Things I don't Buy At All or Not Very Often

Pinched this idea from a vlogger........

Things I don't buy at all or not very often. 

Not buying some things leaves money for buying others - like books!

• Lottery Tickets 
• Hair stuff or any products other than shampoo.
• Make up and beauty products
• Ready Meals that just need heating in the microwave
• Multi-buys - they tend to be branded products and Aldi don't do BOGOFs anyway
• Pre-cut fruit and veg.
• Bottled water
• Fruit juices
• Fizzy Drinks
• Alcohol
• Fabric softener and scent boosters
• Scented candles
• New ornament type things
• A huge variety of branded cleaning products
• Meal deliveries - like Just Eat and Deliveroo - not even sure if they would deliver here anyway
• Magazines and Newspapers
• Manicures
• New gadgets that do different things in the kitchen - I have all the things I need.
• Jewellery
• Air Fresheners or plug in scented things

There are some of that list that might be useful with age - I can see how ordering meals from a company like Wiltshire Farm Foods could be handy and better than supermarkets. And preprepared fruit and veg for anyone with arthritis etc.

Back Tomorrow

Food of Many Colours

 I like colourful food.

I thought that I'd done a post about colourful food not long ago but when I searched it turned out to be back in May 2024, so nearly two years and I'm still eating colourful, mostly made from scratch, food..

I thought this meal looked very colourful. It was a home made Scotch Egg, using own dried breadcrumbs and baked in the oven rather than fried. A handful of orange sweet potato fries cooked at the same time as the scotch egg. Then lots of green salad leaves, celery and mini plum tomatoes with a small splodge of mayo.

Not so pretty but very tasty........Leek and bacon pilaff with a chunk of home made focaccia bread, which I'd pulled a piece off to eat while I was waiting for the rice to cook !

I buy the very cheap bacon pieces from Asda (£1 for a 500g pack) and divide up into 5 portions before freezing. So bacon 20p, leek 58p, rice and a stock cube =pence. (At the opposite end of the spectrum - I only ever buy the locally produced sausages from Lane Farm. Two chipolatas of theirs, in the freezer since Christmas, were skinned and flattened and used to wrap the egg for the scotch egg)

Warm pasta salad includes peas, baby plum tomatoes, olives and feta cheese and a spoonful of mayo.

A quiche made using one portion of that cheap bacon mentioned earlier, onions and cheese and 3 eggs feeds me for 4 days, twice with carrots and broccoli

and twice with home made potato salad and mixed salad leaves, celery and olives.

Lots of colour in a chicken stir-fry below. The veg were carrots, onion and chopped cabbage leaves. I buy the pack of  British chicken mini breast fillets for £3.99 for 600g from Aldi - these were bought in February- and were divided up into 5 portions before freezing.

Carrots and cabbage again this time with my penultimate piece of nut roast made several weeks ago - probably just before Christmas and some quick gravy.

 
Back Tomorrow

Loose Change for the Car-boot Sales

 Until the time comes when everybody has their own card-reader, the only way to pay for 'treasure' at boot sales is with good old cash and preferably £1 and 50p coins.

It used to be easy to walk into a bank with a £20 note and ask for a bag of £ coins. Luckily it is still possible in Stowmarket but they have to open a desk which aren't regularly manned (or womaned!), pay the £20 note into your account, put your card into their card reader, tap in your pin number (once you've found your glasses) before they almost reluctantly hand over the coins.

To save having to do this I still use cash - notes from the ATM's - to pay for things in most shops and then hang onto the £1's and 50p coins for the boot sales. The only problem is that I end up with a purse full of much smaller loose change which gets heavy, so I regularly  empty it into my change tin.

But then of course I have to go through the bank rigmarole in reverse to put the change into my account but that's usually just once a year before Christmas. But maybe there wasn't much in the tin last December so I didn't empty it because it's August and the tin was full.

Counting money is never a problem! so that's what I did.

I bagged up £32 which has gone into my account. Some small change that didn't add up to the right amount for the paying in cash bags has gone back into the tin.

Although it was my money in the first place it feels like I've gained £32!

Back Soon

End of March Financial Round Up

March Income was the usual two pensions and interest on savings. 

The main expenses in March were for the car windscreen excess payment, servicing and MOT and I'd forgotten that I'd not paid for the tyre valves when they were replaced a couple of months ago - so that was added on. All the normal expenses as usual = Electric, diesel for car, phones and broad band etc. 

Household spending was for a new little electric heater and window cleaner. 

Birthday gifts for my sister and SiL. For the garden I bought a small trailing ivy from a boot-sale to add a bit of interest to the plant stand and a new packet of all female cucumber seeds so I have some to sow  later in the season. 

Buying wild bird feed has become a more regular thing as they just Love the dried mealworms and the suet blocks. If I'm outside and the mealworm feeder is empty a Robin  appears to moan at me and make me feel guilty for not filling it up! 

I also bought a book of  8 x 2nd class postage stamps before the price rise  - should have bought more I guess as they are jumping up by 10p each. 

Food spending was more this month and not just because of that so called 'Suffolk Cheese'!

Personal spending included WI annual subs, which has been subsidised again thank goodness and I re-joined the village Over Sixties group, which is half the cost of WI and is much better value  as unlike WI no money has to go off for regional and national organisations. I avoided second-hand books all month so just exercise group and one swim to pay for. Had my usual coffee and cheese scone when out a couple of times.

I cleared out three bags full of bits and bobs this month including 10 books, 6 DVDs and various other bits that I can't remember. They all went  to a charity shop.

 Frugal Notes for March

• I've cancelled my Radio Times Subscription. It was a quarterly direct debit and suddenly they took £21 more than the previous quarter without notification making the price the same as it is to buy in a shop. I was very disgusted but there didn't seem to be a way to get a refund on the payment, but at least they won't take anymore in May. 
• Had to stop mixing whole milk half and half with water as my coffee cappuccino machine won't froth water! I'll be buying semi-skimmed instead. Increase spending on milk is offset by big decrease in spending on boxes of coffee sachets!
• Make sure to shut curtains as soon as it's dark
• Mended old leggings again.
• Only using dishwasher every other day
• Home made bread and malt loaf, cakes and biscuits
• Using lots of my own batch made meals from the freezer
• Finding things for Grandchildren from car-boot sales
• Found 20p on the ground in the car park!
• Reading Library books for free
• Won a tub of Celebrations chocolates at the Over 60's group meeting and as I don't eat chocolate it will be a perfect gift for giving to the family at Easter.
• Only used tumble dryer once despite having no radiators working for 12 days.

