Tuesday 2 July 2019

End of June Ins, Outs and Frugal Bits.........

.........................just two days late

I had this post half written in drafts, then next time I went back to add something it had vanished and replaced by another post. No idea what I must have done to lose it or how something got copied from one to another  and now I can't remember what was on it. Ho Hum!

I know that June's income was the usual County Council spouses pension, repayment of loans from family, small amount of interest and an unexpected £50 from the sale of a couple of boxes of odds and ends from the workshop.
(Savings had to be used again as always)

I know that the outgoings would have been quite small until the car tyre fiasco as June is a good month with only the electric bill due. There were all the usual expenses.........food for me and the cat, diesel for the car, phones and charity direct debits.
The other spending was the family day at the Steam Fayre early in the month,  a hair cut, more multi-purpose for re-potting the things on the patio, the window cleaner turned up and I bought a new 20 swim ticket which is now £37.40 and the battery strimmer. Then the blinkin' tyre......getting Ashley out to take the  damaged tyre off and fit a temporary one, the new tyre and the spare tyre set..... nearly £250 total.....Gulp! I also spent out on  a few perennial plants to fill gaps that I'm trying to clear among all the aquilegia. And bought a new surge buster plug thingy to protect the TV and Free Sat box.
Still waiting for the bill for the new kitchen lights and the replacement sockets.


But the frugal bits? There was a list............until it vanished. What can I remember.........?

  • Eating strawberries, cucumbers, lettuce, spring onions, first potatoes, courgettes, aubergines, first raspberries, basil (made pesto) chives and parsley from the garden.
  • Gifted lots of strawberries from Col's brother's garden for jam making
  • Still mixing milk half and half with water
  • Made a salmon, broccoli and pasta bake using up 2 salmon fillets that had been lurking in the freezer and divided into 6 meals.
  • Made a big batch pizza topping to divide up for the freezer
  • Used £2 divi voucher towards the £4 breakfast meat bargain at the Co-op.
  • Used 50p Co-op voucher towards pack of chillies to freeze ready for chilli jelly.
  • Bought 2 Chilli pepper plants at 50p each to grow more for chilli jelly for Christmas hampers
  • Reading free library books
  • £10 worth of books sent off to Ziffit
  • Found a very useful summer cardigan in charity shop £4 

Still Clearing out
Some old chipped plates from the garage (why were they there?) into the dustbin
2 large cushions that were once in the caravan from airing cupboard to textile recycling
Large old throw ditto.
Craft papers into the cupboard under the stairs ready for car boot sale.
Bag books  ditto
Few more items clothes to charity shop
2 Boxes of Things from the workshop to a smallholder


That's another month gone.

There are no utility bills due in July so it should be an even better month. I hope I can do another car boot sale with some of  the workshop stuff.

Back Tomorrow
Sue



22 comments:

  1. You sound so well organised Sue, it makes me positively pale into insignificance in comparison. Makes you feel good I am sure as you sit back and chart your progress.

    LX

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    Replies
    1. I suppose I am pretty organised - having three children and running a cub pack was the reason

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  2. Yes, another month gone. Where does the time fly? At least you can account for your incomings and outgoings, even if we don't know where time is going.

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    Replies
    1. Someone will soon say how many shopping days ther are until Christmas!

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  3. I love the cardigan and your frugal-ness is fab! The tyre is just one of those things and I agree, shockingly expensive. Necessary though!
    xx

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    Replies
    1. Reassuring to have everything needed in the car in case of puncture

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  4. Pretty cardigan, pity about the types but they are important.. I went to our little town yesterday and brought some Chocolate Oranges while they were on special. At our Knit and Knatter we cover them and decorate them, the children are buying them for the teachers,, at the moment we are selling them for Breast Cancer.. it's going to be a nice day again.

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  5. Doesn't your heart sink when you scrimp and save all month using coupons and vouchers, hunting down bargains and then you are whacked with a big bill like the tyres. It is hard to be so frugal that you manage to save £250 in a month unless you had a few expensive items to sell. It often feels such a battle but as they say every penny helps. We had to buy 2 tyres this month too. Ouch!

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    Replies
    1. There often seems to be an unexpected expense when it should be a low spending month - typical

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  6. Ouch on the tyre repair, but good job keeping the rest of your expenses in a reasonable state.

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  7. Its so annoying when you think you're doing well for the month and then something happens out of the blue and tyres are never the cheapest of items to buy are they.

    Mitzi

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    Replies
    1. Cars and animals! when either go wrong it's always expensive

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  8. Sue, can you post the recipe you use for the salmon, broccoli and pasta bake please? It sounds delicious and like you, I would divide it into 6 meals.....thank you....

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    Replies
    1. I've added the original recipe that I base mine on to the Recipes from a Suffolk Kitchen page.

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    2. Thanks Sue.....can’t wait to try it out.

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  9. Love the cardigan, a great find. The plates I would use to put at the bottom of planters, so may be why they are in the garage.

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    Replies
    1. I had nearly given up looking for a lightweight cardigan when I found this in the 7th charity shop I went in!

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  10. Smiled at the thought of your Aquelegia. My gardener wanted to hoe up all the little seedlings gathered round my plants. I love to leave them and see what comes - they are wonderful at cross pollinating aren't they?

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    Replies
    1. Mine seem to have ended up all the same colour - pink.
      I'm clearing patches of them to plant other things but leaving most for next year

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  11. You are doing very well clearing out. This month I only removed 2 items from the house. Naughty me.

    I got a bill today and realized that I had forgotten to pay it last month. Ouch.

    God bless.

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