Well October is here and at long last we have had our six month review done and my ac manager rang the other night to speak to me about it. Ooh gawd, I thought, when hubby said our ac manager is on the phone . Well the end result after much worrying about whether we have paid in enough overtime etc, is that in total we owe £89.00. Creditors should be happy they have had almost double our monthly payment some months, due to overtime. Quite happy about that as we are nearly to the annual review ( yes this one was a bit late) and they have allowed rises in expenditure to be taken into account and it should easily cancel itself out by review. Rises are being offset from overtime, before we pay the 50%. We are lucky we still have the overtime, though not much this month with hubby being off work with the op. So next review, which will be our annual one, is at the end of november, so not far off really, but should be ok I religously pay the overtime in the day we get paid, to avoid any nasty scary amounts owing. I do appreciate how lucky we are to still have the overtime and still do think it worth doing. I have no problem paying the extra in, as that 50% gives us the treats we need, though lately contingency is not so good due to all the rises in the cost of everything. Still no moan,we are managing and that is what matters.

I so understand how all of the rises must be affecting some, especially those with children, so many rises in food costs, utilitys etc, we can cut back and put an extra jumper on, turn the heating down, not so easy with a family or if your budget is tight already.
Please if you are struggling, speak to your companies it is in their everybody’s interest to prevent failure due to rises, hopefully they can help, never been any harm in asking.

Nearly christmas ..ouch ! It comes around all too quickly. Sooo, my lists are starting, and I have the chrissie cards in the wardrobe at the ready. I bought them after christmas last year at 75% off. I always knew people who bought stuff reduced after christmas and thought it not worth having to store them for a whole year, suddenly on a budget I find my self saving anyway I can, so I can tick the cards off and the wrapping paper as they are here now at a quarter the cost.
I am going to do the same as I did last year decide on how much I spend for each and match a present to the person, at that cost. Buy one or two a week if poss and look for the bargains. I always research the cost of things on the internet checking out who is the cheapest or has something that bit different. I check out the clearance on websites like argos and tesco direct. There can be some great bargains to be had.
Anyways, enough of that for the moment I will check in later and let you all know how the bargain hunting is going.

Whats been going on. Well hubby has had another eye op, the other tear duct. It was done a bit differently this time, up bis nose uggh rather than an incision as with the first. Didnt seem to have gone that well this time as the streaming eye has been worse than ever, but he saw the consultant again this week and the tube they usually leave in for a couple of months has had to be removed as it sometimes causes a block as well. End result his eye is much better and he doesnt cry all day lol. I am so pleased this is over now I am a real worrier. He is so precious. (soppy woman)

Well we are off again on another sun newspaper hol this sunday. This one is going to be quite a frugal one, lots of walks and chillling out in the caravan, possibly a swim and the odd couple of drinks at the club. Collected weatherspoons vouchers to have the odd meal out with, ( found a wetherspoons near where we are) food from our shopping budget, and basically just a quiet rest and change of scenery for us after the busy few days we had away with the family. This will be the total opposite, borrow a few dvd’s and just chill, cant wait.

I am enjoying looking after the frugal friends section and moderating. Helping out with the forthcoming frugal friends xmas party. It is going to be a great night, lots of new faces to look forward to meeting, and seeing the friends we have already made at previous ones. Cant wait, the hotel looks lovely and the room is super. All that is needed is you all to come and enjoy yourselves. Dont forget post on the ‘who is coming thread’ if you havent already if you can come everybody is welcome including new members. See you all soon.

Anyway going to leave it here for the moment, will report on the holiday when we get back, though, I am hoping to take the laptop with me (I am an early riser and get bored listening to hubby snore) but need to beg for my son inlaws mobile broadband stick ( a dongle I believe it is called, sounds rude) either way will speak soon.