30 ways to save £1 Revisited (part 6) and No Spend November

 Yesterday was a  Foggy Monday morning, the sun was probably up there somewhere but wasn't seen until noon, and even then it was only half-hearted sunshine which disappeared two hours later.

 The fruit for my Christmas cake had been soaking for 3 days so it was time to get it made. Half the Victorian Christmas cake recipe that's on the separate recipe page  makes a 6 inch cake. After Christmas I'll finish it by eating  slices with an apple and a piece of cheese....delicious. Not sure about bothering with marzipan or icing this year. If I buy a pack of both there will be some left over after doing such a small cake. Maybe I can find small packs? Not going to make my own.

 

 The last of the list from 2013

 26. Make you own bread everyone is doing it - it's easy and much cheaper.

         This is something I've done on and off since the famous strikes in 1976 or 7,  when there was no bread in the shops and we had to eat cream-crackers instead. I'm making most of my bread again since getting the bread-maker, just keeping bread rolls and a loaf of sliced in the freezer just-in-case.  As a bag of flour(making 3 loaves) is a lot cheaper than one decent loaf of bread it has to be a good penny saver.

27. Do you REALLY need to buy a book straight away - wait for paperback version or buy secondhand later or use your Library.

                Thank goodness for libraries is what I say, with their free borrowing and free reservations, must have saved me £1,000s over the last 40 years.

 

28. Eat less meat- start by swapping one meal a week to veggie things then 2 or 3 a week.

         How things have changed in the last 7 years - now so many more people are vegetarian than there were back then, with so many options available to buy, and veggie and vegan recipe books abounding.

 

29. Chutney is easy to make, the ingredients can be cheap and men like jars of chutney for Christmas presents.

       Still a good penny saver - My Christmas hampers this year have 4 jars of various chutneys in them.

 

30.Drive wisely - accelerate and brake slowly and don't carry more weight than you have to, take off the roof rack.

       Still useful to do even though we all all driving less through Covid!. 

        

I wonder how relevant these 30 tips will be in 7 years time?

(Direct Debits for Council Tax, Phones, Car Breakdown Insurance,Charity Donation Total £260)

1st.        No Spend

2nd        Food  £33 + Cat £6 +  Diesel £18 + Printer Paper £4.          = £61  

3rd         No Spend

4th        Swimming £2.25

5th         No Spend 

6th        No Spend

7th          No Spend

8th         No Spend

9th        No spend

 

Today won't be no spend as I need to shop for fresh fruit and veg and a few other things that got forgotten on the 2nd. 

Back Tomorrow

Sue

30 ways to save £1 Revisited (Part 5) and No Spend November

A sunny Saturday and a four mile bike ride - just up and down the quiet roads. My next door neighbour was weeding out in the lane opposite her house when I left home and I stopped to talk to her .She said "Do you realise we are OK to meet and talk out here in the lane but if we moved six feet over into the garden it wouldn't be allowed" and we both agreed the whole thing was crazy!.

A late Autumn sunset on Saturday afternoon

  I had been watching a soppy Christmas film on Saturday afternoon  and at the end turned over to the BBC news channel just in time to hear that the election result  in the USA had been called - phew, although  lawyers were being sent out here there and everywhere to look for the "illegal/fake" votes. Hope the handover is peaceful for the sake of  all my American readers, but I fear it may not be.

On Sunday I was invited to lunch with my bubble - and that's something that would have made no sense a few months ago! (and maybe makes no sense to anyone outside of England - but single people are allowed to meet up with one group of other people as long as the total isn't more than 6. My bubble is the closest part of my family).

We walked round their village after a roast dinner. The old soldiers were out on the green again for Remembrance Sunday.

 

New houses are scheduled for building in 3 places round the village, doubling the size of it. The Primary school has no room to expand and there is no doctor in the village, but all those new people will keep the bakery, Co-op, Indian Restaurant, pub and Post Office going.

Old Street will remain, however many new houses are built.

That was the weekend.

 A new week and another 5 ways to save pennies or £s ....are they still relevant 7 years on from the original blog post?

21. Every time you come home put any 5p's you have into a jar. They are so small and get lost easily, you won't miss them from your purse and they will soon turn into a pound.

               I still do this, but there will be fewer this year due to paying by contact-less through Covid, it's also not as much fun as it was because I used to trot into the bank and swap my 5ps for notes to buy Christmas food but now to stop fraud, money has to be paid into an account...... Why they think that someone coming in with a fivers worth of 5ps might be laundering stolen money I have no idea!!

