picking, however we are at almost full capacity in the freezer. So, I think I’m going to get my dehydrator out and use that. I’m contemplating getting a canner as another way of storing produce. I’ve looked online and they are quite expensive, however we are ramping up how much we produce to offset COL .
We are also planning on sitting down later today and looking at what we can cancel direct debits/ subscriptions and alter how much we save. Also going to look at meal planning for the next 2 weeks shopping from home first. We are also going to compile a list of what needs doing in the house. Well 2 list, 1 we can do ourselves ( cheap and cheerful) and the other getting someone else in to do ( expensive but necessary?). We also begin to declutter the house and sell what we don’t want or need. I have several items that although don’t work, they could be used as spare parts. So need to list those on the bay. I have quite a few items to go on V too. We didn’t spend all the money in the funpot. This has been set aside to buy a Christmas tree and a coffee shop visit for the 4 of us. New change saving pot has been started for Mr🐞and I. Hopefully by Christmas it will pay for us to have a few drinks at our favourite pub.
Right time for yoga 🧘🏻‍♀️

Love 🐞.

beanielou

Sorry to hear that the job were not more accommodating.

ladybird1106

Thanks beanielou

VintageHistorian

Do you have a library of things in your area, as they might have a canner? You can then test it to see if it's relatively easy and worth the time investment as well as the financial one.

ladybird1106

Thanks Just checked our local area Vintagehistorian and apparently they are in the process of setting one up🥳. Not sure if they will have a canner, but useful to know.
Absolutely shattered.
FRUGALNESS FOR TODAY.
• breakfast was roasted homegrown tomatoes on ys bread.
• harvested potatoes, tomatoes, Swiss chard, spring onions, apples, and herbs.
• used bath water to flush the loo.
• processed tomatoes ( yellows are currently in the dehydrator and the cherry tomatoes have been frozen whole).
• tea will be pasta bake (homegrown, courgettes, tomatoes, chard, peppers).
• small sm shop £21.35.
• rescued some wire mess from the scrap heap at the allotment.
•meal plan done 🥳. Most of the ingredients will be shopped from home or the allotment.

Sat and listened to Wakefield win the rugby 🏉.
love 🐞

ladybird1106

FRUGALNESS FOR TODAY.
• breakfast was herb (homegrown) omelette, fried potatoes and roasted tomatoes both homegrown.
• lots of free exercise.
• fine weeded and covered with mesh (hopefully protect them from future frost) parsley and lettuce.
• Mr🐞harvested potatoes, I harvested tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, radish and courgettes.
• came home just before 2pm as we had signed up to our free electricity hour from 🐙. Charged all the mobiles, laptops, rechargeable batteries, toothbrushes, ev, dw and wm on, hoovered and both had a shower. Then at 3pm ran around the house switching everything off.
• our local transition group has set up their website for ordering potatoes. So much cheaper than the local garden centre. We’ve also ordered a lot of green manure seeds as our soil is really depleted nutrient wise. I think the green manure has cost us £30, but it would cost us more to buy bags of compost. Potatoe fertiliser ordered as well. We’ve ordered enough to plant 8 rows of potatoes - 22 in each row. Cost about £78ish. 8 rows will last us from late July till late May possibly early June.
• tea was tomato tart, cucumber, lettuce and potatoes (all homegrown).
• the youngest bf arrived with a chocolate cake to celebrate their anniversary. Half a cake left, will freezer for another day.
• small local shop ( if I go to the usual I’d spend more)- £4odd.
• used nature’s tumble dryer.
hmmm think that’s it

Love 🐞