Ilona's frugal 2014

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Meanqueen
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Ilona's frugal 2014

Post by Meanqueen »

Hello, I hope you don't mind if I join in with this one. A short introduction. Although I am already frugal I dare not take my mind off the ball. It has to be an ongoing situation as I can't see my income increasing, or the cost of living going down. 2014 will be much the same as 2013, with a few tweaks here and there to stretch my money even further. I am constantly looking for ways to save a few pennies.

I know my strengths and weaknesses, what I am good at and what not. I am good at getting my day to day living expenses down. I can make healthy meals cheaply from scratch, but I am no good at understanding lots of complicated numbers. For example, I have used the same insurance broker for the last forty years, to find me an affordable car insurance policy. I don't mind paying them a commission because I know they come up with a good deal, and I would be completely baffled if I was to go on a comparison site myself. I did try once and couldn't find anything cheaper. So in some instances I prefer to offload the complicated stuff to someone else so I can concentrate on what I am good at.

I am in the process of changing my utilities supplier, because BG have added a standing charge which is going to cost me big bucks if I stay with them. I am changing to a smaller company with no standing charge. I think it should work out fine, but I have not gone into it in great detail. I will have to wait and see what happens. I haven't changed in the past because I always think the way to pay less is to use less, but with a standing charge that no longer applies.

My pension is paid into one bank account, I find I can manage my money easily like that. I don't have any long term savings, but keep a healthy balance to cover for emergencies. The car will need changing in about two or three years, so I will have to make sure I have available funds to cover for that. I have three cats which I self insure, so there is cash available for them.

Anyway, my diary will be about finding new ways to make the most of the money I have, and I look forward to reading about how other people manage theirs. It's good to swap information. Best of luck everyone.
Ilona
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lancashire lass
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Re: Ilona's frugal 2014

Post by lancashire lass »

Meanqueen wrote:I am in the process of changing my utilities supplier, because BG have added a standing charge which is going to cost me big bucks if I stay with them


Hi Ilona - I'm with BG but I can't seem to work out what the standing charge will be. Curiously while searching for the blessed information, I happen to come across my October 2013 statement for the gas and in that month I spent a whopping 94p on gas (I only use it mainly for hob cooking) Their forecast for 2014 based on that usage was £96 ... am I to presume after taking off the gas usage and VAT, the rest will be the standing charge? yike* If that be the case, I think I'd better start looking around too!
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Re: Ilona's frugal 2014

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Hi LL. BG sent me a letter saying the standing charge will be 26p a day for electricity, and 26p a day for gas, hence the massive hike. They tend to put things in small writing if they don't want you to see it. I don't do a monthly dd, prefer to pay quarterley when the bill arrives.

There will be lots of people like us with a low usage who will be stung with charges. I have just received a letter from them saying the switch will take place on January 11th, and my current supplier will be asking for a meter read. I am going with Ebico, no standing charge, no extra charges for paper bills and quarterly billing. Even if their price per kilowatt hour is slightly higher I can put up with that as I think it will still be cheaper than the standing charge. They are a not for profit company. It should be a better deal for me, but I won't know for certain until I get the first bill.
Ilona
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lancashire lass
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Re: Ilona's frugal 2014

Post by lancashire lass »

Meanqueen wrote:the standing charge will be 26p a day for electricity, and 26p a day for gas


26p x 365 = £94.90p

so their 2014 forecast was not that far off after all )gr: How can they justify such a massive price hike from about £12 a year usage up to over a £100 with standing charges? And that is just the gas! So £190 pa in standing charges alone before you get either fuel. I think I'll be following your footsteps and looking around too (but not NP ... don't get me started there!)
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Re: Ilona's frugal 2014

Post by Meanqueen »

I have found the Money Saving Forum a good source of information. Read what others have to say in the Utilities section. Mind you, what some people might complain about, others think it's ok, but if you have the information you can make an informed choice. Good luck in your search.
Ilona
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manda
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Re: Ilona's frugal 2014

Post by manda »

Don't know if this site is any help

http://www.money.co.uk/gas/all-gas.htm

Doesn't just deal with gas it does comparisons on power (gas and electricity), insurance and lots of other things.
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Re: Ilona's frugal 2014

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Thanks Manda will check that one out. Need to get the figures in front of me. I have tried another comparison site but I couldn't find any mention of standing charges, wasn't sure if they were added to the quotes or I had to add them on myself. So confusing.

As an experiment I have put my electric kettle away, and now I am putting a mug of water in the microwave to heat up for my coffee in the morning. I am guessing that it is the least expensive appliance to run. Maybe only miniscule savings as I only have one coffee a day and I don't drink tea, but worth a try. Anything to stop that little wheel whizzing round so fast.
Ilona
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Re: Ilona's frugal 2014

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I have just had a bill from BG, covering my winter gas and electricity. Not sure why they have sent this in January, it normally comes in February. They have jumped the gun a bit I think, because I phoned in my meter readings this afternoon, ready for the change of supplier. This bill is for period 27th November to 7th January. They cease to become my supplier tomorrow, they could have waited for the final readings, now they will have to send me a bill for the last four days.

This is the first bill which includes a standing charge, the reason I am finishing with them. I have to pay an extra £18.80, which wasn't there before.