22.Read your local and national papers in the library or persuade a friend or neighbour to save them for you.

       Lots are online via the library now too.  Here's a  VERY annoying thing  -  Suffolk libraries are staying open through this latest lockdown for people to collect their reserved books or a random selection picked by staff  BUT mobile libraries are stopped!!! I wonder if I can get my reserved books sent to a branch for me to collect?

23. Never buy notebooks for phone messages or shopping lists. Cut up cereal packets or similar into neat squares and keep them in a little box in the kitchen or by the phone.

         This is easy to do. I keep a bundle of cut up card in the dresser draw to use for shopping lists and 'to do' lists and never buy a notebook

24. Grow something to eat - even one tomato plant in a pot can produce more than a pounds worth of tomatoes.

            Grow-your-own saves me a lot of money

 

25. Never use 1st class post - get organised and post early with second class stamp.

            Another penny saver that still works seven years on. 

 

 

 

 (Direct Debits for Council Tax, Phones, Car Breakdown Insurance,Charity Donation Total £260)

1st.        No Spend

2nd        Food  £33 + Cat £6 +  Diesel £18 + Printer Paper £4.          = £61  

3rd         No Spend

4th        Swimming £2.25

5th         No Spend 

6th        No Spend

7th         No Spend

8th        No Spend

 

Someone asked "Why  No Spend November?". It's been around in blogland for as long as I can remember and was a way to save some money for Christmas. All these various challenges are a very popular way to fill blog posts! I don't take it too seriously and wouldn't worry if there was suddenly something needed to spend on after all but  if I was to leave all Christmas present shopping until December I'd be panicking so that's exempt for me.

 

 

Back Tomorrow

Sue

           

30 ways to save £1 part 4 and No Spend November

Yesterday was fine and sunny to start with but a bit misty later, then sunny again but no wind so  a load of washing hung limp on the line before I brought it in to drape over the clothes horse. My clothes horse is plastic coated metal and held together by string where the clips are broken but whenever I open it I remember the old wooden one we had years ago......... It was always turned into a children's tent in the summer.

I'm still trying to resign myself to this new lock-down so made cake!

Chocolate Cappuccino squares - from the WI Cakes cookery book. I often make these and they used to sell well at the Country market. 16 squares = 16 days of cake.

 

Still having internet  connection problems sometimes. Telling me to log on, not recognising my sign in or password then I find I can still get onto internet anyway - all very weird

So once again I'm saying that if I disappear that will be why! Hope it doesn't happen

So far this month

(Direct Debits for Council Tax, Phones, Car Breakdown Insurance,Charity Donation Total £260)

1st.        No Spend

2nd        Food  £33 + Cat £6 +  Diesel £18 + Printer Paper £4.          = £61  

3rd         No Spend

4th        Swimming £2.25

5th         No Spend

 

More from the 30 ways to save £1 list from April 2013

16. Poundland and 99p shops are sometimes very good value but not always so know the prices of the things you buy - keep a little price book in your bag. 

       This is still true but probably now that Poundland etc have been around so long we probably know which items are best value without needing a price book.

17. Make Xmas gift tags from old xmas cards or cut an 2 inches off the end of wrapping paper, stick on a piece of card and cut out to make matching gift tags.

         I still do this with my Christmas cards after Christmas every year

          

18. Borrow recipe books from the library and see how many recipes you will actually use before buying the book.

           I'm sure the library has all the recipe books that are published ....and that's a lot, especially at this time of year. Free to borrow, cheap to photo-copy a page. A year later almost every recipe book there is appears in the charity shops!

19. Tip bottles up-side down and leave to drain to get the last bit  of things out.

         This still works obviously and I try to buy sauce and mayo in glass rather than plastic where ever I can. 

                   

20. Cut the end off tubes of toothpaste and creams etc. to get to the last bit.

           This used to be a dangerous process when the edge of the cut off bit was often metal and sharp.    Now tubes tend to be plastic, easier to squeeze to get every last bit out.

So to Friday, another day at home alone, seeing no-one and speaking to no one. Ho Hum

Sue

No Spend November + 30 ways to save £1 part 3

So here we go again..................locked down from midnight. I got through the depression that set in after the announcement . 4 weeks doesn't sound long after getting through 4 months and there is all the 'fun' of what's happening over the pond  for entertainment!

