Friendship and Falling Leaves, Frugal Autumn Continued

[Wolfcub]

New fred

Ginger slow cookers are great I did a ham in mine on thurs & shredded it, had it in carbonara that night & toasted sandwich yesterday and there's enough for probably another massive portion.

I’m fine just busy with birthday season and interview prep

Scottish Power say my new electricity costs are £2 extra a week! Is that it? Crikey! I'm on a standard variable tariff

Prepayment meters being more expensive is definitely a myth isn't it!!

No idea what I was expecting tbh but all the Martin Lewis stuff was so dramatic and scary I thought we were all doomed.

Martin Lewis was correct, it was looking very bleak and then the government stepped in and capped it.

Prepayment meters are more expensive, its not a myth.

Ah ok it's probably not going to be that useful for us as we bulk buy cleaning spray etc and don't have a dishwasher. Was hoping it would be laundry stuff. Ah well!

Morning all beautiful autumn sunshine here today! Off to an orchard this afternoon and they sell apples really cheap and homemade cider that's more like moonshine it knocks your socks off so lots of apple crumbles in the next few weeks I think. Apparently you can do it in the slow cooker. We very rarely put the oven on now.

Our rate isn't changing as we are on a fix which is slightly higher than the cap I believe (34p and 10p) but it's an eco company so apparently exempt from the cap. We didn't know this when we signed up. Currently pay £300 a month. We are using around £170 a month at the moment and I looked back and that's what we used in Jan 2022 😱 so basically our old winter bill is our new summer bill. We have a good amount of credit on the energy account but I can see us rattling through that in about 10 mins come winter!

Tried the double spin trick this morning on the laundry it does seem alot drier. Got it on the line will finish in tumbler later.

DH dropping hints he wants a takeaway this evening but I'm going to rustle something out the freezer or a supermarket takeaway. We've cut down from weekly takeaway £30 😱 to every 6 weeks or so.

Happy Saturday all. And pinch and a punch for the first of the month does anyone else do that?!

That's a great idea!
Cheers

Hello all. Theatre was brilliant last night, and The Bridge is so well-designed that even the cheap seats have great views. And comfortable seating - some of those sweet old Victorian theatres are a real endurance test. I must be getting old.

FT day today. Tomorrow will be busy with chores and errands, so I am having a pottering at home day today, including making a ginger cake. I have some stem ginger and black treacle to use up. Chicken wings and baked potatoes for dinner, will bake the cake at the same time, in a nod to frugality.

Lots of bills this month, and because of payment timings, October is going to run looonnng. But, come November, I should be on more solid ground and be able to set a steadier course. I seem to have been saying that to myself the whole year, and I don't know if it's just to keep my spirits up!

Thats interesting about the Eco company @Decafflatteplease
I had a squiz at the coming weather and in the SE its 18 today.😎
The temperature isnt going to be too bad until December when temps really drop so fingers crossed for that.
We are holding off the heating until then.

£66 has been credited to my Bulb account 🙂

Me to snore

£325 vet bill yesterday for the big dog. Said goodbye to the little dog, her bill should be under £300.

Today we visited FIL, he’s almost 90 and feeling it now. I spent £5-ish on coffees etc in the morning and £8-ish on dinner coming home. Not sure how much petrol we’re using, Somerset to London and back 🤦‍♀️

@AdoraBell
Very sorry to hear about little Dog.
Sending virtual hug.

Not really sure what this means?

Oh -me too?
Sorry 😂

Collie re Christmas, all I've done so far is 8 jars of jam, I need to get some Christmas jam pot cloths, labels and ribbons. My talents (or lack of) end there!

Decaffe i dont think it's that useful either really. We only use the dishwasher tablets out of that range. I re-read my post and thought OMG I sound excited about a free cleaning product ha ha. All I'm doing at the moment is saving and working!

We have also had the central heating on, twice, due to washing. Need to turn the downstairs ones off tomorrow.

£11 ice-skating (planned)
£7 food at ice rink (DD spending my money on hot choc and cake!)
£14.87 The Range for a birthday present.
£30 fuel (planned)

Last min invite to DMs with siblings. She treated us to an Indian takeaway, so a free supper which was lovely.

Like a lot of people, worried about the fuel bill. Got a huge delivery of logs coming tomorrow. Temps have gone up here too. 15° today so that's helpful in resisting the heating!

Sorry likely missed bits, have a nice weekend 😊

Hi all,
Fancy a new frugaleer? Been following some of these threads and decided to jump in. I do need to catch up on this one, but want to say @AdoraBell I'm really sorry about your dog. It's like losing a member of the family. Sending a virtual hug your way.

