August Financials - In and Out and Frugal Notes

 Income was the usual State Pension, County Council spouses pension and interest on savings + £21 for books sold online - Son and DiL took them away and added them to some they had to sell.

image from google freepik

In August there was only one known extra expense............ the half-year bill for water/sewer costs, which was a big ol' lump of money - as expected. Despite using less than the last half year, the unit cost and standing charges have gone up, so the bill wasn't much less than in February. Looking back a few years and this is one of the things that has gone up by a large %. I don't mind paying for water - but object to this....

"Essex and Suffolk Water operates as a water-only brand of Northumbrian Water Limited, itself a subsidiary of Northumbrian Water Group. Rather than standard performance bonuses, the parent group's remuneration committee awarded Chief Executive Heidi Mottram a massive £1.5 million retention package structured over five years (£300,000 annually until March 2030), designed to sit outside regulatory performance-related bonus restriction."

I was quite peeved to get an email from E&S Water saying they will repair loos that are using too much water for free....It cost me £200 to get mine fixed in February.....why didn't they tell me before!

Outgoings...........

Direct debits for Council tax, phones and broadband, charity and the variable monthly electric bill plus that Big sewer/ water bill and just one fill up of diesel for the car came to £548.

Other expenses were for odds and ends including the window cleaner, more sunflower hearts and Nyjer seed for the birds, dishwasher tabs, postage, a new loo brush, toothpaste, antiseptic cream and when I spotted small saucepans in the middle aisles of Aldi for just  £3.99 it seemed like a good idea to get one. When I moved here I only had one saucepan suitable for the induction hob so I bought two others and they were a Lot more expensive than £3.99!

Personal spending was more than recent months included the outing to the ceramics festival with the garden cane topper, a new pair of slip-on indoor sandals in the sales ready for two years time when the ones I'm now wearing wear out,  a new puzzler book, a couple of second-hand books from abebooks and the car-boot and book sale books.

Food spending wasn't too bad - just under £100 for food at home, plus coffee out twice, both instead of breakfast and taking YD and EGD for a Sunday lunch out.

A few penny pinchers as usual.

• Courgettes from the garden
• Cooking apples from garden into freezer
• Tomatoes, cucumber and peppers from greenhouse
• Aubergines from greenhouse made into a pasta sauce.
• Gifts of runner beans, pears and windfall cooking apples from Keep Moving Group friends
• Bread from bread machine as usual
• Reading library books for free
• Finding a few books from boot sales
• Peeled, sliced and blanched a few carrots and popped in freezer when I found 'yellow sticker' pack for few pence but already had some in use.
• Saving bits of bread crust into the freezer ready for making dried breadcrumbs
• 15% discount on dishwasher tabs for regular order.
• Started saving peels, cores and other odd bits of fruit in the freezer ready for the next batch of compost jelly.

Looking ahead to September and there are just two known extras - one is DiL's birthday and also Amazon prime which covers postage. 

July Financial Round-up

Awful news of the tinder dry Heathland fire on the Suffolk coast around Dunwich. The caravan site where I stayed last year was evacuated and National Trust land and part of RSPB Minsmere destroyed. I hope they can get it under control. So much of the area along the coast there is heathland including a lot of land around Sizewell Nuclear Power Station!.....worrying times. My Youngest Daughter and EGD are about 5 miles south of the fires but if it got to them the power station would be in danger too. 'Luckily' huge swathes of land have been cleared for the new railway and  associated Sizewell C works between Leiston town and the fire.

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 State Pension is paid every 4 weeks and July is the month for me this year with two payments which always makes the bank balance look very good......for a while.

In 2025 July was my lowest spend month and I hoped for similar in 2026 as the only known extra above all the regular monthly outgoings was the virus protection for the laptop.

Just the usual income of State Pension, County Council Spouses Pension and interest on savings.

The regular monthly outgoings are Council Tax, Broadband and phones, diesel for the car, charity, the variable monthly electric bill, plus  the annual lap top virus protection those totalled  £413.

Smaller expenses were for a new frying pan - the second I've bought in a year as the first replacement was dreadful. Bits used in the bathroom, cholesterol reducing drinks and paracetamol in the 'Health' column and a few car boot finds for grandchildren, Sunflower Hearts for the birds and Finally I ordered a pack of six new filter cartridges for my water jug.

My personal expenses were just exercise group, a couple of secondhand books from the library 'For Sale' shelves and the new Black n' Red note book from a boot-sale (to use for accounts when I've finished the one in use) that I mentioned at the start of the month.

Food spending for at home was around £128 (including visitors), plus there was also some food/coffee out with and without family ..........so not a cheap month foodwise at all. 

image from google freepik

Pennies Pinched.................

• I've gone back to making 400g loaves in the bread machine rather than 500g, saving money and calories. Still 50/50 wholemeal/white flour and a good money saver.
• Climbing French beans from the garden
• Courgettes from the garden
• Cucumbers and tomatoes from the greenhouse
• Beetroot from BiL's garden, I gave him a packet of seed and he sowed an extra row for me.
• Few figs from the garden before wasps moved in
• No books bought online
• No 'products' bought
• No clothes etc bought
• Used saved apple peelings and the too seedy raspberries to make 3½ jars of compost/mixed fruit jelly
• Saved all of 19p by clicking the "no hurry" button when ordering the water filter jug cartridges.
• Dishwasher only used every other day
• Washing machine just used once or twice a week and washing dried outside of course.
• Make sure to always get refund on car -park ticket by spending £5 in Asda when going into town.

And Looking forward........................

August is another month with only one known extra above all the regular payments, that's for half year sewer and water charges. Last year (and February this year) this was a big bill because I'd not realised there was a problem with the bathroom loo.....which I got fixed in March...........so hoping for something a bit smaller this year, although it's £97 for standing charges per half year without even using any water! Google AI tells me  the average cost for 1 person, with a water meter for water and sewer is between £350 - £450 per year, I hope I'm at the lower end of that total. "Water poverty" is counted as spending more than 5% of total income on water and sewer bills, and the way water bills keep rising and summer droughts, we'll all be there soon.

End of June Financials

The usual income of State Pension, Suffolk County Council Spouses Pension and interest on savings.

I'd hoped for a fairly low spend in June with only three known extras. The garden waste bin was up £2 on last year to £66 for the year - they empty every fortnight all year round. The car tax which suddenly appeared last year (previously the age and engine size of my car meant I didn't pay any) stayed at £20.The dentist was for a check up and x-ray and was £84 - he said a nine month rather than a six month check up would do, which is good. The regular expenses were Council tax, charity donations, phones and broadband, one lot of diesel for the car  and monthly electric bill. That lot came to around £550.

Food spending for home -already mentioned- plus  things for doing pickles totalled £106.93. There was also one meal out with YD and EGD, a KFC after the dentist and just the one whippy 99 ice-cream (sadly!)

