Comparisons (edited)

 Remember my photo from 26th April? I was walking past the factory in Hull where they make wind turbines. How the heck do they transport these huge columns and the blades. Obviously they have to be assembled onsite. But where. 

There they go. On a boat and out to sea. These photo's popped up on my screen. 

Photo credit - Fort Paull Battery Heritage Site. 

Photo credit - Alex Russell. 

Photo credit - Craig Marriott. 

Another platform in the North Sea. All part of the sustainable energy plan. I wonder what happens to them once they have reached the end of their useful life. I have seen photo's of the blades being buried in the desert in some far away land. It would be interesting to know in 50 years time, if it all had been worth it, compared to other forms of energy. Cost of manufacturing them, cost of transportation, cost of maintaining them, and cost of disposing of them. Will they be dismantled and brought back onto land and recycled, or dumped. Has it saved the planet. I wonder if they have even worked out the true cost. 

Thanks for popping in. Toodle pip.   ilona

YAY, I found some answers. Read Watt-Logic.  Basically they are robbing us blind in the push to line their own pockets. 

New report: The true affordability of net zero

My report sets out all of the additional costs applied to bills as a result of net zero policies which in 2023-24 amounted to over £17 billion, and are projected to increase to over £20 billion per year in 2029-30.

In the meantime, the UK wastes large amounts of money through a failure to properly manage net zero investment. Windfarms have been deliberately built behind grid constraints in the knowledge that the electricity they produce cannot all be used.

Renewables are not and never will be cheap

The public has been seduced by narratives that renewables are cheap, believing them because the wind and the sun are “free”, and ignoring the fact that the machines necessary to convert their energy to electricity are very far from being free, and for the most part are actually very expensive. That renewables are not cheap should be clear, based both on the evidence that after 35 years of subsidies, we are yet to see any benefits through lower bills.

A bargain.

 

I've had an enjoyable day out in Lincoln today. There was something I wanted from the camera shop, so I made it into a day out rather than go there and back in a couple of hours. 

I struck lucky. I told the man in the shop that I needed a long selfie stick because holding the camera out in front of me was making my arm ache. He suggested this, it extends in three places and can adjust to any length you want. It has a soft grip handle, and the head will tilt and can be locked in place. 

I said, that will be great how much is it? He said a couple of quid, it's second hand. WOW, what a bargain. 

I walked around Lincoln for three hours and took some photo's. It's too late to sort them out now, I will put them on tomorrow. 

Now I'm starting to yawn, it won't be long till I will be in bed. Thanks for popping in. Catch ya tomorrow. Toodle pip.   ilona

Does it work?

Hello. Tuesday morning and all is well at Tightwad Towers. I'm not sure if I can use that title any more, because I am not as tight as I used to be. I still don't like spending money on something unnecessary though, if I can avoid it. I have been toying with the idea of buying a new camera, I might do one day. In the meantime I am trying to find a way to make videos outdoors without the wind noise spoiling them. 

The microphone on a camera is very exposed, so there needs to be some way of shielding it. I could buy an external plug in microphone I suppose, that would be the usual path to take to eliminate the problem. But I like playing with bits and bobs, so let's see if this solution works first before I part with some dosh. 

Cut hole in bottom of plastic box so the lens will open. Cut smaller hole in the side of the box to screw the metal handle to the bottom of the camera. Point and shoot. 

Does it work? It's a whole lot better than it was. Maybe not eliminated the problem 100% but it might be acceptable. 

I will give it a go for a while and see how I get on. This is a test in the garden, I will take it with me when I walk in open fields, which might happen this afternoon.  

Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon.  Toodle pip.   ilona

PS. Did you take a look at Patrick's video. His are far more superior to mine. 

Yellow stickers at M & S

Oh no, not another yellow sticker video. Aha, but this one is a bit different, I did my shopping at Marks and Spencer. No I haven't lost my marbles, you know I never set foot in there as their prices are not my kind of prices, cheap, ha ha.

