Kitchen Paper, Freebies ... and Pension Payments

 

It had to be done.  😄

This weekend's little shopping trip included a twin pack of kitchen paper. 

 My roll finally ran out on Friday and as I had just one napkin picked up from a café left, so I thought it was time to make an extravagant purchase.  I last bought kitchen paper in November or December of 2024, so picking up all the leftover napkins from cafés etc has really worked out well for saving me money and stopping wastage.

 

This photo appeared on my blog in May 2025, and shows the roll still looking very healthy then.  I can understand why I ended up running out in May, we just haven't really eaten out as much and even our coffee stops on the motorway have not given me as many napkins to bring home, Alan spilt some of his coffee on two occasions and we had to mop it up.

Out of interest here are my May freebies ...

Two sachets of sugar from breakfast in Morecambe.

Brown sauce and two napkins from Booths.  

Alan now admits to always fancying some brown sauce when he's ordering his bacon bun, but once he sees the bacon in front of him he can't bear to slather it on.

Napkins from the service station.  

Alan said there was a wad of napkins on top of the dispenser and the lady handed them to him.  I was over at Subway and just picked up two.

Free coffee from the Greggs app.

 

These are representing the two monthly free coffees we get from Dobbie's.  I forgot to take a photo, we actually get a latte for Alan and a black Americano for me.

Sauce and a sugar from Booths.

From Burger King at the services, I fancied chips and they do the best ones, I did pick up two ketchups but one was more than enough, so the other came home with as well as the salt.  I didn't realise that the chips come already salted.

A free steak bake for Alan from Greggs at the services.

Our two free coffees from Burnside garden centre.

Also a leftover Flora spread pot from my breakfast.

And then finally, a few napkins from the services yesterday ... so maybe I could have held out on buying the kitchen roll.  😄

Looking very full ...what's the betting this has to move house with us.

So I can keep tabs on it I have written the date on the inside ... a bit like when I 'dated a toilet roll'.  

So my first shopping for June from Aldi looked like this and cost me £11.22.

The receipt for posterity.

I am now officially a UK pensioner as I received a pro-rate pension payment last Friday.  My next payment will be in four weeks.  It's so nice to have some money coming into my bank account again, but I'll still be watching the pennies as avidly, and collecting as many freebies as possible when we are out and about, you can count on that. 

Sue xx

Making Money ... and a Renovation Update

At the end of last week with a car loaded up and jingling all the way, we took a trip to the scrap metal recycling merchants that turned out to be reasonably near us in Preston.  We both had a guess at how much our offerings would be worth.  We had heard from a few sources that the price of copper was at an all time high, so I guessed at £200 and Alan at a slightly more conservative £150.

Which one of us was the nearest?

We had a copper water heater like the one in the top photo, which I borrowed from Google Images, and the pipes in this photo.  You can see our actual water heater in the last walk through YouTube video that I made at the start of March.  We also had all the stripped out electric cables that Alan had pulled out from under the floors and up in the loft.

The scrap metal yard was a fascinating place, we were pointed to the right 'weighing in' area and had to unload onto the scales, first the tank, then the pipes and finally all the wiring, which were all individually priced.

 

Then we had to drive over to the office, show proof of identity and give our bank details, as all money is paid straight into your account these days to discourage theft of metals from church roofs etc. as this then gives a complete transaction trail.

Anyway, what was the total I hear you shouting ... it was £509 of which £106 was for the old copper boiler.

So I was the closest, even if I was a long way out.  😀

We treated ourselves to breakfast at Barton Grange Garden Centre on the way home to celebrate.

Now the bungalow is completely stripped out, we also got our planning permission through last week, so the alterations to the front of the bungalow will be allowed, and the garage is now almost finished.  The next steps will be to take a couple of walls down, and then start filling in the floor space again.  We will be using the bricks from the walls to fill in the floor, you don't get much money for selling off old blocks!!

Sue xx

 

Adding to the Cash Stash

It was only a couple of weeks ago that I was singing the praises of the soup maker that we have had for years (see here), but then I had a change of heart while I was washing the pots.

The one downside to this particular model is that you can't submerge the glass part in water to give it a really good clean and with my back issues I was struggling to lift it.  The only way to properly get it clean was to lie it on it's side leaning over the washing up bowl of soapy water and scrub it carefully.