Personal spending wasn't too bad (no books!), there was the annoying £5 wasted on the  card making kit, a hair cut and 2 new Puzzler books - I ordered a 16 x 16 Sudoku puzzle book online as there is only one of these puzzles in the Take-A Break Puzzler and I always turn to that page first. It takes me days to sort a 16 x16 so I think the new book will last me months!

Incidental spending was mainly small stuff including screen-wash for the car, sunflower hearts for the birds, a new plastic stool for the hallway (£4.99), bits for bathroom and kitchen- including useful car-boot finds - and the window cleaner came round (£10.00). While Amazon had their Prime Special Offer Days I bought Ecover Laundry Liquid and a different sort of Dishwasher Tabs. I'd almost come to the end of my last Smol orders - now cancelled due to their new delivery costs.

Small Savings..............

• Didn't go out much in the heat 
• Bread loaves from bread machine as usual 50/50 Wholemeal/white flour
• Washing machine used only twice a week
• Washing dried outside
• Raspberries from the garden ( had to stop eating them -  they were upsetting my stomach so they're in the freezer for adding to the fruit peel to make 'Compost' Jelly sometime)
• First cucumbers from the garden
• First courgettes   ""     ""  ""
• Dishwasher only used every other day.
• Taking advantage of the Amazon Prime-Days savings for a couple of things.
• Reading library books and from my shelves for free. I read 13 books in June - due to the heat!
• Useful kitchen bits..... scourers etc found at boot sales.
• New sunglasses from car-boot sale for 50p! (Still with their Asda George £5 label)

Next month...............

 July in 2025 was the month with the lowest spend, can I do even better this year? The only known extra is for Virus protection for the laptop - there are no birthdays or other big bills due and fingers crossed I won't need to spend much at all.............especially if we get more very hot weather that keeps me indoors rather than out on adventures.

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An awful start to Wimbledon for British Players and Jack Draper had to pull out as he'd had a return of injury. Then there was the Cricket third test against NZ - another loss. Plus the brilliant Ben Stokes deciding to retire from International cricket.....with test matches against Pakistan still to come. Maybe the English Footballers will do better? 

Not much of a Summer of Sport to write about this year!

Back Tomorrow

End of May Financials - Just One Day Late.

At the moment (and a lot of people in some political parties would love to stop this but they daren't try for fear of losing all pensioners votes) State Pension goes up in April because..............

"Pension increases in the UK are generally calculated based on inflation, specifically the September-to-September Consumer Price Index (CPI). This increase is applied annually in April to maintain the purchasing power of the pension, with state pensions using a "triple lock" of the highest of inflation, earnings, or 2.5%."

 My first new payment was in May, the pension increase means my state pension is now around £11,560 each year (£12,548 is the full amount. I get less because I paid reduced NI for some years). Tax free allowance is £12,570 which means almost all my Suffolk County Council Spouses pension and almost  all interest on savings will be taxed at 20%. I get an SCC pension because Colin worked for SCC for 30+ years and then died and they kindly give me a % of what he would have got. My total income puts me in between the 'minimum' and the 'moderate' for one person according  to Retirement Living Standards  and probably in a much better position than many but much 'poorer' than we would have been had Col lived. The only discount there is on anything for being alone is 25% off Council Tax. 

To be in the 'comfortable' standard a single person  needs an income in retirement of £43,900!!! Ha!!

 May spending...........

The known extra spending for May was for two birthdays and car breakdown insurance. Regular outgoings were all the usual............Food of course, Council tax, diesel for the car- just once , monthly electric bill, charity donations, broadband and phones.

Not a lot spent for things in the house - kitchen roll and foil . Garden spending was a squash plant, sweetcorn plants and two replacement courgette plants, a scoop from a car-boot sale and growbags [and I got an extra one for Son and family and gave them my spare tomato plants so they could grow their own this year]. 

Someone asked about growbags .These are they!. Much easier for me to use now - I used to buy compost and fill big pots but compost bags are heavy and emptying the pots at the end of the season wasn't easy.. The grow bags say they'll hold four plants but that would be too many in my opinion. I've put two in each and sunk a flower pot in between for watering into. 

Other purchases in May included postage stamps, greetings cards from art sale and car-boots and Aldi had their wild bird food in middle aisle with three suet blocks for £2.59 - but I shouldn't have bothered because the starlings moved in en-masse and ate one in a day. 

(R.S.P.B now say to stop feeding birds through the summer because of the harm done to greenfinches through mouldy food but I'm leaving the starling proof sunflower hearts feeder - regularly cleaned -  for the blue tits and the Niger seed - in their special feeder for the goldfinches. Son said R.S.P.B Minsmere are now only selling suet balls and blocks, everything else put away until Autumn)

And here's why I'm keeping this feeder .............baby bluetits shouting for food atop the feeding station. Mum/Dad get the sunflower hearts and feed tiny bits to the babies.

Personal spending included a hair cut - now heading towards £20 a time, Keep Moving group, a Puzzler book, the scrapbook from the car-boot sale and second-hand books from various places. I bought both dry skin moisturising cream and suntan lotion.

Total spending wasn't too bad when added up - a lot less than income - which is always the best way to be.

Small savings during May

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  image from google freepik
  
  

  Lots of Batch cooking to stock the freezer
• Dishwasher only used every other day
• No alcohol etc 
• No food out or takeaways and no coffees out either- unusual - not sure why but  see the 😇!
• No make up etc bought
• No clothes/shoes needed
• No flowers bought
• Reading Library books for free
• Bread loaves made in the bread-machine 50/50 white wholemeal
• No newspapers or magazines bought except for the Puzzler
• Tumble dryer not needed all month
• Random food savings from boot sale finds - 4 cup-a-soups 50p, tin corned beef 50p, 40 tea bags 50p
• Birthday cards for the future found at boot sales
• Saved £30.99 by not taking a months subs to watch the French Open tennis - and as everyone British is out plus some of the other names I like to watch - it was a good saving.
• Saved a total of about £50 by not going to the Mid Suffolk Light Railway 1940's day - it was too hot and ditto the Suffolk Show.
• Took a load of all-sorts to car boot sale yesterday and came home with £61.

Looking ahead to June which used to be  one of the months with only one known extra - the garden waste bin fee. But then last year there was suddenly £20 to pay for car tax after the goalposts were moved - it fell into the 'No Car Tax' bracket when we bought it in 2017. But this year June also has a dentist visit - on Wednesday - fear is building!

Back Soon

April Ins and Outs and Any Penny Savers?

The usual income of State Pension, interest on savings and Suffolk County Council Spouses pension - I'm worried about what happens to this when Local Government Reorganisation makes SCC vanish. I've read that pensions are protected by law so it should be OK, but you never know. Interest  on savings seem to have dropped - need to check that out.

As predicted April was an expensive month, and then I bought my new bike. The TV Licence[up by £5.50] and house insurance[down by £3] were the planned large expenses and the bill came for the March boiler repair. Council tax of course [up by £8] and charity plus broad band and phones are all direct debit. I put £71 worth of diesel in the car. Finally I read the electric meter and paid for the month. 