I had a quote for a new oil fired combi boiler £3,500 + VAT this was from a company that specialises in replacement boilers and can do them almost straight away. The next day Ian,  the usual heating engineer came  (the one with all the family disasters) and repaired the old boiler as we agreed we'd give it one more chance. I don't really want to spend out that big sum of money for a new boiler - it's quite a chunk after lending Son etc money for their car.  I might decide to move again and would need what I have for that!

And Looking Forward  with trepidation to April when expenses are always awful.........................

Add together Council Tax, Charity donation, Phones and Broadband, Diesel for the car, TV Licence, Dentist visit, Electric, Plus the  House Buildings and Content insurance and I reckon about £870 without even eating or doing anything! Frightening .............and it's the YGD's birthday mid month although she's had half a sandpit already.

And now there'll be a bill for the boiler repair to add on - an expensive month for sure with no way of spending less.

 State Pension increases in April but from my point of view it won't make a huge difference as I'll just get taxed more on the Suffolk County Council Spouses Pension!

Hope the rest of your Easter weekend goes to plan, clocks forward tomorrow - lovely lighter evenings but makes it harder to get up early for boot sales! 

I found out last week that when the ground is dry enough my nearest boot-sale is going to have a Thursday morning boot-sale as well as Sundays - I'm not sure that's a good thing at all!

I shall be back Monday

Sue

Frugal February?

February has seemed like a very long month this year - I think because of the weather, the floods stopping outings and the general dullness - and there is still a day left. Surely March will have sunshine?

Frugal February? No, not with a heating oil delivery. Anyway................

Income from two pensions and savings interest, no extra from anywhere this month but no Council Tax to pay. I checked some more  books on Ziffit - but they didn't want them so they'll go to charity shop.

The usual expenses are Direct Debits for broadband and phones and charity. The wet weather and flooding meant I didn't go out very much so only one fill up of diesel for the car. I was expecting the half year water bill which was OK and the half year sewer bill which is always more than the water bill. Both are less than they were when I moved in because of getting a water meter.

 

I ordered 750 litres of heating oil but they only fitted in 730L which came to £544 - £100 less than the same time last year, should last right through until winter.  The bill came for the last boiler repair and I spent £13 on wild bird feed. Not forgetting the one-off spend for the professional oven clean.

The two nearest grandchildren's sand pit had disintegrated so I bought them a new one for their birthdays (one February and one April) and I found charity shop games to add to the shelves here.

We get used to amazon being the cheapest place to buy things but they aren't always, as I found when going to buy washing soda crystals for the washing machine. The cheapest on amazon when I looked were 3 bags x 1kg for £7.99 but I got a bag from the discount shop in Diss for £1.99. (I can remember when they were just £1 from Wilkinsons).

Personal spending was for the Keep Moving Group, flowers, photo corner stickers for my scrapbooks, a new letter writing pad, the Radio Times subscription, coffee and cheese scone out a few   or make that several times! 

Other spending was mainly small bits needed in bathroom, kitchen etc.

Frugal things

• Mended tiny holes in two pairs old leggings
• Mixing milk half and half with water 
• Trying to pick good weather to do the washing and finishing it on the radiators - tumble dryer not used at all
• Only using dishwasher every other day.
• Home made bread, biscuits and cake
• Eating lots of my own ready made meals from the freezer
• Finding games for grandchildren at charity shop
• Reading library books all month
• Closing curtains as soon as it's dark to keep heat in

The coffee machine is saving me money as I'm buying coffee grounds and no longer buying coffee sachets. The cappuccino button on the machine does use rather more milk so I had a search round the charity shops and came home with this for £4. Another way to use the ground coffee.

 I realise I'm about 100 years behind everyone else in moving away from instant coffee - dragged into the 21st century (or maybe even the 20th) of coffee making at last! Nice to have a variety of ways for making coffee.

After their unexpected drive into a flood, Son is still waiting to hear if their car is written off - it's a 2008 reg so probably will be but until they know, there is no courtesy car, so my car is staying the night with them so DiL can get the grandchildren and herself to preschool, school and work and back again. I can use it between 9 and 3 if I walk to the school to fetch it! Luckily Son has use of a work van at the moment - his work place is the opposite direction from the schools.

Two bags of 'stuff' have gone out of the house to charity shop this month. Including some roll neck long sleeved tops that were last worn under jumpers for working outside at the smallholding - so it's about time they went. I've also cleared out some books, some Christmas bits that won't be used again and a few other odds and ends. I'm filling another bag to go out next month.

Back Tomorrow for Leap Year Day

Sue

Thrifty Living in January

 Hibernating is very good for the bank balance, as is eating from the freezer, and spending was nice and low. 

Income was the usual State and County Council Spouses Pensions, some interest from savings plus just under £20 from Ziffit for a box of books.

The Council Tax and direct debits for charity, broadband and phones plus diesel for the car (twice, once at beginning of month and once right at the end when just under half full) and the monthly electric bill  came to about £360 and I also bought another 5L of screen wash for £2.99 - really needed after all the rain and muddy roads. 

Food spending including restocking things like bags of bread flour and trying different sorts of coffee grounds for my new machine (which I'm loving) although I did buy some items that made 10 more meals for the freezer for February and March which I posted about mid month.

Personal spending was low, (although it's surprising how the £1.50s Keep Moving Group and £3s for swimming add up through the month) until  I had a morning out to Bury St Edmunds last week. Before that there was just a couple of coffees and cheese scones, exercise group, swimming and a new pair of reading glasses because the pair I keep in my handbag for using when out, fell off  my head at the exercise group and snapped the frame - I got some snazzy jazzy coloured ones for under £20. One second-hand poetry book bought for £2.80 (and then some other second hand books for £6).

My morning out took me to Bury St Edmunds for a change of scene and a tour of charity shops where I found 2 tunic tops - one a Joules and the other from Next and spent £21. Very expensive compared to charity shop prices of the past but I rarely see any a good length and it will save me buying new next winter, plus I found a few books - that was the £6. I'll write about them later. I had the bargain breakfast in Greggs for £2.85. (Bacon roll - with plenty of bacon - and large coffee)

Then had a much needed hair cut right at the end of the month - but as usual just had the cheapest available.

