One small bit of extra income this month was £16.50 from selling several secondhand books through Ziffit. Other than that it was the usual pensions and small bits of interest from savings bonds. Plus the £200 winter fuel allowance went into the bank.
Then it was No Spend November which is an annual challenge plan to only buy food, fuel, Christmas things and pay bills through the month. The idea is to save some money to use in December to finish the Christmas food shopping. Lots of bloggers used to do it when I started blogging in 2013. I've never taken it as a serious rule - actually that's my take on life in general!
Therefore it ended up being a Very Spendy Month - to make up for this I shall do a No Spend January (she says - with fingers crossed behind her back!)
Any tiny frugal things? Only the usual.........
- Mixing whole milk half and half with water
- Making big batch of vegetable/paneer curry and put in freezer for family visit at Christmas (will save a takeaway)
- Library books for free
- Somehow avoided using tumble dryer all month - finished things off on radiators
- Made a pair of leggings last longer by threading in new elastic and mending tiny holes.
- Ordered some Grandchildren Christmas presents with a Black Friday discount
- Pensioners discount Fish and chips
- Home made bread
- Made Christmas cakes for the hampers (not really frugal but better than buying more shop bought items )
- Charity Christmas cards for £1 from a charity shop.
- Avoided temptation to buy expensive diary (the Country Wisdom and Folklore diary for £12)- and got one for £2 from The Works
- Avoided more temptation to buy gorgeous traditional picture advent calendar - saving myself another tenner at least!
I think your November sounds very much like mine - far more spending then planned. Ah well, there's always January, as you say.
ReplyDeleteJanuary will be so low spend I will surprise myself!!
DeleteIt certainly wasn't a no-spend November here either! Heating oil, things for house improvements including £100 worth of lino, and we're about to kiss goodbye to a BIG chunk to the Plumber for the bathroom refitting and an even bigger chunk to the Heating Engineers for the new Worcester Bosch boiler.
ReplyDeleteAh well, like your garden "indulgences" (necessities to my mind) they will only be bought the once.
All Christmas presents sorted here too.
My last heating oil 500 litres was June and it's jumped up £75 since then
DeleteYour new boiler should be more efficient so will save money in the end
and yes garden purchases are Very important!
I think it is hard to have a no spend month at this time of year. Lucky you have oil we have been searching around for calor gas here in Scotland in our temporary caravan - the shortage is getting worse and many people in this region rely on it for their main source of cooking and heating if they don't have oil.
ReplyDeleteHad no idea there was a shortage of LPG now that I don't need it for my cooker. Hope you source what you need soon
DeleteI think you did extremely well. After all, things need to be bought and if you don't buy them one month, they will have to be bought the following month - like the heating oil, etc. It's really deferred spend, not no spend, don't you think?
ReplyDeletexx
Exactly!
Deleteand garden things are definitely a necessity in my opinion
The insurance excess following the deer strike to the front of the car wiped out my "No spend plans. But I have helped my cousins son raise £50 through ziffit this week.
ReplyDeleteThat was a good Ziffit income. I was planning to give up on them but music magpie were giving even less for the books I sold
DeleteI like seeing your last month savings. Because I hardly go out I don't buy much I only have money and cannot do cheque etc. (My D looks after my money affairs). I did buy bird seed and a 2 primroses when I went to the Christmas fair. I am making some crochet coat hangers for added presents for the family.
ReplyDeleteHazel 🌈🌈
I've not started to feed the birds here - I can't decide if I will. There's nowhere ideal for hanging feeders really
DeleteWe will hopefully have visitors for 2-3 days and make the most of it. Gone are the days of a full week:(
ReplyDeleteI hope I'll see all family at sometime - just not sure when or how many at once!
DeleteYes, this has been a very spendy month for me too ... after a VERY spendy year!!
ReplyDeleteBut we hold ourselves accountable and at least we know where we are going with it all.
I'm NEVER moving again!
DeletePeople would probably laugh to see my accounts book with everything itemised but it helps me know exactly what's gone where and to work out where I need to spend less next year
I keep a simple two column cash book. Not a laughing matter at all and I find it a handy reference point sometimes, in fact many times.
DeleteWe are getting into a very expensive season here in New England. Our heating bill and electricity have both gone up. We have made changes in our spending habits accordingly.
ReplyDeleteCathy
Heating oil has gone up as has fuel for the car. Food has gone up too - nothing ever goes down in price!
DeleteYour garden spend is investment in future delicious veg!
ReplyDeleteWell done to get that much from Ziffit.
The most I've had for books from them recently
DeleteI agree that your garden expenses will pay off in the future so you will save money during those months!
ReplyDeleteHope it will save me money next year
DeleteZiffit look interesting. Hadn't heard ot it.
ReplyDeleteThey are getting very choosy and quite mean on what books they take, but over the years that's where I've sold most books as we downsized our massive collection
DeleteAt least you know where it went and have a plan for time to come. I can't see garden spending as anything other than frugal when it provides so much for the future.
ReplyDeleteKnowing what's been spent and on what is one of the best ways of budgeting
DeleteMaybe not a total frugal month of Nov. but you did have some smaller saves and they do add up also. Question re winter heating... do all homeowners receive this? Renters? Just curious
ReplyDeleteMy big frugal yesterday was filling my car with gas. The price had dropped $0.11 per liter from Sun, so saved almost $6.00. Gas is now $1.34.9/liter where I live near Toronto.
I don't drive a lot Dec. through February so I am anticipating a full tank will see me til Feb. end.
DeleteThe winter heating allowance is for people old enough for a state pension - over 66 at the moment. It's an odd thing as it's not means tested so even people who have no need of it will get it although they can choose to donate it to those in need.
DeleteI agree Sue, is a very strange thing. In my opinion no party is prepared to touch it because old people vote. A bit like the triple lock on pensions and free tv license once you reach a certain age. I do not understand what being a certain age should give one a right to benefits
DeleteI'd love to have a go, but you need cooking skills and a lack of IBS to make it work on the eating side of things...
ReplyDeleteI have bought quite a few items at a thrift store in town. Most for me and a shirt for husband...$4.99 minus a discount!! Why not as it's still in got shape. I need to keep myself away from buying too much for now as I don't have a job. I try to buy items when on sale when I need them or stock up a bit. Happy days ahead for you!
ReplyDeleteNovember tends to bring Christmas expenses and this year costs escalated on everything. Even the trees increased in cost by one third.
ReplyDeleteI try very hard to have a no spend month, but something always seems to happen that causes us to have to spend a bit over and above our bills.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.