Dear reader,
Sorry I have been away. I've missed writing. The strains of working full, full time, a demanding job, a great but work aholic boss.
Tonight I am just referring you to Frugal Queen as her post says it all really.
What I would like to know dear reader, is what has happened? Why is our once great country struggling to heat and care for our elderly and to feed ourselves?
See Froogs post here Swear words included from Froogs.
Goodnight.
X
Friday, 18 October 2013
Thursday, 3 October 2013
Elaine's soda bread.
Dear reader,
Stoptober is everywhere. People are quitting this and stopping that. Saving up and doing without.
I am doing well too and trying not to spend unessasarily. Being organised is the key.
Sadly I just don't have time to be organised, well not as well as some of you on here who do amazing things.
One of my favourite girls who do amazing things is Elaine at mortgage free in 3. I have watched Elaine on a video clip public speaking. You know one of those people who speaks really well, I wanted to listen for ages and she has a lovely accent.
I made her super quick soda bread tonight to Stoptober me having to go to the shops and spend £20.
If you haven't met Elaine, she is hereAmazing Elaine and her soda bread recipe.
Stoptober is everywhere. People are quitting this and stopping that. Saving up and doing without.
I am doing well too and trying not to spend unessasarily. Being organised is the key.
Sadly I just don't have time to be organised, well not as well as some of you on here who do amazing things.
One of my favourite girls who do amazing things is Elaine at mortgage free in 3. I have watched Elaine on a video clip public speaking. You know one of those people who speaks really well, I wanted to listen for ages and she has a lovely accent.
I made her super quick soda bread tonight to Stoptober me having to go to the shops and spend £20.
If you haven't met Elaine, she is hereAmazing Elaine and her soda bread recipe.
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
Happy Stoptober
Dear reader,
Happy Stoptober. I'm sure we are all partaking in some new challenge as the new month starts.
Maybe you are always frugal and cannot stop anymore than you already do?
Maybe you are stopping a bad habit that you have or starting a new good habit?
I am determined to pay off this debt as fast as possible. It feels like a dark cloud hanging over us.
I love hearing about how other people did the same.
Today is the first day of the Awakening October challenge I am doing on MSE.
It will be tough, especially the cooking and making of packed lunches. We are doing 12 hour days at the moment. No sooner have we got home and eaten than its time for bed. The alarm seems to go off as soon as I have fallen asleep. Will probably be doing 12 days in a row too.
Yes, I want sympathy!
I suppose we are both lucky to have decent jobs at the moment.
My main challenge this month will be to cut our shopping down to £50 per week.
I will be planning and plotting what meals to make and doing a meal plan later.
For now, have a relaxing day.
X
Happy Stoptober. I'm sure we are all partaking in some new challenge as the new month starts.
Maybe you are always frugal and cannot stop anymore than you already do?
Maybe you are stopping a bad habit that you have or starting a new good habit?
I am determined to pay off this debt as fast as possible. It feels like a dark cloud hanging over us.
I love hearing about how other people did the same.
Today is the first day of the Awakening October challenge I am doing on MSE.
It will be tough, especially the cooking and making of packed lunches. We are doing 12 hour days at the moment. No sooner have we got home and eaten than its time for bed. The alarm seems to go off as soon as I have fallen asleep. Will probably be doing 12 days in a row too.
Yes, I want sympathy!
I suppose we are both lucky to have decent jobs at the moment.
My main challenge this month will be to cut our shopping down to £50 per week.
I will be planning and plotting what meals to make and doing a meal plan later.
For now, have a relaxing day.
X
Sunday, 29 September 2013
Giving up holidays in the name of debt
Dear reader,
This was sitting in Drafts. I have posted it so is a bit back to front.
Thank you for your helpful and supportive comments yesterday. I do like to listen to your ideas and advice.
The car saga is now, hopefully over. I collected it yesterday after another £40 and it started first time hooray. A total of £1420 spent on it.
It has totally wiped out my car account and the insurance is due in December followed by the tax.
Sadly I can't do without a car here.
I am still pading from MSE on the pay a debt a day challenge. I've got £20 extra to pay off our debt, not bed for a week of skimming pennies off our bank accounts in one week.
