Dusty's Frugal Fortnights

Oh,and forgot to add that I finally was debt free on 3rd Feb when I paid the last Arg*s payment .Its taken many years. With a big family,four kids, on a tiny income I couldnt get bank loans etc,so fell into the catalogues' clutches for many many years. I was paying large payments so never had cash to buy things,so had to get them from the catalogue,vicious circle. I was always particularly bitter when I had to buy things like fridges and washing machines.A washer at £200 for cash would be £250 in the catalogue,I couldnt pay the high payment over 20 weeks,so had to get it over 2 years with exorbitant 29% interest. You ended up paying £350 or more for that washer.:mad: It took a long time to extricate myself. as the kids grew up I was able to use Arg*s,though at the time it was a struggle to pay for things over 3 or 6 months,but things gradually improved when we became pensioners, and the kids left home. For the first time I have no debts,and a few hundred pounds savings to cover emergencies. Its a wonderful feeling no debts hanging over you!
Always was poor,but when I read some of the stories on MSE,people with their credit card debts etc its a relief I never qualified for one way back then!The messes that people have fallen into are hair raising to read.

Hey,its Spring....well by the calendar maybe,but when I look out of my window the Beast from the East is rampaging for the 4th day here,with gale like gusts swooshing snow into the air and intermittently dropping more snow to add to the 6 inches looking so cute on top of my hedges.:(
My bluebell plants had reached about 4 inches high but are totally invisible under the 6 inches of snow in the garden. It always amazes me how tough those plants are,they always survive somehow. Not sure about the poor little birds that live in our hedges. I have unearthed some peanuts from the back of a cupboard and will brave the cold to clear snow away to feed them. Bit anxious,no little prints in the snow at all Hope they survive.:(

Hi,redofromstart.
Our next door neighbours had some sort of bushy hedge (no idea what it was,I am no horticulturist!:) )which ended up covered in masses of berries over the winter,surely a feast for the birds. Sadly a few months ago they cut down bushes and trees in their garden,including those scarlet berry bushes.I miss that splash of vibrant red,and of course a useful source of food for the birds was destroyed. Shame.:(
Do you think the birds would eat couscous?:D