The Not Very Frugal(ish) Notes for May

1st June, time to look back

After the expense of moving and sorting out things for the house in March and April, things were more normal in May (unless you factor in getting the lane re-surfaced and the Fiesta sorted for it's MOT!)

We got the oil tank filled (1,000litres) for just over £400 which I thought wasn't too bad. I think (unless we get a really bad start to winter) it will last for the autumn and probably more than half the winter. Although we won't really know until we've been here for a year. When we moved in the tank was about a quarter full and we had the heating on for a couple of hours in the morning and early  afternoon then lit the woodburner.Then later we turned the thermostat right down and so the heating on for just an hour in the mornings which took the chill off the house.The wood burner can be lit in the evenings if we need it. Now the heating is right off and we have solar hot water thingys on the roof - just like we had at the smallholding - so on sunny days we won't need to use oil or electric for heating water either.

Picked up an old bench from outside a house for sale for £10, it needs some TLC .

The final, for now, box of books sent off to Ziffit for just under £20

Bought a Blackcurrant bush for £1.71 from Tesco clearance sale.

Found a teeny little bike for Jacob......in about 2+ years time! it will need stabilisers, was outside a house with a FREE sign.

Car boot finds were useful. Doormat  £2, kindling basket £3, card crafting bits £2, new fitted sheet £1, and a few small Christmas gifts

Negotiated car breakdown cover with RAC got 2 cars covered for less than one car last year.

Bought a £1 basket of mushrooms from car boot sale again and put most in the freezer for later

Started eating lettuce, salad leaves and radishes from garden

Used eBay to get Jacobs Birthday present (1 year old - where did that year go?) and had the seller post direct to him.

Remembered to cancel the subscription to Kitchen Garden Magazine after the cheap initial offer so that I don't pay for another 6 months.

We've had a water meter installed. Our water costs here were based on Council Tax bands which meant over £30 a month JUST for water. As we were paying less than that for water and sewer in Ipswich we should cut the cost. Our sewer is septic tank and seems to be working well (touch wood etc).
I've already got into the habit of running the kitchen tap into a jug  until the hot comes through for washing up and then pouring the jug into a watering can outside the back door ready for the garden. In winter when we don't need to water gardens the jug full can go into a bucket and be used for flushing the downstairs loo.
We brought 3 water butts with us to add to those here so we can collect quite a lot of water from garage, greenhouse and house

Couldn't face having the painter man back so I bought a long handled roller to do the ceilings and starting with the kitchen, I've begun to DIY saving several hundred £. We always did all our own decorating in the past when Col was well but now I'll do it as best I can.
Got white emulsion on an offer and a paint colour called Ivory Lace  for walls. We had all the other stuff we needed. Total less than £40. I've made a start and just have woodwork left to do using some white satinwood left from the what the painter used.
I'll tackle the living room later (but sooner rather than too much later as it's annoyingly scruffy) but will have to do it a bit at a time as it's a big room.

No meals out or takeaways and back to bread making.

Using the washing machine more often on the 30°  and 60° quick wash.


On the other hand
There was that £3 wasted on the handbag which looked lovely from the front and inside but was actually falling apart  when full up and viewed from the back!
Money spent on flower plants for the garden - which could be counted as a luxury, and some salad leaf  plants to get us off to a quick start, when we could have waited for our own to grow.

HMRC have worked out what Col will have to pay tax on now that he gets his County Council pension and Employment Support Allowance so we know what we have to live on. It should be do-able as long as we are careful although major expenses will have to come out of savings (spending the kid's inheritance!) but as all the expenses will be for the house, the value will go up for the future.


Thank you for comments yesterday

Back in a jiffy
Sue