LLs Frugal February 2017

Thrifty tips, ideas, news & experiences on anything around the home to shopping to re-cycling etc.
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lancashire lass
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LLs Frugal February 2017

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To recap, last year I paid off one of my 2 mortgages on my house )c( - an endowment which matured December 2015, leaving a fast dwindling 2nd mortgage but unfortunately, no more savings left to pay that off at the same time.

Meanwhile, the money that would have gone on the interest only mortgage and towards the life assurance came to about £150 I think (doesn't sound much but interest rates in 1990 were very different when I bought my first house - monthly payments back then were about £350 and bear in mind, my net monthly income was only about £600!) I decided to put £100 of that away into a regular monthly savings with my bank which, after the first 12 months will pay out 5% (which happens to be in the next week or so! :-D ) The remaining amount just got absorbed into other things generally but I did find my other monthly saver (which goes towards the car insurance, road tax, MOT, service & break down cover) wasn't raided as often to pay off the credit card or unexpected bill.

The loan I took out in 2014 to pay off a big debt is going down nicely but the credit card has had a bashing this year. To be fair, there's been some expensive spending which I tried to pay off as quickly as possible - at the last statement, I had just under £100 on the card which I was unable to pay (but no interest from the month before when I had cleared it)

So what happened in 2016 - well, I decided to pursue my interest in genealogy and the family history in earnest, so subscribed to a couple of ancestry websites; my laptop died and needed to be replaced (which made a convenient birthday present to myself LOL) and then my old banger decided to start playing up. I took the car to the garage but they claimed they couldn't find anything wrong - I may not be a mechanic, but I could definitely hear something that sounded expensive which got worse as the months went by. The car was bought in 2002 so I decided it was time to look for another - if the repair was going to be expensive, then it made sense to rather put that money towards a replacement car. I had looked at buying second hand but I couldn't afford a loan with the existing loan and mortgage outgoings! Believe it or not, it was easier to buy a brand new car with one of those 3 year deals (after 3 years, to keep the car you pay the rest off or put the car towards another new car, or simply hand it back) Decisions - a new new car or second hand?

It goes without saying that a brand new one was beckoning. I did a lot of research, looked at the various features - high on the list was economical, low CO2 (which could mean low or no road tax!), higher seat (I was having difficulty getting out of my old car that was low down) and a decent boot size for transporting stuff like the bags of chicken feed or stuff from the allotments and so on. And with it being new, I would save on the cost of the MOT for at least 3-4 years (the MOT is not expensive, it's the problems that are expensive!) Then it was a case of looking at car reviews and whittling the list down - in September were some special deals (for the new 66 registration) and I bought a Nissan Note which I just love )t' At first all the gizmos on the new car were just distraction but some have been quite useful.

The downside is that the payments were a little more than I could afford :oops: With just 4 months left on the monthly saver (5% interest), I had trimmed that back to £10 only to find that the bare minimum had to be £25 pm. And with the steady rise in petrol prices and the usual winter & seasonal expenses, my finances have had a wobble. So I need to take another look at where I can make some savings and get back to some proper frugal shopping (after last February and a little extra money in the bank account, I have been getting lazy and started to notice the weekly shopping going up - there is also another reason which I will mention when Frugal February 2017 begins)
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Re: LLs Frugal February 2017

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Still a couple of days before the 1st February I know, but as I get paid on the 22nd of the month, doing a calendar month is not possible in my case.

Last Friday I had to pay my allotment fees of £89.88p. I had seriously been thinking of giving it up this year - I've had an allotment plot since 2005/6, at one point even had 2 plots, but recently I've not been enjoying it at all. Sadly, my garden is not suitable for vegetables, and container gardening is not my thing - do you know how many plants I've killed through failing to water more often than necessary, especially in summer (meaning a watering both morning and evening) And I do like my winter squashes and garlic which need good sunlight and space. Not to mention that in 2015/2016, I planted a load of fruit trees, asparagus crowns, raspberry canes and gooseberry bushes plus loads of strawberries on the plot - most of these are long term investments, and not that easy to dig up and take home.