Just waiting for the direct debits to go out and then can adjust my progress bar. Can't come quick enough. We are both so eager to get rid of the debt. I have even said I will do without holidays until then. Aaaaagggghhh I love holidays.
I'm not sure where I will find the car bill money from. It's just something I hadn't budgeted for, not that much anyway and we don't have any emergency savings.
I have put it on my credit card for now to give me time. I think I will try to pay half this month and half next. I've got about half in my car account already.
I could get depressed but I won't. There are people far, far worse off than us.
I'm trying to see where else we can save money. I can't change the set bills like council tax, we try our best with the other utilities and the food is the same. We eat three meals each a day as we take lunch to work and there aren't any snacks. I would really like to cut down our food shopping which is about £80 a week from Lidl.
I think it's best if I do it in small steps rather then cut right back and have to go to the local, convenient but expensive shop.
I'd like to get it down to £60 week first and see how we go. There are 5 Saturdays between now and next pay day so am going to draw out £300 and split it into envelopes.
Some of you do so well with your food shopping. I cook everything here and mostly from scratch so I should be able to reduce it.
So giving up holidays and cheaper shopping is being done here.
Much love.
X
This was sitting in Drafts. I have posted it so is a bit back to front.
Thank you for your helpful and supportive comments yesterday. I do like to listen to your ideas and advice.
The car saga is now, hopefully over. I collected it yesterday after another £40 and it started first time hooray. A total of £1420 spent on it.
It has totally wiped out my car account and the insurance is due in December followed by the tax.
Sadly I can't do without a car here.
I am still pading from MSE on the pay a debt a day challenge. I've got £20 extra to pay off our debt, not bed for a week of skimming pennies off our bank accounts in one week.
Just waiting for the direct debits to go out and then can adjust my progress bar. Can't come quick enough. We are both so eager to get rid of the debt. I have even said I will do without holidays until then. Aaaaagggghhh I love holidays.
I'm not sure where I will find the car bill money from. It's just something I hadn't budgeted for, not that much anyway and we don't have any emergency savings.
I have put it on my credit card for now to give me time. I think I will try to pay half this month and half next. I've got about half in my car account already.
I could get depressed but I won't. There are people far, far worse off than us.
I'm trying to see where else we can save money. I can't change the set bills like council tax, we try our best with the other utilities and the food is the same. We eat three meals each a day as we take lunch to work and there aren't any snacks. I would really like to cut down our food shopping which is about £80 a week from Lidl.
I think it's best if I do it in small steps rather then cut right back and have to go to the local, convenient but expensive shop.
I'd like to get it down to £60 week first and see how we go. There are 5 Saturdays between now and next pay day so am going to draw out £300 and split it into envelopes.
Some of you do so well with your food shopping. I cook everything here and mostly from scratch so I should be able to reduce it.
So giving up holidays and cheaper shopping is being done here.
Much love.
X
National Trust- great days out.
Dear reader,
Thank you so much for your supportive comments yesterday. It really makes a difference when someone takes the time to comment.
I know I have been guilty of reading and not commenting much. Sometimes the little numbers and letter you have to put do my head in and I give up. I will try harder.
The postman brought our new National Trust membership cards with a yearly cost of £92 for a couple.
In true frugal style we set off to make the most of them in this great weather.Click here for National Trust
Yesterday we drove out to Nuffield Place the home of William Morris the founder of Morris cars. He was aid to be one of the richest men in the world. He gave a lot of money to good causes and lived in a very modest way with his wife lady Nuffield. A lovely home, still as they left it. Lady Nuffield
resided in til 2001.
We also went to Greys Court near Henley on Thames. A 16th century mansion with a wonderful tower in the grounds from the 12th century and a Tudor donkey wheel. That was a bit like a huge hamster wheel, I did feel sorry for the poor donkey.
Today we had a look around Hughenden Manor where Benjamin Disraeli lived. Wonderful house and grounds with fascinating war history and display in the cellars.
I thoroughly recommend the National Trust membership. It gets you into loads of wonderful places and free parking even if you just go for a coffee and as my mum and I always say, "There's no idiots there either." You know the type!
I did get hungry at Greys Court and we spent £13.80 on tea, a prawn sandwich, a flapjack and a bake well slice. Not very frugal but it's nice to support the trust. That's my excuse ha!
October Stoptober soon. I am really trying to get my friend to stop smoking. Best thing I ever did last March.
