Put away your purse & become debt-averse
Comments
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Foxgloves when sorting the car insurance last year, the opposite happened to us, the comparison site was 25% cheaper than direct. I was on the phone to them instantly they honoured the comparison site and then gave us a further discount as I had needed to call to discuss the situation.
Normally I use the comparison sites as a guide, going through in the order Martin recommends and then I get direct quotes from the top few. Sounds like a huge job, but as our previous quotes are on the comparison sites it is just a case of a quick review and away we go.Fashion on a ration 2024 66/66 coupons remaining
80 coupons rolled over 0/80 coupons spent - using for secondhand purchases
One income, home educating family0 -
I'm sitting here with my heating on and my thick cardi wondering how we survived when we were little and didn't have central heating,we had the coal fire in the living room and my mum and dad bought one of those oil filled radiators for our bedroom,it was switched on for about an hour before bed so the room was warm then turned off when we went to bed and we were given a hot water bottle,when I was small me and my next oldest sister shared a double bed so we snuggled up together
Original Debt Owed Jan 18 = £17,630 Paid To Date = £6,080.1 Owed = £11,549.91 -
That brings back some memories OBL! But we only had a paraffin heater in the living room and no heating in our bedroom! My sister and I also used to share a double bed. We had a hot water bottle each and we used to put one at the bottom for our feet and the other one between our upper bodies to try and warm up a bit quicker!
Things weren't much better when I had my kids either! We had a gas fire in the living room and we used to use one of those mobile bottled gas heaters at the top of the stairs for an hour or so to warm up the bedrooms. My youngest daughters bedroom used to have icicles on the inside during the winter!
Denise0 -
That brings back some memories OBL! But we only had a paraffin heater in the living room and no heating in our bedroom! My sister and I also used to share a double bed. We had a hot water bottle each and we used to put one at the bottom for our feet and the other one between our upper bodies to try and warm up a bit quicker!
Things weren't much better when I had my kids either! We had a gas fire in the living room and we used to use one of those mobile bottled gas heaters at the top of the stairs for an hour or so to warm up the bedrooms. My youngest daughters bedroom used to have icicles on the inside during the winter!
Denise
I had one of those portable gas heaters in my first flat for heating my DDs bedroom,it used to cause terrible condensation though,I also remember then ice on the inside of the windows,god we have it so easy now Original Debt Owed Jan 18 = £17,630 Paid To Date = £6,080.1 Owed = £11,549.90 -
We did have central heating in our later family home, but it was a weird early 70s type & it was always sweltering downstairs & really cold upstairs in the bedrooms. So it was hot water bottle for us & plenty of blankets. I used to love the ice patterns on the inside of the window the next morning. Mum would come in & pull the curtains & say 'Oooh, Jack Frost's been'. There was always a warm gas fire in the lounge, so as little kids, we used to take our school uniforms downstairs & dress in front of that. And then we walked to school.....regardless of the weather. No such thing as snow days in the 1970s & early 80s. I walked a mile & a half to secondary school however much snow had laid. When we got there, we couldn't feel our feet, & they didn't usually warm up until morning break....when we went outside again! I used to get chilblains in the coldest winters from coming in from the icy cold, then sticking my feet on a radiator. I grew up in a small rural town where the school intake included kids from surrounding small villages. Occasionally some of them couldn't get in if the roads were really bad, but everyone else was expected to be there, teachers too. Apart from one afternoon at my infant school when the boiler broke down & there was no heating, I cannot recall a single day missed because of a 'snow day' & we certainly had some snowy winters & amazing snow drifts."For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)1
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And now I'll say Good Morning M'ducks!
My name is Foxgloves & I've just sieved some cereal.
That sounds a bit weird doesn't it? But I bet there are others on here who have done it.
Neither of us are really big cereal eaters. Mr f has the occasional bowl for breakfast. I'm more of the opinion that commercial breakfast cereals are one of the biggest rip-offs ever - I'm sure there'd be more nutrients if you ripped the box up & ate it with milk - so in our house, it mostly just gets eaten dry as an easily portable snack. mr f will often take a little pot of it to work with him.......UNLESS it's gone, as he says 'all powdery'. 'Going all powdery' is simply the last quarter of the pack, where it's broken up, & yes, there often is a lot of brown powdery bits milling around at the bottom. So when a pack of cereal reaches this stage, it just used to get left. Well, it isn't going to reconstitute into an array of perfect whole flakes itself is it, & as I really can't bear food waste, the time came when I decided I'd try sieving it. Into the colander it went, it had a good shake over a plate, & a stir around with a spoon, then I investigated it. Yay! All the powdery bits had fallen through (free bird food!) & the decent stuff could be popped back in the pack. And served up to mr f the next day. Not one moan. So I do this task quite regularly now.......as soon as it starts looking like wheaty shrapnel, into the colander it goes, the blackbirds tuck into the dregs & we get a few more servings out of the rest.