There's a market stall in Diss every Friday that has wild bird feed much cheaper than anywhere else so I stocked up on a ginormous bag of dried meal worms - which still wasn't enough for the month due to the blinkin'  starlings -  and a couple more suet blocks. I shopped at Morrisons while I was there and regretted it - should have gone to Aldi first because Morrisons prices seemed to have gone up again and there were several gaps on the shelves.

The window cleaner turned up on a cold day, always good for a chat as he knows everyone and everything about this village and actually lives in my last village so knows all about there too. It might be called gossiping but I think of it as gathering information!

Some money was spent on the garden because I went out to get a couple of bags of Multi Purpose compost and one of seed compost so I'm right ready to start, my seeds arrived earlier in the month. I bough a new Niger seed feeder for the birds while I was there as I'd got some Niger seed left and nothing to put it in. Perhaps I'll now see Goldfinches.

Finally it's MG's 4th birthday next week so there was a birthday present to buy.

Frugal things done this month

• Nothing bought in January sales
• Choosing the right days to do the washing and hang it out (tumble dryer used just twice during January) and finishing on radiators.
• Mixing milk half and half with water
• Batch cooking pastry cases to go in freezer
• Reading library books and books from my shelves all month
• Using bread-maker for all bread.
• Checking through clothes to see what I need to look for in charity shops this year
• Avoiding buying things like alcohol, jewellery, makeup etc
• Managed to sort the boiler again when low water pressure stopped the heating from working
• No longer buying coffee sachets 
• Back to drinking tea once a day instead of  one of my coffees
• Able to get ½ dozen free range eggs  for £1.25 from a farm when I go swimming -instead of £2+ at the supermarket.
• Made sure money in Building Society had a bonus added for the next year when the old year finished.
• Moved some money into ISA
• Only using dishwasher every other day.
• Shutting curtains as soon as it's dark to keep heat in.
• Getting up late enough to not need lights in the morning!
• Not going far so using less diesel in the car.

In February I have to buy heating oil and pay the half year bills for water supply and sewerage and as the boiler has ceased up YET AGAIN (hot water OK but no heating -just like last time)there will be a repair bill for that. Still no car boot sales so I might have a morning out to a different town for the charity shops. I'll still be eating lots of my home made ready meals from the freezer and there's no Council Tax in February which helps - although I expect we will hear it's gone up when it starts again in April. 

Thank you to everyone for comments about the Mistle Thrush photos. I was lucky to be in the right place to get a good photo.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

A Book and a Bag of Fruit and Nuts

 All my library books have now been finished although I still have the huge book about the Great Bardfield Artists to look through. 

What to choose off my shelves?

I picked A Lost Lady by Willa Cather , which is one of the books I found at the big Colchester Charity Book Sale in October.

I've read O Pioneers and My Antonia by her previously. This is the note about the book from Wiki

A Lost Lady is a 1923 novel by American writer Willa Cather. It tells the story of Marian Forrester and her husband, Captain Daniel Forrester, who live in the Western town of Sweet Water along the Transcontinental Railroad. Throughout the story, Marian—a wealthy married socialite—is pursued by a variety of suitors and her social decline mirrors the end of the American frontier.^[1] The work had a significant influence on F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby.^[2]

It's very well written and I enjoyed it, it will be added to my very small collection of Virago Modern Classics to keep, rather than pass on. 

I was listening to Radio 5 Live while writing this post and heard about how well England did in the first of the cricket test matches in India. Colin would have so enjoyed it. The first time India have lost  at home while having a 100 run lead, I think they said, and England hardly ever win much abroad.

 But I was really listening to the final of the Australian Open Tennis which was incredibly exciting even on radio. I'm thinking I need a subscription to a sports TV channel now that so little is on terrestrial TV. If I bought fewer books I could easily afford it!

**************

This is my way of using a 200g, 59p bag of Essential Range mixed fruit and nuts from Aldi. "ideal for snacking" it says on the packet and they wouldn't take long to eat as a snack, but I use them a different way.

Separated into peanuts, raisons and almonds. The peanuts are enough for two batches of home-made peanut biscuits. The raisons will be chopped and used in the next loaf of spiced fruit loaf made in the bread-machine and the almonds will be blanched, chopped and used for almond biscuits with some drops of almond essence. Although last time I added them to the bag of mixed nuts when I made spiced roast nuts as one of my January treats - mustn't make them again until next January - they are far too more-ish!

It seems a good way to make use of them - better than snacking - (the recipe for the Basic Biscuits is on the separate recipe page - scroll down to almost at the end)

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Charity Shops and Not Spending

 Why didn't I know there was a 'new' charity shop in Stowmarket that had been there since last July? An independent, not part of a chain, run by the lady who ran one a few years ago. Her old shop was a treasure trove of junk crammed floor to ceiling. This new one is smaller and tidier and not so interesting.

 While in town for fresh food last week I did a tour of all seven charity shops and found nothing at all. Which was very good for a low spending month. I didn't feel the need to venture out for bargains in the January sales either. 

I had a bit of a wardrobe/chest of drawers sort out and added a couple of things to the charity shop bag. I'll definitely need some strappy vest tops for summer as I wear them under tunic tops in winter and several are looking very sad as are some bits of underwear. Shades of Grey comes to mind when I hang them out on the whirly!

No shoes will be needed this year as I bought two pairs of the summer shoes that I like in the sales last January. Most of my pairs of shorts are still OK but I always need a new tee-shirt or two each summer as the old charity shop ones get tatty.

It's looking hopeful for a low-spend in the clothes department, both strappy vest tops and tee-shirts are usually easy enough to find in charity shops.

Next winter I'll need a couple of new pairs of leggings - some have been mended too often to survive another winter.

And hopefully not a lot will be needed in the house after last years big spend on the sofa and chair and the much smaller spend on the second-hand nest of 3 tables. (Now I've said that something will probably break-down!) and I bought a new duvet and another 300 count fitted sheet in December so that's another area where nothing will be spent in 2024.

I'm looking for no spend and low spend in all areas for the rest of this month because the heating oil tank will probably need 500 or 600 litres at the end of February depending how cold it is for the rest of the winter months. 

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Small Change

 This is what happens when you use cash rather than card as much as possible and then every now and again empty all the small bits from the purse into a money box and save them for more than a year.

I've been doing this for many years, it started with just 5p pieces, although it was more fun when the bank would change the bags of small coins into notes which I could then go out and spend on a Christmas treat. Now it has to be paid into a bank in case of money laundering. I know it was my money anyway but it always seems like a surprise extra income.