Anyway, I spoke to the person in charge as I paid my fees, and if I did give up mid-way then I would be refunded some of the fees. We'll just have to see how 2017 pans out. Paying the fees was all very last minute on Friday when I realised the deadline was the 31st January and the council office was only open for a couple of hours a day ... It was when I was on my way to pay during my lunch break at work that I noticed the fuel gauge in the car was rapidly emptying - it might have been just enough to have got me home from work that evening, but not with the added trip out. So I went to fill up on my way back. Sadly, our local BP garage was closed some time ago and bulldozed, so I had to go further afield - there was an Esso garage about a mile away but my jaw dropped at the price of petrol which was nearly £1.20p/litre. So I carried on to Tescos about half a mile away and put £34 (£1.15p/L) worth of petrol in the tank. One thing I've noticed about the new car - it has a much smaller petrol tank than the old car (which is less weight to carry, so more economical to run :? That's why it doesn't carry a spare wheel either)

Saturday shop - the problem with the first shop after pay day is that there's usually a lot of stocking up to do after running down food stores until pay day. The main reason for going to Tescos rather than Asdas this time round was because I knew I'd get a parking space at that time whereas Asda gets packed quickly as it is also used for people wanting to go into the local town. But I could also use my Club card to put points on which goes towards vouchers for Christmas (always handy to have some money off - last year it bought my small turkey crown and some wine )t' ) As it happens, I didn't need bread or milk but did need to get some fruit and veggies, a bit of fresh meat and some frozen fish, pizza and chicken. There were tins of tuna on special offer so I bought a pack of 4.

Top of my list was coffee - one of the little luxuries which I really want to keep, and that's a cappuccino. I usually stock up on the Nescafe sachets and make a coffee with half a sachet and a spoonful of value coffee. These are about £2.50-£3 for a box of 10 but I wait until the special offers and stock up when they are £1.50p a box. That is, when I've got money to spend but I've been in a budget mode since October and lost out. In Tescos the price was £2.88p a box but Kenco cappucino was half price of £1.25p for box of 8 - I decided to get a couple of boxes of those. They are not the same as the Nescafe ones and very much like the shop brand ones which IMO are not that nice. Also on my list were tins of soup, shop brand - for some reason, I've really been enjoying a soup especially when I don't feel like cooking a proper dinner.

In 2015 after a routine visit to the doctor, I got the "you need to eat less sweets, cakes, biscuits, bread, sugar and eat more fruit and veggies" - I don't eat sweets or biscuits and cakes are limited to once a week treat and I grow my own fruit and veggies and cut down on meat to a minimum. Even a loaf of bread used to last me a whole week .... being overweight probably lends the idea that I am a couch potato stuffing my face all day, but the stereotyping that you are overweight because you eat the wrong foods really makes me so }hairout{ My problem is that I eat too much! Anyway, I decided to cut down on refined sugar foods and eat mainly whole food - but it's not cheap eating healthily. The dried fruits and nuts is probably one of my bigger expenses of the month and also a lot more fresh fruit for lunches (the downside of growing your own is that they don't keep well for long, and I can't preserve fruits without added sugar (and even when frozen, they still need sugar to be palatable) With a few other stock ups, the grocery stock up came to £54 ... compared to previous just after payday stock ups, it was not too bad but I had hoped for a below £40 weekly shop. Maybe next week.
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Re: LLs Frugal February 2017

Post by bikesandbirdsbob »

Hi as a friend I could have got you some discount on a FORD .
Not to worry -next time .
Bob
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Re: LLs Frugal February 2017

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Hi the spare wheel maybe weight less and cost less . If you get a blow out Rip in tyre you can pump as much air and foam into as you like it will not get you home. I always get a spare wheel as far more dependable.
Hopefully you will not get one , but again get RAC / AA cover just in case .
Bob
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lancashire lass
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Re: LLs Frugal February 2017

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bikesandbirdsbob wrote:Hi as a friend I could have got you some discount on a FORD .
Not to worry -next time .
Bob


That is kind of you. A new Ford Fiesta was on my original list - it would have been handy for me as the local Ford dealer is only half a mile away from where I live (I've had experience where you need to leave the car at a dealer but no nearby bus stops, and courtesy cars always seem to be on the thin side) The main problem had been the price which was definitely outside my budget.
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Re: LLs Frugal February 2017

