Cost of living crisis

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All I seem to do is saw wood and shift wood . Last couple of days I've just been stacking big bits of wood in the dry ...not as leisurely a pursuit as I hoped it would be ! 😀 I'm knackered already and still got many sacks to process .

I'm ducking the autumn cold by going to bed early . Working quite hard so sleepytime is a treat 😉 I had an hour of heat on this morning to get moving , nearly folded and had a hot water bath too , but reined myself in for a cold water scrub down . Must have saved 95% of my summer heating budget and about 80% off my hot water . Forecast is still pretty mild as well , I'm hanging on with no heating for a while yet .

Once the cold weather bites , there's no guarantee my lungs will even work that well , so I'm rushing all my winters chores now . The idea is I only have to swing an axe and fill bags on my doorstep for months . If it gets really bad out I'll 'go nights' for a few weeks , run the fire through the night and sleep in the day .
 
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Hunga Munga said:
All I seem to do is saw wood and shift wood . Last couple of days I've just been stacking big bits of wood in the dry ...not as leisurely a pursuit as I hoped it would be ! 😀 I'm knackered already and still got many sacks to process .

I'm ducking the autumn cold by going to bed early . Working quite hard so sleepytime is a treat 😉 I had an hour of heat on this morning to get moving , nearly folded and had a hot water bath too , but reined myself in for a cold water scrub down . Must have saved 95% of my summer heating budget and about 80% off my hot water . Forecast is still pretty mild as well , I'm hanging on with no heating for a while yet .

Once the cold weather bites , there's no guarantee my lungs will even work that well , so I'm rushing all my winters chores now . The idea is I only have to swing an axe and fill bags on my doorstep for months . If it gets really bad out I'll 'go nights' for a few weeks , run the fire through the night and sleep in the day .
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It's already so cold, I work outside a lot for my job and mostly it's okay because it involves some manual labour so that keeps me warm. But on one day I was doing the filling out sheets part on site and my hands were going blue 😂
 
nightshade
nightshade
Fingerless gloves are great, can still write easily with them
It's glove season . 😀 I can barely hold down a pair myself . Should attach them to my coat like a child . Had my eye on those neoprene numbers with the little peekaboo fingers but my track record with glove ownership is so bad ...may as well just throw the money out the window and wear socks on my hands 😛 .

Still living the low cost foodlife . Been sampling the Just Essentials range this week
Causing quite a stir in the UK market . Budget ranges aren't new but the pandemic pretty much decimated the selection . So Asda are at the forefront rebooting their economy brand for a new challenge .

Had the 68p family size frozen strawberry cheesecake 😛 . It was alright considering .
 
WARNING:

Just got back from Safeway self checkout. It claimed items didn't register but were put on it. Two said the system was new and had a hard time with it themselves, and said that it glitched a lot.

A defining feature is that it took a visual recording from above, which supposedly helped them to find what didn't scan right, though since they said it was a glitch, I'm not sure how.

I had to hurry back so I didn't check the receipt until I got home...and then did so twice with a calculator. I got double-charged for every item it said I didn't scanned. I'm going to keep that receipt on me so I remember.

DO NOT TRUST THIS NEW SYSTEM, CHECK RECEIPT THEN AND THERE, whether it's Safeway or elsewhere. (Though I expect the employees aren't aware of it yet, either. It would be foolish for those high up enough and/or those who "upgraded" it to tell them.)
 
So my electric is going to halve for 6 months ? Maybe ? But they can't tell me the details for a month 😉 . Peekaboo idiots 🙄 . What business needs is the same as households , a couple of years where you can plan around it . This is just delaying the inevitable .

A winters help still helps though . I can work , make a profit , maybe eat a few foods that cost more than a pound 😀 .Should be able to coast til next winter if no more help is forthcoming . Nice stopgap anyway , if nothing else .
 
I got the email saying how much mine is going up, thankfully its only 1p for the standing charge, more for usage, but I can control that.
I've used the oven twice this month, and think that'll be it, but from next month onwards I'm aiming for only one day a month for oven use.
I did try and see if I could get away with washing my hair once a week, which would cut down my shower usage, but no, twice a week is as low as I can go. Too much dry shampoo otherwise, which I don't think is healthy for my hair.

I've stopped going swimming as well, so that's a little bit more saved.
 
Not really a lot you can do when you work retail .

I tried washing my hair with cold water over the summer, but I swear , it smelt worse than doing nothing 😀
 
Hunga Munga said:
Not really a lot you can do when you work retail .

I tried washing my hair with cold water over the summer, but I swear , it smelt worse than doing nothing 😀
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There are downsides to having waist length hair.

I might watch the Martin Lewis show tonight, he's saying to do a meter reading on September 30th, so I'll have to set a reminder for it.
 
I know I'm under and overbilling either side of my six months . At 52 pence/unit , I can't not . They have no trouble overbilling us for years at a time .
 
I ripped my cheap steel toecap wellies last week so I switched to a new pair of an unfamiliar pattern . I HATE THEM 😀 . I slipped a little bit on a damp rock today and that's me done with them . I ordered a new pair of my usuals off Ebay straightaway . These new ones just aren't rugged enough .
 
I must check on my wellies, they usually live in the boot of my car, which is where they will stay for the allotment. Oh I need to find where I put the new laces for my boots too and thread those before winter as well.