I have joined the October awakening challenge over at money saving expert. There's a list of rules, no spend days, take packed lunch, set food budget that sort of thing.
Am looking forward to it.
I did the stretch it out September and made some meals out of nothing or leftovers. I batch cooked a few meals and we only shopped every 10 days rather than once a week so it went quite well.
I still seem to spend much more on food than everyone else. I reckon we spend about £300 per month
Anyway, here are some photos of the lovely place we visited.
Thank you so much for your supportive comments yesterday. It really makes a difference when someone takes the time to comment.
I know I have been guilty of reading and not commenting much. Sometimes the little numbers and letter you have to put do my head in and I give up. I will try harder.
The postman brought our new National Trust membership cards with a yearly cost of £92 for a couple.
In true frugal style we set off to make the most of them in this great weather.Click here for National Trust
Yesterday we drove out to Nuffield Place the home of William Morris the founder of Morris cars. He was aid to be one of the richest men in the world. He gave a lot of money to good causes and lived in a very modest way with his wife lady Nuffield. A lovely home, still as they left it. Lady Nuffield
resided in til 2001.
We also went to Greys Court near Henley on Thames. A 16th century mansion with a wonderful tower in the grounds from the 12th century and a Tudor donkey wheel. That was a bit like a huge hamster wheel, I did feel sorry for the poor donkey.
Today we had a look around Hughenden Manor where Benjamin Disraeli lived. Wonderful house and grounds with fascinating war history and display in the cellars.
I thoroughly recommend the National Trust membership. It gets you into loads of wonderful places and free parking even if you just go for a coffee and as my mum and I always say, "There's no idiots there either." You know the type!
I did get hungry at Greys Court and we spent £13.80 on tea, a prawn sandwich, a flapjack and a bake well slice. Not very frugal but it's nice to support the trust. That's my excuse ha!
October Stoptober soon. I am really trying to get my friend to stop smoking. Best thing I ever did last March.
I have joined the October awakening challenge over at money saving expert. There's a list of rules, no spend days, take packed lunch, set food budget that sort of thing.
Am looking forward to it.
I did the stretch it out September and made some meals out of nothing or leftovers. I batch cooked a few meals and we only shopped every 10 days rather than once a week so it went quite well.
I still seem to spend much more on food than everyone else. I reckon we spend about £300 per month
Anyway, here are some photos of the lovely place we visited.
Saturday, 28 September 2013
Big fat debt!
Dear reader,
Apologies for lack of postings. I have been away visiting my lovely mum.
I am excited for two reasons. One, I have a new follower. Hi, lovely to have you here. X
Secondly, our debt is less and I have adjusted my progress bar. Sadly, it's not a massive move on the bar (can't really notice it)
We now owe £26,288.
That's it, I've said it. Twenty six thousand, two hundred and eighty eight pounds.
It's getting smaller but it's still a big one.
We paid £400 today PLUS the £15 I had scraped in my PAD challenge.
Short post tonight. Hope you are well.
Much love. X
Apologies for lack of postings. I have been away visiting my lovely mum.
I am excited for two reasons. One, I have a new follower. Hi, lovely to have you here. X
Secondly, our debt is less and I have adjusted my progress bar. Sadly, it's not a massive move on the bar (can't really notice it)
We now owe £26,288.
That's it, I've said it. Twenty six thousand, two hundred and eighty eight pounds.
It's getting smaller but it's still a big one.
We paid £400 today PLUS the £15 I had scraped in my PAD challenge.
Short post tonight. Hope you are well.
Much love. X
Thursday, 19 September 2013
What we are doing to save money on heating.
Dear reader,
I can't believe how the temperature has dropped so much and so quickly. It is 16 degrees in our house today so that's about 60. I always feel warm in the morning and am sitting here in my pj's.
One of the things we decided to do to save money was to cut down on our gas and electricity bills.
We used to just have the heating on and heat all the rooms, we also had a really old boiler here when we moved in.
We previously lived in a tiny one bed, one lounge, tiny kitchen and bathroom house so the heating wasn't much of an issue. Before that we were in a flat with storage heaters. (Never did get the hang of them)
Now we have had a new boiler fitted in this house and all the radiators changed. We also had a heated floor put in the bathroom. Seems funny that we are now trying our hardest not to use them.
