Monday's musings

Hello, Not a lot done today, been bimbling around and socializing. Monday is a village day, starting with the Craft Club. We almost had a full house this morning and it was catchup time with everyone chattering at once, and not much crafting getting done. Then a dog walk, then lunch, then the mobile library van and a natter with Stan the man. My fave mag arrived through the letter box, oooh, excitement, couldn't wait to get my sticky fingers into this, so an hour was spent drooling with a mug of coffee. I can be a real lazy slob when I put my mind to it, ha ha.

It's that time of year when I am thinking of walking. Itching to go off on a trek again. As soon as we get some longer days I will be off. I got a free book today, there are bookshelves in the Village Hall, people leave their unwanted books for anyone to take. You can keep them, or read them and take them back, or add some of your own if you have any to get rid of. I found this one all about The Living Countryside. Exploring the land in different parts of the country, looking at the animal and plant life. Some smashing pictures of places I have been to, and some that I hope to visit. Reading these kind of travel books makes me want to put my boots on and go now.

My Anglian Water bill arrived the other day, I get two a year for the water I use, plus it includes  the cost of taking the grey water away. Total for 12 months is �70.55. Out of that, only �15.55 is the cost of the actual clean water which comes into the house. The rest is made up of the standing charge and the taking away of the waste water. There's not a lot more I can do to bring the cost down there. I also get two bills from Severn Trent every year, for the surface water drainage from my property. This is charged at �61.10 per year, I am on a measured drainage band 2 tariff. So my total water charges are �131.65 a year. I will still be frugal with my water usage, even though it wouldn't make much difference if I used a bit more than my normal 10 cubic metres. It makes me feel better to flush the toilets with bath and rain water.

Utility bills due soon, wonder what they will be. Anyway. I'll cut you loose. I'll get back to my magazine, bought with my Tesco Vouchers I may add, in case any of you think I have been splashing the cash  ;o)

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Switch it off! Even better, don't switch it on.

Hello, I've spent most of the day indoors today, the weather has been horrible. I did pop out briefly to run to the doctors surgery, yes run, only two minutes away, I got distracted and nearly missed the appointment. As soon as I went in I was called straight away for my flu jab, other people were sat around waiting. I don't want to be in there longer than is necessary, all those nasty germs floating around. I was in and out in two minutes.

It seems one of my readers is most impressed with my gas and electricity charges, and asks how I keep my usage so low. Thank you for your email, I'll try and give you a few pointers. For a start there is only me here, so no one to fight with over switching things on and off. I only switch lights on in the room where I am sitting. I have my desk light on and the small Christmas lights on in this room at the moment.

I don't have anything on standby except the fridge freezer. My gas cooker can be plugged into the electrics but I don't bother, I don't need a clock in the kitchen. I switch the microwave on when I use it. In fact I don't have any clocks at all plugged in. I have a wrist watch and a wind up clock in the bedroom, that's all I need. I have a music centre/stereo/radio which I only plug in if I want to listen to something. I like quiet in my house, don't need constant noise, don't need a tele or radio for company.

I use the dyson when the floor looks a bit mucky, and have a blitz every so often on the cat hairs. I have a hair dryer but very rarely use it, always let my hair dry by itself. I use the washing machine when I have a full load, and only wash things when they are dirty or smelly. All the washing gets dried outside on the line, so I only do a wash if it's windy or sunny. I have plenty of clothes, bedding and towels so could last several weeks without doing a wash load. If it's a nice drying day I might do two loads. I use the thirty minute setting at 30 degrees for everything.

For cooking I never use the oven, I don't bake or make pies or roast anything. I use the top gas rings, usually just one as I steam all my vegetables in one pan. I sometimes use the grill. I don't fry food because it makes a mess of the cooker, and I don't like washing greasy pans. In fact I have a new system for washing up now. As soon as I have finished with a pan, a plate, a mug, cutlery etc, I rinse under the cold tap with a brush. Saves on wash up liquid, water, and heating the water. I might do a proper washup in the bowl if I have used several pans for different things. For that I heat the water on the hob in one of the pans that needs washing. Then have a blitz and wipe down all the worktops and top of cooker, and scrub the sink. I might do this once a week.

