Antifrugalista

Me, right now. No matter which nappies we use, they simply don't dry indoors, so I've bitten the bullet and ordered a proper dehumidifier. They're supposed to be cheap to run and effective. It was £89, which I can't afford, but I also can't afford constant re-washing of musty clothes and running a heater 24/7 while living in a damp environment. 🤷 What can I say, it's expensive to be poor...

Stoopid/Winnar: Almost two years ago I cashed in my work bonus for a Primark voucher. I thought the voucher had now expired. Well, this week I checked my bonus account and found the Primark voucher sat there saying it would expire March 2024. I clicked it anyway. It generated a brand new voucher expiring next year, for the full £25. 😲 Unexpedly, it's free new underwear time! 😂

Irritation: the free £43 credit that I have via work perks can only be spent on "selected" retailers. The cheapest Black Friday microwave I've seen so far on these retailers is £20 more than the bargain I found last week. I will watch for another week or so in case these retailers find it in their hearts to actually offer competitive prices... I really don't fancy having to spend the voucher on yet more underwear. If worst comes to worst, I can spend it at Bargain Bulk Retailer.

Spendy: small gifts for neighbours #2a and #8. 

Stop Press: Dehumidifier arrived (missing its filter... I have laid cheesecloth over the fan intake, it's only to stop dust on the elements). Currently hoping the manufacturer will send one out. But I am very impressed with its function so far, it dropped around 15% in a couple of hours which is more than I could have hoped.

Mental Seat-Dancing

The Zing app knows how to make an impact, I just got an email that my seventh referral had completed. 😮🥰 This means £210 coming my way in the next month. So far. The lovely promoter lady has said my link will stay there until I get 20 referrals. I am so very, very blessed that a lovely complete stranger promoted my link. 🙏

This week I did a check on my various cards, their balances and the rates I am being charged. It turns out that several of them had changed their rates and the one I thought was the worst of the lot, isn't. I also have two cards with no statements on their apps or sites... one has 11 statements missing, one is just broken. Annoying, but I can still see recent transactions and calculate the rates. #mathsnerdery

Overall it was satisfying to get it all written down and to know which ones to spend on first and which to pay extra on first, if I ever magically have spare cash. Something about forewarned is forearmed? Poison Ivy #2 merrily tells me that at my current rate I will pay it all off by 2032. Yay, I can then move on to the other cards for the following 30 years. 😂 This kind of makes me resolve to somehow find an extra few pounds every month to put on my cards. I don't know how I'll do that, yet, though. 🤔

Stop Press: Apparently the universe was reading the line I just wrote. I've edited this post six times between when I first typed it and when it was posted, because more and more update messages keep arriving. I am currently at all 20 referrals completed (£600) and honestly don't have words on how much that money will mean. 🙌

Marking Time

I am currently playing a game of chicken. My microwave's days are numbered (it's rusted under the turntable, is getting worse, and it's only a matter of time before it becomes so bad it begins to spark). This is because it gets such heavy use and there's often steam inside... I am far too lax in wiping it out under the plate. Anyway, they're on sale for £35 (about £15 off) on a website where I have about £20 on a gift card AND work is paying me a Christmas bonus in a few days' time which can also be spent on the same website. This would make my new microwave "free" so please cross your fingers that they're still available at that price when the bonus arrives. Thanks!

Netflix cracked down on sharing accounts a month or so ago. That meant no more freebie Netflix from a very cool friend - so it was time to decide on buying myself a cheap subscription. But then I forgot to do so and it occurred to me this week I am perfectly fine without it. I've been watching documentaries on YouTube and I still have plenty left to watch. 

During the week I pulled out a tin of minced beef and onion, from Food Club, trying to make myself use things out of the cupboard even when I don't like them. Along with a tablespoon of porridge oats, a teaspoon of gravy powder, and tins of peas and carrots, this made two meals for me and three for Little X (on baked potatoes, on toast and on potato waffles). That's really good value in my book and it was pretty tasty.