I was going to say I'd not needed the tumble dryer all month  but when ED and the boys were up after Easter she brought 3 loads of washing with her! - her washing machine was playing up and of course boys get very dirty very quickly. Everything needed getting dry as soon as possible so I tumbled it.

Garden spending was growbags and compost, then the vegetable plants from car boot sales and a tray of leek plants from the garden shop.

There was other spending on two birthday gifts, odd bits for the house, window cleaner, bathroom and kitchen and some sunflower hearts for the birds.

Back in March Aldi were supposed to have some metal plant pot holders that hook over a fence. I was going to get a couple for my sisters birthday but they didn't appear in Stowmarket Aldi until late April. So when I saw them I got two each for both my sister and sister in law - they are ready for Christmas.

When the weather warmed up last week I sorted through the clothes in wardrobe and drawers to see what state summer clothes were in and decided I needed new summer shoes, a second summer skirt and shorts and I really need tee shirts too but will scour charity shops first. 

image from google freepik

The only penny savers I can think of...........

• Gift of rhubarb from my sister
• Dishwasher only used every other day
• Filled car up with diesel when visiting YD - saving 6p a litre on garages near me
• Made up a tin of Lemon Home Cook Marmalade, works out at just over £1 a jar

• No alcohol bought as usual, and no lotions, potions etc
• No newspapers and magazines - except for the Puzzler
• Bread made in the bread-machine. 50/50 wholemeal/white flour
• Lights only needed for reading after 8pm now
• Reading library books and from my shelves for free
• Saving apple peels etc into the freezer for making the next batch of 'compost jelly' sometime
• A gift of flowers from my sister for my birthday lasted two weeks

May should be less spendy, as far as I know there is just the car breakdown insurance and EGS birthday. No more bikes or big expenses! [Touching wood]

March Accounts = Spending and More Spending

 Thank you for all the comments on the shopping post. I promise not to do it again - unless I have a shortage of ideas for posts sometime.

This is how March went on the financial front..................Please don't read it if it's too long and boring. 

The bill for the February toilet repair (£222) and the February annual boiler service (£144) appeared in the first week of March. ( The boiler repair bill for the water pressure tap thingy will arrive next month)

 I booked the car in for it's annual service and MOT mid month and to get the clutch checked -something wasn't right with it. The car also needed new brake pads and discs and the guys changed the clutch master cylinder - what ever that is - they said they'd had another car with the same problems a while back but could never get the clutch to play up when they tried it but that car hadn't been back in after doing the cylinder  so with any luck they will have cured it. The total bill was big..... £645!.....heck! Tom told me the cam-belt will need doing next year when the car is 10 years old - oh goody!

No Council Tax again in March, but the letter came about what it will be from April and it's gone up by a whopping £8 a month. It will be £171.86 in April and  £174 for the other 9 months. I get a 25% discount for being alone.

Other direct debits and regular expenses were the usual phones and broadband, charity donations, diesel for the car, monthly electric bill and came to £208.

I had to buy a new wheelbarrow this month, the old one came here from the smallholding via Ipswich very small bungalow and Clay Cottage. BiL had replaced the wheel and repaired the fixings before but it had really come to the end of it's life. I thought a new one would see me out. It's lighter than the old one too and has a puncture proof tyre. I need a wheelbarrow to get compost bags and growbags from the car to the back garden. Apart from that only  garden spending was on the primulas from a boot sale mentioned earlier in the month.

Other spending was for the window cleaner,  a new indoor doormat from Aldi as well as the small bits from boot -sales. Smol laundry and dishwasher tabs (they're now charging for delivery so I may have to abandon them and change to another eco-friendly company.) Bought a booklet of second class stamps - as they are going up again next month. Birthday gifts for sister and son in law and mini easter eggs ready for the Grandchildren's egg hunt. £4 was spent on sunflower hearts for the birds and finally I sent for a new basic TV remote to replace the one that packed up, but can't get it to work, it should work automatically. Luckily I still have the smart remote to use. I'm going to take both remotes to the TV shop in Diss soon as they have a thing that can check if it's the remote or the TV sensor playing up.

Personal  spending was some flowers early in the month, Keep Moving Group, a new Puzzler book, a much needed haircut and 50p on one second hand book and finally I bought myself some new croc type slip on outdoor shoes - but ones without holes all around them - so I can work outside without getting wet feet. I've been meaning to get a pair to replace the ancient crocs  all winter and finally saw some at a sensible price.

Phew - what a month - Outgoings were definitely more than incomings this month! and April will be  nearly as bad.

Any penny savings? Mostly just the usual

• Used apple and pear peel and raspberries that were in the freezer to make compost jelly.
• Handy kitchen bits from boot sale at 50p each
•  Reading library books for free.
• Bread machine used for 50/50 wholemeal white bread and pizza bases and fruit loaf
• Batch making pizza topping 86p + 70p+ 10p = £1.66 ÷ 5 = 33p each
• Bought 2nd class postage stamps before they go up in price again - never use 1st class.
• Dish washer only used every other day
• Checked cheapest local place for diesel for car - keeping it topped up Just In Case.
• Avoided using tumble dryer all month
• No magazines, newspapers etc

Back Tomorrow

February Financials

Income in February was the usual State Pension and County Council spouses pension, interest on savings plus £20 from 'We Buy Books' .

Because of choosing to pay Council Tax over ten months rather than twelve, February and March have no payment due. Instead there was the half year for sewer and water charges - and that had gone up yet again. Other  expenses were the usual direct debits for phones and broadband, charity donation and the monthly electric bill. I filled the car up twice with diesel once at the beginning and once at the end of the month and read the meter and paid the monthly electric bill. That lot came to £435. Then on Friday I ordered a fill up of heating oil to arrive next month - 500 litres for £338.

I prepared for growing with seed compost, two packets of seed for here and two packets of beetroot seed for BiL to grow some extra for me.

Household stuff included some spare bulbs for my lamp, the bread-machine blades and bin bags.

I  have a bill still to pay due to  problems with the flush on the bathroom loo cistern. It started flushing all by itself! Problems here are usually caused by our hard-water area, limescale getting into the works . The cistern on the bathroom toilet is all built in but I managed to prise one bit of cupboard off and unscrewed the front cover on the cistern and stopped it flushing but it was still trickling in water so I got the guy who fixed my drippy tap last year to come and look and he capped off the water intake and took out the inside 'gubbins' and went off with them to track down replacements , which are now fitted. I was very glad it's a 2 loo bungalow! I think water might have been trickling in and out for a while and that would be the reason for the bigger water/sewer bill.