I have only one mug of coffee a day, first thing in the morning. The rest of the time I drink diluted juice or water. I have a kettle but hardly use it. I put a mug of cold water in the microwave, take it out after a couple of minutes, add coffee, sugar, and dried milk, taste it, then put it back in the microwave for another minute so that it's hot. I must save loads of money by not drinking endless cuppas during the day.

I heat a tank full of water when I have a bath. I have a good soak and scrub every bit of me. Every morning I wash in cold water, it's not too bad if you do it quickly. If I want to wash my hair in between baths I use the sink in the kitchen, for that I boil the kettle, can't wash hair in cold water, that's a step too far.

I have the computer on a lot, but have switched to using the small netbook, it probably uses less electricity than the big one. Other gadgets, sewing machine, lawn mower, strimmer, slow cooker, stick blender, food processor, battery chargers, all used occasionally.

So that's about it really, keep things simple. At the back of my mind I always think that when I switch something on it's costing me money. I am used to living this way, for me it's normal, it's no big deal.
Hope that helps, thanks for asking. And now for the question. Is there any way you can cut down on your use of gas and electricity? Winter is approaching and bills will be creeping up, now is the time to start thinking about how you can monitor the situation, be more aware of what it is costing you to run your home. The next quarterly bill for me will be in January, I will be ready for it.  

And now for tonight's simple dinner. One portion of home made veg curry frozen in a margarine tub, and a portion of frozen rice.

A few minutes in the microwave, and Bob's your uncle, instant dinner, and I know exactly what's in it, well more or less. Can't quite remember but I know it hasn't any nasties in it.

Thank you for popping in. Toodle pip

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Not down the plug hole

Hiya peeps, following on from my Monday's post, Modern conveniences, there was a very useful suggestion from reader Enie Dub, suggesting saving water from my daily showers to flush the loo. Thank you for that Enie, but I don't have a working shower, it packed up years ago and I never got it repaired. 

However, I do save my bath water, it sits there in the bath and is dispensed to the lavvy with a plastic jug. Usually one slosh does the job. The toilet bowl can get a bit erm, discoloured, but a quick swish round with a brush on a regular basis rectifies that. I hasten to add that the solids get a proper flush, but this uses less water than normal because a nice man from Anglian Water came and fitted a device in the cistern to halve the amount of water per flush. 

To keep the bath clean it is important to wipe around the sides as the water level goes down, and when the level is very low it's time to let the last drop run away down the plug hole. But before it all disappears I take the cloth and wipe out the whole of the bath. Easy peasy, eh!  

So, that's both toilets covered using recycled water.
Come back later, I might have something ready to show.
Toodle pip.

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Modern conveniences

Let me show you my eco friendly toilet flushing system. Here we have the very latest design, note the pan hanging from the door handle. This system is also environmentally friendly in that it uses water which has fallen from the skies. It also has the added bonus that it costs not one penny use.

It is much more comfortable and economical than the previous lavvy design of a wooden box with a round hole cut into the lid where one would perch one's bottom, with a bucket underneath to catch the unmentionables. These small brick built rooms were often at the end of a long garden, which required a torch and an umbrella to stumble down the path in the middle of a rainy night. Although these incurred no cost while being used, they did require a payment to be made to a waste disposal company who came along in a lorry with a big hose, and sucked the festering slurry into its tank.  

Thank goodness all that has changed now. My little privvy is attached to the house, just outside the back door, which is under cover in the passage. It has a modern flush system, but I prefer to bypass that by using rain water. With the recent rain we have been having I have been able to fill up the reservoir. This should be sufficient to provide twenty five flushes at a cost of 1p per flush, thus saving 25p. These figures are not confirmed, I have just made them up. 

My water harvesting system works well, it rains and droplets are deposited into the plastic receptacles in the garden. Heavy rain over two days gives enough water to fill the reservoir in the little girls room, light showers take a little longer, maybe a week or more before there is sufficient in volume.

