Thursday 30 September 2021

Back To Thrifty - The Ins, Outs and Frugal Bits

Back to my last day of the month thrifty posts..........
 
The huge expenses of moving are over, I've restocked my cupboards and emergency supplies (Bread flour, yeast, peanut butter, tins of pineapple and coffee!), car boot sales will be slowing down and I need to get back to thrifty, to live on my income and stop using the money from savings and from down-sizing.
My income is now 2 pensions - my state pension plus the County Council spouses pension (now being taxed!) and some bits of interest from savings bonds. I looked to see what average income is for a pensioner and came across the figure of £18,000. Well, my income is well below this so maybe some savings will be needed and anyway the very reason I never had a private pension is because we knew we had a house that could be sold and we could downsize.

One spend this month  I was really pleased about was a new winter coat. I've been looking for something warm and waterproof  with a hood for a couple of years, searching charity shops with no luck and the ones in shops were either those huge puffy jackets (I'm puffy enough already!) or had weird mock fur round the hood (nasty) or the sleeves were so narrow that there was no room for anything underneath. Then I called in at the big Asda in Ipswich after the  dentist and £36 later I had waterproof with a hood in blue - perfect.

Other spendy bits were Phones and Broadband bills, 2 lots of diesel (I filled up when I went shopping on the Tuesday before the  country went into panic mode), a birthday gift, Ecover for the washing machine. A couple of plants for the garden and some crocus bulbs -all from boot-sales. The window cleaner turned up and the regular 4 weekly electric bill (which is driving me nuts as no sooner do I get a text message from Scottish Power asking for a meter reading and pay it then 4 weeks is round again!). Batteries for my torch (jolly expensive now),a couple of second-hand books and food - obviously!

These are the thrifty bits I thought of

  • Picked the right days to do washing - so avoiding using the tumble drier all month
  • Dried Bay Leaves from my Bay tree
  • Made 4 jars jam using Strawberries from BiL and gooseberries from a car boot sale earlier in the year. 2 are for the hampers.
  • Washed hair before going just up the road to have it cut which saves me £4
  • Runner beans from the garden
  • Yellow and Red Peppers from the greenhouse
  • Made two candles for the Christmas Hampers
  • Made Wild Fruit syrup from hedgerow fruits for winter and the hampers
  • Made Marmalade for winter and Christmas hampers
  • £56 income from selling unwanted stuff in village yard sale
  • Library books for free
  • One pensioners Fish and Chip meal (£3.50 instead of £6)
  • Free coffee and cheese scones at the village Monday coffee mornings (instead of breakfastπŸ˜‡)
  • I'm still catching cold water in a jug before the hot arrives and using it for watering the pots under the front porch and the new bits planted in the front garden
  • Also still mixing whole milk half and half with water.
  • Couple of cucumbers and courgettes from BiL's garden

and I finally found something to put everything in for the Christmas Hampers from yesterday's car boot sale. I called in on my way to shopping - it was very chilly, damp underfoot and hardly anyone selling

so I was pleased to pick up these for £1.50 each. Nothing else bought.

In October there are more birthdays and a probable trip to see the new baby after it arrives which will involve a stay in holiday let or similar plus diesel, electric, phones and food of course. Hopefully not much else.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

 

36 comments:

  1. Well done on all the thriftiness Sue. If the "average" pension is £18k, then there must be quite a few pensioners out there getting more than we are. But I have enough, and years of thrift mean I can cope. I wasn't planning on spending retirement cruising to the Bahamas or climbing Kilimanjaro or taking up yachting anyway. I'm enjoying finding the "seniors' concessions" too!

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    1. My Dad used to say when anyone mentioned average incomes that you had to remember all the David Beckhams of the world were included in that average!

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  2. Yes it sounds a lot the average pension, no where near it but being thrifty is no hardship. I used to make that tinned marmalade, not bad at all but never thought to put different juices in.

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    1. The marmalade idea comes from a WI preserves book. The Tin of prepared lemon with added grapefruit was deliciously tangy

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  3. Wonder where they get these figures from? We don't get £18,000 either, even with husband's and my small private pensions on top of his SP. But we manage alright - years of experience. How nice to get a free breakfast :-))

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    1. There were some places on line where it said average pensioner income for 2 people was nearer £30,000! which is way more than I would think.

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  4. My pension is nowhere tike £18.000 but I am lucky I have my own house and my needs are little, I love to make things for others and charity.
    It looks like it is going to me a wet day so I plan on looking at last years C.cards and remake new for this years. Enjoy your day everyone.
    Hazel 🌈🌈

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    1. So pleased you got a nice new winter coat at a good price, I think it is going to be a cold one this year..🌈🌈

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    2. I've been managing with just a short fleece jacket and a lightweight coat for a few years but now I can walk to places I needed something warmer and with a hood. I was pleased to find soemthing at last

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  5. We used to get more than the average pension. Now that I'm on my own I am well under! I had hoped that the Triple Lock would help on paying for cost of living increases. Apparently Not!

