Reading Library books for free.
First of the butternut squash ready to eat. The rest brought in to store
Put some red peppers from the greenhouse into the freezer and used others fresh all month.
Tomatoes from the greenhouse all month.
Beetroot and Runner beans from the garden all month
Eating our own apples and pears all month, lots of apples and pears prepared for freezer.
Picked nearly 4lb of blackberries and put in freezer. Picked another 4lb and made blackberry and apple jam.
Dried some eating apples
Sorted through boxes of books under the stairs and found £14 worth to send to Ziffit (these were books Ziffit didn't want last year and hadn't sold at the car boot)
Col took small load of bits of metal scrap to scrap-yard - just over £11 income
To make a space for the Egg Safe I decided to cull my recipe books. Ziffit again and River Cottage Veg sold for £4.29 - A lot more than I paid for it at a car boot sale or a charity shop. I photocopied several recipes from it first. Bought this practically new book below at a charity shop for 50p, found I'd already borrowed it from Library
- sold on Ziffit for £2.40! Total for 2nd parcel sent = £21 Bought a warm tunic top from charity shop for £4 and one off ebay for £5.
Made Sweetcorn relish and Red Onion Sweet "Marmalade"chutney.
Took packed-up lunch and flask when we went to Addenbrookes Hospital - twice.
Another load of small off-cuts of wood from Col's brother - they filled a builders bag.
A couple of small gifts for Christmas from car-boot sales and toys for grandchildren.
Jammed my finger in the old broken metal linen line prop and moaned so loudly that at last Col cut me a bit from the willows to use instead! ....................Tumble dryer not used all month
Cut scrap wood for kindling and picked up fallen bits from Ash trees too.
Even with the Chinese take-away on our wedding anniversary food spending was below budget thanks to our own apples and pears so not needing to buy any fruit most of month.
But
Had the bill for the new heating-oil tank, setting it up, moving the oil over and testing = Huge Bill
Car Repairs that Col couldn't do -twice and the MOT.
Boiler went haywire so had to have minor repair..... no bill yet.
Spent a lot at the big second-hand book sale (have entered it under charity in the accounts!!)
Too much spent on diesel with 2 trips to Addenbrookes hospital and 2 to Ipswich hospital as well as visiting granddaughter and several car boot sales and the book sale.
Even with those outgoings it was a much better month all round and without the car and heating oil we would be laughing (but also isolated and cold!)
Many Thanks for comments yesterday
Back Soon
Sue
All in all it sounds pretty good to me. Well done.
ReplyDeleteJ x
Thank you
DeleteIt makes a big difference when you can turn to the garden for your fruit and vegetables.
ReplyDeleteLiving in town last year I spent a fortune on fruit and veg. We have some lovely pears - delicious
DeleteAll a balancing act isn't it.
ReplyDeleteToo right!
DeleteNo heating on here, came close once or twice, but hoping to stall turning it on for a while. Normal month, you save and there is always something unexpected and big.
ReplyDeleteJust the woodburner in the evenings here and the boiler is on hot water only - long may that last!
DeleteSounds like the outgoings were essential and the biggest bill a one-off, so not too disastrous.
ReplyDeleteYour mentioning Ziffit has given me a heads-up over the boxes and boxes of books we have culled but can't sell at the Unit. Will go through some today and hopefully rehome them with Ziffit for some cash.
We too are self-sufficient in a variety of apples for the rest of the winter, although the eaters won't last more than a few weeks.
I get quite addicted to Ziffiting!
Deletewe have more pears than apples which is nice
I'm hoping we are done with big bills for a little while after the bathroom and the outside cloakroom but then we do need a new cooker. I'll try and last out until November so I can shuffle the cost over to then.
ReplyDeleteHugs-x-
I'm hoping we have no big bills for a while too. Now I've said that something will go wrong!
DeleteIt's hard to avoid those one-off, big expenses sometimes, Sue. It's great that you've made lots of savings elsewhere, especially with your homegrown food. Nothing like eating food from your garden. Meg:)
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a lot of one off expenses!
DeleteWow it sounds like you've really had a good month, except for those pesky home repairs and needs.
ReplyDeleteI envy those who have a big garden and can get enough vegs and fruits to can and freeze. Our land is mostly sandy and it would take months of manure spreading to even make it tolerable to grow things. When spring comes I'll hang my tomato planter and try some beans in it.
Having fresh beets would be glorious. I'm craving pickled ones so I may find some and do that tomorrow.
You had a very frugal month even with the unexpected large bills. I have found things even out after awhile.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
It's good to save some money. I find items I like at a store then realize I shouldn't buy it. I put one pkg of small jars back on shelf. Clearance but need a few for something in near future. Will see if there's any left next week. Growing your own fruit and eating it is delicious. I try to find ways to spend less money whenever possible! If I had more time I'd enjoy making more jam and drying apple and bananas to name a few.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was a too bad month - lots of good in there!
ReplyDelete