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bikesandbirdsbob wrote:Hi the spare wheel maybe weight less and cost less . If you get a blow out Rip in tyre you can pump as much air and foam into as you like it will not get you home. I always get a spare wheel as far more dependable.
Hopefully you will not get one , but again get RAC / AA cover just in case .
Bob


I'm probably tempting fate here, but in all the years I've been driving I've never had a "blow out" but is more usually a slow leak (once there was a flat tyre) which I've managed to pump the tyre up enough to get me to a garage to repair / replace the tyre. Half the new cars are now sold without a spare wheel so my make and model is not unique - instead, you get a tyre repair kit. And the deal I got when buying the car is 3 years free breakdown cover (which I doubly checked just in case I thought I'd dreamt that bit) with the AA )t'
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Re: LLs Frugal February 2017

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Hi not sure a flat trye is classified as a mechanical breakdown . Normally AA come out and change wheel. I would double check with the AA to make sure if it did happen what would happen . A gain it may never happen , but just the once is enough I can assure you . It is a good way to cut the price of vehicle but I do not recommend them . For the sake of 50 pounds .
Next time maybe .
Relatives get XX amount of discount Friends only get X .
I get new vehicles every nine months and get a fleet deal as so many people where I work go to the same Dealer . SHMBO loves the ST fiesta . She looks like sporty spice girl in her dark glasses in summer . She still has her 55 plate St from years past ( one of my Quality awards from the past ) . Keeps as a spare for the family . She loves that one as well .
Could tell you stories about cars . like the car I got and it turned out the wrong colour and she got upset and had to drive it spitting blood for nine months.
her wholwe family run around in ford s Fiesta eco , Kuga .
Same plan as your one keys back in two years or pay off . Never have them more than a year (save the road tax etc. ) I would ask as well the dealer if you chop the car in in a year (9 mths ) what sort of deal he give some times it is better to get rid of the car before the year is up better resale value . Also may need to get jis new car sale up at the end of the month and get a better deal .
Interest rates are low at the moment so a good time to do it .
well done .
Hope you have a happy driving time with it .
Maybe a new title what do you call your vehicle . male / female fred ?
Bob ( My van is friend to all, as a man with a van has plenty of mates . I E Here mate take this somewhere /pick this up..
SHMBO is NO its mine , (I cannot get the clutch right as her head is pressed back in the seat when I start off.
Bob
Hope some of this is helpful .
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Re: LLs Frugal February 2017

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bikesandbirdsbob wrote:Hi not sure a flat trye is classified as a mechanical breakdown . Normally AA come out and change wheel.


true, though all breakdown services will make sure women drivers are able to get home safely either with a patch repair or tow to a garage regardless )t' The last major breakdown I had was at work when the electrics shorted on the old car and I couldn't start it - it was Green Flag then, and although he was confident he had made a good repair to get me home, he actually followed me all the way just in case the car stalled and wouldn't restart.

bikesandbirdsbob wrote:Interest rates are low at the moment so a good time to do it .
well done


I was pleased with the deal I got - however, I'm still reeling at the price of new cars in general.

bikesandbirdsbob wrote:what do you call your vehicle . male / female fred ?


LOL - no, I only ever had one car that had a name. My first car was a Citroen 2CV Dolly (might not see them around as much these days but the Dolly version were painted with 2 colours - mine had a cream body but the mud guards and boot lid were a dark maroon colour, generally known as plum and custard) The name Dolly stuck for some reason. It was the most economical car I have ever driven, great for driving in London where I was working at the time and lived with my aunt in Croydon. I went everywhere with that car - my first trip out was to Brighton, then next big trip to Stonehenge (it had been on my list of places I really wanted to visit) I used to be a member of National Trust and most weekends visited places down south.

bikesandbirdsbob wrote:I would ask as well the dealer if you chop the car in in a year (9 mths ) what sort of deal he give some times it is better to get rid of the car before the year is up better resale value . Also may need to get jis new car sale up at the end of the month and get a better deal


this conversation did crop up - basically the value of the car at the end of the period is the equivalent of the lump sum owing at the end which is why you either just hand it in or pay it off. He mentioned about getting another new car before that period ended but (1) I didn't really understand it too much at the time and (2) my finances are very tight at the moment so it's unlikely I'll be chopping and changing cars any time before the end of the deal LOL
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Re: LLs Frugal February 2017