Personal spending was just two woolly winter hats, exercise group and the book I bought at the beginning of the month  

which  doesn't have anything in it that I didn't already have in other foraging and WWII books and seems to have some mistakes about the dates of the introduction of rationing. It does have some lovely pictures but I was a bit disappointed - although not sure what I was expecting

Penny savings to spend on more interesting things

• Turned a couple of bread crusts into dried crumbs for topping bakes
• Started to save apple peel etc to make some compost jelly as I'm out of jam - I'll add some raspberries that are in the freezer and some sort of cheap bought fruit.
• Got diesel for car when visiting YD and opticians - it's always several pence a litre cheaper there.
• Had to use the tumble dryer once but managed to dry in 40 minutes - so not too bad.
• Usual bread in the bread-maker
• Dishwasher only used every other day.
• Lots of lovely books from the library
• No newspapers, magazines or make up etc bought as usual.

March, despite no Council Tax, is one of the expensive months of the year (along with April and Christmas) and there will be the bill for boiler servicing added to the list too and the car servicing and MOT. No way to have a low-spend March.

January Finances Round Up

 January spending and saving, or did Just-Stay-in January help finances?

Income was the usual State Pension and County Council Spouses Pension and income from the downshifting savings.

Regular outgoings are the  direct debits for Council Tax, charity, phones and broadband and the monthly electric bill. They came to £337 this month.

Other Spending: - 

The Xmas present finds bought last month but counted in this years Christmas accounts £20.75.

Kitchen stuff was Smol tabs and Rinse Aid for the dishwasher plus de-scaler for coffee machine.

Bathroom things - soap, 14 month supply of loo rolls from "Who Gives a Crap" .

Laundry tabs also from Smol. 

Postage stamps.

At Superdrug - some plaster tape, new tub of cod-liver oil capsules and cotton buds.

From Hardware shop - a new battery for the doorbell (but it still didn't work so that was money wasted!) Not going far so only one lot of fuel top-up needed for the car = £23

Gifts - I sent a some flowers to ED as a surprise thank you for hosting us all in the holiday cottage at Christmas. Plus MGS Birthday present.

Food spending was average, despite eating lots from the freezer, just showing how food prices are still going up. Some of the spending at the end of the month was for batch cooking for the freezer. Just one coffee out with a Greggs bacon roll. - Now £3.15.

My personal spending was a hair cut, exercise group and some photos printed.

Looking after the pennies..................

• Ate from the freezer for main part of  main meal  after Christmas and most of January. 
• Cancelled Radio Times after the 10 weeks for £10 offer. It worked well for December, Christmas and New Year.
• Bread from the bread-maker 50/50 wholemeal/white all month.
• Dishwasher only used every other day
• Washing machine on just twice a week
• Nothing much needing ironing in winter
• Lots of lovely library books for free
• Sent a box of books off to 'We sell Books' = £22 
• Moved savings money into ISA
• Shut curtains as soon as it's dark to keep in heat.
• Get up late enough to not need lights in the mornings! 
• In the right place to get half dozen eggs for £1 from the roadside stall once during the month
• Nothing spent on clothes, makeup etc etc

Out of the house this month has gone.... the old hoover to the tip plus the big cardboard box that the new hoover came in,  a bag of odd bits and bobs not used for ages plus some books to charity shop as well as the books to We Sell Books. 

Going forward to February............ I'll probably need some heating oil plus there is the half year water/sewer bill but there's no Council tax. I'm aiming for another low spend month again staying mostly at home. 

End of October Round-up

Tomorrows post will be about Halloween so I'm doing my  End of October post a day early. A month when I have felt unwell a couple of times with something last experienced 20 years ago. On the whole though it was a decent month weather wise although why we had to have rain for the last car boot sale of the season I don't know, and it turned much colder quite suddenly............Back to taking a hot water bottle and my microwave heat pack to bed again. 

I did some garden clearing, until this last week, but there is still so much Buddleia to cut back and all the perennials out the front. I'm going to get BiL over with his chainsaw to cut one buddleia  back much further than I can do. Plus the Flamingo tree died suddenly in the dry weather of the summer so that will need to go too.

 The month hasn't been too spendy but I accidently put one birthday present purchase on the wrong card so that will catch up with me next month. Two lots of diesel, Council Tax, charity donations, monthly electric bill, phones and broadband and my laptop Windows update came to £444 this month.

I found a couple of things for Christmas gifts and there were two birthday presents. In the house I spent out on a new kettle and the window cleaner came. From boot sales came the new ceramic pumpkin for the bookshelf display for £1 and the Summer Chintz jug also £1 also from boot sales a nearly full roll of baking parchment for 20p, Christmas crackers for £1. I stocked up with bird food from the market stall for £12 - should last until the new year. And for myself some second hand books and a new Puzzler book.

Food is still going up in price - I noticed milk is up another 10p for 4 pints, that's an increase of 30p since April but I did call in at the nearest proper butchers and picked up a large bag of lamb scrag for stews for £3 and then found a nice big gammon joint for Christmas for half price = £7 on Diss market.

 November is round the corner, always a  month  when I try to spend as little as possible except for Christmas presents etc., while still visiting as many Christmas Sales and Fairs as I can. Some Saturdays in November there are three, in three different villages, on one day. I gave up the idea of coffee and cake at each sale when this happened last year!

Back Soon

End Of August Round Up

A very dry month again, virtually no rain and some very hot weather too. August has seemed like a long month, everyone has been away on holiday except me  - but I guess that's my fault! Some days have been a struggle - which I hate as I'm usually quite decisive and organised - but  'off' days are OK as long as they don't last and they didn't. 

I've been to car-boot sales, several churches, Grimes Graves, a ceramics festival and  a flower festival, looked after EGD a couple of days, and decided Not to buy a holiday caravan on a site near the coast! - With site fees between £4,000 and £7,000 a year it wasn't really feasible. 

On the financial side August income was the usual State Pension and Suffolk County Council spouses pension plus the bit of interest from savings.

The usual outgoings of council tax, phone/broadband and charity direct debits and monthly electric bill came to just over £300.  There were two lots of  diesel for the car totalling £68 as I was over  to YD's near the coast a few times.

 Personal spending on several second-hand books - oops, exercise group, entry to the Pottery Festival, one jigsaw puzzle for £2 plus a larger spend for my usual January Chocolate Liqueur Treat while it was still reduced on Amazon - price goes up nearer Christmas.

Garden spending was for one dahlia in a pot for the front door step and the pottery bird feeder. Some of the other spending was small:- sunflower hearts for the birds, storage boxes for 50p from boot sale, laundry capsules and dishwasher tabs from Smol,  antihistamine cream, toothpaste, drain cleaner, new jar lids for chutney and bits and bobs for grandchildren etc.etc.

But one big bill was for half year water/sewer charge. We were told to expect price increases per m³ this year and it certainly has increased.

 August had a few outgoings that I hadn't thought of in July and I spent far too much on food/ coffees out and treating grandchildren - don't mind that a jot! 

Any penny saving notes to make up for the bigger spending?