For the past few weeks I've been constantly thinking about money, and it has affected my mindset. I am feeling more at peace now that I've survived my Hell Month, but the almost-at-zero brain pattern is permeating everything I do. I'm always counting how many days worth of X I have, how many days my Y will last, can I make do without Z, can I use Q instead... there's a certain comfort in establishing new routines, but I don't know if it's good or bad overall.

It's almost Universal Credit Day. Time is now measured in Reporting Periods. UC day is where I add up what I'll need and learn whether we'll scrape by for the month, or whether I'll be whoring myself out via survey programmes. 😂 It's nothing new, but it's really getting old (pardon the pun) because by now I really thought money would stabilise so that I'd know in advance. And still, time and time again, I simply do not know until that day. It's tiring. I can still make adjustments (take extra paid leave... return an item from the middle aisle) but those are finite. I dream of reaching cruising altitude and just... sitting there. ✈

Pressies: Little X's birthday pressie from Vinted is fantastic. I also got a really brilliant toy for her from the Baby Bank for Christmas. I wasn't sure it would work properly (being electronic) but fresh batteries in and it's excellent. So at least she is sorted.

No Title Yet

I might keep that title, I think 😁

The stars aligned correctly with jobs both paying me on time. Along with me purchasing an item from the "middle aisle" and returning it straight away in order to move £70 from the credit card to my current account without paying a money transfer fee. It's really not my fault that (a) the credit card company won't let me pay for a money transfer right now, and (b) the shop doesn't check whether I put the refund onto the same card I paid with. The item is perfectly resellable, so? 🤷 That cash is going onto a more expensive card. Budget now balanced for another month. Bills all paid. 

This week I got a free £10 supermarket voucher for participating in the NHS's Our Future Health scheme, which was about supplying a blood sample and being warned that my cholesterol is elevated. Time for me to eat better.

I also got a £2 bonus from TopCashBack (again!), I love this recurring deal so much. I bought a five pound supermarket card to qualify, so that's £2.13 off it altogether. There was then a deal of £9 cashback for doing the Audible free trial, so I did that one too and set up a reminder to cancel before it takes the payment in a month. I also realised I'm getting enough cashback to justify the £5/year membership upgrade so I took that plunge. Miranda Hart's new book awaits me (you get one free book with the Audible subscription).

Finally, a post filled with actually frugal things. It's been so long. It's very related to me knowing bills are paid for the month. 💰

Oh, almost forgot, I have been blessed with an unexpected acknowledgement. I spend a fair bit of time on a frugality-related social media group and its owner decided to thank me - by replacing her referral code for Zing with my own. 😍 When I didn't get any referrals in the first week, I almost gave up hope... But two have just completed, meaning I'll get £60 next month. 😍 Definitely not shabby and very much appreciated right now.

Spendy McSpenderson: Little X's birthday present bought off Vinted (£5), plus Christmas gifts for Kid #1, Kid #2 and their dad. I still need Christmas gifts for Little X but I'm going to watch the baby bank and the nearby Cheap Charity Shop for those. I still need gifts for Neighbour #2a, Neighbours #8 and Work Bestie. 

《Spits On The Ground》

Gumshoe here completely forgot about a certain bill. It merrily came out automatically. It was, however, £154 I hadn't accounted for, when I already had a substantial amount I was scrabbling for. Sigh. The new daily scrabbling target has risen. I achieved it today across several places, not all of which allow me to remove the earnings yet, since I am under their thresholds. Oh well, there are other options still.

I did finally calculate whether I'm spending more on credit than is being repaid off the principal each month. I'm not - barely - but since life is not predictable, let's just say I am now planning another Food Club trip and I will be paying more attention to what is already in my cupboards and freezer. You know what they say, it's cheaper to shop from home.

Since I will have to severely limit my spending, if that's even possible, I will also try to plug away at Nectar Canvass when I can, to accrue some points to spend in Sainsbury's or even on fuel.

This all also means somehow plucking money out of thin air to add extra to the repayments on Poison Ivy card, whose repayments kick back in around mid-December. So I'm currently waiting for a surprise lottery win (mainly it'll be a surprise since I haven't bought a ticket).