This time there was just over £32 although the £20's worth of 20p pieces was two years worth. It's all in the bank now with the odds and ends back in the money box ready to start all over again.

I've done the accounts for last year and income was more than expenditure - which is the right way round. I don't need to be so frugal but it is a way of life and for me means spending less in some places leaving money to spend in other more enjoyable ways. I'll carry on with frugal notes  and ideas and keeping accounts so that I can afford the bigger expenses ......... this year that will be the moving of the old patio slabs and re-laying them by the oil tank and freezer room door and laying new ones near the house plus a family summer holiday.

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Saturday 23rd and The Weekly Round Up

Thanks to everyone for comments yesterday, sorry I didn't get round to replying and thank you to Debbie at Rustic Pumpkin for more information on the word Mabon

Will Mabon ever be a word on Wordle? which I did in 2 (CLOSE) on Tuesday, blimey! well chuffed! can't remember the rest of the week but no fails.

 Low spend September continued............ although I spent out on bits for the Sink Pond = £9.50 - a marginal Water Geum, oxygenating plant in the water and water snails hopefully making this mini-pond more welcoming to frogs etc..

I swam and went to the exercise group and bought postage stamps, fruit, eggs and milk, and a cheap 2024 diary from The Works and that's was all the money spent this week.....until the company who I'm getting the sofa and chair from rang to say it was in - a month earlier than expected. So I had to pay the other half and that was the end of low spend September! Delivery is next week. 

Eating from freezer and garden really does continues

Sunday - Courgette Crumble with the last of the runner beans

Monday - Thai Red Fish Curry - home made-  from freezer with rice.

Tuesday - Quorn Bolognese sauce - home made- from freezer with spaghetti

Wednesday - Fish Fingers, sweetcorn cobs and fried tomatoes

Thursday - Leek and Bacon Pilaff....again.. still plenty of leeks

Friday - Courgette (very few and small now) and pesto pasta.

Today - Omelette and tomatoes

I actually found some  free food - such a rare occurrence around here. Half a dozen nice big cooking apples from a box labelled 'Help Yourself ' on my way home last Saturday. They've been peeled, sliced and added to the freezer for winter fruit.

During the rest of the week I got lemon marmalade made - from a tin of prepared lemons. I left it plain this time instead of adding in a tin of grapefruit. Two jars for the Christmas Hampers and 4 for me. Also baked a cake for the week, did a bit more garden clearing and fished out a partly done cross stitch kit to finish for a little gift.

Have a good weekend

I'll be back Monday with the Library Book Photo.

Sue

Halfway Through September.............

 ..................already.................and the 2023 Strictly Come Dancing launch show is on TV tonight so we know it's Autumn.

This week in Suffolk....................

Lots of garden clearing done, although I can't do as much at a time as I used to - and there is still so much to do but after I'd cut down just half of one of the three buddleias  the council garden waste bin was straight away three quarters full again. 

A couple of weeks ago I managed to empty one compost bin into the wheelbarrow plus a big tub thing  and turned the full bin over into the empty one,(really hard work!) but buddleia and rose prunings are too tough for rotting down in my bins so they have to go out in the waste bin.

The compost made is a year old and looked good but I can't get it onto the garden yet because all the vegetable beds are still covered with plants so there's nowhere to put it. 

I was pulling out weeds and grass from around the supposed-to-be-red Hazel and a frog hopped out-  which is hopeful. I've put a terracotta pot upside down in the sink- pond to make a temporary step in case he finds his way in. Perhaps this weekend it would be an idea to get some plants to add in even though I've not finished around the outside of the pond yet.

Out the front of the house the previous owners made a very narrow flower bed running down one side of the path - it's very shingly poor soil, lower than the 'lawn' and the grass  keeps spreading over it but  I've not really got the energy to dig it wider, so I've taken out the Lady's Mantle and a small clump of pinks and moved them into the border in the back garden. One more plant to move then some soil needs adding to level the bed and I'll be able to mow right to the path.

One more job done was to remove the small stepping stone slabs that I put between patio and greenhouse door two years ago. The grass just kept growing over them and I got fed up with having to cut round them with the edging spade. I've refilled the holes I dug with dirt and the grass will soon cover them again. 

So how's  low spending September going?

Week two wasn't too bad................

Food shopping last Saturday £14.61 (fruit and other things that were running short)

Printing out the photo of Eldest Grandson for the frame  55p

Parcel back to him of something he left behind £3.79

Swimming £3

Half a dozen eggs from roadside stall £1.25 (they were £1 until recently)

Exercise group £1.50

My main meals since last weekend using things here already

Sunday - The 3rd piece of vegetable/cheese quiche made on Friday eaten with sweetcorn, runner beans and courgette (all from garden)

Monday - The 4th and final piece of a quiche with sweetcorn and beetroot(both from the garden).

Tuesday - Last of the "Artisan"-expensive-never-to-be-bought-again-burgers and roast vegetables (from the garden except potatoes)

Wednesday - Leeks from the garden used in a Leek and Bacon Pilaff -(a new favourite 30 minute meal)

Thursday - Home made vegetable pasty from freezer plus sweetcorn and runner beans from garden

Friday- Stir fried vegetables -home grown except carrot with belly pork slice in hoisin sauce and noodles. Think the pork had been in the freezer for months - it's something I'll not buy again.

Today- Pizza on a home made base with home made topping which I batch make and freeze - plus salad of cucumber, tomato and red pepper - it's the last of the cucumbers.

Every other day this week I've been picking a handful of Autumn raspberries from the canes that were already here - nice extra treat.

 I'm reading from my shelves until library day next week and choose one of the books picked up from the church sale - H.E.Bates - Fair Stood the Wind for France. Why had I never read this before? It's a good story .

Perhaps it's because it's described as a Modern Classic and I used to avoid anything that said it was a "classic" - the word makes me think of dull, dreary and hard work = Dickens or Austen (apologies to fans of their work but I'm Not!)

If you watched Only Connect on BBC 2 on Monday and do the NYT Wordle did you get the answer to one of the sequences? It was the words that pop up when you get the word in 3,4,5 or 6 goes. 6 is Phew! and that was what popped up for me on Friday's Wordle - a tricky one with lots of possible words for the letters I got right just  keeping my current run of 33 correct words going. 6 missed out of 195.

And that's my week rounded up in a few sentences .