I had a gift card from my best friend carol, for my birthday, so I thought it was about time to spend it. She gave me strict instructions to get myself a treat, something I normally wouldn't buy. I knew it would be impossible to do that if I wandered around the whole shop. There are plenty of nice things that everyone would consider a treat but I couldn't bring myself to buy them because I don't need them. So I stuck to the food hall. I definitely do need food.

The experience was quite fun actually. I was there ages perusing the fresh food chiller cabinets, following the ladies around as they were reducing the prices with a second sticker. There wasn't lots of bargains to be had, but I was determined to only buy yellow stickers. The food is expensive in the first place, and even with money off, it was still more than I would pay anyway. But never mind, I wasn't paying for it, this was my birthday treat from carol.

If you want to know what I bought check out the video. I didn't spend all the voucher, I still have £10 left for another time.



Toodle pip.  ilona

A super bargain offer.

I've just posted this on a forum, so to save time and effort of writing a blog post today, I will copy and paste it here.

I have in my possession a 'No Licence Needed confirmation', from TV Licensing.co.uk. They thank me for telling them that I don't need a TV licence, and this claim will last until February 2021. They very kindly tell me that I won't receive any more letters from them until just before this expires. 


I am able to offer a copy of this letter with your own details, name, address, superimposed at the top of the letter, and on the certificate at the bottom. You can then present your own confirmation to the TV licensing people when they come knocking at your door. Show them this exemption and they will go away. 


As this service will incur great expense to me, scanning, copy and pasting, printing and photocopying, I must ask for recompense. However, I have a 'mates rates' exclusively for my reader friends on the blog. Please dispatch to me at your earliest convenience in a plain brown envelope, the sum of £75, sorry cash only, used notes, with your details to be entered onto the confirmation. Hurry in case your current TV licence is about to expire, and I will endeavour to send your confirmation back by return post.  


I think you will agree that this offer is much more preferable to the current system of robbing you of £150 for a TV licence. Don't delay, do it today.

ilona

Character and style

Some people have all the luck. Look at this for a free find, I don't know how my friend does it. I thought I was good at finding free stuff, but she beats me by miles. Most of the furniture in her house is second hand, either free or very cheap. This chair is beautiful, found on a Facebook group page where people give things away, or swap, or sell for a small fee.

Quite comfortable as well. I feel like a Queen sat on the throne, forgot to put my crown on. 

Don't you think that second hand furniture has that pre-loved homely look. It has character, it has style, there is history, and a uniqueness about it. If it could speak it would have a few tales to tell. Unlike the bland and boring stuff which comes off a factory production line.

I can count the amount of new furniture I have bought in my lifetime on one hand. I bought a double bed, then years later I bought another double bed. I bought a pine dining table and four chairs, the cheapest I could find. I bought an office chair after many years of sitting on a broken second hand one. I have never bought a new three piece suit. Second hand furniture has always been fine for me. As long as it is functional, and not too bashed about, it doesn't have to match anything. I've never been in a furniture shop and thought oooh isn't that lovely I must have one. I can't see me ever living in a brand new house with brand new furniture, it wouldn't be like a real home, it just doesn't appeal. I wouldn't like it.
ilona 

Thank goodness for yellow stickers

I've just found out that there are going to be some changes with my utilities supplier, Ebico. They are re jigging the tariffs and I have to decide which way I am going to have to go. I will look into the options available. This is a bluddy pain in the backside. It's been running very smoothly for the time I have been with them, now there is a hiccup. Makes me want to say stuff 'em and go off grid. 

Thank goodness for yellows stickers. This is my haul from Friday night. 

Mini carrots, lemon houmous, onion houmous, organic houmous, grapes, broccoli sugarsnap peas, iceberg lettuce, baby Brussels sprouts, mixed veg, gem lettuce, scones, spring onions, prepared fruit, raspberries. This will keep me going for a while. 

Back on the fruity breakfasts.

ilona

A very good money saving idea

I've been looking around for some new pants, some of my old ones need chucking, they are very old. You may already know this, I have mentioned it before, but I wear boys pants, not women's knickers, because they are more robust and last a lot longer. From my past experiences, many years ago, I found that knickers stretch and go baggy after a while, and they are too flimsy, and the lace falls off. I like to know that my bottom is adequately covered, and boys pants fit the bill just right. 