• Eating mini plum tomatoes from greenhouse
• Large plum tomatoes into freezer ready for chutney
• Cucumbers from greenhouse almost all  month
• Beetroot from BiL's garden all month
• Sweetcorn cobs - only a few
• Green beans until mid month
• Figs, one or two most days 'til mid month
• Few Courgettes on and off through month
• Dishwasher used only every other day
• Washing machine used only two or three times a week
• Car boot find of 8 hot chocolate drinks for 50p
• Bread from bread machine all month 50/50 wholemeal/white
• Tumble dryer not used - obviously!

Looking ahead there will definitely be less spent this September compared to last year as that was when I finished the living/dining room refurbishment. No plans to do anything similar this year.

Something has gone very weird with the stats - I suddenly had 2000 page views everyday this week and a dozen people reading back on old posts! Very odd.

Have a good weekend, I'll be back on Monday.

End of July Round-Up, Frugal and Otherwise.

 Lots of my blog posts through July seem to have been about books and also tennis until mid-month, hardly any car boot finds but I did get out on some church visits - and found them open which is always useful.

The usual income was the state pension and Suffolk County Council spouses pension and some interest on savings.

On the frugal front the month started well as on the 1st I sold my cycle for £10, it had been standing in the garage for over two years, ever since I somehow fell off while getting on. I gave it a wash down and stood it out the front chained to a tree with a price ticket. It sold in 3 days. Falling off and 'the knee' and the busy roads here had put me right off something I'd been doing and loving since I was little. Sad. When we bought the bike about 25 years ago I said I wanted a good one to see me out. I cycled miles with it when we were at the smallholding, because for many years we only had one vehicle which Colin used for work. I often came home loaded up with shopping in the back and front baskets. I'm annoyed at how I lost confidence so quickly - never thought that would happen. Perhaps an electric trike would get me out again!

Outgoings were the usual fixed ones of Council tax, phone and broadband and charity plus the variable monthly electric bill and the annual renewal of virus protection which all totalled  £337. I filled the car up with diesel twice this month but the second time was just on Tuesday so it will last me most of August unless I have more than the usual adventures.

Other spending was mainly just small things like a couple of new dish-wash brushes, dish washer tabs, screen wash for the car, Niger seed for the goldfinches and the window cleaner was round again.

My personal spending was some second-hand books, card making bits, exercise group, jigsaw puzzle, puzzler book. Underwear from Morrisons for £5.The Yaoh hemp based  lip balm that I use is now difficult to find and has really gone up in price - it's the only one I've found that doesn't irritate - and believe me I've tried all sorts. I ordered two and will keep one in the fridge until needed.

Food spending would have been low if  I'd not treated YD and EGD for a pub lunch, had coffee out once and breakfast at Greggs twice (their £2.95 bargain) plus pensioners discount Fish and Chips meal from the local chip shop!

I thought of a few frugal bits that have happened this month to make up for those spendy extravagances!

• Beetroot from Brother in Law's garden. I gave him the packet of seed and he sowed an extra row so I can share all summer.
• Lots of green beans all month, enough to put  a few in the freezer
• Courgettes all month
• And Cucumbers
• And mini plum tomatoes although they have tough skins which I'm not enjoying
• A few figs - rescued  before they are really ready, to avoid the wasps.

Slightly under-ripe but still very tasty and beating the wasps!

• Put away several jars of sweet and sour cucumber and celery pickle for winter.
• And a couple of jars of cucumber Bread and Butter pickle
• Made 6 jars of marrow, apricot and ginger jam.
• Used my very poor examples of aubergines + one bought to make 10 portions of aubergine and tomato pasta sauce which worked out at less than 40p each.
• As usual dishwasher only used every other day or so.
• Washing machine usually just twice a week
• Washing dried outside all month
• Got first lot of diesel for car when visiting YD as it was 9p a litre cheaper than here.
• Eggs from farm gate stall still £1 for half a dozen
• Free Physio exercise course
• Nothing spent on garden, bathroom things, laundry, 'products', gifts or postage this month.

All in all a low spend month.

So what does August look like? Again there shouldn't be too many extra big expenses - the only one I know being the half year water and sewage bill.

Back Soon

End of June Financial Round Up

As I hoped for at the end of May,  June was a low-ish spend month, with only one known extra which was the Council garden waste bin at £64 for the year - up £2 from last year. Other garden spending was £4 for squash and sweetcorn plants from car-boot sales after my fails and forgotten sowings.

The regular every month expenses are Council Tax, phone and broadband, charity donation and electric bill, they totalled just over £300 this month.

House expenses included £10 for the window cleaner again - I'm sure he appears more often than every  6 weeks when the weather's good! and dish washer cleaner (Asda's own brand is 98p compared to Finish at £2.98) I like to use this on the very hot wash cycle every six months or so.

 I picked up the washing up bowl in the kitchen by it's rim, which snapped right off giving me a nasty - but thankfully small, cut on my finger. I had no idea a plastic washing-up bowl could be dangerous! It went out to the bin before it attacked me again and a new one for £6 from our local hardware shop was quickly bought.

There was the unexpected £20 for Car Tax renewal as mentioned earlier in the month and I topped up the car up with diesel just once this month = £36

I finally got to the Hospice shop in Stowmarket to leave a donation ( for the mug gift) and while in town bought a bag of sunflower hearts for the birds - only feeding these at the moment as they can go in a starling proof feeder.

Car-boot finds of 3 birthday and 6  Christmas cards totalled £1.40 - buying some cheap means I can do a little to support a couple of artists when I buy other cards at art exhibitions.  The little plate for next spring was 30p plus this pretty tin of notelets for £1.50 which will make a gift or a raffle price at Over 60's group when it's my turn to take one.

Personal spending included exercise group, the  trip to cinema was £10 including car parking, a jigsaw puzzle and one second hand book when an  Angela Thirkell book popped up cheap on Amazon at last. There are still a couple I've not got or read but they are way over ten pounds. 

I stocked up on a couple of bottles of shampoo and also got paracetamol and antiseptic cream for the 'medicine cupboard'  from Superdrug and final spending was for a haircut.

 Mid month I looked online to see if any Josef Siebel slip-ons that I wear indoors all the time were in any sales. There are lots of shoes I can't wear due to wide feet and needing arch supports in flatter shoes but these I can wear with no pain. I found some for £30 less than full price. So ordered them ready for when I need them.

 We now suddenly have a Josef Siebel shoe shop in Stowmarket, which was a surprise, until I discovered Josef Siebel is the new name for Shoephoric, which is what is was before, so I will be looking out for their sales as well as online.

[Also have a large East Anglian Children's Hospice Charity Shop about to open in one of the old banks - very good news and an M&S Food Hall in the Autumn - Stowmarket getting posh at last!]

Whatever I do I can't seem to get food spending down to the frugalist of frugal bloggers/vloggers. Some don't seem to spend much on fruit - I do. This time of year I'm buying nectarines as well as my apple-a-day. Some people are able to go shopping frequently and find yellow sticker bargains, or Lidl cheap boxes or those too-good-to-go pick up bags from supermarkets.  I can't do any of those things because it's too many miles and we just don't get the bargains that are available in bigger town stores.

