Dusty's Frugal Fortnights
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Lots of birthdays lately,and it was my daughter's 48th on Friday,andMr Dusty's 79th birthday yesterday,and we all got together. I had masses of cake,but am still alcohol free,kept it up despite all the stresses these last 5 months,so thats a big plus both for my health and my pocket,since I must have saved several hundred pounds in the process::j
Coming to the end of saving for xmas. I am going this afternoon to put a final £20 into my Tesco xmas saver account.That will make £50,plus I'll get £3 worth of vouchers as a bonus. I intend to order xmas drinks through TCB from them,and get a free delivery and a £6 cashback. Certainly next year I will be saving regularly for xmas,it certainly reduces the financial stress of xmas.:)0 -
I've had an excellent reading month,reached my target of 15 books yesterday.Still got about 35 books on my TBR for the rest of the year,but its doable
I have sorted out the family details for my Uncle Joe's wife's side.:) I have her parents and grandparents sorted.Her grandparents came from Ireland,but I will not be researching that line. After all,these are not blood relatives,but I have produced a solid line,and am satisfied with it. Last year I only knew I had an uncle Joe who lived in Middlesbrough - full stop!:D Now I have his wife's line going back to 1800,and his descendants down to today. Not sure yet whether to introduce myself to that family line,but at least I know about them now. A major gap,with just a name,is now a solid family branch. Very satisfying,and I can now get back to researching other lines.
Diet and exercise unfortunately have been a joke. I am going to do a NST Stoptober challenge in the coming month,more of that later0 -
Transferred my xmas savings to the CA now,and have started on buying presents. Sorted the great grandkids,got the toys delivery yesterday. Gave my daughter the cash to order the Angel's main present,will have to get on to browsing for books for her and the Imp,not a hardship!:)No idea yet what to get for the Imp,she loves video games,but they cost a lot,and £30 will be one tiny parcel,which doesnt look good to a 9 year old. Oh well,I will get a few stocking fillers to pad it out.
As for the older people I am just giving them cash along with their sweets and bottle of choice - always acceptable and needs no effort apart from buying some money envelopes:D Not exciting maybe,but they enjoy going to the sales after xmas,and often get some great bargains.
Got to say the savings dont look too good now,with a measly £75 left in the account,but they served their purpose. I want to sort xmas as much as possible in October,apart from the food side,and then I have to start focusing on the USA trip savings,a rather pitiful £180 at the moment!:rotfl: But certainly I can start on the passport application. I havent had a passport for ages,so I am starting as a sort of beginner,so lets hope no complications!:)
Right,thats my update done,I am off to make dinner (salmon,Mr D had brisket yesterday and I cant be bothered to make something taking a lot of work after being on my feet all day yesterday). then I will buckle down to some serious reading. Someone wants one of my library books (I'm sure I have a stalker!
and I cant renew it,so I have only a matter of days to read it. Only read 79/430 pages ,and the way I am so slow these days when reading,that represents at least 12 hours reading,so everything else will have to be put aside till I'm finished:D 0 -
I have been online off and on for a couple of hours,using Opera for my browser after firefox crashed about 4 times in 15 minutes. Not one crash or a tab lost all morning.Looks like I may have to make Opera my default browser. No idea what is wrong with firefox,and they havent got in touch despite promising me an explanatory email about the problem. All I got was a highly technical crash report which was just tech speak,no use at all.So bye bye firefox,after 6 years.Its been a nightmare this week.0
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Keep battling on Dusty - I'm sure you can get your reading done, and if it was a day or two late, well that's just an unfortunate coincidence that you felt poorly on the day the book was due back !!I think I saw you in an ice cream parlour
Drinking milk shakes, cold and long
Smiling and waving and looking so fine0 -
Keep battling on Dusty - I'm sure you can get your reading done, and if it was a day or two late, well that's just an unfortunate coincidence that you felt poorly on the day the book was due back !!
Yeah,I'll have to pay the 20p a day fine if needs be,though it offends my frugal sensibilities! I particularly asked if anyone wanted it,and no one did at the time,so I didnt prioritise reading it.Still 250 plus pages to read:( 0 -
Still trying to get used to Opera,trying to work out where everything is. Definitely faster than my old Firefox,and hasnt crashed once:j.