So I lost patience, and after a chat with Alan who said he didn't want it either, I advertised it on Facebook Marketplace.  It sold within two hours to someone who really needed it, and I was very happy.

Ten pounds to add to my little cash stash, which while I am currently managing on such a tight budget is a nice little back up so I can buy anything big that I might run out of.

Or, as I have only £3.28 in my purse to last me until the end of the month, it might have to be used sooner.  😄

Sue xx

Same Old, Same Old, But in the New Year

 

There's definitely no New Year resolutions here, yes there are plans, but they pretty much are the same as they have always been.  

Take part in Veganuary, reassess my eating habits at the end of the month.  Spend as little money as possible to try and survive until the pension kicks in, so basically all the same old, same old that makes life easy, bearable and with a bit of a challenge.

When I was getting the grand and great-grandchildren's Christmas and birthday money out of my savings account I withdrew some extra cash for myself.  So I have a budget of £50 a month for the first four months of this year.  I have the usual couple of pounds worth of Nectar points that I will make use of in Sainsbury's, and a really useful £15 worth of M&S vouchers.

I also have £100 worth of Riverford Organic Veg Box vouchers that I won in a competition last year via the Vegetarian Society.  So I should be eating pretty well. 

I will be tipping any money that I have in my bag or pockets into my little emergency stash, which I have built up over the last couple of months from little sales on Facebook Marketplace. There's not a huge amount but it will all help, and of course there's my little 'change box' for when things get really tight.

So now it's time to do the start of the year financial housekeeping and check the bank balances, start a new page for monitoring things in my diary and pay off the credit card for the year.  Then we have a blank slate and a fresh start, it's a good feeling isn't it.

Sue xx

Counting the Pennies ... and Cutting it Fine

I had a bit of a shock this month, a couple of annual payments came off my credit card.  Nothing too outlandishly expensive compared to years gone by, but added together they took my balance to an amount that has virtually wiped out my current account.

Not too bad a total really for a month with a couple of largish payments and food shopping ... oh and there might have been a couple of books.  😉

The money in the bank before I paid the credit card off in full ... and YES I always pay my credit card off completely each month.  In the years I have owned it I have never paid any interest, M&S Bank must hate me.  😁

Oh well, I have the grand total of £24.21 left until my next £25 repayment from my son and next months little pension payment.  I'm not worried in the slightest, but I am going to be super careful this month and for the next few months to build up the account again.

Although, I have already been shopping and added the following to next months credit card bill.  I meant to use cash, but just didn't get myself organised in time!! 

Booths shopping £11

Just the very basics ... and a treat.  💖

Eggs - £5

Bread - £3

Wine Spritzers - 2 x £1.50 = £3

Sainsbury's shopping £8.51

Some fruit and vegetables ... and a treat.  💖

Tomatoes - £1.90

Apples - £1.70

Beetroot - 2 x 65p = £1.30

Bananas - 31p

Lemon - 30p

Chocolate Bars - 2 x £1.50 = £3

Too many treats?

Nope, but I will be a lot more careful for the rest of the month and use some of the cash in my little wooden box and the notes that I have in my purse.  I also have the back up of a £20 rewards coupon from Booths and over £17 of Nectar points.

And now that I have sorted through the food cupboard, as shown on the last post, I know exactly what I have available to use.  So really there's not much I need to buy at all is there.  😀

We'll see how it goes.

Sue xx

Challenging Times Ahead, with Bunnies and Crackers

 

Although I'm not doing an 'official' challenge this year, this year is probably going to turn out to be my biggest ever Challenge.  

I have retired a year early to join Alan who is officially a pensioner now, with his State Pension going into the bank every four weeks, his bus pass in his wallet and time on his hands.  Well maybe not that much time on his hands up to now, but you know what I mean.  It means that now I no longer have a regular income at the end of each month as my company is in the final stages of being closed down.

I do have a teeny tiny little pension from my years working for the charity Scope, and that will start on the first of May.  It's a grand total of £77.02 each month, and I am very grateful for it while I await the State Pension kicking in next year just after my next birthday.

Between the littlest pension in the world, my son's repayment of a loan to me and the sixty or so pounds of interest on my savings that, as I have previously mentioned, I am moving in the opposite direction this year, I am now living on less than I have ever lived on before.  

It feels like now is the time all my previous challenges were leading up to.

BUT ...