Added together, I wonder how many full box equivalents of cereal I've 'saved' from being chucked.....quite a few, I reckon!
I'm typing this sitting at our kitchen worktop next to the oven. I've got a rye sourdough baking in there, & although it's starting to smell lovely, it's the heat from the oven & having warm legs that's the winner here. Meal plans for next week all done, shopping list for grocery shopping tomorrow too, I just need to do a bit of fridge triage to round up anything that needs using up which could go in my lunch.....already identified a bit of leftover hummous, some cheese & half an avocado.......I think that can form the basis of something.
Stay warm, everyone & enjoy your frugal Fridays,
F xx"For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)0 -
Braved that well-known blue & yellow Swedish emporium this afternoon & am pleased to report that apart from a packet of crispbreads, we stuck to our list. Didn't even stop for coffee as we'd just called in to see some friends on route & they plied us with coffee & home baking. So that was very definitely a post-LBM shop. Pre-LBM? Well let's just say that I used to live a mere 5 miles from the Swedish Emporium & as I drove past it on my commute, there were rather a lot of visits on the way home for a bit of Spendy Therapy if work had been particularly trying.........and I could fit a load of stuff in one of those bright yellow 'bin-linery' shopping bags. Am convinced that's why they're so massive.....to lure people who only went in for a pack of tea lights not to stop until they have bought sufficient stuff to throw a street party.
Anyway, I did not tumble off the waggon, so that golden glow you can sense is probably the aura from my halo.
Feet up now, the Beloved is cooking tonight & even better, has just brought me a glass of wine!
Stay warm all, as it looks set to be another freezing night.
Love F xx"For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)0 -
Oh, that made me chuckle - we have a brand new Swedish emporium opening near us next week, I went along for the preview day after work yesterday and emerged with only the thing I went in for! Restraint aided by having to get two buses home in the rain, I can see me having issues with their meatballs and chocolate biscuits in future if I don't pay attention Debt-free August 21, Mortgage-neutral April 240
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We did have central heating in our later family home, but it was a weird early 70s type & it was always sweltering downstairs & really cold upstairs in the bedrooms. So it was hot water bottle for us & plenty of blankets. I used to love the ice patterns on the inside of the window the next morning. Mum would come in & pull the curtains & say 'Oooh, Jack Frost's been'. There was always a warm gas fire in the lounge, so as little kids, we used to take our school uniforms downstairs & dress in front of that. And then we walked to school.....regardless of the weather. No such thing as snow days in the 1970s & early 80s. I walked a mile & a half to secondary school however much snow had laid. When we got there, we couldn't feel our feet, & they didn't usually warm up until morning break....when we went outside again! I used to get chilblains in the coldest winters from coming in from the icy cold, then sticking my feet on a radiator. I grew up in a small rural town where the school intake included kids from surrounding small villages. Occasionally some of them couldn't get in if the roads were really bad, but everyone else was expected to be there, teachers too. Apart from one afternoon at my infant school when the boiler broke down & there was no heating, I cannot recall a single day missed because of a 'snow day' & we certainly had some snowy winters & amazing snow drifts.
My mum used to say that too:rotfl:
I owned my own horse when I was in high schooland remember the really bad winter of I think 79 when it snowed and I had to go and dig a path to get him in from his field,he and his herd mates had a very adequate field shelter at the top of the field by the gate,but they decided that night it would be a good idea to shelter under the trees at the bottom of the hill,we couldn't get them back up as the snow came to the top of my thighs,so we had to dig down the hill to get to them
I was really ill when we finished and have hated snow ever since:rotfl:Original Debt Owed Jan 18 = £17,630 Paid To Date = £6,080.1 Owed = £11,549.90 -
Forgot to say I'm going to the Swedish Emporium on Thursday with DD as she wants to buy some trolley thing for her room,I never take a bag or trolley round with me because I would just fill it up,the only thing I can't resist buying are the little cakes they sell in the food hall,I can't remember what they are called butthey taste of marzipan and are covered in green icing with chocolate on the ends,they are soooooo yummy and I always buy some
I am looking for some sort of tall thin bin to out my recycling in whileits in the kitchen,so I might look to see if they have anything suitable but I need to measure the space I want to put it in first,at the moment it all goes in a bag for life hanging on my cupboard door but it looks untidy so I want to get rid of it
Wish me luck
Original Debt Owed Jan 18 = £17,630 Paid To Date = £6,080.1 Owed = £11,549.90
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