My waist is 30 inches and my hips are 38 inches, so pants for boys age 13 - 14 are perfect. A lot of the pants now have a strip of wide elastic for a waistband, usually with the latest trendy name on them. I don't like those, and I don't need to tell the world that I am wearing the latest Kalvin Klines, or whatever that bloke is called. I want a soft waistband where the elastic isn't so wide, and covered with the fabric. 

I found them in Tesco. Ten pairs of pants for £5.50, and they had 25% off so they cost me £4.12, an absolute bargain. Sadly they only had one pack left, or I would have bought more. I will look again next time I am in there, because I like to have a drawer full of them, then when it's wash time I can do them all in one load.  

I suppose you want me to model a pair. Oh go on then, just to prove they fit me.

Does my bum look big in this? Eat your heart out Kim, ha ha.

Blimey, it was nine years ago when Hunt for Britains Tightest Person was on the telly, and I told the whole world I wear boys pants. I stand by my claim, boys pants last longer than girls knickers, and I am still saving money, because I don't need to buy them very often.
Toodle pip. 
ilona

Great charity shop finds.

Look what I found. Two bags of brightly coloured wool, 20p per bag. A bag of bangles for 50p. I fancy doing a bit of wrapping. Made a start. Don't know what they are going to be, how they will end up, but something will happen. 

 A 50p metal basket. just crying out for some colour. I will wrap wool around this and decorate it.

 A big lump of browny, different shades, bitty, wool for 20p. There must be something I can do with this. It will come in useful, probably, when I get an idea. Maybe some weaving, maybe a wall hanging, who knows.

I dropped lucky, the charity shop was having a crafting sale. Even cheaper than cheap.  ilona

Extreme bulk buying.

Hello. I was searching the internet yesterday to find the best price for Heidi's cat food. Not the cheapest I know, but she likes it, and it doesn't upset her tum or give her diarrhoea. There are six pouches in a packet. Morrisons £2. Pets at Home £2.09. Amazon £1.66. Zooplus £1.89. Wilko £1.60. Hilhouse £1.49. 

I normally pay £1.49 at Home Bargains or B & M, but they never have many in stock. Sometimes it is on special at Wilko for £1.25, but not very often, and when it is that price it all goes very quickly. I saw it in Tesco on Wednesday night for £2.10. Sainsburys and Asda are the same price unless it is on offer at £1.50, which again isn't very often. I have noticed that Poundland is selling it at £1.50, they are not strictly a £1 shop any more, they sell anything now at any price. I am getting a bit fed up of trawling these shops looking for the best price. 

I set off for town yesterday, again on the hunt for cat food, when I quickly pulled off into the Cash and Carry yard. Haven't been for a while so it was worth a look to see if there was anything new. I was absolutely amazed to see the exact Sheba in gravy that I wanted. They had bought in a pallet of mixed cat food, and this was in the middle of it. The price? £1.20. YAY, I did a jig in the shop.

I was so chuffed I went a bit mad and bought 12 boxes, 8 packets in each box, 96 packets in total, 6 pouches in a packet, at a cost of £115.20.

So how do the numbers stack up. If I had bought all these at the big supermarkets for £2 a packet , it would cost me £192. So, a saving of £76.08. If I had trawled the discount stores for several months and bought them at £1.50 a packet, it would have cost me £144. So, a saving of £29.80.

This will cut down my trips to town, I won't need to go so often, saving me petrol money, and saving me the bother of lugging heavy bags back to the car, or dragging the shopping trolley about. All I need now is for Heidi to live a long life, and not to run away to a better home. Not that she will find one, ha ha. She is showing no signs of illness, so the tablets are working.

Other cat news. Sadly it looks as if I won't see Garcia again. I asked his owners if he was alright, they said yes he is, but they are keeping him in now. His walking was not so good when I last saw him so he is better off indoors. My Bugsy lived on the dining room table for the last six months of his life. The good news is that Tina cat has a new home, with a lady who has one other cat. All is well there.

Have a great weekend. I'm partying, my cousins 50'th. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Cut, colour, and blow dry for £1.

