End of the Week and the Month

(Yes, I know today is the 30th and July has 31 days but it's near enough 😛)

 

Thank goodness for a much cooler week, even put a cardigan on one evening but still so dry apart from a half hour shower on Tuesday evening. Not much mention of rain in the  10 day forecast either.

 

I'm looking forward to watching on TV all the sports at the Commonwealth Games which started yesterday- and on at the right time to watch - being in Birmingham and so good that  Para sports are going to be mixed in rather than at a completely different time.

 I loved the World Athletic Championships  during the month but as they were in Eugene, Oregon watching live would have involved being up at 1a.m. By the time they had a catch up programme on BBC I'd often already heard about any British medal results on the radio news! 

We were talking about watching sports when Son and DiL were here on Sunday and they said they'd  just realised the next Olympics in 2024 are from Paris so again the timings will be right for seeing them live. They were two of the lucky people who got tickets to watch some events in London in 2012.

And onto my usual round up - no extras earned so just the two pensions and small bits of interest on savings were my income and thankfully July is a month without any large bills due - although the way electric and diesel  prices are rising there are large bills every month!

Saving to spend?

Years ago we saved our pennies in many places to simply survive. Nowadays I save my pennies in some places so I can spend them in others.

 So I make no apology for my frugal month notes even if I don't need to be so frugal anymore.

• Always sending post by second class rather than first
• Mixing whole milk half and half with water - 2 pints becomes 4 pints at the price of 2.
  
• Home made bread
• Cucumbers, Aubergines, Tomatoes from the greenhouse
• Beetroot,Courgettes, French Climbing Beans from the garden
• Dried Basil leaves for winter 
• Jam made using an overlarge courgette plus apricots from the cupboard
  
• Bundle of 8 good greetings cards from boot sale for 50p each 
• Always washing the car myself
• Washing dried outside all month
  
• Washing Soda for clothes washing with a minimum of Ecover laundry liquid
  
• No clothes, shoes etc bought all month
• Personal spending limited to swimming and second-hand books - mainly 50p each from boot sales
  
• Co-op meal deal = Freezer Filler £5 - (Mixed Veg, Chicken Burgers and Chicken Breast Fillets, Alphabeti potato waffle/chip things and  2 Vienettas.  I'm stocking up for summers smaller visitors.(Some people will probably tut about this being over processed food like they did last time I mentioned the Co-op freezer filler deal but as it's only a once or twice a year thing, they can tut as much as they like!)
  
• No car journeys except for boot sales/shopping and swimming/shopping, family visits and WI in the next-but-one village.
  

I have a date for the fitting of the water meter next month, which I know will reduce both my water and sewage costs. In this bit of Suffolk we pay for water to Essex and Suffolk Water company which is owned by Northumberland Water (?) and pay Anglian Water (owned by a French company?) for our sewage. Hopefully then the  first should tell the second that I now have a meter as the second will be then based on the first rather than on Council Tax band.......if you follow!

  Martin Lewis, the Money Saving Expert, was on the Today programme on Thursday calling for help for poorer families with the potential rise in energy prices. It's predicted that the average energy costs for a home  with gas and electric could be up to £500 a month - how on earth can people manage that?  I don't have direct debit for electric but read the meter and pay only for what I've used every 4 weeks.(which actually worked out at paying two bills this month). The heating oil tank is  just over half full so will need 500 litres in August.  The oil fired boiler only comes on in summer when the hot tap is used so I try to only use it for showering/washing myself and if I do have to turn on the hot tap in the kitchen for washing something that can't go in the dishwasher then I catch a whole jug full of cold before the hot arrives and use it for something - soaking a messy pan or watering the Chives out the front of the house.

  Lots of card making bits and another load of books have gone off to the charity shop this month thanks to the library van being missing for so long. It's made me read several and sort others that have been sitting there for years.

GONE!

 

Also gone out of the home are a few bits of baking equipment that I don't use and  a bundle of old post cards and birthday/Christmas cards have been recycled as card to write shopping lists on or into the recycling bin.

  I've been meaning to  check on how long I need to keep self employment details in case the tax man wants to see them. We both filed our last tax returns for the 2015-2016 year and I thought it was 7 years but it might be 5, either way I'll soon be able to get rid of folders full of campsite etc paperwork that have moved house 3 times!

What will the expenses be in August? I've looked back at my accounts for August 2021 (when I had a dentist visit, bought new pairs of shorts and electric propagator and had the boiler serviced) Dentist and boiler service will be in September this year but my half year subscription for the Radio Times is due. I shall keep that as it's my only magazine purchase and I do like finding out more about the TV programmes I enjoy (it works out at less than £2 a week - so much, much cheaper than most magazines).

There is one big expense that's a definite for August and I'll write about that when it happens.

That's about it, I shall be back on Monday.

Sue