We've had a low key day. DH did the food shop and added some things that were on offer so spent about £120.
£15 on petrol for my car
Took DD to the library - she took out about 18 (!!) books plus a game, and I grabbed a new release book I've been wanting to read that I was going to request for Christmas so I was thrilled about that. We are very lucky to have some great libraries close by.
The oven went on to make dinner so made cupcakes with DD and a Becky Excell chocolate loaf cake to utilise the oven. Very, very pleased with my gluten and dairy free cake 😁 I'll probably make some more soon and slice up to have some stashed in the freezer.
Hope everyone is having a fun, frugal day!

My work has improved sightly @kessiebird now I have got my head around what I need to do.. foodshop and 2 new duvets from B&M Mr Fear kindly paid for those! @ancientgran I was the same last week too! We had yo go back up north for family reasons and I ended up missing of here for a week and 100 on my credit card out of budget. So I too am trying to start again for October. Anyone been told what the prepayment increase for SSE is? Hope you are all ok !

Free Dog walks, PGCE work and blankets this end!

Hi, dropped off the thread with DS being so unwell but glad to report he's pretty much better now other than lingering cough. Which is actually amazing when I think about how seriously unwell he was just a week ago in hospital. Babies and young children are so amazingly resilient.

Today was £££££ for us as a family but DH paid for it all on his credit card (don't worry, paid off IN FULL. each month as per Martin Lewis!). Lots of shopping basically. Plus MacFlurries...

Frugal news of today though - did get some good shoes and clothes for DD from Sports Direct which were pretty decently priced. Obviously not an Ashley fan but needs must...also reconfirmed both kids' TCF + DD's 30hrs childcare and got them both approved basically instantly so that's sorted until January now too. Also sent across my first invoice for one of my new jobs. It's sort of self-employed, it's complicated. I struggle with maths and good job I got DH to check my timesheets of hours because otherwise I was going to invoice them for an entire day's less of work. How on earth I did that, I have no idea, but luckily he helped me sort it. I need to scan my receipts for my expenses claim for my other job and then I can send them my September timesheet and claims through for that too.

Adora So sorry for your loss of little dog, thinking of you.

We've had the heating on loads already the last couple of weeks. I hate it but I really feel the cold and I would just get on with it if it were just me and DH, but I worry about the kids getting cold. I mostly have the thermostat set to 21downstairs now when they are at home (except for overnight obviously). We are definitely worried about energy bills 😫our direct debit with Bulb is now £225 a month!

Adora ❤️

Always happy to have new frugaleers rattle, welcome

my oven will e on again today for a roast dinner for ds birthday. On for cakes yesterday, I’m not showing as it was more extra slice than bake off

Morning.

So sorry to hear about little dog Adora, what a week you've had, you must be reeling.

Nice to have you on board Rattle, it's a friendly place, and chatty! 18 books 🤣.

Was supposed to run with a mate today but, rarely for me, I've got a niggle, which is a bit more than a niggle, so have cancelled. Bit gutted as was looking forward to it but hey ho.

Jobs to do and going to listen to the marathon and cook/bake.

Not sure the Lidl offers are as good as before here either.

Very quiet and low spend weekend here.

Adora I'm so sorry about littledog

Welcome Rattle

Glad ds is improving Weight

Heating not on here yet but it is feeling quite cold inside. Fake oodies are out and fleece blankets are on beds. Washing is drying on the heated airer which is also in the living room instead of hidden away to take the chill off the air.

Super spendy September prepping for birthdays, house stuff following the completion of insurance works, car insurance etc, burned through a good chunk of savings money in the process some planned and some not. I did manage to knock 120 off my renewal quote by shopping around (could have knocked more off but I value decent cover). However that 120 basically brings me in at the same as last year's cost. I have a few things for Christmas stashed away now but need three main presents so need to work out what those will be. Also yet more outlay coming for DofE stuff Le sigh!

Meters have been read, meat is mostly off the
Menu much to ds's disgust.

So sorry for your loss Adora
welcome rustle
nsd yesterday
new front door was finally fitted a few days ago the plasterer was due to come back to the plaster the porch according to dh who made the arrangement but didn’t and he hasn’t responded to my text as to when he was coming as he only has the old door key.

found a massive crack in the wall he’s just done so wanted to discuss that face to face rather than by text and now the window has leaked wetting a corner of the new plaster not where the crack is

the windows are less than 2 years old and dh has checked and the seal outside the frame is rubbish hence it leaking when we had awful rain on Friday the window company were a nightmare to get hold of to arrange fitting kept arranging dates then not turning up so he’s going to get something today to fix it himself so I am naffed off with all of it at the moment it’s one thing after another