... I do have to stop the splurging on things that I really don't need and get my challenge head on and fully in action.

This Booths shop was hopefully my last splurge, as I wanted to get Alan something for Easter that in his words 'are not to be a chocolate egg'.  So cheese and crackers it was then, cheese from Sainsbury's and crackers from Booths as I forgot them earlier ... along with the tiniest chocolate bunny I could find.  

While I'm not officially blogging my challenge this time, I have no doubt whatsoever that it will come up in day to day conversation, whether it works out or not, so you don't have to feel that you are missing out in any way. 😄

Sue xx

Feeding the Addiction, Explaining This Year

 

I got a lovely email the other day, thanks Gail.  In it she mention she was having 'withdrawal symptoms' after following along all through my last years shopping challenge.  She was seriously missing the shopping photos and being able to compare our UK available products and prices with her local ones.

So especially for you, here's this morning's shopping.  😀

As the photo isn't brilliant ... it's a dark and gloomy January morning and the light is bad here, even under the skylight .. I will list what you can see in the photo and the price of each item.  I shopped at Aldi as I wanted to see the new vegan ranges that they have in for Veganuary.  They did have a lot of items, but I was very restrained as this sort of food is virtually all UPF and I am trying to steer away from most of it, but saying that a few new things did catch my eye and I thought it would be good to try them.  Served alongside a half plate of vegetables it won't be the end of the world occasionally.

Wholemeal Seeded Loaf      £1.09

Extra Large Breaded Cod Fillets      £4.49

Garlic and Herb Dusted Basa Fillets    £3.29

Titan Ice-cream Bars     £2.49

Vegetable Nests     £1.99

Mediterranean Style Fillets   £ £3.29

Ready to Wok Noodle   2 x 85p 

Cucumber   89p

Mediterranean Style Vegetables   £1.59

And finally some savoury snacks, as I am trying to steer away from the sweet stuff that I've consumed far too much of since Christmas.

Eat Real Veggie Straws        £1.49

Eat Real Hummus Chips        £1.49

Snack a Jacks        £1.35

Harvest Snaps        99p

Making a grand total of  £26.14

This is the main reason that I have not shared anything about shopping this year, today is the first time I have been shopping and bought something for myself.  

Alan paid for a loaf of bread for me when he was getting his own shopping on the 8th January, and on a different day ... I forget which ... he bought me a dozen eggs, and took no money for either.

This year is a strange one for me, and one that I have intimated about but not properly explained before.  So here goes.  

 Although Alan is now in receipt of his State Pension he retires officially from the company at the end of this financial year which is the end of March.  This means that we can then close our company down, and I will actually have no wages after my March pay-packet, I am effectively making myself redundant.  There will be a directors dividends payment to come, but that will be much later in the year when all the final figures have been dealt with ... and then that is it.  No more regular money coming in until I retire in May of next year.

My quiet mission is therefore to live off my three months salary for as long as I can, and try my best not to dip into savings.  Of course it would have made a brilliant Challenge if I had still been of the mindset to do challenges, but instead I am quietly ticking over in my own time and taking stock of what I have.

Last years Challenge really helped me to prepare for this and to learn what I need, what I can do without and it got me into gear for a year of living even more cheaply than before.  I also made sure that I completely cleared my credit card at the end of December, as well as the usual clearing of it on its due date at the start of the month, in fact I overpaid it by almost £100 so that I had a small buffer for January.

So this year is going to be an interesting one, as well as a very busy one.  But when you're busy you have less time to go shopping and thus you can avoid all temptation to spend any money.

It will all be fine.  💖

Sue xx

The First Shopping of July

 

The first shopping of July was done at Sainsbury's as I had offers of extra Nectar points on a few of the things I needed.  I spent a total of £18.58 and hopefully ... alongside everything already in the freezer and cupboards ... enough food in now for the rest of the week.

'Hopefully' she says ... more like most definitely!! 😄

The yellow-stickered oven-bottom muffins have gone straight into the freezer so I can use them one at a time as and when I need a bun for my lunch.  I always try and have a microwaveable rice pouch in the cupboard for those nights when tea has to be ready in minutes and at 45p each they are a bargain from Sainsbury's.  I remember when you had to pay well over a pound for the luxury of almost instant rice.

