Saturday 31 March 2018

March....Spending and Thrifty Bits

Well, March 2018 was a good deal less expensive than March 2017..........Don't Move House - is my advice.

The spendy bits....

The estimated electric bill arrived = £127, I read the meter and phoned in the actual numbers and only had to pay £88. For a winter quarter it's much less than expected, much less than at the smallholding - somehow. I'm not complaining but  I quite expect Eon to send a person to check the meter!

Beach Hut ground rent paid.
We've re-stocked with bird's fat balls - 300! = £22. And 20kg of mixed seed for £10
3 fill ups in total of diesel for the cars.
A big food shop for the month  and the family weekend and several top-ups because Col is eating like a Horse!
Council Tax bill  for 2018/19 arrived......... up 4.6% on last year
Cat flu booster jab and wormer drops and stocked up on cat food while it was on offer
Membership for small WI = £41
Col got a roof rack for the grey car
Multi purpose compost £12
We got some Duplo people off ebay enough to send to Jacob for his birthday and some to keep for Florence
 


The thrifty bits
Bought 5lt Ecover washing up liquid from local hardware shop which is £1.50 cheaper than buying 5 x 1lt from supermarket. Then I  decant ¾ liquid and add ¼ water into an old 1lt bottle, and give it a shake to mix which works fine and makes it even cheaper.
Took drinks and snacks/lunch to Addenbrookes hospital each time for the clinic appointments.
Still stitching cross stitch from the stash,  for little Christmas gifts and cards
Ran cold water into jug while waiting for hot to appear  and used  for flushing loos all through month.
Used our own frozen peppers,  courgettes, mangetout peas and last of the green beans from freezer.
Used last leeks from the garden
Used first purple sprouting broccoli from garden
First few sticks of rhubarb from the garden
Picked up twigs from field to dry and use for kindling
Printed out a price comparison voucher from Asda worth £2.10
Printed out a price comparison voucher from Asda worth £1.68
Remembered to use car park voucher in Asda - twice - saving £2
Found Duplo from charity shop for Jacobs birthday in May, sent it back to Surrey with them
3 tee-shirts for me from charity shops just over £6
Had coffees in the MacMillan centre when at Ipswich hospital for a small charity donation.
Helped Youngest save money by collecting some new tyres for their car from an ebay seller just over the border in Norfolk to save her having to buy new ones for the MOT.


Just a normal sort of month of  Spending and Saving.


When Colin went into hospital on Wednesday we weren't sure how long he would be in for but Hooray! he is home again, I picked him up from Addenbrookes yesterday afternoon. They've done numerous tests and we will get the results next week. In the meantime they've put him on some tablets which they tried in 2016 after his own stem-cell transplant had failed, the tablets didn't work then but as the donor stem cells seems to have got rid of the Lymphoma in the bone marrow they are hoping the tablets will have some effect on the new problem...........enlarged Lymph glands.......hopefully only caused by the wonderfully named Graft Versus Host Disease, rather than any other reason ..........(Frightening thought) .We shall see how things go.
Did anyone else get the torrential rain on Friday afternoon? We were driving home through it for over an hour, the roads were rivers - really horrible.It carried on for even more hours after we got home.


Hello and welcome to some more new followers.
Thank you to everyone for comments yesterday, I feel embarrassed when people say we are brave or strong because we are just trying to get through as best we can. Coping and hoping!

Back Tomorrow, even though it's a Sunday,  as it's the first of the month and I'll be doing the April folklore post.

Sue


                             

41 comments:

  1. I guess moving house has to be a tad more expensive < grin >.
    Keeping my fingers crossed for the 'new' meds.
    Yes, it chucked it down here too, very, very heavy rain that even soaked the ground under the tree. Not at all nice to be out in rain like that.
    J x

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    1. Moving house twice in 2 years was the daftest thing we have ever done - although we didn't know it at the time!
      THe road spray in that rain was horrible, we came home on smaller roads rather than A14 to avoid it

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  2. One of my pig paddocks dried out well from earlier in the year. After the last couple of days large pools of standing water have returned (in the driest region of the country). Glad to hear Col is enjoying his food.

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    1. The ditches are so full that half the primroses are under water

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  3. Wonderful news about Col.
    I was feeling sad that you two might be apart this weekend.
    Please don't be embarrassed about the comments. Whether you feel brave or not it's a fact that you are an inspiration, mainly because you are so matter of fact about everything.
    If that gives you a tiny glow of pride it's no less than you both deserve. Sue

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    1. What a kind person you must be! This is a lovely comment.
      JanF

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    2. Yes, I thought I might be home alone for Easter too. Thank you for nice comments

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  4. Glad Col is home and eating like a horse. I was doing well this month until family visit for which I cooked a meal, rare occurrence, glad I do not buy meat, alcohol or chocolate on a regular basis, such an expense. Very, very wet here in the SW, garden waterlogged. Enjoy the rest of the Easter break.