Hello. It had to be done, this birds nest of a hairstyle had to go. Hanging down in my face, irritating in my neck, and constantly having to be brushed and clipped back. It always seems to get greasy more quickly when it's long, straggly, and unruly. Only one thing to do, chop it off. How to do it? Two mirrors set at an angle, facing each other so I can see the back of my head. Here is a post explaining how I do it. I usually do this twice a year. 

Good grief, what a mess.

Quite a lot chopped off.

I already had a £1 colour, bought a few weeks ago in readiness for this. They work a treat, no need to pay any more. It lightens it a couple of shades, getting rid of the darker roots. I also find that it makes my hair soft and shiny, using the conditioner in the box. I never use conditioner any other time.

Looks good to me, and all for the bargain price of £1, and heating the water. I have saved a good bit of money since I started cutting my own hair. Long may it last.

Dinner tonight was a plate of lovely, mostly green, vegetables.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

In praise of Youth Hostels.

Hello. What's the weather doing where you are? Parts of Britain have ground to a halt, people are either stuck in snow or are out enjoying it, or are huddled at home with no wish to venture out. There is no snow here which I am pleased about. I did my walk this morning, I need to do three miles every day now for the rest of the month, to reach my target. No slacking, no excuses, just do it. 

I'll just finish off the last of the photo's of my break last week. A few of the hostel. Hartington Hall is between Buxton and Ashbourne, just off the A515. The village is lovely, shops, pub, church, and school, and lots of farms all around it. 

This is the view from the car park, it's just starting to get dark and the pathway lights are on. 

If you have bags to unload you can drive right up to the building. Disabled badge holders can park in the small courtyard, they don't need to move their car to the car park. 

It looks very welcoming with the glowing interior lights. This is the front door, but it is just as easy to access the building through the side door.

The Christmas tree is up, with lights around the wood burner. They will light a fire if you ask, but to be honest, the whole building was hot enough with the central heating.

One of the two dining rooms. These get very full when there are school parties booked in. While I was there I was the only person in the dining room for the first day, then two other ladies had their meals there the second day. It is fully licensed for alcohol, I had a cider which was a bit pricey but hey hoe, I like a treat. The staff were great and couldn't do enough for me. The two ladies on the evening shift were really nice.

This is the quiet lounge, there are books and magazines available to read. I was lucky, and found several Embroidery Guild magazines, I read them all while I was there.

My room was in the Coach House across the courtyard. I had a shower and wash basin en suite, with the toilet across the corridor, shared only by two other rooms. There was a members kitchen, and a dining table downstairs for those who self cater, and a cosy sofa and television set if you don't want to go across to the main building. I used the kitchen to make my first mug of coffee in the morning.

My first evening meal was three bean chili, and this pizza was served the second night. Dinner is from 5.30pm, which is good, because I was back by 4pm, and I don't like eating too late, too close to bed time. I could only eat half this pizza, and to be honest, I very rarely have pizza at home. I didn't bother to ask for something else from the menu, they had prepared this so I ate what I could and wrapped the other half up for lunch the next day. .

Now is a good time to stay at a Youth Hostel because it can be quite cheap out of season. Even cheaper if you are a member. Check out the web site for vacancies. Some of the hostels will be closed for the winter, but some remain open.

For instance, if you fancy visiting Penzance next week there is a newly refurbished hostel there, which has beds in a dorm for £13 non members, £10 members. Private room for two people £29. Fancy Keswick in the Lake District next week. Even cheaper, £10 non members, £7 members, in a dorm, per night. Some hostels are open all over the Christmas period, so if you are sick of it already why not get away for a couple of nights.

If you want to see more pics of Hartington Hall, here is a link to the post from December 2011.

Dinner time. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Wean needs your help

Hi. I don't know everything there is to know about money saving, budgeting, and frugal living. The only way I know how to get out of debt is to not get into it in the first place, but if you do find yourself backed into a corner, then then my simple solution would be to cut back on all but the essential spending. Mortgage/rent has to be paid. Council tax has to be paid. Utilities need to be paid, but savings can be made there. Food has to be bought, again savings can be made. Transport to work needs to be taken into consideration, distance, cost, can a bicycle be used rather than a car. Medication needs to be paid for if needed, or can you claim for it if you are unemployed. Everything else can be cut back.