I decided to buy a pack of cod fillets this week to stop Alan tempting me with a chippy tea again.  After all it's far more economical for me to make us exactly the same at home.  I have fish, chips and garden peas, and Alan has fish, chips garden peas, a battered sausage and a little pot of curry sauce ... all easily replicated at home.

Just before I went into Sainsbury's I got this months £100 in cash from the cashpoint outside the store, and look who's now on our £20 notes.  It's nice to see King Charles alongside his Mum on our currency.  It's a very nice picture of him.

Sue xx

Shopping, Lemons, Marbles

 

I called to Sainsbury's as that's where our nearest cash point is, to get this month's £100 out of my bank account. So while I was there I went in for a couple of lemons as I was down to my last slice in the freezer.  I also got followed out by a cucumber and a pack of tomatoes which were reduced as I have a Nectar card.

So my first shop of May cost me:

Lemons 2x30p = 60p

Cucumber - 89p

Tomatoes - £1.60

Total Spend £3.09

Considering this was going to be a no spend week, I'm not doing that well.  But I'm not going without my morning hot water with lemon slice drink for anyone ... not even a self imposed shopping ban. 🍋

Sue xx

What Does My £25 Weekly Allowance for 2024 Cover?

What does my £25 per week cash allowance cover?

I was asked this question the other day when I was talking to someone, so I thought it would be a good idea to put the answer on here so that if anyone else is wondering they will now know.  😀

Basically to really simplify things it covers all my shopping expenses at the supermarkets or the food shops that I visit.  I buy most of my food and most of my cleaning supplies at the supermarket, washing up liquid, bleach, fabric conditioner ... I now use about a spoonful of this in each wash and have given up on vinegar.  I get my laundry capsules from smol, so they come through the post about three times a year, so will not be included.  As you saw the other week it also includes toilet rolls and other paper products which I always try to buy when they are on offer.  

Ginger's cat food comes from untamed through the post every month.  It's the first food that he actually eats all of so I am happy to pay for this outside of my own food allowance and to balance it out Alan pays for the dogs food.

My monthly allowance also pays for any personal items such as deodorant, hand-cream, shampoo etc.  but I usually try and ask for things like body lotion and hand-creams for Christmas or birthday so I tend to get stocked up as and when I can.

What I do to make some of my products last as long as possible is to decant things like washing up liquid, shampoo and cleaning products into push-top dispensers this makes things last a long time, well it does for me.  Some people might be more heavy handed but I find that just two presses is more than enough for a bowlful of pots or to wash my short hair. 

 I have my cleaning spray that has refills, so after the initial purchase of the spray bottle I do not have to buy a big bottle every time.  I also only use one multi-purpose spray cleaner for everywhere in the house.  One type of shampoo, one type of toothpaste and usually just one type of washing up liquid.

The two dispensers in the photos have just been filled this week, so putting it on here will enable me to see how long each fill-up actually lasts.

To help make the most of everything that I currently have in stock, since Christmas I have been using up any free samples that I have found in the cupboards, all the little miniatures of shampoo, hand-cream and face-creams that I had around the lodge, generally just making good use of what I already have.  Obviously one day all these will run out, but it's helping me realise how little of a lot of things I actually use.  It also makes me aware of what I will need to buy in the future to replenish supplies and also what I do not need to replace.

With January ending midweek I was sort of in two minds the other day about whether my allowance is £25 per week, (25 x 52 = £1300) or £100 per month (£100 x 12= £1200), which is a difference over the course of the year of one hundred pounds.  But I decided that as I get paid monthly and the allowance will be topped up monthly, it will be £100 drawn out of the bank on the first of each month,  I think that this was my first thought at the start of the year.  

Now that this months money is in my purse I can show you on the very top photo of this post what I had left over at the end of January.  A grand total of £14.79 ... yes I have just realised that there is a penny missing!!  Where is my other penny?  I'll have to have a rummage in my bag or raid my little money box to replace the missing coin.

So the first month has gone really well, of course I expected it to be easy as I have the freezer and cupboard still looking very happy for themselves and there is no worry about running out of most foodstuffs.  My first five weeks shopping trips have been quite eclectic, with me just buying things that I needed to replace fresh items eaten or things that I fancied for one reason or another.

January was a good month for the start of my Eating Well on a Small Budget.

Clicking on the links will take you to free samples of smol products and a great starter trial offer of untamed cat food.  They are not  affiliate links in any way, just products that I have used for a while. 

Sue xx