Challenge Updates: Bills, No Spend and Christmas!

Christmas Completed by December

SFT asked whether everyone was winning at the Christmas Done by December challenge. Just to recap, my targets were to get Christmas gifts completely finished, to buy one Christmas decoration each, to finish my Advent calendar and to make some decorations to send to family members.

Well, here's how it stands now:

• Finish Christmas gifts - Over halfway! I started the month with just one person (my sister) crossed off my list. Halfway through, I now have nine more people crossed off (actually eleven if you split "the kids" category up!). I have ideas and half-presents for another five people, which just leaves a couple of very awkward people causing me trouble! (Looking at you, Dad!)
•  Buy a Christmas decoration - Complete! It is a bit of a family tradition of ours to visit Trelawney garden centre in Cornwall each year to marvel at the Christmas displays and get a bauble/Christmas decoration. Well, this year we went a bit earlier than usual and even let The Boyfriend tag along. I bought a beautiful glass bauble with hand-painted swirls, whilst The Boyfriend got a glass robin with mistletoe painted on its flanks!
• Finish Advent calendar - Nearly there! On Friday I posted part three of how to make an Advent calendar, but over the weekend I finished the stockings for part four too (will be posted on Friday!). Now I just have to sort out the numbers and bits and bobs to put inside them! :)
• Make Christmas decorations for family - Gathering materials! I am still in the early stages of this one! I want to post them at the start of December so I need to get cracking! I want to make star or heart fabric decorations from some leftover gingham. 

No Spend Week

Last  week I challenged myself to a No Spend Week, with the caveat that if I saw some good Christmas present deals I would be allowed to snap them up. I have to be honest guys, I failed the challenge. I managed five of seven days as No Spend.

I do have some excuses if you want to hear them? :) On Thursday I had to give a presentation about Physics in Biology. Now if you know anything about biologists, you'll know that they gave up physics as soon as they possibly could at school then ran away, avoiding all talk of the subject ever after! After a week of stressing about my presentation, on Thursday evening I did knowingly go to the pub with everyone else and have half a pint of lager!

My second excuse is slightly better; I bought some red card and red buttons to complete the Advent calendar and Christmas decorations respectively.

Still, overall most days were a success, right? :)



Lowering the Bills

Last month I wrote about how The Boyfriend and I planned on lowering our bills. Between 5th September and 5th October we spent £36.07 on energy (including £34.01 on electricity) and £26.55 on water. Following the plan of shorter showers and turning things off at the wall, I'm pleased to announce that between October and November (31 day period) we spent £34.15 on energy and £24.70 on water, a decrease of 5% and 7% respectively. 

I want to keep this up and hopefully report even lower costs next month! :)



SFT asked if we are winning. I think I have had some success in these challenges. How are you getting on? :)

Excuses Excuses

Donna Freedman recently wrote an article on Get Rich Slowly exploring how people come up with a variety of external problems to excuse themselves from taking responsibility for their own actions (or lack thereof). She says that we need to call BS on our excuses because usually we are the victims of our own decisions.

I have been guilty of this many times in my life. When I was an undergraduate I had to have some expensive dental work that ate into the depths of my student overdraft. But that's the BS talking; it was ME who neglected my teeth and ME who didn't have any money saved for emergencies!

More recently, I've found when tracking my spending that I often overspend on fuel. In the past I would estimate the cost of getting to work and back, then add on another few miles' worth of fuel per week and budget that amount. Every month when I went over budget I would say, “Ah, but last month I had that trip to Redruth / worked more often / had to go to town a few times” etc. Every month there was an “unexpected“ reason why I had spent too much! I learned that while I do try to limit my driving I cannot stick to as tight a budget as I believed I should, so I have had to adjust my budget accordingly.

I can foresee similar BS justifications in our new place. It's very easy to get carried away when hunting for house stuff like kitchenware. It has been useful for us to go as a couple, with one pointing out to the other that no, a huge meat cleaver is a want, not a need (especially when one of us is a vegetarian!). Better to save that money for next month's rent!

Protecting Yourself

It really doesn't matter what mistakes you've made in the past. The best thing to do is try and learn from them, rather than burying your head in the sand telling yourself it wasn't your fault. Got an unreliable car? Make sure you have money set aside for the inevitable repairs and eventual replacement to avoid taking out a loan. Got a bad credit rating? Save up a couple of months' worth of payments on your debt so you'll always be able to pay at least the minimums.

Don't be afraid to say yeah, I screwed up, but here's why it won't happen again.

UK Fuel Shortage?

A proposed strike action by tanker drivers has led to mass buying of petrol and diesel at UK pumps over the past couple of days. The BBC has shown images of huge queues at garages, leading to some retailers running out of fuel. 

The UK Government gave advice to keep your car over two-thirds full, and if you'd normally put half a tank in, fill it up. I work opposite a garage, so took the opportunity to fill up after work when the pumps were quiet (there haven't been huge queues there yet, although the weekend may be bad). I have to admit, normally I only put in half a tank but this time I filled it with over a month's worth of fuel. 

This sort of mentality is the reason that everyone's rushing to the pumps; there is no shortage, but the high demand for fuel means that suppliers are running out anyway! No-one wants the needle to hit "EMPTY" on the way to work.

Despite this situation, I think that we frugal types are in the best situation. We know how to make fuel last longer. We keep cars clean and empty to reduce consumption, we keep speeds low and accelerate and brake slowly, and importantly we take alternative transport where possible. 

Plan your route to incorporate several chores at once and minimise car usage. We can beat both the fuel shortage AND the huge price of fuel in the first place!

P.S. Check out these before and after shots of washing Jools! Productive use of a sunny day I think!

Filthy before!

Sparkly after!

The Horrors of Handmade

I'd like to say I've really been enjoying making presents this year. I'd like to say that it has all gone off without a hitch. That would be a lie.

GRRRR! It's been so frustrating! Overcooked shortbread, toy dogs fraying as you try to stuff them, cutting myself to shreds with a scalpel, making something only to have it all fall to bits again, sewing machine motor burn out (before I'd even started using it), congealing cream, stitching some fabric inside out and only noticing at the end, chocolates breaking as you make them...

I think my problem is that I'm just not experienced in all of the things I'm attempting. I know that I CAN cook and use a sewing machine, but I don't make sweets or sew things often enough to be in practice. I'm just glad I gave myself a lot of time to do it all. I've been doing this on and off since September and I'm still not finished (making a lot of food items does not help this!) Will I eventually succeed? Who knows?!

I've got to post a couple of things today. (Last date for second class postage – first class is Tuesday 20^th in case you need to know). I need to write some letters to go with them now.

Please wish me luck with it all – it's starting to look like I'll need it! :-/