A few penny pinching notes from June.

•  Few strawberries from my plants each day early in the month. 
• Then  raspberries (until I discovered that the dry weather had made their seeds really hard and they were upsetting my stomach which is Most Annoying)
• As usual dishwasher only used every other day 
• and washing machine mostly only twice a week.
• Another large cauliflower from boot sale for £1 - fed me for several days.
• Very Big bundle of beetroot from boot sale for £2
• Reading library books for free.
• Home made bread from the bread-machine (I worked out a 400g 50/50 white /wholemeal loaf costs  just under 50p) 
• Eggs still £2 a dozen from farm gate stall
• Tumble dryer not used all month
• No flowers, jewellery, make up etc bought
• Free physio appointment and then free exercise and arthritis management 6 week course
• First of the climbing French beans - they were delicious.
• First courgettes
• First cucumbers
• Two Vileda mop heads for £2

Looking ahead to July and again there is only one known extra - the virus protection for the laptop and it's the month when I get two State pension payments(because of it being paid every four weeks). So I should be able to move a good chunk into savings.

Back Soon

Much Less Spent This Month - And An Explanation for Ana and Others

 After the expenses of April with several annual bills falling due plus dentist and heating oil, May was much better. The only known extras above the normal monthly spending were ED and EGS birthdays and car breakdown insurance.

The normal outgoings are Council Tax, Phone and broadband, monthly electric bill, charity donation, diesel for the car (two lots this month as I've been out and about) totalled £375 and food of course. 

Then there is always something that needs buying in a house- this month I needed new AA batteries and some mastic to redo around the shower enclosure base. All was going well with not too much spent until the cold tap in the en-suite started drip, drip, dripping. BiL looked but said it's one of those new ones without a washer but with a 'cartridge' thing instead, and you have to have the right one. He didn't fancy the job - so I had to call in a proper plumber! Got a recommendation for someone local and it was soon sorted but cost £85! Yikes. - and that was someone reliable who didn't rip off old people!

Garden spending totalled £9.38 for parsley from aldi, courgette plants, bean plants, trailing thyme and a clay flowerpot  from car-boot sales.

A wide top small clay pot for the plant stand to replace one that was starting to be frost damaged

Food spending was up this month, after two lower spend months. Mainly due to replacing items that had been used up to restock the freezer and cupboards. Although prices of things like milk and other dairy products have gone up. I had a pensioners discount Fish and Chip meal for £5 as I'd not had one for a few months and coffee out three times. 

A few frugal notes for those who like to read the list.............

• Gift of bundle of  Rhubarb from my sister. Mine is not doing well.
• Big bundle of asparagus for £1.50 from boot sale, made me two meals with poached egg and wholemeal bread.
• Eggs from roadside stall are still just £2 a dozen
• Found a really good quality t-shirt for £3.49 from charity shop. Lovely jade green and looks hardly worn.
• 4 x 25L bags of free compost from District Council giveaways
• BiL had a small bag of tile cement in his garage which I borrowed so I could re-attach some of the quarry tiles on the front step.
• Reading library books for free
• Home made bread from the bread-maker - 50/50 wholemeal/white this month
• Dishwasher used only every 2 or 3 days
• Washing machine used twice a week only
• Tumble dryer not used all month
• Lights not needed until 8.30 in the evenings for reading.
• Two big bags dishwasher salt for £2 from boot sale
• New kitchen sieve from boot sale 50p
• No flowers bought - I've been bringing in a few roses from the garden.
• Given up feeding the birds for the summer as the huge starling family are clearing out the mealworms and fat balls in 10 minutes. Just leaves the starling proof sunflower heart feeder.
• Free referral to physio appointment for next month to look at my knee problem.
• Made 4 x Two cheese, onion, spinach puff pastry bakes  - instead of buying more 'vegetarian taste test' products.
• Cooked up a big batch of Quorn and vegetable korma curry - 10 meals total
• I put the refill filters for my water jug on my Amazon wish list and keep an eye on the prices because they go up and down. This month they went down by £3 to £9.99 for the pack of three so I ordered, I've still got one filter left in the cupboard so OK now for a year of good filtered water for the coffee maker and to drink with no limescale.
• I use Sensodyne small head toothbrushes and found packs with buy two get one free, so got two packs, 6 toothbrushes should last me a while. Sensodyne toothpaste is cheaper at Aldi than anywhere else.
• First few strawberries from my few plants and  handful of  Very early raspberries - they were a surprise find.

 Personal spending included the first  book find of the year from a boot-sale for £1 and then another for another £1, the old scrap book, mentioned earlier in the month. A much needed hair cut, exercise group, jigsaw puzzle and a new Puzzler Magazine. I also printed out a couple of grandchildren photos for my frames. The £10 spent at Sibton church for 5 books, a birthday card, coffee and sausage roll was added to the charity part of the accounts (clever accounting!)

Finally a special treat..........a   subscription to Discovery+ TV so I can watch the French Open Tennis. Just have to remember how to cancel after a month. Discovery+ has amalgamated with TNT Sports, and cost a lot more than last year , but I decided I'd rather have this than an outing to the Mid Suffolk Railway for their 1940s day, which I'd pencilled in the diary - especially as it was wet and chilly and I don't bother with the big Suffolk Agricultural Show now, so that's a saving of nearly £30 anyway. After the first 3 days of tennis there were still 6 Brits going into the second round of matches and Cam Norrie and Jack Draper both played well to get through. By Thursday evening all the women were out and just  three British men left, apparently that's the first time since 1968 that there have been three British men in the third round. There will be at least one of them in the 4th round as Cam Norrie and Jacob Fearnley play each other today. Still several Brits in various double matches which never get as much publicity.

Looking forward - June is usually a good low-spend month, the only extras above the normal are the annual payment for the Garden Waste Bin. But whenever I say it's going to be a low spend month something usually happens to upset that plan so I didn't ought to mention it - ooops too late! 

Have a good weekend and I'll be back soon. 

And here is my explanation of why I use the mobile library-

The mobile libraries (3 in Suffolk) travel around all the villages so that people can go on and choose books or collect books they have reserved on line, especially useful in villages that are many miles from a physical library building and especially useful for elderly who can't drive. We can reserve books on line and ask for them to be sent to any Suffolk library or to the mobile library. I have read so many books in my 70 years that most of what I read are new books by favourite authors and I rarely find books I want actually on the shelves.
If the books go to a library building they have to be collected within one week of arriving there whereas the mobile saves them up to bring all at once. Also I can keep books for up to two visits (that is 8 weeks) where as people borrowing from town libraries have them stamped for just 3 weeks.
Yes I could drive to a library but it seems silly to do that when I can stroll up the road once every four weeks to collect my books. If I was to use a town library I would need to drive to town (10 miles or 20 minutes) every week to collect my books.
The mobile library service is always under threat of stopping as it is gradually used less and less. When I worked on one we had 5 mobile libraries covering the whole County (several 100 villages) and visiting every two weeks. Now there are just 3 visiting every 4 weeks.
The mobile libraries have depots in 3 different parts of the County where they park and where all books waiting to go on the various routes are stored so my books are not actually somewhere where I can go and collect them at the moment. Hence hoping that the delivery van (a small van that takes reserved books and new books around to all 40 libraries in the County) will bring my books to my nearest library before the next mobile visit at the end of June.
For the last 20 years I have been using the mobile libraries as it's a case of use them or lose them.
.

