April marks the start of a new financial year and the state pension has gone up a little - of course it's paid in arrears so no one actually sees the extra until May, a month after all other expenses have gone up. Mine will be £848 every 4 weeks. I'm waiting to see what HMRC will take from my County Council Spouses pension in this new tax year.
Council Tax is up by several £s this year. I have a 25% discount for single person and pay over 10 months - and it's increased by just over £7 a month
TV Licence was £174.50 for this coming year it was £169.50 last year - up £5
Water/sewer charges will be up a lot when I pay next time - August.
Electricity I pay monthly, giving the reading and paying over the phone - not sure how much that's gone up per kWh, the bill was much the same as last month, despite the longer hours of daylight and warmer weather.
Dentist check up - a big spend as I need a filling and they always take the money in advance - back in May for half hour appointment.
Postage stamps went up early in the month by 2p each for second class - more for 1st class but I don't use them.
Broadband and phone monthly payment jumped up by £5, I've rung and negotiated it back to where it was.
It's no wonder pensioners and others on a fixed income are continually looking for ways to save pennies.
Two things were down - one was the house insurance - £7 less than last year, I looked around but most were much the same. So I renewed when the quote came through.
Secondly and better was heating oil - down by a few pence a litre since my last order. I paid for 500 litres this time = £277 - down by over £20 to the last delivery in December .
I must make sure that May is a much less expensive month - it should be, as only car breakdown insurance and one birthday are extras over the normal stuff.
The other day 'an unknown anon' commented that they would like me to do my 'Frugal Month Notes' round-up again. I stopped because it became very repetitive but here are a few I can think of from April.
- No newspapers or magazines bought
- Batch making meals for freezer
- Reading library books and from my shelves for free - no books bought
- Dishwasher only used every 2nd or 3rd day
- Washing machine only used two or three times a week
- Tumble dryer not used all month
- Making medium sized loaf rather than large in bread maker saving 100g each time and saving calories!
- Special price Easter vegetables and Lidl cheap box
- Only use small light for reading during evenings
- Extra income of £32 from car boot sale
- Finding cheap parchment paper, sponge scourers, baking dish, bargain pizza bases at car- boot sale
- Big bargain of gorgeous greetings cards from car- boot sale. 11 for £2
- Pack of Bic pens for 50p and large envelopes for 50p also boot sale finds.
- Personal spending low, mainly exercise group and over 60's group and my Birthday treat of a Card Making Morning. Coffee out only twice.
- Making biscuits from basic biscuit recipe (8oz flour, tsp baking powder, 4oz butter, 4oz castor sugar, pinch salt and 1 egg and using half of the peanuts sorted out from the packs of 'Aldi Essentials' nut/raisons mix which are 59p) This makes more than 40 small biscuits - lasting me ages.
- Free car wash when I took the car to the Ford Dealership for it's recall which was some sort of update of something(?) - that was free too of course.
- Huge cauliflower £1 from car-boot sale.
Back Soon
Sue
Sue, I enjoyed your monthly wrap-up. It's a really good reminder of how the little things add up. I don't have much to report except some of yours are also mine. I had a free carwash too. I bought a used book today but otherwise all of my reading has been from the library.
ReplyDeleteIt does make an interesting post I guess, although seems a bit repetitive to me but if people like it I'll carry on.
DeleteI just about stopped counting when expenditure this month got to £1600! In the past, Keith would have helped me out, but now he's no longer here, the new computer had to go on credit card and my current account took a real hit. Earning money from a cake order from a neighbour, and hopefully the Antiques Fair will reward paying £195 for the stand!
ReplyDeleteMy month is even worse I think but May will be much better. Goodness, £195 for your stand is a lot - hope you sell thousands of £s worth to make a huge profit and come back with empty boxes.
DeleteHomemade biscuits for us too those week... we have a gluten of porridge oats so I guess my recipe is chosen for me!
ReplyDeleteThe only bought biscuits I like nowadays are shortbread - expensive and calorific!
DeleteOooh I love your round ups too! It just shows how small things add up to help stretch the finances. The cheap Easter veg has helped us a lot as we can never get a Lidl veg box and, until the allotment starts producing, we need all the help we can get!
ReplyDeleteYou always seem to find bargains at the boot sales, Sue, I wish we had more boot sales here. The only one close to use opens at 7am and there's no way I could be there before the bargains are snapped up :/
Angie
Even if I get there at 7.15 there are still 100s there before me! I'm not sure if I miss the real treasure but there's no way I'm going to be there at 5.30 or 6am!
DeleteI wish my Council Tax had gone up by just £7 per month. Try a hike of £298 on the year! Not to mention the ever diminishing service they provide.
ReplyDeleteOh Good Grief - that's awful. Really crazy amount. I think the councils have been forced to limit their % here.
DeletePlease do continue with the monthly accounting. I like it because it's an insight into a very different life from mine. History is found in the account books. I notice your pension is hugely bigger than my tiny brit pension based on few years of employment before we left. I don't really know what things
ReplyDeletein the UK cost now, passage of time, change of currency.
My pension is not quite the full amount for a person born in 1955 - I missed some years between it counting as child care for NIC and being Self Employed
DeleteYou do well keeping tabs on your expenditure, doing this does help to keep us focused doesn't it. I do lots of your things, and in fact I don't even own a dishwasher or tumble dryer ... BUT, I did have to pay £13 for a really good 'all in' car wash as the seagulls had been using my car for target practice and it already hadn't been washed for nearly a year. That's my April extravagance.
ReplyDeleteWish I could get a free valet for inside the car - it's a mess
DeleteYou show small increases in cost nearly across the board.
ReplyDeleteI see the same in my expenses. Although some are quite a bit higher. I had to buy medication for my dog, and it went up by 30%.
I also find it interesting to hear that nearly all toys come to the US from China and this is expected to curtail. People are buying toys for Christmas now and the shelves are emptying.
Most electronics are made in China too - there may be lots of shortages
DeleteCurious as to who supplies your broadband and phone - I'm with EE and this year they've refused to put my bill back to pre price rise level, they've always been reasonable about it before because I'm a so called 'loyal customer'!
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
Mine are BT who also are EE I think. I negotiated less of something and got rid of the land line too.
DeleteIt's good to see where the money goes and quite surprising sometimes, how quickly small amounts congregate to make larger sums.
ReplyDeleteI like to save pennies where it doesn't hurt - they add up
DeleteI enjoyed this monthly check-in! I am doing a lot to save money but I will admit I got a carpet cleaning this month. It makes my home feel so much better. Some things are worth spending for. Wow, I love reading what you wrote though. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLove the list you did. It's so satisfying to see it in writing. I think I'll do that too.
ReplyDeleteI love your monthly wrap ups. It helps me try and figure out ways to save money even across the pond. Budgeting is becoming difficult considering how the tariffs between Canada and the U.S. are affecting our prices. Then of course there are the seemingly yearly increases in other budget lines as well.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I have to get with the Assessor. They have our house listed as having two full baths and we only have one. They made us take one out when we updated our electric service, but kept it on our property record! I will give them pictures, but am *never* letting them in my house ever again.
ReplyDelete