The method of transportation from one place to another requires a certain amount of physical fitness. Basically I have to lift and carry, taking care not to trip and splash myself. Best to wear sturdy footwear for this job, and bend the knees when lifting so as not to injure the back.

And there you have it, a simple money saving solution which has the potential to save hundreds of pounds over the course of a year. That figure came to me in a flash, as an example of how much a family might save. Me being a single person on a water meter I reckon I save a bit for myself, and a bit for the planet. Why not have a go and build your own water saving system, it only takes a bit of time and effort, and you could be quids in. Let me know how you get on.
Toodle pip.

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Switch it off !!!

Hello, I was wondering what to write about tonight, when KittyKittyWeaselFish came up with the idea. She asked the question :-

Hi Ilona, 
I'm massively impressed by your electricity bill - I try to be frugal but mine's not even close to that! Any tips you can share?

Of course Kitty, only too pleased to help. First of all, there is only me here so I don't have to nag anyone to switch things off when they are not using them. The first thing that comes to mind when I switch something on is, this is going to cost me money. Do I need it, and can I manage without it. I am obsessive about checking wall sockets and light switches, is there anything on which is not needed. I think the easiest way to explain is to go through the house room by room.

I am sitting in the living room. The computer is switched on, obviously. I usually have it on most of the day because I keep going back to it in between other tasks. I have it in front of the window to make use of the daylight hours for as long as possible. It is a small net book so I imagine it takes less energy than the big computer upstairs, which I now only use briefly at odd times. It's 8.15pm, still light but it is fading. For the lighting in this room I have one of those bridge shaped Christmas lights, you know, the up and over one with seven candles on it. I will put this on when it starts to get dark. I also have a desk light next to me which I use when I can't see the keyboard or I am doing some sewing. I don't use the main ceiling lights in this room. I have a music centre / radio, but I don't put it on very often, I like quiet. I can use the cross trainer without switching it on.

The kitchen has a strip light in the ceiling, it doesn't work. Not sure why, haven't checked it. Instead I use a small plug in table lamp. That gives me enough light. My gas cooker has an electric clock on it. I don't need a clock in the kitchen so I don't plug it in. I have an old microwave that is still going strong after many years. I use that to heat a mug of water for my coffee in the morning, and to warm up the home made stew I have made. I charge my phone and camera batteries in the kitchen. I have a slow cooker which I rarely use. The fridge freezer is smallish, three drawers for the frozen food. I sometimes use the toaster. If I need a bowl full of hot water I use the kettle to heat it.

My bedroom. I don't use the main ceiling light, I have a small bedside lamp. Only on for ten minutes when I go to bed. Usually fall asleep before I have read a couple of paragraphs. I got rid of the clock radio alarm years ago, now I have an old fashioned wind up clock. Why do you need a plug in clock in the bedroom when for most of the time you are in there, you are asleep.

Appliances. I wash my clothes when they are dirty or smelly. Towels, tea towels, and bedding gets washed when needed. Only me here, and I don't do a dirty job or work up a sweat. I use the Dyson maybe twice a month, clean all carpets right through. They pretty soon get covered in cat hairs again, I just keep on top of it, not obsessive about housework. In the summer I have an electric lawn mower, and occasionally strim the edges. I have a small hair drier but very rarely use it, I let my hair dry naturally. I sometimes use a stick blender or the food processor. Sometimes I use the sewing machine. I never iron clothes, I don't buy clothes that need ironing. The only time I use the iron is if I am sewing and need a piece of pressed flat fabric.

I don't leave anything plugged in on standby apart from the fridge and the computer. I switch the computer off overnight. I only have the light on in the room I am in. I am always switching lights on and off. In the winter when it gets dark early I carry a wind up torch with me and use that if I need to get something out of another room.

I don't have a dishwasher, or a dryer, or a television set, I don't need them. I hope I have covered everything. There is probably something I have missed out, if you have any questions please ask. It is now ten past nine and starting to get dark. I will put the candle Christmas light on.