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Last night I went to an inaugural lecture at my place of work (it's when a new professor delivers a lecture on their research) - the research was way over my head even though it is happening in my lab LOL (I don't need to know what's going on to do my job, I just provide a technical support role to the lab. It helps to have an inkling of what the researchers actually do and most of my academic colleagues seemed pleased to see me attending. Bonus - my line manager was also there so should go down well in my personal review) Anyway, I stayed late after work to attend the lecture with drinks and canapes to start with, then after the lecture a lovely hot meal and dessert. So a free enjoyable meal was a saving for my Frugal February )t'

This morning - what started off as a disaster has worked out nicely. I woke up to total darkness at 6.00 am and my burglar alarm going off. Luckily I found a little torch light to get me downstairs and find out what was happening. I went outside and all the street lights down my road was off but I was baffled that most houses seem to have lights on. I managed to make a brew using the gas cooker to boil water when at 7.30 am the power came back on. For a total of 5 minutes which was surprisingly enough time to boil the kettle when boom, off it went again - until 1.30 pm. When the power went off, it was already daylight so I wasn't sure if the street lights were off as normal or due to the power cut but I was getting rather worried that only my house was affected. I couldn't telephone the electrical company because ... my landline phone needs electricity to work and I don't have a mobile, nor are there pay phones anymore but by mid-morning and after much pacing, I spoke to my immediate neighbour who said he had called and been told that only our 2 houses were without power and they would be out later that day.

I did not feel I could leave my house while the burglar alarm was still going off (and no, the control panel to shut it off needs ... electricity to work) so my neighbour kindly let me use his mobile to call my boss to tell him I couldn't make it in. When I got back in my house, there was a slight problem - what do you do when there is no electricity. So I got on with cleaning and tidying up the house. The "up" on this tale is that (1) I saved on petrol not going to work today (2) cleaned my house which otherwise would have not been done and (3) I saved on electricity LOL Not the best way to make savings. Thankfully it was also mild today and with all the cleaning (both bins filled )c( ), I didn't feel the cold. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen again any time soon.
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Re: LLs Frugal February 2017

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Hi what the cleaning (like me ) Dusters do not come with instructions .
All good fun .
I shower at work . Cook (sort of ) at work . Wear work clothes , drive (at times works vehicles when necessary ) Heating at office 50 per cent of day . Get fed by people wives and party food (birthdays ) left overs at work . For the dogs / chickens ...... Work boots . Socks as well .Vest and pants not included unfortunately.
So not to much to spend on really . Got a kitchen at work cooker / Micro kettle .
Toilet Home from home you might say . Not going to say much about sleeping as they could be problem atic but to say that side of it is covered as well.
Hence the reasons to stay till I am 70 . Holiday to Flushing as well if wanted -11 hour boat rip each way ....
Bob
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Re: LLs Frugal February 2017

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Earlier in the week I went online and entered my gas and electricity meter readings - you get an estimate of the bill immediately but I've known it to change so waited until the paper copy arrived (yes, I know I can get a bit knocked off if I go paperless but I'm not reliant enough on technology to be confident of going down that route - if for whatever reason I can't get online for example, give up broadband (looking like an option at the moment as that rental just keeps going up) or have no computer, then I'm stuck)

Anyway, the bills arrived and it took me a little while to get my head round it. Easter last year my monthly direct debits for electricity went up from £45 to £67 pm ... I was not happy because I knew that over the summer the amount owing would even out and go back into the plus in time for the following winter (I think it was only about £70 in debit) Then in November, the monthly payments were re-adjusted back down to £42 per month which seemed worryingly smaller just in time for winter - the whole purpose of my using monthly payments is that I know what goes out regularly and not get any unpleasant surprises. So I scrutinised the bill carefully and it would seem that I am now over £100 in credit which is remarkable for this time of year. Just goes to show that we've had a fairly mild winter and I think also the little changes I've been making like the light bulbs to LEDs and so on have perhaps been making incremental savings )t' Gas of course was unchanged.
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Re: LLs Frugal February 2017