I should do a check of my car, make sure I've got all the extras in it, I usually have a spare jacket, blanket and my wellies in there just in case. As well as the usual stuff like jump leads, deicer etc
 
nightshade said:
I must check on my wellies, they usually live in the boot of my car, which is where they will stay for the allotment. Oh I need to find where I put the new laces for my boots too and thread those before winter as well.

I should do a check of my car, make sure I've got all the extras in it, I usually have a spare jacket, blanket and my wellies in there just in case. As well as the usual stuff like jump leads, deicer etc
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Have you got garden tools ? There's end of season bargains out there if you know what you want .
 
Hunga Munga said:
Have you got garden tools ? There's end of season bargains out there if you know what you want .
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He's leaving his little plastic storage unit, so thankfully they won't have to live in my car as well, but I'm on the hunt for bargains, may well even visit the car boot sale and I'll post on the local free page on Facebook next month too.
 
Buy new for anything that takes a lot of abuse . Forks , spades , that sorta thing . Things like pots are ruinously expensive , greenhouses too . Yet you'll find people just giving them away to be rid of them . 😀
 
I like the idea of these videos, but it's not realistic, her $30 or 34 isn't her actual budget, there's no coffee, no milk that she puts in her coffee, no spices etc, non of the extras that she adds are included. $30 sounds great, but that's still $120 for a month and then you have to spend more on all the extras that you don't have, plus whatever else you need for the month. It's not actually that small a budget.
I went back to eating meat as it was cheaper, less ingredients needed, less processed ingredients. I do still have quite a lot veggie and vegan meals, one pot type, but I had to cut out ones that used too many pans or cooking processes, or just too many ingredients. I've gone to simple meals that I can stretch out.
I'm working on my October shopping list, everything included, and I want to keep it below £80. Yes I've stocked up on a few things this month for next, but I'll stock up on a few things next month for the month after depending on what's on offer.
 
I'm trying the 39p economy bread right now . Meh , I won't be switching to this stuff . The bread I usually buy is twice the price ...but probably twice as good too 😛 . I've downbranded everything I can now . The ones I was really dreading , eggs and teabags , were actually relatively painless . Mind you , the first I'm doing when this is done is going back to free range eggs .

I bought a bunch of tins of minced beef and onion at 65p before Asda inevitably doubled the price 😀 . A few of those are earmarked for Christmas standby food .

I still have no idea what my finances are doing over winter so I'm planning a very modest Christmas . Quality turkey burgers and good sausages out the freezer , plenty of fresh veg , nut roast and vegeburgers , some liver and black pudding for variety (prolly vegan black pudding too 😉 ) , a few emergency tins . Thinking about skipping most the booze and cake stuff . I still haven't finished the booze from last Christmas ! 😛 Just make big meals with 'edibles' cake for dessert . Half a dozen meals , a few cooked breakfasts . If by chance I get to Lidl I'll get some Xmas sweet bits but I'm not planning for it .

Doing blu rays for entertainment . Firefly , Grimm, Falling Skies , The Magicians , Killjoys . Watch a season of each and then just stream what comes free . Freevee is proving to be an excellent option for UK folk on a budget .

Usually I'm mad for boxing day cricket but this year I'm pretty much looking forward to a break from it . Been modding for a cricket radio stream and that satisfies all my cricket nerd impulses .
 
I'm going to have to buy eggs soon, my mother is getting rid of hers, so no more free eggs. However not needed yet, as I've a freezer full of baked goodies so no baking needed for a while, and I can live without eggs otherwise. There's vegan egg replacement somewhere in the cupboard too if need be.
I must remember to get some honey though ready for the inevitable winter cold. Now the paracetamol prices have come down a bit I've been stocking up on those when I go to aldi as well.
I'm hoping that the free stall does an evening one on Christmas eve like last year, got a load of stuff including a turkey crown for free.
 
Hunga Munga said:
It's glove season . 😀 I can barely hold down a pair myself . Should attach them to my coat like a child . Had my eye on those neoprene numbers with the little peekaboo fingers but my track record with glove ownership is so bad ...may as well just throw the money out the window and wear socks on my hands 😛 .
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Last winter I had 2 pairs of gloves and I lost the right glove on one pair and the left one on the other so at least I was still able to wear gloves on each hand even if they didn’t quite match 🙂
Bought a decent pair of Rab Storm gloves for this year so will be gutted if I lose these !

@nightshade Fingerless gloves are great, can still write easily with them

Unless you are a cat burglar like Ozzy before he joined Sabbath! A friend told him to wear gloves if he was going to be a burglar so he wore fingerless ones because they were more comfortable, and ended up leaving his fingerprints and getting locked up 🙂

Kendar said:
yah, i remember when juice and icecream was sold in half-gallon containers. Now it's 59oz I think?

Anytime you hear about "exciting new packaging", it's a safe bet the portion is smaller.
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Ha, the worst thing is when they say they are reducing the portion size to make it healthier but keep the price the same, and act like they are doing us a favour
 
Most of my gloves now, are not actually gloves but the wrist warmer types instead, as I can wear those at work and still work!

I used to work in a warehouse that had to have doors open for lorry deliveries all the time, was freezing in winter, so multiple layers, plus gloves and mittens over the top, and I could still write. Going to the loo however was more tricky!
 
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