I don't need lots of gadgets, the less I have that needs an electricity supply, the better. I deliberately don't buy gadgets because of the cost of running them. Always think, plug in, switch on, and it's costing you money. I think it would be difficult with teenagers in the house, because they love their gadgets, but that's another story. I can only tell it from a singlies point of view. Thank you Kitty for asking.

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Sunday snippets

I'll kick off with a thanks today, lots of thanks in fact, to those who read and those who comment. I am chuffed that you are interested in my travel notes. I like to share little snippets of our wonderful island. I try to capture the diversity of it but my photo's don't do it justice, it is far better in the flesh. Thank you for coming along with me, you are very welcome.

What's the recipe today, says she who doesn't do recipe's, I just post ideas, you can make of them what you like. I have an abundance of courgettes from the six plants in the garden, so it's courgettes all the way now. There are still a lot of broad beans to get through, and when they have finished there will be tons of runner beans. Along with the potatoes, these four vegetables will save me a load of money, I won't need to go shopping so often. Here we have one courgette and a handful of  broad beans softened in a drop of oil over a low heat for a few minutes. Added to this is garlic powder, then just before they are ready I added some soft cheese and garlic. You can guess that I like garlic. Served on a slice of wholemeal bread. It was scrumptious and so simple to make.   

I've started work on the picture, on the back of a piece of fabric. I will show updates as I go along as it will take ages to complete.

My gas and electricity bill arrived from Ebico last week. The amounts are pretty low, as you would expect at this time of year. I like this way of paying, with a quarterly bill, pay for the actual energy I have used, after I have used it. No penalties for paying this way, I will not have direct debit on my utilities. My bills for three months are as follows.
Electricity. 131 kilowatt  at 15.91p = �20.84 plus vat at 5% = �21.88
Gas. 145.08 kilowatt hours at 5.15p = �7.47 plus vat at 5% = �7.84
This is what I expected. I'm pleased I left British Gas and got rid of their standing charges.

I have a new brochure from North Lindsey College, they keep sending me one ever since I did a course a few years ago. I keep looking through it to see if there is anything of interest, but often the price is too high. However, I see there are some new courses and the price is a bit more affordable. There is a sewing club starting in September, �40 for six weeks. That's not bad, �6.66 a week, it would get me out, give me something to do, a cheap source of entertainment is the way I look at it, as well as learning something new. There is also an art club, upcycled textiles, and drawing skills which I will consider. Think I will get myself enrolled on something.

Right lunchtime. More courgettes and beans. Have a nice Sunday. The sun has come out here after a rainy start. Toodle pip.

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Stop flicking the switch

Me and my three pusscats are snug and warm inside our cosy house. No we don't have the heating on we don't need it. They have their fur coats, and I have my layers. All the internal doors are open, I like them to have the run of the house to come and go as they please, and I am often up and down, moving from room to room. The windows in the living room have two sets of curtains hanging on each, making double insulation. It is not cold tonight anyway. 

I am becoming more aware of the consequences of flicking switches on either electrical or gas appliances. Every time I flick a switch it costs me money, so before I do it I ask myself, do I really need to. Am I really that cold, do I need to spend some money on an hour of heat. Mostly the answer is no, sometimes it is yes, so I treat myself to an hour of central heating, or put the gas fire on in the living room. Don't feel sorry for me, I am not a poor pensioner who has to make the choice between heating and eating. I can afford to do both, it's just that I don't actually need much heating because after years of working outdoors in all weathers I like fresh air, and hate stuffy rooms. Even now, tonight, I have windows upstairs open an inch to encourage a circulation of air through the house. You know my food situation, I eat well within my budget, because I know how to budget, so no hardships there.  

I noticed on my last utilities bill that my electricity consumption has dropped. Normally it's higher than the gas, but this time it's lower. That's because I have been taking steps to cut back on flicking switches. Ever since Autumn and the start of shorter days and longer nights, I have been looking at ways I can save money on electricity, and that means, looking for ways of using it economically, or not using it at all.  

