This week has thrown my usual financial caution to the wind. I have been backwards and forwards to Plymouth on three separate occasions. I filled the car up with diesel and have got through £50 of diesel in a week of running everywhere I have needed to go. I took mum out for lunch, where I usually would always cook for guests, but this week, I truly couldn't muster up the enthusiasm. Today we went to daughter's flat and guess what? She wasn't there! We found her and got her home so she could let the glazing company in to take measurements and then we waited and waited for the boiler engineer. He turned up, looking completely unbothered, came through the door with out a tool box, took one look at the boiler and said it was very old (not as old as the boiler in my own home!), that it had been leaking and wasn't 'worth his while'. In other words, it was a big job, he just wanted to get in and out, service the boiler, charge £150 and go and not bother with diagnostics, ordering parts, fixing leaks or even getting the tool box out of the van!
I phone 'ex' and told him that it was beyond repair. He has now scheduled the almighty 'British Gas' to come and survey for a new boiler and central heating system, which will then be installed in six to eight weeks. I don't live in 'La-La' land and know my son has been boiling the kettle and washing in a bucket since last November and just went out and bought an electric shower, and my son has organised a plumber/electrician to come tomorrow to get the electrics to the bathroom and I will just leave the money for him to pay they guy. As I said, frugality has gone out of the window.
The flat did not have any curtains or blinds. I went to the charity shop for curtains but had to buy the curtain poles and hooks from B&Q and also a water resistant roller blind for the bathroom. Dearly Beloved also gave up a day's pay to come to the flat today and put up curtains and blinds. It has been a very expensive week.
I feel victorious tonight though. I actually got round to cooking something, what we call a 'mini-roast' as it has a minuscule amount of meat and comes out of the mini-oven. Four pork loin steaks are £2.29 in Lidl and I split the pack and wrap the chops in pairs. I have portions of apple puree in the freezer, that I just leave to defrost, which means tonight's supper was back to being under £1.
I also took the time to cancel the renewal of my 'central heating boiler' insurance. The trusty old 'ideal classic' is almost twenty years old and was fixed last year and I then took out 'Homeserve' insurance for a year, at a reasonable £95.90 a year. I didn't make a claim and expected the fee to reduce this year. It didn't. The policy increased to £144. So I phoned and cancelled. I tried negotiating and said I would be happy to stay with the company if they kept the premiums the same, they couldn't so I went else where.
After using all of the price comparison websites, I found 'OmniAssist'. I then did my usual thing of trawling the net looking for information about them. They use local independent 'Gas Safe' engineers to provide the cover for them. Instead of £144 a year, they charge £66 a year. There is an excess charge of £50, but my last boiler repair, when I didn't have insurance, cost over £300, so I consider that to be worth it.
This has been a very expensive week and I will have to be exceedingly careful over the next few weeks to make sure I save as much money as I can. It really is time to get back to frugality.
Until tomorrow,
Froogs xxx
I phone 'ex' and told him that it was beyond repair. He has now scheduled the almighty 'British Gas' to come and survey for a new boiler and central heating system, which will then be installed in six to eight weeks. I don't live in 'La-La' land and know my son has been boiling the kettle and washing in a bucket since last November and just went out and bought an electric shower, and my son has organised a plumber/electrician to come tomorrow to get the electrics to the bathroom and I will just leave the money for him to pay they guy. As I said, frugality has gone out of the window.
The flat did not have any curtains or blinds. I went to the charity shop for curtains but had to buy the curtain poles and hooks from B&Q and also a water resistant roller blind for the bathroom. Dearly Beloved also gave up a day's pay to come to the flat today and put up curtains and blinds. It has been a very expensive week.
I also took the time to cancel the renewal of my 'central heating boiler' insurance. The trusty old 'ideal classic' is almost twenty years old and was fixed last year and I then took out 'Homeserve' insurance for a year, at a reasonable £95.90 a year. I didn't make a claim and expected the fee to reduce this year. It didn't. The policy increased to £144. So I phoned and cancelled. I tried negotiating and said I would be happy to stay with the company if they kept the premiums the same, they couldn't so I went else where.
After using all of the price comparison websites, I found 'OmniAssist'. I then did my usual thing of trawling the net looking for information about them. They use local independent 'Gas Safe' engineers to provide the cover for them. Instead of £144 a year, they charge £66 a year. There is an excess charge of £50, but my last boiler repair, when I didn't have insurance, cost over £300, so I consider that to be worth it.
This has been a very expensive week and I will have to be exceedingly careful over the next few weeks to make sure I save as much money as I can. It really is time to get back to frugality.
Until tomorrow,
Froogs xxx
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