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On Friday my seed potatoes arrived - as I paid the allotment fees for this year, it looks like I'll be growing them on the plot after all. Still, the plan is to plant a couple in big pots to start them off early indoors to grow on in the polytunnel at home and hopefully get some "early" potatoes sooner, then that should cut down on what I buy (first early potatoes are usually only ready by mid-June - mid-July so these might be a little earlier)

On Friday, I also had a dozen fresh eggs for sale so that's £2 in the savings jar )t'

Saturday's shop was first a trip to Derby to get a 20 kg each of chicken pellets and mixed corn - it came to just under £13. The trip was quick considering I was a little late setting off. As I was already late, the same parking issues like last week cropped up so I decided to go to Tescos again. The bill came to about £30 ... as I looked at the shopping being passed through the till, it didn't exactly look "healthy" with more cake than green stuff :oops: With being frugal last week, I still had plenty of fruit and veggies and meat in the freezer, so no need to do a big shop but the trolley looked a bit empty (well, that's my excuse) Butter spread was on special offer so I bought 2 packs as well as 2 more packs of coffee. After I paid, I got a voucher for 100 points for the club card if I do another shop before end of March - might be worth doing as it all goes towards the Christmas savings club vouchers.
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Re: LLs Frugal February 2017

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For someone who was considering giving up the allotment plot, I bought a load of seeds this week. And not fruit or vegetable either :oops: When the power went off last week and I decided to do a spot of tidying up and sorting out in the house, I found a packet of sweet pea seeds that I had bought the other year (and had "lost" soon after - I was so annoyed when I couldn't find when it was time to sow them) I love sweet peas and it gave me a light bulb idea - to grow flowers on the allotment. I am only going to grow onions and potatoes, maybe some winter squash this year and along with the already established fruit trees, bushes, canes and asparagus the rest of the plot could be flowers (we don't seem to have strict rules about ratio of flowers to fruit and veg on the plot - the main thing is to keep it tidy and managed) Not just colour, but scent in particular - I love flowers with heavy fragrance. Of course, it doesn't solve the problem of weeding which is my biggest bugbear. I spent £15 on seeds (different varieties and colours - I may see if I can "sell" some like I did with the chilli seedlings in 2015. Ooooh, now there's an idea - chilli, toms ...)

Meanwhile, the girls (chickens) are still serious about laying at the moment and I get an average 2 eggs a day, sometimes like this morning, 3, so it doesn't take long to make up a half dozen eggs for sale. My old customers have been happy to see me going round with eggs again - I made another £2 this week (I know it's not much but every little £1 adds up!) Makes me wonder if I should invest in a couple more young hybrids this spring to make up the short fall as the older Spice girls slow down - I had considered just having chickens to have enough eggs for my own use, but the cash coming in is very handy sometimes.

I double checked the Tesco 100 point voucher for the club card that I got last week - no special purchases or minimum spend, just an expiry date of 26th February. So I could do a cheaper shop at a different supermarket this weekend (weather permitting - I don't fancy driving in snow) Food-wise this week I've been using up the freezer and some tinned stuff but I could still easily go without a big shop. And just as well because I'm not quite on track with my shopping savings (doesn't help with buying seeds I know LOL - let's just say they are for now "an investment" +pinn+ )
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Re: LLs Frugal February 2017

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Are you flower seeds good 'cut flowers'?
I used to have a tea trolley at the corner of the lane to sell fruit, runner beans etc IOA Oxfam.
One day I put out a few bunches of sweet peas and got more cash than I expected.
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Re: LLs Frugal February 2017

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strangely yes, some were listed as cut flowers. That could be a good idea

The only problem is the "harvesting" from the plot - much like fruit and veg which are perfect on that one day ... as I go to the plot once a week (early mornings during the week are not always possible - not to mention I become breakfast for many biting insects in summer), I often miss the "best before" picking days, especially if we have a heat wave. So frustrating.

However, I could always have some growing at home - I read up about growing them and yes, they like full sun but it is possible to grow them in partial as long as long as they get morning and afternoon sun (shade midday)
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