 A cold start yesterday morning, the first frost of the season - I think it's time to start putting the car in the garage again................

 How does nature make these wonderful patterns on the car windscreen? Half an hour later it had gone as the day turned sunny - wonderful after several gloomy days.

Determined to have one final swim before lock-down (even though it broke the no spend November thing!) I booked a slot yesterday lunch time. The busiest it's been with the new system - 5 people in the slow half and 4 in the faster half. But I managed a good 35 minutes. 

Before going swimming I spent a while trying to find out why the compressor (for pumping up tyres) wasn't working. Tried a different extension lead and replacing the fuse in the plug. No Luck - Bother. Now I've no way to pump up car or bike and the bike needs pumping up quite a lot. This is one problem I can't solve on my own.

No Spend November 

1st.        No Spend

2nd        Food  £33 + Cat £6 +  Diesel £18 + Printer Paper £4.          = £61  

3rd         No Spend

4th        Swimming £2.25

 

More from the 30 Ways to Save £1 list revisited from 2013

 11.Invest in a flask and take tea or coffee with you on days out.

           This must have saved us a fortune over the years. We even used to take a flask to Addenbrookes hospital in those last months of Colin's treatment. It must have looked a bit strange sitting in the waiting room pouring out a flask and opening the sandwich box but the alternative was a very expensive coffee from the adjacent WRVS snack shop or a grotty coffee from a machine.

12 Don't waste money on bottled water- stand a bottle of water in the fridge and take it with you next day.

       Thank goodness I've always lived in places where the tap water is very good to drink. I used to be horrified when emptying the bins on the campsite at the number of plastic bottles once holding expensive fancy water. If we weren't taking a flask with us we always took a bottle of tap water everywhere anyway.

     

13. If you need more than 2 regular prescriptions a month always buy a NHS prepayment card.

             I guess the pre-paid NHS discount prescription cards are still available? Now I'm over 60 I don't pay anything so don't know. I know it was a huge saving years ago. 

14. Find out about free events at local museums or NT free open weekend vouchers etc.

            Well, this would be a good one anytime except for now! when everywhere is closed due to the virus.

15. If you have an answerphone set it on the longest number of rings so you get there in time to answer and don't need to phone people back.

          I suppose some business people still have answerphones? We had one for the campsite where this tip was useful - saved me ringing back to people all round the country trying to book a pitch. Not needed so much now with the prevalence of mobile phones and text messaging.

5 more tips from the past tomorrow

Sue

No Spend November + 30 ways to save £1 Revisited Part 2

 Thank you to everyone for comments on Monday. Some I didn't see until later but thank you to JennyP who said she was impressed by my  Can Do attitude regarding unblocking the drains to the septic tank. That cheered me up a lot and made me realise that lots of 65 year old women alone would have rung for help!

It's the last of the family birthdays for the year today. Youngest daughter is 33, Colin's sister is still less than 60 (lucky thing) and a friend/former neighbour and Son's Godmother is a year older than me. The next will be Youngest Grandson's first birthday in February next year. I wonder where we'll be with the virus then.

1st.        No Spend

2nd        Food  £33 + Cat £6 +  Diesel £18 + Printer Paper £4.          = £61  

3rd         No Spend

 

 30 Ways to Save £1 Part 2 

6. Have a look around local industrial estates and see who chucks what - pallets for wood, containers for water butts.

       Probably not so relevant now. There are now many rules on how manufacturers dispose of unwanted materials and they are less likely to be willing to give things away. Back in the day we used to get pallets for firewood from many places.

7. Christmas is the same day every year don't let it creep up on you, start shopping in January sales and carry on at car boot sales.

           This is still a good money saver. Shopping in the January sales  for Christmas cards and wrapping paper is a good way to start. 

 

8. Swap an expensive hobby for a cheaper one.

          One of Col's work colleagues had a boat for a while and said it was just a way of pouring money into the sea. Hobbies that keep you fit (without expensive gym membership) are available for free or cheap. Hobbies that produce an end product that can be a gift are good and of course reading library books is lovely and free. 

9. Cut down on how much toothpaste, shampoo, lotions and potions that you use see if less will do the same job.

            Still very relevant  now and always. Do you remember toothpaste ads from years ago when the toothpaste went right along the toothbrush?