Bring on the weekend!

Back Monday

Sue

Now it's Low Spend September

 I'm now doing a very low spend September as there's plenty in the freezer and in the cupboards and no big expenses due this month.

I treated the family to the sunflower maze visit but after that its tight purse-strings! 

Sadly there are a chunk of expenses that can't be avoided and happen without me even leaving the house  - Council tax, charity, phone and broadband direct debits and electric at the end of the month and if I didn't leave the house I wouldn't need diesel for the car but I do have to drive so can't avoid it. There might be a couple of unavoidable small expenses and there's a birthday later in the month but otherwise I'm hoping for minimum spend.........although I'm getting back to the swimming pool now the children are back at school so that will be £3 a week and exercise group is £1.50 each week.

Some September savings so far...........

Three of the huge sweet pointy peppers on the one remaining pepper plant turned red so they've been chopped and gone into the freezer - there are 3 left . I put loads of green peppers in earlier before they were ruined by the slugs(?) plus the £1's worth of red sweet peppers from the market stall and as soon as the other three are red they'll go in the freezer and there will be enough to last almost to pepper season next year.

I'm planning to use my one and only butternut squash in a vegetable curry to portion up for the freezer and yesterday I got lots of the huge tomatoes skinned and into the freezer in case I want some for chutney later. I've frozen them first individually on a tray then if they are not needed for chutney they'll be usable one or two at a time for cooking instead.

There are a few beetroot left, runner beans are doing well and the sweetcorn cobs are just about  to be ready and there are plenty of leeks too. In the greenhouse the one remaining cucumber plant made a miraculous recovery with the cooler weather before this week and is looking hopeful. Plenty of tomatoes still coming and even one courgette plant has started producing again.

 I saved some fuel yesterday by not going to look at the last of 2023's Domestic and Rural Bygones Sale  at Campsea Ashe Auctions. After looking online and finding this sale was mainly 'leftovers' from an antique dealer and nothing very interesting it wasn't worth the journey although  I liked the description - 

To include from the estate of antiques dealers Richard & Miranda Goodbrey 'A Collection of Chattles from their Home, Workshops & Storerooms'

We don't use that word chattles very often nowadays. In Suffolk (maybe elsewhere too) we have a word for food left on the plate by children - 'chates' which surely must come from the same root.

I'm saving more diesel (and parking fees) today by not going to Ipswich to visit any of the buildings open especially for National Heritage Open Days. Not because I don't want to, as there are several I'd like to see inside, but walking round town in predicted temps of 29℃ doesn't really appeal. There's always next year - God willing!

On Thursday it was good to have a visit from Essex friends who I've not seen for 4 years. Before Colin died we visited them or they came to us several times a year and camped on the campsite in several summers. They are about to become Grandparents for the first time so I was able to pass on some of the baby toys that all my lot have grown out of. 

They kindly brought me some huge onions and a jar of A's proper home made marmalade and went home with some leeks as well as the toys.

So that was week one of Low Spend September.

Did anybody watch the Cycling Tour of Britain passing through my part of Suffolk on TV on Thursday? It was quite interesting to see the roads and  places I know so well from the air.

 I've gone to watch them speeding by twice in past years, when they've had a stage in Suffolk, once in Friston near the smallholding and more recently through Eye just up the road from here  so didn't bother this year. They are always gone by in a flash anyway!

I'm looking forward to World Cup Rugby Union matches on TV for the next few weeks. Is it really 20 years since England won? They have no hope this year!

Back Monday.

Sue

End of April Round-Up of Ins, Outs and Frugal Bits

After the huge expenses of  March, April was slightly better.....thank goodness.

One year after moving in I've finished garden expenses by buying an automatic window opener for the greenhouse and some special fixings that attach inside the greenhouse to keep the tomato etc canes upright. Finding another water-butt for £12 from the boot sale last Sunday was the very last thing needed. 

On Monday Brother-in-Law came to fit two water butts, the filter kit on the house down pipe and the greenhouse automatic window opener BUT the window opener just wouldn't fit properly - despite being from the greenhouse company. The instructions were impossible and although it's on - it isn't working so will have to come off again. Then he found he'd got a fixing thing missing from his drill so couldn't make the hole in the water butt off the down-pipe. I've got to make a level place out the front for the remaining water butt then he'll come back and do both. 

 

Other expenses................As usual there were the normal direct debits of Council Tax, phones/broadband and charity and the 4 weekly electric bill (paid right at the start of the month before prices went up, so I'll get a shock in a few days time when I send the next meter reading). I paid the house insurance, taking off the emergency call out bit that I'd paid last year when I moved in. The cost hadn't gone up - which must be a rare thing nowadays.

 

The TV licence was due and food spending was more than usual because I took my family out for a pub carvery lunch on Easter Sunday. I can't do all the things to help them that we would have done if Colin had still been alive but I can treat us all to a meal out all together.

 

I filled up the car twice - the second time was after there had been no diesel/petrol anywhere for a week. I rang the garage up the road each day until they had a delivery and I was able to nip up there to fill up. It was the same problem for Youngest Daughter over by the Suffolk coast where their one garage put a limit on how much people could get. Yet Eldest Daughter in Surrey had no problem getting fuel before driving up here at Easter. I also bought a tyre pressure gauge after having the tyre pressure warning light come on again - which I thought rather odd considering they were 4 new tyres and they all looked OK anyway. Turned out to be a loose valve - yes I had to run the car round to my mates at the repair place Again. Tom, the bosses' comment when I turn up is usually " she's broken it again!"

 

My personal spending was more than usual because of  the subs for my village WI. For some reason and I didn't inquire why, this year the committee decided to subsidized the amount so we've paid £34 instead of £44. Some of this goes to the National WI Office and some to regional Federation - we are Suffolk East - and the remainder stays with our own WI. Being a dual member at Bacton WI, the amount I pay there (half) all stays with Bacton. Then the big spend of the decorative plates and a couple of second-hand books and a haircut (They've put their prices up again too)

There was some nice bits of extra income thanks to my Daughter in law, she took photos and advertised on the local Facebook page, 4 things from the garage that had come with me here but I'd found I didn't need. People picked up from me and all paid up properly. A box of books went off to Ziffit too. Otherwise it was just the two pensions.

Frugal things?

• A bag of 'wonky' peppers, all red and orange, were £1.49 for 7. I sliced them up and froze them. Should last several weeks.
• Two bags of 'wonky apples' were just 59p for 5 which is half the price of the other apples I wish they had this discounted fruit and veg all the time.....but they don't.
  