I no longer boil a kettle for my coffee in the morning. My kettle has an element in the bottom, I cannot put one mug of water in there because it won't cover the element, so I always ended up with two mugs of hot water, one of which doesn't get used. I know you can put it into a flask and use it later, but I only ever have one mug of coffee, the rest of the day I have cold watered down fruit juice. So what do I do now? I put my mug of cold water in the microwave and heat it that way. The benefit of that is the mug also gets hot, so the drink stays hot for longer. 

What else do I do to cut down? A lot of people leave the TV on for background noise, as they go about their daily tasks. I don't have a tele, but I do have a radio. I only switch it on when I actually want to listen to something. There are a few programmes which interest me, and if I am doing something in the living room I will listen while I am crafting. Once the programme is over, or I move to another room, I switch it off. No point in paying for electricity if I am not listening to it. 

Let's look at lighting. These Christmas lights were free, I found them in the house clearing skip I mentioned a few months ago. They are now permanently installed in my living room. I no longer flick the switch on the wall to put the main ceiling light on. I am hoping that these small candle lights use less electricity. 

I also use a desk light. This is my table in the living room. These two lights are enough for me to see what I am doing, and it gives a cosy feel to the room. I don't need any more light than this. I also don't spend much time on the big computer upstairs in the winter. I use my small netbook. I am sure this is saving me money.

Over my clothes I wear a large, man's fleecy dressing gown, which has a handy pocket on the front. In here is my small wind up torch. When I move from room to room I don't flick a switch and put a light on, I use the torch to guide me through the dark house. I might go to the kitchen to get something out of the fridge.

 Aha, there is a light inside the fridge, that's very handy.

About three or more years ago, can't remember how long ago, the strip light on the ceiling packed up. Well I suppose it could be just the little round switch thing, or it could be the whole tube which needs replacing. I'm not bothered about it, because I don't need it. All I need is this small lamp. It gives out sufficient light for me to see what I am doing, on the area of the worktop that I am preparing my meals on. I don't need the whole blooming kitchen lit up. Just one small bulb is fine. 

So, I use the torch to go upstairs to the bathroom. The cats are all asleep so there is no danger of me falling over them. Surely everyone can spend a penny in the dark, I know where my toilet paper is, and the sink is next to the toilet, and the towel is on the stool. Easy peasy.

Here is my little torch. I take it to bed with me and lay it next to my pillow, so it is there if I need to get up in the night. When I wake in the morning I reach for the torch to shine it on my wrist watch to find out what time it is. It is so very handy, and I'm sure it is saving me money.

So, don't forget, stop flicking the switch if you want to cut down on your utilities. Every time you switch something on it gobbles electricity and gas, and it's going to cost you money. I don't have one of those fancy gadgets that tells you how much each appliance uses, I use my common sense. I don't read my meters weekly, because there is only me here, and I know more or less what I use, so no nasty surprises. My little wind up torch will stay in my pocket until the spring, when the daylight hours will be getting longer. Until then I will live in my twilight world inside my cosy house.
Toodle pip

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Time for a move

Oh what a nightmare it is to compare gas and electricity prices, and to identify which supplier will be the best one to move to. I've only done it a couple of times since I've been in this house, and now is the time to do it again. I find it an awful struggle to understand numbers, oh I can do the basics, like manage my own finances, but anything complicated I stare at a page of numbers and they don't register at all. My mind goes blank. I have been reading up about dyscalculia, a form of number blindness, and I am convinced I have a mild form of that. Maths at school was a nightmare, I didn't learn a thing apart from the adding, taking away, multiplying, and dividing. I bluffed my way through, mainly copying from my friends book. Later on, when I did a transport related course I had to leave the room because I had a panic attack when it came to vehicle costings. I failed miserably, that's why I now avoid anything to do with lots of numbers.

They say they are making it easier to work out your utilities costs, to understand your bills, but looking at the reverse of mine which I have just received from British Gas, there are more numbers than ever on there. It's taken me an hour to understand it.