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  5. Yes it did rain and rain here too. So glad Col is home. Please don't feel embarrassed about people saying you are brave. You have both been an inspiration to me on any dark days I have had. Jane xx

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  6. Glad that Col is home for Easter and a good sign when they are eating well!Wish the weather was a bit better for all of us though.Here in Leicester,it rained non stop all day.Very heavy!.When i nipped to my daughters house i was concerned that i wasnt going to be able to drive back because her road started flooding.All the gardening I was going to do here is going to have to wait a few days because snow is forcast here for Monday!xx

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    1. The forecast for Monday is horrible - no gardening will be done here

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  7. Good to hear hubby is home. Fingers crossed.
    You are not alone in feeling embarrassed or uncomfortable about those comments containing the words 'strong' and 'brave'. When my late husband had cancer I became heartily sick of those who said 'I don't know how you cope, you're so brave' etc., and even worse those who decided to throw their arms around me (supermarkets, pavements, petrol stations to name but a few) to give me a hug. One of the funnier moments was when a lady I didn't know that well decided to state loudly (in the supermarket) that she 'was praying for me'. I felt like saying 'then pray for me to make a decision between chicken or beef pie then because my brain is so addled I can't even choose!' As you have said there is absolutely no option but to get on with it but I would gently suggest that those wanting to give support respect the privacy of people. Just a simple 'how's it going' and leaving a cake on the doorstep is often better than a very public display of emotional words and actions.
    I hope I don't come over as negative but so many people supporting sick partners have echoed my feelings.
    In advance a happy Easter and let us hope the rain stops for just a few hours!

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    1. Thank heavens no one has thrown their arms round me!
      Definitely no option but to just get on with everything, or I could just go off on a cruise - somewhere warm would be good!

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  8. Hope you and Colin have a lovely weekend, even if the weather doesn't cooperate. You're doing really well with the budget. It will be nicer still when some of your own garden starts producing regularly. I am all admiration.

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    1. The weather is just horrible. I'm looking forward to some fresh produce too

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  9. Get cooking Sue - Col's got his appetite back. Hooray!

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    1. His mouth was very sore for several weeks, but getting better now

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  10. So glad Col is home and hoping the new tablets work. Have a lovely Easter weekend.

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  11. Glad you've got Col home, wow your electricity bill is good mine averages £33 per month but I do have an electric oven. Hope you both have a lively Easter x

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    1. Filling up the heating oil tank is going to be expensive I think as prices are very high

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  12. "Coping and Hoping" is an excellent description.
    So glad Col is home and that there are good plans for his future treatments. It's great that his appetite is back.
    Best wishes. JanF

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  13. Pleased your hubby is doing well. Just make each day count, that's what we are trying to do.
    Briony
    x

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  14. Glad to hear that Col is home. Hope you have a restful Easter weekend. I saw that you got parking vouchers at Asda. Do you have to pay to park at supermarkets?

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    1. The car park right beside Asda in the town is owned by the council so is a Pay and Display parking. But it prints out 2 tickets - one to go in the car and one to get a £1 refund if you are shopping in Asda. I kept forgetting to use the refund bit when we first moved here because I wasn't used to it, which was annoying to get home and find the refund voucher still sitting in my purse!

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  15. Afternoon Sue

    What a good idea to 'dilute' the Ecover - never thought about it before. My 'early rhubarb is coming through - it's seem a bit too early though. Haven't got any seeds sown yet. May have to buy the plants from folks as we drive along the roads. Garden is very wet and squelchy, so not going out there unless necessary (compost bin and bird feeding).

    Good news that Colin is eating for England!

    Have a good Easter weekend.

    Best wishes

    Carol

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    1. The Ecover Washing up liquid is so thick it still works well when watered down a bit. I've just got seedlings of greenhouse crops growing so far.

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  16. You've been sensible and thrifty as always. I did an extra shop today as I have Tam here and the other two are here on Monday so I got a big joint of lamb for a roast (which they will do when we are out (getting soaking wet by the look of things) at Malvern Flea.

    I am quite frightened of increased bills when we move as at the moment we have no water rates to pay as we have our own spring for water, plus a septic tank (no mains for either). Although we will have hopefully less heating and electricity costs due to a smaller property, it looks like the Council Tax will be the same, even for a property half the size of this. Anyway, we'll worry about that when push comes to shove.

    I have my fingers crossed over positive results from Colin's tests, and glad he wasn't in for very long this time. Enjoy a lovely family Easter.

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    1. Council Tax is our worst increase as at the smallholding we were still in the rating for when we'd bought it in 1992, And heating of course as we were all wood and free!

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  17. Hope you have a happy weekend in spite of the rain! Good that your hubby can eat again.

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  18. Fingers crossed for Col. It sounds like he is getting stronger. Last year's frozen veggies are going into soups for lunch and supper, healthy and cheap. Happy Easter.

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  19. I'm glad Col is home! I hope the tablets do their thing and help him out. I learned some new ideas from your thrifty list! Thanks!
    ❀.•❤•.✿.•❤ Happy Easter! ❀.•❤•.✿.•❤
    ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  20. Good to hear that Col is home. Fingers crossed that the tablets work.

    We had the torrential rain and the inevitable floods on the lane into town.
    Hugs-x-

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  21. Nice to read that Col is home. I hope the tablets work.

    No rain on this side of the pond, but we did get a snow storm.

    God bless.

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  22. Delighted to read that (potentially) good news. Best wishes to you and Col.
    It is so dark in Owl Wood that the grandchildren may need torches to do the Easter Egg hunt. A slight exaggeration, but it is very gloomy and damp. I hope you have some chocolate to enjoy today, Sue.

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  23. Oh Sue and Col...really keeping you in my thoughts and sending hopeful wishes your way...surely you're due some good health news...this past week has been so busy that I still have receipts to enter in my budget...I hope I haven't gone over too much when I add the visitors allowances on to ours! Happy Easter x

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