• Craft things from car-boot sales for grandchildren.
• Brand new cushion pad £1.50 from charity shop
• Roll of children's birthday wrapping paper for 50p ditto
• Christmas crackers for £1 from boot sale
• Birthday cards for 20p each ditto
• Didn't use the tumble dryer all month
• No lights needed mornings and hardly any in the evenings now.
• Heating on less often because of the mild days mid month
• Pulled 3 stalks of rhubarb from the garden as they were growing over the young gooseberry bush and used for rhubarb fool (haven't pulled more as I want the plant to get well established this year)
• Always mixing whole milk half and half with water
  
• Reading library books for free
• Remembered to cancel Ancestry subscription after the two weeks free so I didn't pay anything.
• Home made bread

Looking forward to May one thing is a definite .....2022 May spending will be a LOT less than 2021, the month I moved in here - that was a very expensive month.

There will be all the usual things but other than those I think the only other expense due is car breakdown cover.

There are a few events that I'd like to go to in May but I already have my ticket to the Suffolk Show at the end of the month and that's the most expensive outing.

 

Have a good weekend - another Bank Holiday Monday - too soon after Easter it seems this year.

Back Monday

Sue

This Week and Coping With Price Rises

Thank you everyone for comments on Thursday when two posts got published by mistake and Big apologies for not replying..

 I was so pleased that my spotting of a Reed Bunting was confirmed and others had had them in their gardens too. Maybe the very cold winds we had brought them into sheltered gardens - Mid Suffolk is not well known for it's reed beds, so no idea where they would normally be in the area. I'd been thinking that buying the bird feeders had been a waste of money but now I shall persevere...... just in a small way, as it can be a very expensive hobby.

 

Which leads me onto talking about the way prices of everything are going up by the minute. Being old enough to remember the same sort of thing happening in the past means it's not such a shock and as far as I know there are just two ways to cope with any price rise crisis........... either you have to earn more or spend less (guess you could rob a bank and then get free board and lodgings for a few years but probably not a good plan).

 

Our way through all the various spells of rapidly increasing prices in the past was to spend less as I'm basically lazy so working more to earn more has never appealed.

The best thing to do is to make a list of everything that money is spent on each month and then look at each area in turn work out a way to spend less.

The Money Saving Expert website  is a good place to start. I wrote a list HERE   of my outgoings in January 2019. Since that list moving has really helped to cut some expenses - even if during the actually moving process I began to wonder! 

(and I'm now planning an alteration to the bungalow that will take a chunk of the downsizing money but will save in the long term)

It's the fuel prices at the pumps that have been immediately  noticeable for me....... I took a short detour on my way home during the week to fill up with diesel where I thought is was still cheaper but that had gone up too, otherwise there is only one garage within 5 miles - not a lot of choice.

Better stay at home then ......which I mostly have done because I wanted to save fuel for an adventure today.......and it's not a boot sale!

So it's been a quiet week - not much to write about - and that's the second quiet week but next week there's something in the diary almost every day. Unfortunately the first of those is a dentist visit - just a check up - but he's sure to do X-rays and find something. When I had all the appointments last year he said that several of my old fillings will need replacing sometime.

This week I'm grateful for

• Living in a peaceful country (it's not looking any better for Ukraine - just heartbreaking)
• Wonderful Spring sunshine
• The seedlings are still alive
• Being able to choose what to watch on TV and what to read
• The magnificent  Magnolia

    

Hope you have a good weekend, clocks changing ready for Sunday and forecast for next week is cooler.

Back Monday

Sue

 

Comparison Shopping is Such Fun!

 It was interesting to do the Aldi/Morrisons comparison last month, in fact so much fun that I thought I would do it again!

Aldi and Asda in Stowmarket this time. And I was so right about February's food spending being amazingly low as by the time I'd shopped at both (Asda had things I needed that Aldi don't stock) I'd spent ⅔ of what I spent in the whole of February! But hopefully I now don't need to shop for much other than fresh stuff for the rest  of this month.🤞.......I always think this fingers crossed emoji looks a bit like a chicken drumstick!

This time I've  failed at writing all the Asda comparison prices down - Duh. Can't remember who the youtuber was (he got mentioned last time I did this) who does this sort of thing for a living - but he obviously has more patience than me!

This is most of the Aldi shop - I didn't photograph what I got from Asda as I was in a hurry to get everything put away so I could have my lunch.

 

 

I've not worked it out completely nor listed everything this month. There was some stuff from Asda that Aldi don't have(or I didn't find or forgot to look for).

Aldi                                                   compared with                     Asda

650g Chicken Breast    £3.49                                                 1kg = £5.35

Tin Corned Beef           £1.79                                                           £2.00

Frothy Coffee Sachets  £0.79                                      Nescafe        £1.50

Soft 'marge' for cakes* £0.75                                     Stork              £1.50

Pasta                             £0.29                                                           £0.29

Bread Flour                  £0.59                                                                ?

Yeast                            £0.59                                                             £0.79

Hot X Buns*                £0.89                                                               ?

Bread Burger Rolls(4)  £0.75                                                      (6) £0.99

Tortilla Chips               £0.45                                                                ?

Pringles*                      £1.65                              35g bigger            £2.00

Distilled Vinegar          £0.29                                   Sarsons             £1.24

Ex-Mature cheese         £1.79                                                            £2.00

Milk  2pt                       £0.95                                                            £0.95    

2   Bananas*                 £0.28                       1kg         £0.95            £0.25p

500g Carrots                 £0.27                      1kg         £0.43              £0.21

Sm. Potatoes500g        £0.62                      1kg         £0.85               £0.42

Aubergine                     £0.69                                                            £0.69

Cucumber                     £0.43                                                            £0.45

Braeburn Apples           £1.19                                                           £0.99

Lettuce *                       £0.43                                                           £0.46

*Haven't tried Aldis own make of cake making "marge" before - I'll see how it compares to Stork - which makes excellent sponge cakes.

*I know it's not Easter! but these are handy to keep in the Freezer - they fill a hungry Grandchild better than anything else .

*Pringles ....Tut -although  I do eat them as part of a meal and a tube lasts me quite a while.

*Bananas. Priced individually in Aldi and have gone up 1p each since last month.

*Iceberg lettuce- not my favourite lettuce in the  world but they are much cheaper than anything else and weight for weight are a bargain.