Wasnt on here yesterday so running late with my new budget. Arthritis is bad at the moment,I am using a pencil as advised by one of the group,quite good,but I make a lot of mistakes which have to be corrected,so its still a bit of a chore.Glad the computer is not crashing now,I would probably just give up.My supposedly better right hand is the one with the swollen joint,so I am using the left more,and have the pencil in the right .What a life!:rotfl:But I'm communicating,so all's well.But Mr Dusty is disapproving,why put myself through it for frivolous social networking is his take on the matter.:D
So I'll post my budget now.0 -
Dusty's Frugal Fortnight : 1st October - 14th October
income: £291 from Mr Dusty,£71 my pension, total £362
outlay:
Save the Children DD - £3
Water Aid DD - £3
Asd@ online shop - £49
birthday fund - £10
NS&I (for USA trip) - £50
PO savings (mixed bag) - £20
home insurance - £62
gas and electric - £91
phone and broadband - £30
Asd@ delivery charge - £5
Xmas bonus cards savings - £50
Home Budget Box (cash) - £141
total outlay - £514
income - £362
top up from savings - £152
Ouch :eek:I am so glad that I put aside money for this fortnight,some hefty bills and outlays.
back to £10,from £20, a fortnight for the birthday fund. Got to be extra frugal with food shopping this time,cutting Asd* main shop to the bone. I have a few items in the store cupboard,and a few items in the freezer which I will use up.I have 3 days supply of meat and one more day's salmon in the freezer,which cuts down on that expensive outlay.
I snagged 3 jars of the blue lid peanut butter,and my daughter surprised me with another 2 jars she had grabbed while she could! Thats Mr Ds fave food sorted for a while:D. No luxuries, nor short cuts like frozen pastry this fortnight ,so hopefully staying in budget. No personal allowance,and I've cut out the biscuits and sweets that had crept back into the trolley,so I have hopes of staying frugal this fortnight. Boring veggies here I come!:) Will be interesting to see how much is left in the purse this fortnight. Last week it was less than £3,but remember all those birthdays,not just the presents and cards,but having lots of visitors.
I am going today to top up my xmas savings cards.Tesc* scheme ends 15th,so I want to put in £30 to cover the drinks bill.It will only be £70 in total with other vouchers I have accrued,and will only cover a bottle for each person,and a spare bottle or two for other visitors,so I have told the kids its strictly bring your own bottle beyond that.The pre-frugal days of huge drinks bills which I wouldnt like to disclose are definitely a thing of the past. These days I am Mrs Scrooge.:rotfl:
Once I have used my card to pay bills etc I am putting it away this fortnight,and will try to live within the £141 HBB.We'll see how it goes0 -
Because it's the only thing that keeps you sane... and stops you murdering him?dustydigger wrote: »Still trying to get used to Opera,trying to work out where everything is. Definitely faster than my old Firefox,and hasnt crashed once:j.
Wasnt on here yesterday so running late with my new budget. Arthritis is bad at the moment,I am using a pencil as advised by one of the group,quite good,but I make a lot of mistakes which have to be corrected,so its still a bit of a chore.Glad the computer is not crashing now,I would probably just give up.My supposedly better right hand is the one with the swollen joint,so I am using the left more,and have the pencil in the right .What a life!:rotfl:But I'm communicating,so all's well.But Mr Dusty is disapproving,why put myself through it for frivolous social networking is his take on the matter.:D
So I'll post my budget now. :rotfl: ((hugs)) I Believe.....
That it isn't always enough, to be forgiven by others.
Sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery
Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present.
happiness isn't achieved by getting extra things,
but by getting rid of the things that make you unhappy0 -
My personal view is that Mr Dusty should wind his neck in. On all fronts 😁. Can you fit him with a mute button?
I am terrible at returning library books (and shhhh! I work in a library). I'm sure my local one has me on a persistent offenders list 😁. I was an active library user from age 5, and I remember the trauma of becoming liable for fines!0
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