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    1. Only just got state pension so the triple lock wasn't something that I benefited from and I guess you don't miss what you didn't have!

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  6. Just wondered for you’d thought about trying rechargeable batteries for your torch. Some initial expense in getting a couple of sets of batteries and a charger but may save in the long run and less dead batteries going to landfill πŸ˜ƒ

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    1. I used to have rechargable for everything and still have the charger and batteries for larger things like the radio but my little torch has AAA batteries and they are too small for the charger I have

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  7. I'm sure you are on a water meter but that certainly helps. We have lived off DB's pensions (both private and government) for 23 years, well below that figure. Certainly wouldn't like to try and live in London for that! My pension finally kicking in will help but agree with Joy, the removal of the triple lock will hurt many. As others have said, being thrifty certainly helps doesn't it?

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    1. No, no water meter here yet, I paid a whole years water bill up front to give me time to get it organised and see the difference in what I paid in Clay Cottage.It will be sorted as it reflects on the cost of sewer which I didn't have at the Cottage although a new sewer system there was due to cost between 6K and 8K and pump out had gone up too.

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  8. It's appalling how so many people, while out and about, now think nothing of popping into a coffee shop and spending £3 or £4 each, and they'll do it nearly every day! Those like me whose earnings were lower than their rent in their first job (supported by parents) learned to be thrifty and old habits last. Of course, it helps being from Yorkshire! Someone once told me "you need to get used to being a consumer" which felt an enormous insult. A consumer? Me? No way.

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    1. Which reminds me I have a voucher for a free coffee at the garden centre that I must use before winter!
      We never were very good at supporting the economy!

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  9. I smiled at the free coffee and cheese scones at the village hall instead of breakfast.
    True gold medal thriftiness!

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    1. I'm thinking this will become a regular Monday thing - not sure who finances it but it's very popular

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  10. There's a real good factor feeling to being thrifty. You sound incredibly busy with all your jam making. Thank you for the comment on my blog. It's a tricky one when you write about someone's home town or one they are very familiar with.

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    1. Aldeburgh is a very strange place. I did some work there chasing up people for the electoral roll and found almost half of the properties in town are holiday lets or second homes.There is also a lot of hidden poverty

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  11. Finding winter coats is a trial I agree about some of them being over puffy and I am not keen on the bulky fur trimmed hoods either. I will be making my old one do another year yet as it is has a small hood and very warm agains cold winds. I like your frugal list these little savings all add up but when you do have to pay for a service like tradesmen, solicitors or utility bills it does feel proportionately over expensive these days on a pension.

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    1. I was so pleased to find a sensible coat at last and not too expensive.

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  12. Just looking at your header photo and wondering if bales will always look like this...or will they morph into something totally different?! x

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    1. They are either giant oblong or these round ones - dont see the little one we used to make

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  13. Well done you. Pleased about the winter coat.

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    1. There are some very expensive ones about - some with just one button - no good for windy weather!

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  14. I'm impressed and agree with living conservatively. Your new coat sounds perfect for the cold and stormy Winter months. Your baskets are perfect for holiday gifts. Good find. Regarding coats: I'm still wearing 2 Winter coats that I bought 20 years ago. They look good and feel warm, so why replace them...

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    1. I hope this new one lasts me a long while - not sure it will be 20 years

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  15. I enjoy being thrifty. It makes me use my brain more. Arilx

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  16. Good thrifty month. You did very well.

    God bless.

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  17. Sounds like a good thrifty month!
    Hope the new baby arrives safely.
    Mxx

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  18. I like shopping at thrift stores lately. I returned a pair of jeans as it fit but legs of pants too baggy and I decided not to sew them to make them narrower as they may not fit. I took them back today and bought some cards for 45 cents and Christmas bags for gifts and a few items for a baby girl. I have enough clothes for now even though I see some in stores that I like. I buy items when on sale and use what coupons when I can as well. Have a good weekend and looking forward to reading about your soon to be born grandchild! Have a good weekend!

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  19. A good warm winter coat is a must in my book. It will last a while and well worth the money to keep you toasty and warm!

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  20. I got a nice Winter coat from Asda a couple of years ago and I couldn't believe they could sell such nice coats so cheaply. The ones with fur around the front of the hood are great until it actually rains and you have wet fur dripping all over your face!!

    I like the sound of the 'free breakfast' Cheese scones and coffee for breakfast sounds really good, especially when made by someone else.

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