Anyway, I need to move from British Gas, not because of the price increases, I can budget for that, but the fact that they have introduced a 25p a day standing charge on both gas and electricity, so that's going to bump my bills up big time. 50p a day for 365 days a year, chuffin heck.

I've done a comparison on the Ebico site, putting in my figures for kilowatt hours used, and they are going to be cheaper. I am a low user so I am going to benefit because they have set their standing charges at zero. Also there are no penalties for quarterly billing, so I can keep that and don't have to sign up to direct debit which I don't want to do.

I'll wait and see what happens next. I believe it takes a few weeks for it all to go through. In the meantime I will pay this �60.81 British Gas bill tomorrow. The standing charge came in on the 23rd of November, so for four days I've already been charged �2. Not for much longer BT, I'm out asap.

Toodle pip.

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Body heat

There's a lot of talk at the moment about the rising cost of gas and electricity, and with winter approaching keeping warm is on everyone's mind. Naturally people are worried about how they are going to pay their bills, and are looking for ways to cut down their fuel consumption. I think there is another way to keep warm apart from turning the heating up. We all know about insulating our homes, wearing more clothes, taking a hot bath, and having hot drinks throughout the day, but I think there is a way of acclimatising our bodies to deal with the drop in temperatures.

If you think about where people work, indoors, office, shop, factory, all these places put their heating on for the comfort of their employees. No one would be happy with sitting at a desk in an office all day wearing a coat and hat. On the other hand, they go to work wearing lightweight clothes and expect the heating to be turned up because they are cold. Surely there should be a happy medium, wear thicker clothes and turn the heat down a notch or two. I think central heating set to a tropical level is making people soft. Their body then gets used to having heat blasted at it throughout the day so when they go home, they have to turn their central heating up high because they would shiver.

If your body gets used to being mollycoddled with constant heat, it forgets how to cope when it gets cold. I expect in five hundred years time people will all have their own heated personal bubble. It will be kept inside their heated garage, it will have wheels, so all they have to do is step inside and take themselves to work, where they will park it inside an underground heated park, and get the elevator up to their heated office. They will have no contact with the awful British weather, and their skins will be a sickly grey colour and their lungs will be under used and need extra supplies of oxygen. Their immune system will be zilch, they won't have one. Fantasy maybe, but you never know what will happen in the future.

Now look at the people who have hard lives living in cold climates, those that work outside, work the land or keep livestock. Think about the intrepid explorers traipsing through miles of snow and ice, those who live in cold countries. What have they in common, they move about a lot, and their bodies generate their own heat. They get acclimatised to their surroundings, and become toughened up to cope with cold.

Now I'm not about to tell you what to do, you can draw your own conclusions, but what I will say is, you can get out of your chair and move about, at least for ten minutes every hour. All right, I will tell you what to do. Don't sit all night every night glued to the goggle box, huddled under a blanket. Get up, walk around the house, walk the dog, go for a walk even if you haven't got a dog. Get your arms and legs moving, dance and jump up and down if you can. Generate your own body heat and keep it trapped close to you underneath your layers.

OK don't jump on me, I know there are people with limited mobility, and they will have to devise their own methods for moving the able parts of their bodies. If anyone is confined to a chair but can stretch arms and legs, then do it.

I am so glad that I had a lifetime of working outdoors, doing a physical job, I now find that I can cope very well without much heating. The only time I suffer is when I spend time in a building which is centrally heated. Some of my friends houses are stifling hot, I can only manage about twenty minutes. On the other hand I visit someone who doesn't put their heating on and we both sit there in our coats, ha ha. He is fine and so am I. The library is too hot, the bank is too hot, and the shops are too hot, I have to come out. My sinuses get blocked and I feel groggy and start yawning.

I don't live much differently in the winter than I do in the summer. All the interior doors in my house are open, I like all rooms to be the same temperature, don't like shutting myself in a hot room then having to go into a cold room. I move about a lot in the house, constantly up and down, doing something or other, and keeping busy. All I do is wear more clothes. I'm about to double up on the curtains again, as I do every year at this time. Get the spare sets out of the cupboard, and hang them over the ones already up.