 

10. Before you buy anything new STOP and think if you already have something that could do the same job.

       Another that continues to be a good idea if you want to spend less. Putting off buying something new while you look for an alternative could save hundreds of £s  in a year.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

No spend November and 30 Ways to Save a £1 Revisited

 

 

How easy it will be to do a No Spend November while being locked down at home all month I thought (desperately trying to look for any silver lining through the cloud of depression that set in on Saturday night). 

But  then  realised that would mean NO library van and NO Swimming again - Oh B****R.

I don't know how to feel upbeat and cheerful through the next four weeks (and please God that it is only four weeks). November is often a dreary month weather-wise and gardening is finished and this time round I feel we are shutting down Suffolk (and Norfolk and Devon and Cornwall) just to save hospitals being swamped in Manchester, Liverpool etc etc. Well Done if you can be cheerful about it.

 Anyway......................

While trying to think of things to blog about I remembered that Way Way Back in April 2013 lots of bloggers did 30 ways to save £1 and emailed them off to Money Supermarket to earn £30. I searched back on my old blog to find my list.

I'm going to take a closer look at 5 ideas each day to see  if they are still relevant 7 years on.

1. Ask to pick up windfall apples if you see someone isn't using them.

    Still relevant for nowadays - although too late for this year obviously. In September I put several boxes of windfalls by the footpath gate onto the meadow and many went to new homes even though only a few dog walkers use the path. 2012 was the year of "The Great Apple Failure" at the smallholding but after putting a Wanted ad in the smallholders newsletter  several people offered their windfalls so we didn't go without chutneys after all.

2.Always try value range of supermarket brands most are good.

     Another that's still useful although I feel that supermarkets seem to have fewer Value brands than they did 7 years ago. 

3.Don't start pets on expensive brands, if started on a cheaper one they will never know different.

       This was the year  before we got Polly and unfortunately she didn't read this! I did start on cheaper stuff but she just wouldn't eat it.

4. Re-read the instructions for you washing machine, could you use a shorter cycle?

       My washing machine has two fast wash programmes a 60 minute 60℃ and a 30 minute 30℃. The 30 minute one gets used a lot - I mean how dirty do I get? This will upset Anonymous who said, when I suggested this as a way of saving money back in April, that this is dangerous in these Covid times. So I'll leave this idea out there for everyone to ignore but have to say personally I can't imagine that clothes that have been in the dirty washing bin for a day or two, washed, dried and put away for another few days before being worn again can still carry any infection?

 

5. Buy refill packs of things if you can.

      Are  refills available for things  now? Unless you are lucky enough to have one of those re-fill shops. After looking through the cupboards I couldn't think of anything except the 5L Ecover Washing Up liquid and 5L Clothes Wash Liquid which I decant into 1L bottles to use indoors.

 

My No Spend November

I thought about swimming yesterday but the sessions were nearly full (plus I was still aching after unblocking drains!) so instead went up to Diss specially for my favourite drinking chocolate from the Oxfam shop and to go the Bank.(Can rely on the Diss branch being open whereas since Covid Stowmarket branch keep changing their opening times - what's the betting that they never go back to 5 day week). Then I went to Morrisons and so did all the rest of North Suffolk and South Norfolk! It was crazy, I really only needed fresh fruit but some people had trolleys full to overflowing as if the world was ending. In the end I decided that if everywhere was going to be like this with a long queue to get out I might as well get the rest of the fortnights shopping done while there, so picked up all that was needed . 

Also picked up some printer paper ............something I've been forgetting for months. I printed out some Halloween Colouring and puzzle sheets for grandchildren to do  last week from the Orchard Games website which took me to the end of what was in the drawer. Maybe I'll see what other things I can find, print out and send to them while we are locked down again.

November Spending (rounded up or down to nearest whole £)

1. No Spend
2. Food  £33 + Cat £6 +  Diesel £18 + Printer Paper £4.          = £61    
   

 And not related to anything above.............................

I'm absolutely  Loving Monday night's TV ............Mastermind (many general knowledge questions correct), Only Connect (I can only do the missing vowels round) , University Challenge (my score 55)  and turnover to Paramount to see Kevin Costner in the US TV series Yellowstone........blimey it's violent. Are ranches in Montana really like this?

And for all my lovely readers in the USA I sincerely hope for a peaceful and non-violent election day for you all................whoever wins.

Back Tomorrow

Sue