Frugal in Suffolk, Low Spend November, Strictly Come Dancing, Swimming and........

.................I didn't get a speeding ticket (twice)...... Phew

Long post - no photos - Sorry!

 5½ years ago I started a blog called "Frugal in Suffolk", I called it that because there was Frugal in Norfolk, Frugal in Derbyshire and some other Frugals too.  It morphed into The Quiet Life in Suffolk and The Cottage at the End of the Lane.

Things are very, very different now, but underneath I'm still Frugal Sue.
There have been big expenses since we moved here and there is still half the kitchen costs, the new hot water tank and the water pipes up the lane to be paid for but I'm keen to get back to frugal roots, so I'm going to start doing frugal notes again, I want to carry on being frugal in some areas so that I can spend in others!

Belated Frugal notes for October

Enough apples, pears and autumn raspberries from the garden to have two servings everyday all month until the 25th.

Eating beetroot from the garden every day

Strained the cider vinegar and it looks and tastes like ..............cider vinegar!

Still mixing milk half and half with water.

Made birthday cards from stash.

Found some small gifts for Christmas presents from car boot sales and a Christmas gift for Willow

Collected more secondhand books for Grandchildren's advent parcels

Used paint I already had to do the downstairs bathroom

£18 worth of books sent off to Ziffit

Repaired greenhouse staging at no cost

Made chutney with home grown tomatoes and peppers.

Used home grown apples and some of the home made vinegar for  Cranberry and Apple Chutney for Christmas Hamper.

Low Spend November ( Ha Ha Ha )
 For the last few years I've always tried to spend as little as possible in November except for fuel, food, cat food and Christmas things. It's a really good month for me to do this as there are no utility bills due. I can't do a spend nothing challenge because leaving Christmas present buying until December would make me start to panic! I'll be keeping a close check on money going out, so I can spend on some special treats without guilt in December................ Good Plan Me Thinks! (all due to me  having a strange yearning for a snow globe!)

So Far - after 9 days.............nearly one third of the month...................

Cat Food  £11
6 Boxes of Choc Biscuits for Xmas presents (on offer at Tesco) £15
5 Boxes of Bicuits-for-cheese for presents £10
Other Christmas stuff £2.50
Food £14.73
Other inc. birthday present  for Youngest, car park, charity and other Direct Debits+ bathroom stuff £71
Diesel £30 for one car

BUT then I blew the budget by treating Son, DIL and DIL's sister to the firework display last Sunday (£16 )and starting volunteering at a charity shop where I found all the  useful things.(£4.80)

AND I had to get the fog light glass repaired on the car after discovering it had mysteriously got broken - another £42

ALSO  I'll be getting the BIG bill for the new hot water tank. The work was done over the last two days and I can now fill the washing up bowl with hot water in record time and I also have an immersion heater (which never worked) as well as the Solar Thermal panels on the roof and the oil boiler. However (there's always a hitch) when the heating man got everything running he found that because of the strange configuration of pipes in the boiler cupboard he now had valves on the wrong pipes so he is coming back Tuesday and will have to drain everything all over again. He was ever so cross with himself for not noticing - I was just resigned- there's so many odd things here.

Maybe I won't be doing low spend November after all! Doesn't look too hopeful does it?

Strictly Come Dancing
I'm loving Strictly Come Dancing this year, not because it's any better than other years although the chance to see completely new dances is fun, but because it nicely fills the empty hours of dark Saturday and Sunday nights. And I've enjoyed finding out about people I knew nothing about - like Stacey - who doesn't sound at all like someone who's travelled to war zones around the world and met some frightening and some interesting people but she really has.

Swimming
Haven't mentioned it lately but I'm still swimming once a week at an over 50s session. First time I went in May I struggled to do 4 x 20 metres, now I can do 20 x 20 metres with only a couple of pauses. Problem is that the pool is getting busier, it's only a small pool so it's difficult to swim without having to avoid people all the time.I've got 4 swims left on my 20 swim discount ticket.
then I'll get a new one as it's such a good saving.

No Speeding Ticket
Weeks ago I said there was one of the speed check camera vans in a village on the way home from swimming and I might have been going 34mph in a 30 zone. Well no letter arrived. Then Blow Me Down, a couple of weeks later there was the van just  a couple of miles from home in a 30mph zone on a quiet back road - never seen one there before - must have been so boring for the person behind the camera  as it's a Very quiet village road, (12 houses and a field!) I was only just over 30 mph, I'd slowed down as someone was pulling out of their driveway ahead - but you never know. No letter again. I'm being more careful close to home now too!


Back Tomorrow
Sue