I went to town today to pick up a few bits and bobs. I did a big supermarket shop last Thursday, a lot of yellow sticker stuff, and I still have some left. I try and stretch my weekly shop to ten days, or two weeks sometimes, if I make some meals from packets, tins, and freezer. I visit the discount stores in town, shop around for best prices. As I pass Aldiddlythingy I pop in there for a few bits to keep me going until the next big shop. I should be able to last until next Wednesday before I go to the supermarket.

The few bits from Aldiddlythingy were 350grm extra mature cheese, £1.89, this is a good price. Onions (7 big ones) 69p. Soft cheese 55p. Cream crackers 40p. Bran flakes 88p. FR eggs £1.00. That's about all I usually get from there, sometimes yogurt, but I already have enough in. Sometimes veg, but they didn't have a very good selection today, so I'll manage with what I have, and add frozen peas and sweetcorn to my meals if I run short.

I've got to get my car in for service at some point, I'll leave it a week or two because I've just paid the insurance on it, and recently paid the road tax. Give my bank account time to recover.
Ilona
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Re: Ilona's frugal 2014

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My bill arrived this morning from Anglian Water. Since going onto a meter a few years ago, I have been able to cut back and save money on my water usage. My bills have been coming half yearly which I pay with a cheque into the bank. Not sure if there is a reduction for direct debit, don't want to do that anyway.

The Anglian bills have always been June to December, and December to June, now they are sending them quarterly. This one is £19.46. The volume I have used is 2 cubic meters, at a cost of £3.03, the standing charge over 123 days is £10.10p. Also on this bill is a charge for removing the foul water, which is passed to Severn Trent. ST will send a bill for removal of surface water which is half yearly, for around £29. There are no standing charges on that one.

My money saving today was to wash my downstairs windows with rain water. I collect this in buckets and bowls in the garden. I don't have a suitable place to put a water butt. I also use rain water for flushing the downstairs loo. This is situated just outside the back door in a covered passageway. I keep a large kitchen waste bin topped up with water in there, and an old saucepan hanging on the door handle. Works a treat for saving water, and handy if I don't want to traipse upstairs to the bathroom. A quick scrub out and a full flush once a week keeps it clean.
Sorry if this is too much information, but it saves me money.
Ilona
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Re: Ilona's frugal 2014

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My money saving today. I made a big pan of veg curry. It's more like a curried stew actually, not very hot, just a mild curry flavour. I used up the last of the sprouts, mangetout peas, cauliflower, and a carrot, all on yellow stickers. Also added a tin of chickpeas, some sultanas, two onions, and an apple. This will give me four meals. I have two large spuds to microwave for two meals, the third will be with rice, and I will add a tin of tomatoes to the fourth portion and have it with pasta. Cooking this way cuts down on the time spent in the kitchen. This will take me to Wednesday, when I will need to go shopping again.

I had a bath, the water will be used for flushing the toilet and cleaning jobs. I might wash the car with it tomorrow if I feel like it. It will mean carrying it downstairs in a bowl, but it's better to get more use out of it.
Ilona
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Re: Ilona's frugal 2014

Post by Scrambled »

The description of your vegetable curry has got my mouth watering :-D
Sounds yummy.

Good idea to reuse the bath water )t'
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Re: Ilona's frugal 2014

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The car did get washed with the bath water. I used three of the plastic bowls from the back garden that I collect rainwater in, to transport it down the stairs to the car parked just by the front door. Then I used a bowl of clean rainwater to rinse it, so no tap water used.

Day two of the veggie curry stew. I had some for lunch and later for dinner, so it might not last four days unless I add something else to it.

I go to a craft club on a Monday morning, it costs £1.50. Two hours of Knit and Natter, or Stitch and Bitch,, whatever you want to call it. :-D

It's a big bill from the credit card company this time. Car insurance on it, and food and petrol from Tesssccco. The bank balance will take a hit this month. Will have to cut back next month. I think we've got two months free of council tax coming up soon so that will help.
Ilona
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Re: Ilona's frugal 2014

Post by lancashire lass »

Meanqueen wrote:I go to a craft club on a Monday morning, it costs £1.50. Two hours of Knit and Natter, or Stitch and Bitch,, whatever you want to call it. :-D


{rofwl} but good value )t'

Meanqueen wrote:I think we've got two months free of council tax coming up soon so that will help.


Thank goodness - it's the only time when the pressure on my finances eases up, but come April when the new bills roll in, it is a bit of a shock to the system
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Re: Ilona's frugal 2014

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Only a little bit of money saved today. I made stewed apples which were given to me by my neighbour. They have stored pretty well, she gave me two large carrier bags full in October, and I have been eating them ever since. They are very sweet so need no sugar. I don't make pies or crumbles because I don't use my oven, it takes too much gas, not cost effective for one person, unless I batch cook and fill it, which I don't do. I have the apples with some plain yogurt, 45p a large tub from the big supermarket. I will have some on my porridge in the morning.

To try and save a bit of electricity, I walk around the house with a wind up torch in my pocket. I have the light on in the room I am in, and use the torch when I move around the house from room to room. It's easy to get into the habit, rather than switching lights on.
Ilona
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Re: Ilona's frugal 2014

Post by Mo »

That would save on light bulbs too, since turning them on and off is what shortens their life, I believe. We've just been given a wind-up torch, very useful for locking up the hens, but not had it long enough to know how the batteries & LEDs last. We has a huge rechargeable torch but were not impressed at how quickly that battery gave up recharging.
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