A stressful week – this week’s frugal round up

Hi, and welcome to this week’s round up of money making and money saving activities here at Shoestring Cottage. Although some of them aren’t strictly either of those categories – they have just taken up a lot of my time! It has been a rather stressful week, one way or the other.

A stressful week

It has been a bit of a nightmare, actually, which means I have actually achieved less than I had hoped to. First, I have spent literally hours on the phone wrangling with an electricity company on behalf of my daughter.

Just when I was getting somewhere with that, I had a phone call from my elderly dad to say that my mum had fallen and been taken to hospital by ambulance. It transpires that she has broken the femur bone in several places where it meets the hip – the hip itself was ok as it is a replacement joint, so somewhat stronger than the original bone. 

Poor mum had to endure a night in hospital in some pain, then a very long operation involving metal plates and screws, which sounded horrible! She is recuperating on the ward now, but we have been advised by the surgeon that she will be there at least a week, then probably onto a reablement unit, then home with a care package.

We aren’t allowed to visit, but I drove a bag of her things over the evening she went in – including her phone charger, so that at least we can keep in touch. It sounds as if the NHS team are doing a brilliant job of looking after her, apart from the food, which she says is awful. I plan to take her over a few treats and some more bits and pieces at the weekend.

Meanwhile we – myself and my three siblings – are all rallying around to take care of my dad, who is 90 years old and not in the best of health himself. So, lots of toing and froing, and my petrol budget has gone out the window. It is just such a relief that mum got through the operation and seems to be making progress at least.

Fighting with the corporation

As I think I have mentioned previously, my eldest daughter recently moved into a new flat but at the same time started a new job, so has little spare time.

I set up her new account with British Gas, which was a feat in itself as they seemed to have issues with the meter there. After three attempts and three hours on the phone, that was sorted. She has just gone onto a standard variable tariff as there seems little point in trying to get a fixed deal at present. We are keeping a careful eye on what Money Saving Expert’s Martin Lewis suggests is the best course of action on this. At the moment he says that most households are better off doing nothing.

Meanwhile, we had submitted her final readings to SSE. Her online account showed her several hundred pounds in credit, but when the final bill arrived it suggested she was actually over £100 in debit! I have been arguing with them about how this could possibly be, when she submitted meter readings every couple of months and regularly checked her online account.

I have spent literally hours on the phone, initially getting passed from pillar to post and now in a deadlock situation with the final billing team (although they have offered £50 at this point ‘as a goodwill gesture’). The next step is to try to get a letter from them so that I can make a complaint to the ombudsman. 

Several years ago, I went through a similar process with First Utility, when the ombudsman ruled in my favour and gave me a whole year’s worth of energy for free as compensation. We might not get such as outcome this time, but in my view, if you aren’t happy with what utility companies are telling you, don’t be afraid to make a fuss! At the very least, we will have got £50 back.

It is time consuming though, and it’s not over yet unfortunately.

Making extra money

Mr Shoestring, aka Justin, presented me with a huge box of old brass items recently. They came from an elderly friend when he and his brother helped her clear her huge old house out when she moved. He thought that I could sell them on eBay to go towards our camper fund. 

So I have spent a few days sorting them and putting them into groups, pulling out any more interesting pieces, then photographing and listing them. None of this stuff is particularly valuable, but there is a market for it. Hopefully, it will make £100 or so.

It was actually quite interesting looking through and researching the brass. I remember my parents having a lot of this kind of thing in the 60s and 70s, when it was rather fashionable! It’s a bit more niche now.

The camper van is moving along rather slowly, and now the price of vans has gone up as everyone is having staycations! We are hoping that the novelty will wear off and people will sell them again once they can go abroad more easily.

Turkey noodle soup and bone broth

I mentioned last week that I had made some delicious stock from the Christmas turkey carcass. This week I used that up in a really yummy turkey noodle soup. It was so easy to make and so nice I wished I could make more!

Instead, I headed to the butcher’s (a recent discovery, as I had thought they had all closed here) and picked up some bones to make some beef broth. I got a big bag for just £1.50.

I have been researching the health benefits of regular consumption of bone broth and it seems to be worth a try. It is a cheap way to get really healthy nutrition that may help my IBS, aches and pains and sleep problems. Plus even iron out a few wrinkles!

I slow cooked it with some onion, celery, herbs and spices and cider vinegar (which helps release the goodness from the bones) and left it to cook all day. Then I made some into soup, drank a couple of mugs as it was and froze the rest. 

This week, I will use two chicken carcasses to make my broth. So far, I have to say I do feel it is helping my gut problems. Plus, with the weather being so cold, a nice warming soup at lunchtime is always welcome.

Keeping warm

On that subject, we are still trying to use the heating as little as we can. We have to have it on a few times each day, or we get condensation that leads to mould. But we are using the wood burner as much as possible and layering up. When it is just me at home working, I snuggle up under a throw with the dog next to me. It’s amazing how much heat a cockapoo can give off!

We are worried about our energy bills, as many people are. Along with the soaring cost of living due to inflation, we need to be as frugal as possible. I talked about this in my post Extreme frugality in 2022: my plan for the year of the squeeze, which you might find interesting, as well as Extreme frugality: 12 frugal living tips for a budget lifestyle.

I also have some ideas to save money on your energy bills here.

So that was my quite stressful week! I hope yours has been a bit less frustrating and eventful. If you enjoy my warblings, you might also like my YouTube channel. Come over and join the community!

I’m linking up with this Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Frugal Friday’ linky.