LL's Frugal February 2018

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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LL's Frugal February 2018

Post by lancashire lass »

I think any frugalness this month for me is not to spend ANY money, not to buy food, nor do any cooking that involves gas or electricity or ever put the heater on {rofwl} I can't see where I can make any savings as I'm pretty confident I'm as slimmed down as I can get.

Meanwhile, Storm Fionn (15th January) had wrenched a ridge tile off the bay window when the winds battered the front of the house and flung it into my car parked on the drive leaving a fairly deep scratch on the door. I thought I could get it done myself but the first estimate was £792 yike* I decided to go through my car insurance after all but with £150 compulsory and £100 voluntary excess, I'm going to have to fork out £250, PLUS get a builder to replace the broken ridge tile and repair the bay window roof (luckily it seems to be waterproof atm so not immediately urgent but sooner rather than later)

The other expenditure this month is the family history site annual subscription which is £120. I have already cancelled one of them (the FindMyPast) in December as I wasn't getting anything out of it like I used to. Researching the family history has had benefits so it's not just about feeding my curiosity - to cut a long story short, my mother used to keep in touch with family but when she passed away, that contact with relatives was lost. Now we have a common interest and got in contact after nearly 20 years. I've also been in touch with much more distant relatives as a result of the family history (descendants of 2 brothers of my great grandfather - quite an amazing reunion) It's become much more than a hobby so I'd like to keep the project going.

At least I am making savings on not having to pay rent on the allotment plot anymore since giving it up last year. However, I will need to spend some money in the coming weeks to prepare the polytunnels and greenhouse for growing veg at home .... at least one will need a replacement cover, plus I need materials to make beds as well as compost / soil etc. Meanwhile, my seed potatoes arrived at the end of last week and the garlic which I hurriedly planted just before Christmas in a seed tray to set them off growing, will need planting out soon so they can grow and mature. I bought some garlic from the supermarket last week (for eating) - lovely big bulbs (with big cloves which I prefer) that originated from Spain ... I'm almost sure they are ones I used to grow on the allotment and like so I have decided to plant some of those in the polytunnel as well. See, I'm saving on the cost of seed garlic (can be about £5 for 2 bulbs + p&p unless you waited until the special offers) but how they grow will be the test LOL

Frugal February can imply recovering from an excessive Christmas / January sales binge but this is not always the case. For one the cost of living just keeps rising year in year out but for most working people on moderate earnings, the pay rise for some has been fixed at 1% since 2010 .... it doesn't take a genius to work out that without an increase in income, there's only so far you can make cut backs or switch products to something cheaper. And sometimes life has a habit of throwing bad things at you - such as that faithful washing machine that you bought 17 years ago looks like it might not make it to 18 ....
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Mo
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Re: LL's Frugal February 2018

Post by Mo »

Well FF isn't compulsory. I don't do it either, because I am frugal (to the point of meanness if I'm not careful).
And it's not frugal to put off necessary expenditure ( unless it can wait and you are paying interest on loans).
A lot of your bills are investments (poly-tunnels repairs)

And we all need hobbies, things to make life interesting, to connect with people. I'm shan't stop going dancing just because it's Feb (unless it snows!)

But if some members find that it helps to use FF to look at things that might have crept up in their spending, or as a reminder to look into switching e.g. electric companies, it is a good thing.
Dance caller. http://mo-dance-caller.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-i-do.html
Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
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lancashire lass
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Re: LL's Frugal February 2018

Post by lancashire lass »

I'll not bother then
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Mo
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Re: LL's Frugal February 2018

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lancashire lass wrote:I'll not bother then
{rofwl}
Well you could tell us your extravagances and make us feel smug.
Dance caller. http://mo-dance-caller.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-i-do.html
Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
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Meanqueen
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Re: LL's Frugal February 2018

Post by Meanqueen »

lancashire lass wrote:I'll not bother then


Aaawwww, come on, give it a whirl, nothing to lose by passing on your money saving experiences to help others. Writing it down for a month helps to keep things on an even keel. I get peaks and troughs with my frugal life, it's good to have a reminder of where I went wrong, and rejoice when I got it right.
{hug}

Ilona
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lancashire lass
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Re: LL's Frugal February 2018

Post by lancashire lass »

lancashire lass wrote:The other expenditure this month is the family history site annual subscription which is £120. I have already cancelled one of them (the FindMyPast) in December as I wasn't getting anything out of it like I used to. Researching the family history has had benefits so it's not just about feeding my curiosity


Long story short, I joined Facebook over the New Year after a long distant unknown relative (my great grandfather was brother to her great grandfather) contacted me on Ancestry and persuaded me to open a FB account. Anyway, I have actually found some other interesting groups that I have joined on FB - including the Ancestry UK group where someone might be able to help find a record or lead when searching an ancestor hits a brick wall and you just can't find what you are looking for. Amazingly, someone actually found for me an 1851 census that I was convinced didn't exist after extensive searching on different sites. And (wait for it ... drum roll ... there is a purpose to this post in the Frugal February section) a hint of how to get 50% off the Ancestry subscription! Seems too good to keep it a secret - apparently you cancel your current subscription (just before it is due for renewal) then take advantage of the discount as a new member when the old subscription runs out. Now according to several who have used the discount, you do not lose your trees or log in details ... I'm not sure how it works but I'm willing to give it a try if the annual subscription drops from £119.99p to £59.99p .... If you are interested in the offer (which is current in February 2018 - so it might not work in a few weeks or months time should anyone find this post out of the archives LOL), just click on the link below to take you to the subscription discount page:

50% Ancestry subscription discount
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lancashire lass
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Re: LL's Frugal February 2018

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lancashire lass wrote:a hint of how to get 50% off the Ancestry subscription! Seems too good to keep it a secret - apparently you cancel your current subscription (just before it is due for renewal) then take advantage of the discount as a new member when the old subscription runs out. Now according to several who have used the discount, you do not lose your trees or log in details ... I'm not sure how it works but I'm willing to give it a try if the annual subscription drops from £119.99p to £59.99p


)c( it worked! Half price subscription when you join using the discount link, and if you use your email / password to sign in, your tree and attachments are all there. So happy about this )t'
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