Ups and Downs of a High Spend Month

 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

Money Talk or Talking Money

My spouses pension from Suffolk County Council has suddenly gone down by a big chunk - the reason being that the taxman has caught up with me!

Due to downsizing 4 years ago and interest rates on savings going up a year or so ago I had an extra monthly income from interest from my savings of more than the allowed. It takes ages for the information  to get from banks and building societies to HMRC and now a letter tells me I've got to be taxed to pay back what I owe- seemingly all at once - before the new tax year.

Then I got yet another letter from them with details of my new tax code starting April 2025- another different code, estimating what interest income I'll be getting next tax year. Now interest rates on savings are going down anyway so I won't be earning so much on savings. I'm glad I don't have to work it all out myself! 

At the same time, in April, State Pensions  will be going up, mine to to £848 every 4 weeks which is £11,024 a year. The personal tax free allowance is £12,570. Any income over this, which will be most of my Suffolk County Council Spouses pension (12 payments a year) and the estimated interest is taxed at 20%.

It will be interesting to see, after April, what I will actually end up with each month.

From my accounts I can see exactly where I spend money every month (interesting that all frugal Vloggers say to save money "keep a record of spending" - that something that's been obvious to me for about 40 years!)

The big money spent in 2024 was for the wood flooring, rug, smaller dining table and paint for my living room and  the holiday with family, all of them were definitely Not  money wasted! The room looks completely different and more up to date and easier to keep clean.

I seem to spend a lot more money than I did just a few years ago on food - and it's not because of all those coffee and cheese scones treats! (and not being able to grow as much as I used to). I don't count the coffees out as a waste - we spent all our married life Not being able to afford to do it so now there's no one here to make me a cuppa it's a real pleasure.

2025 brings an increase in Council tax, electric, water and sewer costs and no doubt food costs too, so it will be important to carry on being careful. I don't want to actually use my savings for day to day living as I'm still thinking I might move again.

I'm not doing frugal month notes now because they were getting repetitive with the same ways of saving pennies every month, but I do still do what I can to save on the boring so I can spend on more interesting things. 

Back Soon

Sue

Weekly Round-up and Low Spend November Final Report

I'm quite pleased with how Low Spend November went- especially in the Personal Expenses column, I was very restrained!

This is what I wrote at the beginning of November....my version of the depressing Thomas Hood November poem.

No books

No clothes

No pensioners Fish and Chips

No Ingredients for Christmas Cake or Puddings

No Advent calendar

No coffee and cake out

No random spending on hobbies

No food except fresh fruit, vegetables, milk and cheese and anything I don't want to run out of

No suddenly buying things I don't usually buy (make up, jewellery, magazines etc)

No Newspapers or TV schedule magazines

No flowers

No more Christmas food things for me

I managed to avoid everything listed except for £5.50p on a second hand books and £2.50 on a jigsaw puzzle - and they were all from charity sales so it counts as a donation to charity! 

Changed my mind about the food spending and just shopped as normal otherwise it was only putting off buying replacements for things used until December which seemed pointless. So all in all I count it as a small success.

This is the final weeks spending. I spent on a couple of things that would have waited until December but I wanted to get them done while I thought of them including some Christmas things such as locally produced chipolatas(vital for pigs in blankets of course) which made food spending more than other weeks. So.........

 Diesel for the car, tube of sealant to re-do the en-suite washbasin/splash back tile join; charity raffle tickets; Christmas postage stamps; Exercise group; One grandchild Christmas present sorted; Food; Monthly Electric Bill , Smol dishwasher tabs; Over 60's group; Wild Bird Food.

Total for the week so far £223 .31

Brought forward £391.05 + £223.31 = £614.36 + today*

IF  I'd not bought anything other than what HAD to be spent (ie not left the house for visiting charity Christmas Fayres, Exercise and Over 60's groups therefore NOT needing diesel for the car) and then not bought ANY Christmas stamps, Christmas presents and Christmas food or wild bird food and NOT sent a present for the new Great Niece or NOT bought new jar lids and made Red Relish  or NOT had a window cleaner it would have been over £100 less!! But it would have been a dull and mean month! It could be done but I'm glad it wasn't necessary. 

(Glad I went to Over 60s group, we had mince pies and I discovered I don't really like them anymore, so won't even bother to buy any - another small saving!)

*There is one hitch with that total above because today I'm going to a Christmas Fayre in Son and DiL's village church.

We've been going together ever since Colin died and the two Grandchildren will want to have a go on the tombola stall and the other children's things and eat cake and Nanna will be treating them for sure!

There are 3 other Christmas events on not far from home tomorrow and two on Sunday, I'm not planning on visiting all of them!

These are this months tiny savings................looking after the pennies.............

• Lots of Christmas Fayres visited for fun rather than spending
• Eating  batch made meals from freezer
• Huge stalk of Brussels sprouts for £1.50
• Using up card making bits to make Christmas cards
• Beetroot from BiL's garden
• Leeks from my garden
• Making sure to close curtains as soon as it's dark
• Home made bread with the bread-maker
• Bargain butter find - all in freezer
• No coffee and scone out all month
• Dishwasher only used every other day
• Quickly using up one of my stored butternut squash as it was starting to go mouldy
• Reading library books for free
• Found out via youtube how to fix my TV remote when putting in new batteries wasn't the answer. 

Have a Excellent Weekend - Oh, I forgot, I'm blogging everyday until Christmas (Blogmass or Advent 2024).... so...................have an Excellent Saturday and I'll be back tomorrow! with news on the antidote to No/ Low Spend November .................. Decadent December!!

Sue

End of September Round Up

Unlike many parts of the Country we had lots of good weather through September in Suffolk. There were some chilly days early and late month but mostly we've had sunshine and the patio doors were open a lot, especially when I was painting. It means the heating oil tank is still over half full since the fill up in February.

The seasonal display on top of the bookshelves looked like this last week after I came home via a backroad and found bunches of Alstromeria out for sale near some allotments for £2  - in lovely autumn colours. All the other bits have been out before but some not for a few years

Not a frugal month due to paying the second half of the money for the living room floor and buying the new rug. Both of which I absolutely love. The room without the grey walls and the brownish carpet looks completely different.