So are you going to give it a go, move about more, go out more, go on, worth a try.
Toodle pip    

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How I keep on track

Hiya peeps, Nancy asked me a question..............

Do you write down every expenditure you make? Do you keep track somehow of all your expenses daily, weekly, monthly and annually? Or is this info "stored" in your head? Sorry in advance if you have talked about this in the past. I've only been reading your blog this year and it's one of my favorites. Thanks, Ilona.
Nancy from Northern California

Hello Nancy.
It�s easy for me, I don�t have much coming in and I don�t have much going out. As long as the outgoings don�t exceed the incomings then I know I am alright. I have been in this house for a long time, so I know pretty well how much I have to pay in gas, electricity, and water. I keep all my bills, I don't pay in advance on a monthly direct debit, I pay quarterly after I have used the services. I never get any nasty surprises like a higher than normal bill because I am always mindful to only switch things on when I need to, and turn them off when I have finished. The only exception to this is I have my computer on a lot, but communication is at the top of my priority list, so I don't mind.

My council tax is paid monthly for ten months of the year, and I pay it in cash. If anyone is struggling a bit they can spread the cost and change it to 12 monthly payments. I can manage my payments, I don't have to pay the full whack, 25% off for single occupancy and a reduced rate as I don't have any savings and a small income. I quite like the two months off in February/March.

I keep my direct debits to a minimum because I don't like the idea of money just disappearing out of my account. If I physically pay for things by cash or cheque it feels more real. I get a paper statement in the post every month which I check. I have a file of these going back about 15 years. I don't do internet banking, I don't trust it and I don't need to scrutinise my account that thoroughly. Thank goodness I am not sailing close to the wind any more, and have a little buffer if I need to pay for anything unexpected. Saying that I never take my eyes off the ball, never say oh stuff it and spend a wad of money. Everything I buy I think about first.

The direct debits I do have are broadband and landline combined. Seems the only way to pay for that these days. I have the car recovery coming out in April, and my hostel membership is �15 a year on a DD. My house insurance is on a monthly direct debit, I don't have a contents insurance. Oh, and I pay Just under �4 a year to put unlimited photo's on my blog. My mobile is on a Pay As You Go which I top it up with �10 in the local shop once every two months. I only used it for texts, and the odd emergency call.

I have one credit card. I use it for convenience, paying for accommodation on a long walk, a big shop, and petrol for the car. The bill gets paid in full every month, I take a cheque into the bank for that.

I buy more or less the same type of food on a regular basis, with a few different items thrown in for variety, but these have to be value for money. I don't splurge on fancy food, it takes some discipline sometimes, not to go mad. Expensive food will not taste any better, I will not be any fuller after eating it, and it will not make me live any longer. Nutritious food does not have to cost the earth.

I am constantly checking food prices in all the shops I go in, and making a mental note of where the best bargains are. I keep this info in my head. When I get my shopping home I go down the receipt and write the price on each tin and packet with a black marker to check next time if it has gone up.

When money was really tight I did keep a spending diary, I think these are invaluable if you are trying to budget on a small income. To read it every week and see it written down brings it all home to you how much you have spent. I find I don't have to do that now, because my discipline is so finely tuned I know I will never buy something I can't afford. If someone is prone to picking things up willy nilly while out shopping, and they are struggling to manage, they definitely need a diary.

I have enough toiletries to last me years, except toothpaste. Today I bought some, I found two large tubes of Crest for �1 in Poundland. That will probably last me a year. I had a naughty bar of chocolate today, ha ha, a rare treat. Six squares for 60p, blimey, didn't I splash out. What with chips yesterday, it has got to stop.

Someone asked me about the sesame seed oil that I use, sorry can't remember who. Is it cheaper than regular oil. Well no it isn't if you buy it from a supermarket. A small bottle is about �1.40. I buy a large bottle, 600ml for �1 at the cash and carry. I stock up when they have it in. I love the nutty flavour of it, cook with it and drizzle it on my steamed veg. Soooo tasty.

I hope that's answered your questions, thank you for reading.
Toodle pip.

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