 Also from Aldi I bought another veggie frozen "thing" to try - (future taste test post), 

From Asda I  bought some smoked Mackerel fillets (forgot to look for these in Aldi) and some small Frozen salmon steaks, a 3kg bag of Allinsons Strong Bread flour as I've found the Aldi bread flour is best mixed with something of better quality to get a good loaf from my breadmaker, cooking chocolate and fajita seasoning which I couldn't find in Aldi. Small plum tomatoes too as I missed them in Aldi. 

Asda also have the Nescafe decaf frothy coffee sachets not available in Aldi. One thing I noticed had shot up in price was a jar of Hellmans Mayo - I tried Aldi own brand a while ago and it wasn't nice at all so reverted back to the best. I don't use it often (warm pasta salads, egg mayo sandwich) so the great ol' jar of 800g will last me months and it will need to at the shocking price of £3.29! ......looked it up later and it would have been cheaper at Morrisons ..........ho hum.

 

March Meals........................There are still several things from the pre-Christmas stash and February's shop in the freezer. I started off the month by making a quiche again, which provides me with 4 meals that don't seem repetitive if served with something different each day.The aubergine is going to make a batch of aubergine and tomato sauce for pasta(probably 4 portions); Mackerel fillets (2) also going with pasta in a warm pasta salad. The Chicken breasts have been halved and frozen making 6 meals - in tortilla wraps for one and others I've not decided on yet. ( I may go back to jointing and freezing a whole fresh chicken next time I need chicken meat - probably June shop)

 

The results of  this months comparison are not as clear cut as last months Aldi/Morrisons test. Several things in Asda work out cheaper than Aldi whereas last month Morrisons was more expensive nearly all the time (although Asda often only have larger packs for a family rather than a single person). 

 

All jolly good fun............... what shall I compare next month?

 

Back Tomorrow

Sue                                                      

That Keeping Warm and Saving Energy List

In the news was Ovo Energy electricity company who had linked to a website with ideas for saving electric and keeping warm. People were HORRIFIED and DISGUSTED!  How dare Ovo mock people who were struggling to pay the ever rising fuel bills?

I only heard about this on Radio 4 Today programme and they LOVE a rant about anything and then Elaine on Random Jottings listed the ideas on her blog and had a rant about them too but to me most just seemed like the ideas that have always been around to save electric for people who prefer to spend their money on things more interesting than electric bills. It was just the two last ideas that I thought daft.............

Cuddle your pet - Obviously not if it's a goldfish but I know someone who often sat with a cat on her lap and said it kept her nice and warm  

Cuddle your children -won't work with teenagers but cuddle a baby if you have one handy and you soon warm up 

Leave your oven door open after cooking. Not if it's at ground level and a child might crawl in - obviously. But I do this with my small oven at eye level as it makes the fan stop running more quickly - saving electric  and adding a bit of warmth to my otherwise unheated kitchen.  

Wear an extra jumper - An obvious idea for anyone over 50 but 30 year olds have never lived with price rises like there were in the 70's, so maybe they need telling.

Do star jumps to warm yourself up NOT one of their best ideas if you are my age or have bad knees,hips, etc!

Go to the gym.Well that's more expensive than using electric at home! so a weird idea but when I worked in a library in the 70's there were lots of people who would come in for a few hours for a bit of free warmth  and a free read of the paper. 

 

So I'm not horrified or disgusted by this list, which Ovo were forced to delete apparently. 

 

Back Tomorrow

Sue

 

The End of September Finances - Ins, Outs and Frugal Bits

What a gloomy day yesterday was here in Suffolk. I think the rest of the country had decent weather but Norfolk and Suffolk got drizzle and then really heavy rain and back to drizzle again. I went and got a proper hair cut, picked up my tablets from the surgery and had a stroke of luck..... no queue, which meant I avoided getting too wet but what on earth are they going to do when the weather gets really bad. Making very elderly people queue outside to collect their prescription medications will end up killing them off! I know they do some deliveries but lots of older people like the little bit of independence .

 Anyway it's the end of September so..................

The  usual monthly income - County Council Spouses Pensions, interest from savings plus £50 for the sale of the Fruit Cage and all of a £1.50 Tesco voucher!.

The usual outgoings....Direct Debits for Council Tax, Car Breakdown, Phones and Charity - all the same each month. Plus........The electric bill finally  arrived, three weeks later than last year so it was a bit more and I bought a new gas cylinder for the cooker = £37 - they've stayed the same price since I had the LPG cooker installed 3 years ago

 

More diesel used this month now that I'm driving more to swimming, boot sales and across to the coast to visit or look after Eldest Granddaughter,  diesel spending not quite back to pre-lockdown but nearly.

 

 Decided to "allow" myself one new book a month if there was no sign of the library getting a copy, this month it was a second-hand copy of one of the British Library Crime Classics.

 

Food for me and stocked up on more cat food than usual as some was on offer. Few bits for the first aid drawer and the bathroom cupboard. I spent £20 on compost, Heathers and some allium bulbs for the garden and I bought the local paper a couple of times and a new puzzle book.

And finally after 6 months I had a proper hair cut which I really REALLY needed.

 

                                                         

 

Frugal Bits

The only fruit bought  all month were the 3 mangoes for the Mango Chutney. I ate pears and apples from the garden

Only money spent on vegetables was a few pence for carrots and £1 for a bag of stir-fry bits including bean-sprouts to make a change from my usual pepper/carrot/onion combo (the bag did 3 meals)

Home made bread all month

Cold water caught before the hot appears - to use elsewhere

Milk mixed half and half with water

Boiler not used for 2 weeks when it went wrong! (luckily the water got heated by the solar thermal panel and the weather was still good.)

Reading library books for free

2 DVDs borrowed from library for free (they go back to charging for them and overdue books in October)

One Pensioners Fish and Chips meal when picking up prescription meds from next village.

A pensioners discount on haircut too because of going on a Tuesday

No clothes, shoes, make-up, perfume etc etc etc

A bundle of Puzzle pages out of the local paper from my sister.

Cheap swimming using my prepayment discount card - which from Oct 1st the company have now withdrawn - and, because of now having to book and pay online,  they've not worked out a way to refund the unused portion which means they have £15 of my money! Everyone Active run over 180 leisure centres around the country so there must be quite a lot of people owed money and with so little money coming in because of the limitations on numbers, I wonder if I'll get my money back

Plans for October

The bill will arrive for the boiler repair/service and I'd better organise the chimney to be swept. 

