Saving Money in the New Year

Happy New Year to all my readers.

After all the celebrating was over OH and I again came down with the lurgy.  I feel a bit better myself today but OH has again had to go to bed early with the lemsip drink to help him sleep.  To be honest he is in the best place as we have not had the fire on today and the temperature is dropping rapidly so I also have come to bed to keep warm and cosy.

Pic of my side of the bedroom.

10 mins of having the electric blanket on is much cheaper than having the fire on for hours so saving us money.  

This week the AA renewal for OH's car is due but instead of paying for full cover at £142, we decided to just get breakdown cover as we haven't used AA in the last 3 years and this vehicle is no longer used for long journeys.  If I stayed with them we get to keep other benefits earned over the past years but saved ourselves £80.

An updated freezer inventory was done and I have been menu planning with what we have.  Since Christmas I have only spent £14 topping up milk, bread, cat food, vegetables and other items.  If we lived closer to a town I could have spent less than this but it would cost £10 in diesel to go shopping so I have brought in the village which is more expensive i.e. 2 litres of milk is £1.49.  

Son won £25 on a lottery ticket and put his winnings onto the electric meter for me so covering nearly half of the cost this month.  We only have electric and although I could get it cheaper if the meter was changed and we paid by direct debit, because of the erratic nature of our income,  it is easier to keep topping up this way.

I was given an Amazon voucher at Christmas so I brought two second hand books, this one I am currently reading for the bookclub and it is gripping me.

I also brought a new diary as I cannot function without one.  I am a bit fussy about which one I buy as I need plenty of room to write inside, not just for appointments and Birthdays but budgeting and bill dates too and I also want it to look pretty. I discovered Santoro London diaries a few years ago and most were selling for £8.50 except for this one which was £4.49.  I don't know why it was cheaper but I really like it and I still have a few pounds left.


All meals have been made from scratch and nothing wasted.  Some parsnips that were hanging about in the veg rack were blanched and frozen.  I even ate a yoguet yesterday that I found lurking at the back of the fridge dated 23rd December.  I dipped my finger in it to test it first and it tasted ok and i have had no after effects!

I was given a few old newspapers to use in the catbox and on the fire so saving me buying some at a cost of approx £2.  We do not get any free papers delivered here.

Packaging from an Amazon delivery was also kept to use on the fire.

The washing pile is up to date and all dried on the hanging rack downstairs and the clothes horse upstairs.  Only essential ironing is done in our house and I have 3 items to do tomorrow.

Think thats all for now because I am going to snuggle down and finish reading my book.  Sorry the light was not very good for taking photos.

Terri X


Comments

  1. Happy New Year to you all! Hope everyone gets better soon. xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hope you are both feeling better soon, there seems to be a variety of bugs going around at the moment. Such a good idea to use the electric blanket for heat.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You do so well with your economizing Terri, I. should definately take a few tips from you, very helpful. Hope you are all feeling lots better. Woo xx

    ReplyDelete

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