We don't have a tumble drier so everything is dried outside. Has been a disaster of late as we have had so much rain and dampness. We dry it on an aired in front of the log burner in the winter.
We have our logs ready all seasoned. We bought some that needed seasoning £90 and I found a load of wood for free on Gumtree that Big man was tasked with chopping and chain sawing.
We have pallets for kindling that my dad gets from work. So we are prepared.
I have been reading the meters and entering them on line. I love to see the gas comparison show we are paying a lot, lot less than other people in this area. We pay direct debit monthly and it was always £50 a month for gas. We built up a large amount and claimed a refund. I wouldn't let them keep it in their account. They then dropped the monthly amount to £44 and we are still paying slightly over according to the last reading. We have spent £80 on gas since June.
This may be more then other frugal folk but Big man loves a hot, deep bath and he works so hard I can't deny him.
We turn everything we can off to use as little electricity as possible. I just couldn't leave a light on in a room we aren't in.
We have an electric under blanket for our bed. This has a 5 minute quick heat and we will use this before we go to bed just to take the edge off the cold of the sheets when it gets bitter and we add out winter duvet to the thin summer one.
I don't really like the bedroom to be heated, I get nightmares if its too hot.
There will be lots of slow cooker stews, curries, chillies and jacket potatoes.
There will be thick socks and slippers, fleece blankets on the sofas and dressing gowns.
The doors will be closed to keep the heat in one room and the log burner will be used about November time.
There will be brisk winter walks and hot drinks.
The sun facing rooms will have the blinds opened to get some free heat if there's any sun.
I am hoping to keep our heating bills to a minimum this year. Don't get me wrong, we won't suffer, if its really cold or one of us is ill, the heating will go on, we just want to last as long as we can without it.
Sadly, not everyone in the UK will be able to do the same.
I can't believe how the temperature has dropped so much and so quickly. It is 16 degrees in our house today so that's about 60. I always feel warm in the morning and am sitting here in my pj's.
One of the things we decided to do to save money was to cut down on our gas and electricity bills.
We used to just have the heating on and heat all the rooms, we also had a really old boiler here when we moved in.
We previously lived in a tiny one bed, one lounge, tiny kitchen and bathroom house so the heating wasn't much of an issue. Before that we were in a flat with storage heaters. (Never did get the hang of them)
Now we have had a new boiler fitted in this house and all the radiators changed. We also had a heated floor put in the bathroom. Seems funny that we are now trying our hardest not to use them.
We don't have a tumble drier so everything is dried outside. Has been a disaster of late as we have had so much rain and dampness. We dry it on an aired in front of the log burner in the winter.
We have our logs ready all seasoned. We bought some that needed seasoning £90 and I found a load of wood for free on Gumtree that Big man was tasked with chopping and chain sawing.
We have pallets for kindling that my dad gets from work. So we are prepared.
I have been reading the meters and entering them on line. I love to see the gas comparison show we are paying a lot, lot less than other people in this area. We pay direct debit monthly and it was always £50 a month for gas. We built up a large amount and claimed a refund. I wouldn't let them keep it in their account. They then dropped the monthly amount to £44 and we are still paying slightly over according to the last reading. We have spent £80 on gas since June.
This may be more then other frugal folk but Big man loves a hot, deep bath and he works so hard I can't deny him.
We turn everything we can off to use as little electricity as possible. I just couldn't leave a light on in a room we aren't in.
We have an electric under blanket for our bed. This has a 5 minute quick heat and we will use this before we go to bed just to take the edge off the cold of the sheets when it gets bitter and we add out winter duvet to the thin summer one.
I don't really like the bedroom to be heated, I get nightmares if its too hot.
There will be lots of slow cooker stews, curries, chillies and jacket potatoes.
There will be thick socks and slippers, fleece blankets on the sofas and dressing gowns.
The doors will be closed to keep the heat in one room and the log burner will be used about November time.
There will be brisk winter walks and hot drinks.
The sun facing rooms will have the blinds opened to get some free heat if there's any sun.
I am hoping to keep our heating bills to a minimum this year. Don't get me wrong, we won't suffer, if its really cold or one of us is ill, the heating will go on, we just want to last as long as we can without it.
Sadly, not everyone in the UK will be able to do the same.
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