There shouldn't be too many big expenses - hopefully, and after all the recent rain there might not be any small at-the-car-boot spending either as the site could well be water-logged.

 

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Running Short of Clothes

Thanks for comments about the second vaccination yesterday. The lady said a lot of people have had more side effects after the second. By chance DiL's appointment was cancelled so if I feel grotty today I can stay at "home" and if I don't I can go and visit them anyway.

************

  I didn't know most of my clothes were going to be in store for 9+ weeks so didn't bring everything on my journeys around holiday lets.

Luckily the weather has been chilly most of the time so it's been OK for the few pairs of leggings I packed but wearing, washing, wearing, washing has made the elastic go a bit baggy(they were many years old already!)........and guess where my sewing box is? Yep in storage - all except this little sewing kit which happened to get chucked into a bag with lots of other things from my coffee table drawer.

I didn't want to pay full price for sewing things from the Sewing shop in town because I've got enough already so I searched the charity shops and found a reel of black cotton for 50p and the stall on the market had elastic by the metre so I spent 32p there.

I'll turn the waistband over and thread new elastic through and mend some tiny holes that have appeared.

Saved me buying some new leggings.  I like Make Do and Mend!

Back Sometime

Sue

 

 

Eco Thrifty Living?

A lady called Zoe Morrison got a mention on a TV programme last Thursday evening "Going Green: Saving Money." They said she was a blogger so I investigated and found........

The Eco Thrifty Living blog was started in 2011 when Zoe wanted to quit her job and be a stay at home mum. She needed to work out ways to spend less, but wanted to be eco-friendly too which can often be more expensive. It took her a year to work out how to save enough money in eco-friendly ways to be able to afford to quit her job. Ever since then she has continued to pursue her passion.


She also has a book............Eco Thrifty Living - 

 Linked to her website she is running "2021 - The Eco-Thrifty Challenge year". It says........

Now it’s your turn. I am starting up a private members group where I set you a challenge each month for a year, a bit like my year of eco challenges. However those challenges will be focused on spending less and becoming more eco friendly. Some of those challenges will be specific to the group and at times we will be joining in with wider campaigns e.g. Plastic Free July. At times there will also be bonus challenges along the way.

All sounds very good..........I read on ........until I got to this bit............

 As I said you can join in with January 2021’s challenge for free. Thereafter, it will be £30 a month. There is also a money back guarantee – if you don’t feel you are benefitting after your first paid month, get your money back, no questions asked.

 £30 a Month!!!

Well, I really hope people who sign up find it worthwhile but it seems an expensive way to find out about eco-thrifty living! 

. 

Back Tomorrow

Sue

End of November Round-up

  Phew...........what an 'interesting' month.  I decided to move and within a week  the house was photographed and ready for selling and went live on Rightmove on the Thursday afternoon............the wonders of modern technology.

 I showed round 2 couples on the Friday, 4 on Saturday and 1 early Monday morning and later that morning the Estate Agent rang with offers. One family were ready to complete and move in as soon as solicitors could do the work, they had sold their house and were preparing to move in with parents until they found something suitable  and that's what they'll do until they can move in here. They offered the full amount which I accepted (and  they are  Suffolk people with young children and I hoped for a family for this house as it hasn't had one for a very long time)

In 40 + years of selling  and moving I've never had anything happen so quickly - it's good but seems much too easy...............makes me nervous! Although they've been for another look and still seemed keen.

And having decided against the new-build on a new estate I now need to find something to buy when almost nothing is for sale in any of the 4 villages I would like to live in........... could be a problem or maybe I'll rent and  be right ready to buy when something turns up. Although renting probably means going back into a town for a while.

No Spend November has ended, the lock-down certainly helped because I didn't go far and unlike the March-July lock down I didn't go  spending online either!

So how did it go?

 

 

 

1st.        No Spend

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

3rd         No Spend

4th        Swimming £2.25 + Birthday Gift for Youngest daughter

5th         No Spend 

6th        No Spend

7th          No Spend

8th         No Spend

9th        No spend

10th       Food £18 + Cat £5 + Kitchen stuff £2.50 + Pharmacy £3.80  Christmas bits £3.50  = £32

11th        No Spend 

12th        Whoops forgot I'd pre-ordered a book published today from up the amazon £8

13th       No Spend

14th        Fruit, Veg and Yellow sticker pizzas + Flowers  £11

15th      The cat calming stuff for Polly which I have on a 3 times a year regular order £34

16th      No Spend

17th      No Spend

18th       No Spend

19th       No Spend

20th     No Spend

21st      Food  £26    Cat £3.75   Superdrug £1.50 = £32

22nd     No Spend

23rd     No Spend 

24th     Pensioners discount Fish and Chips £3.50.Diesel £24 = £27.50

25th      No Spend

26th      No Spend

27th      Online Xmas gift spending £13

28th     Fruit £2.50, Quarterly Electric Bill £94 (actual reading) much as last year.

29th      SWIMMING BOOKED FOR NEXT WEEK!!!!! £2.25

30th     Today will be a no spend..... as far as I know

 Add in Direct Debits for Council Tax, Phones, Car Breakdown Insurance,Charity Donations plus Birthday gift and Xmas presents. Making a total of  roughly just under £650   .......Not exactly a "No Spend" month but not bad.

   

December probable spending - A LOT - with the trees being cut down, chimney sweep,car insurance due. Christmas Gifts for children and their OH's and some Christmas food. But I solved the problem of what to buy BiL - we decided not to bother! He buys anything he needs himself anyway and I've got my 12   actually 7  Christmas treats for the 12  7 days of Christmas so we are both happy with that arrangement.

 

Still clearing out - now for a definite reason!

Lots of burnable bits - a box full of straw(?), hardboard etc- from the workshop went on the bonfire

A crate full of various containers of oil etc - BiL took them home to sort out for me

Lots of things including an out of date hard-hat ( yes Colin had one from somewhere that had a safety use by date on it) went into a heap ready for the tip-trip

Small bits of old electrical wires and switches into bin

Several books waiting for charity shops to open. 

Old sheets and duvet - once used for dust sheets - off to clothes/fabric bank at tip

Half the jam jars that I'd been keeping went off to bottle bank

Bundle of childrens Christmas books to youngest Granddaughter

 

Frugal Living tips are the same as every other month

 

Back Tomorrow

Sue