Other spending was all the normal things, Council Tax, electric bill, phones and broadband, charity and bits and bobs for bathroom and kitchen, although I had to fill up the car twice this month. I took youngest daughter and eldest granddaughter out for a meal which was a lovely. Garden spending was a couple of bags of multi purpose compost for repotting things now and ready to start off next year plus a small tray of pansies from a car-boot for £2 ready for when the geraniums finish in my big pot out by the front door. Clothes spending was a couple of new hoodies from Asda to replace much older ones that had got very thin. I may be too old but I like a hoodie, very handy for keeping ears warm when it's not yet cold enough for a woolly hat. Finally I sorted Birthday present for DiL (For today!) which will be a part of her Christmas present too. 

After sending the huge 8-12 seater table off to Son and DiL's I've been looking for a nice second hand much smaller table with no luck, I'm probably too fussy but with the room looking so good and very modern I don't want to spoil it with a dark wood or ugly table. It's odd and frustrating not having a table anywhere so I need to do something about it soon.

My frugal notes are just - 

• Cheap and free cooking apples
• One pensioners discount Fish and Chips meal £5 instead of £8
• Painting the living room myself 
• A Few raspberries from the garden through the month
• Courgettes, leeks and sweetcorn from the garden
• Used one marrow for making Marrow and Apricot jam
• Falstaff eating apples from the garden
• Beetroot from BiL's garden
• Aldi had huge cauliflowers for 99p - one lasted me several days
• Home made bread in the bread machine
• Reading library books and from my shelves for free
• Dishwasher only used every other day
• Washing machine only used two or three times a week
• Tumble drier not used all month again
• Finding greetings cards from car-boot sales for 50p and less.
• Wild bird food off market stall, cheaper than anywhere else (The man being served before me was buying £80s worth of various bird feed!)

Out of the house this month to a charity shop went a few things from the cabinet including an odd covered serving dish, a large cake stand and some smaller bits. Also out into the bin went two very old pyrex quiche dishes - too big and very stained. 

To the bookshelves at the village hall went half a dozen non-fiction books that I've had for years and never read.

Extra to normal spending coming up in October are 3 Birthdays - Son plus two grandchildren, then there is a dentist appointment and I'll probably have to top up the heating oil tank right at the end of the month, so it would be useful to keep other spending small.

Apologies to people whose comments went into spam this month. I forgot to check for about 5 days and there were more than a dozen. Still don't understand it - I've given up trying.

Back Soon

Sue

Halfway Through A Frugal Year? but Could Be Subtitled............

............................where I spent money in June!

Income was the usual two pensions, and interest from savings and outgoings were the normal too Council Tax, Electric, Phones and Broadband, 2 lots of diesel for the car, household needs and food.

image from google freepik

It would have  been a  frugal month if I didn't keep deciding to have work done! I've found it impossible to get out of the habit of always planning what improvements are needed to house and home.......it's what we did for 40 years. This time it's the living room/dining room flooring that's planned and half paid for. I really didn't like the carpet the previous owners had down, a horrible colour and and very impractical for a room that's used for dining and with the 'back door' to the garden - used many times a day in Summer. The hard wood veneer flooring I wanted was out of stock (typical!), and the floor layer man very busy so the work won't be done for a while.

Personal spending was a bit extravagant despite no second hand books or flowers....................... 

A proper haircut started my spending and a new Puzzler magazine as I was fed up with only doing Sudoku's  and then the price of my Cappuccino  coffee and cheese scone treat is creeping up - had the most expensive so far in the Moments Coffee Shop in Stowmarket one day when the Osier in the church was closed.  Moments is also a charity run coffee shop raising money for St Elizabeth Hospice in Ipswich so at least it's for a good cause but £5.90 for the two things is getting a bit silly. I shall be disappointed if I have to stop these treats - one of the saddest things about being widowed is there's no one to say " do you want a cuppa?" 

I called in at the nearest picture framing place and he cut me a mount for that little print on a card that I bought from the Art Exhibition. It was just £2.50 and then  a few days later I found the frame mentioned the other day from the car boot sale. I still had some sticky velcro fixer things in the drawer so the new little picture is up on the wall and I'm pleased to say there is still room for one or two more.

When friends were here they asked me where all the pictures have come from. There are seven from boot sales, 2 stitched by me, two prints from an art exhibition plus the new card also from art sale. The owl and hare prints are annoying me - they need to be level or more uneven.

Exercise group numbers have dropped alarmingly and we may have to pay £2 each rather than £1.50 just to cover hall hire. Luckily I managed to find one quiet-ish session for a swim - hadn't been for months, every time I've gone online to book it's looked to be much too busy to be enjoyable. I struggled with swimming after the long lay-off so really need to get back to it again. Hopefully it will be quieter when the pool in Diss re-opens after it's makeover. 

Then when I thought I'd spent enough on myself I had to send for some new insoles for my summer shoes as the ones that were in them kept getting creased and not laying flat.

Garden spending was supposed to be zero except for the District Council garden waste bin annual payment but I got carried away by an ad that popped up for some Kale plants from T & M. As the sweetcorn plants are doing so badly due to the weather I decided I'd put in a few Kale for winter beside the sweetcorn. They are due to arrive in July. The sad looking sweetcorn is surrounded by fences to keep Crumble cat out and covered by netting at the moment and is just not growing. Usually it romps away - doubt I'll get cobs this year. I got another bag of compost too as I was right out.

House expenses apart from half the flooring were new printer inks and window cleaner.

There were a few penny saving things to make up for the spending

• Lots of strawberries from BiL 
• and even more Raspberries from here...and there really are lots!
• Cucumbers ready to eat and also made into Sweet and Sour Pickles for winter
• First tomato - just one so far!
• Reading good library books for free
• No second-hand books or flowers bought
• Home made bread from the bread machine- I'm now doing 50/50 wholemeal and white flour - it's turning out very well. 
• Having cancelled the Radio Times subscription as the price had shot up, I'm now just picking up one of the cheap TV scheduling magazines - not as good as the RT - no Radio schedule - and too much soap stuff but a big saving.
• Running out of Ecover Clothes Washing liquid  so I sent for the £1 offer from Smol of samples to try. They seem to be fine so I'll be subscribing to a regular delivery as I have for their dishwasher tabs. Still using some washing soda crystals in the wash as it's good for killing any smells and keeping the machine clean.
• Only using dishwasher every other day
• Couple of things found at boot sales to use for Christmas gifts.

This week I have been grateful for - 

• Sunshine and warmth for a week.
• Tennis on TV - I've loved watching all the up and coming at the Wimbledon Qualifiers last week
• Having savings for when I get home improvement ideas!
• The bread machine, which I'm now using for all sorts of bread. 

I'm really looking forward to Wimbledon for the next fortnight. Then it's just another two weeks after that and the Olympics starts. Tour De France on TV as well........... Summer of Sport 2024 .........bring it on!

Have a good Weekend 

Back soon

Sue