That's the way I see it. It's a balancing act. Household expenditure can be itemized, income can be logged. Money in and money out can be tracked and checked against each other. I suggest anyone in dire straights could check that they are getting all the benefits they are entitled to. 

Wean poses a question, perhaps you can help. Copied, edited, and pasted from her recent comment.

Don't you just love these videos that tell you how to manage your money, create a budget and get out of debt ?
How do you do that when you have more going out than coming in ? I'm not talking about cable TV, new or expensive car, holidays, hairdressers, nail extensions or even tattoos if that's what you like, I'm talking about after your rent is paid and a couple of other non-negotiable bills, there is literally nothing left ? how do you budget with that ? how do you save from that ? Don't say 'yellow stickers' I am the yellow sticker Queen of the Midlands, but the point is, you cant save what you haven't got, you can't cut back any more, there's just nothing left.
Work is not an option, in your mid 70's no one will employ you. Sell stuff on Ebay - that should be rephrased as 'put stuff on Ebay' there's no guarantee it will sell. It's becoming increasingly difficult to sell on Ebay. Etsy is the same.
So while these 'help yourself out of debt' videos can be helpful in some small way, I find the people that put them out extremely smug and would like their opinion on how to save from nothing, cut back on nothing, and get out of debt

I don't have all the answers, so maybe as a collective I could ask that you savvy people out there all chip in with your ideas. Of course we don't have any more background to Wean's story, so replies should be generalized to cover a situation where someone/anyone feels they are at the end of the road and can't do any more to change their situation. She is in the UK I should mention.

Thank you Wean for your questions, let's see what ideas our readers come up with.

Thanks for popping in, the weekend starts here, enjoy. I'm off to the council tip now because I have got some real rubbish I want to get rid of. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

A small pot of paint goes a long way

Hello and good morning. Thank you to Jean for the question about my paint. 

You always seen to have plenty of paint for projects, where does it all come from? I know you buy test pots, and mention free paint, but with all your summer house painting and projects, you must spend a lot. So what is your secret of never ending paint, and how do you get "free" paint? Jean.

Yes, it must seem like I spend a lot of money on paint, I always appear to have some on hand. Flis is right, friends gave me some half tins of paint for the summer house, so that was free, I also used some of my small pots. This is what I have left.

Small tins of Crown, these came from Hull Scrapstore. They were included in my £5 per basket, along with lots of fabric. So they cost very little. 

These Coverplus plastic tester pots came from Woolworths just before they closed, that was a few years ago. They cost 4p each, there was a lot more but I am on the last dregs now.

Got these on a previous visit to the Scrapstore, again as part of a basket, only three left, had about twelve to start with.

Cuprinol, bought a few months back from Wilko. You can see that they were 10p each.

The total sum of what I have left. It's all vinyl silk emulsion or similar, so the brushes can be cleaned in water. I don't have as many colours left to play with now, so I will be keeping my eyes open when I go in  diy shops that sell paint, and look for anything that is reduced.

I treat all my shopping in the same way. As well as food being reduced, shops sometimes clear out excessive stock to make way for new. It's a case of being alert, not walking around in a dream, and scouring the shelves for any offers. The word 'reduced' is imprinted in my brain, if I spot something I want to know what it is, and if it will be of any use to me.

There is a reduced section in The Range, a big department store that has an extensive selection of arts and crafts items. I very rarely find anything in there, they don't knock much off, but when I am in the shop I take a look just in case. It's like the reduced dry goods (food) in Tesco, nothing much there, but on occasions they have dented tins which are marked down to very cheap.

If I go in any shop my eyes scan the shelves, the bins, and around the till area, searching for the words Reduced, or Offers, or Sale. All these little savings add up and it means that I get to keep my money in my purse and save up a little nest egg for spending on treats. It's the fun of beating the system for me, like a tug of war between me and them. I know more or less what I am prepared to pay for things. If the price is too high I walk away.

Paint is very expensive, my whole house could do with a lick of it, but I am not prepared to spend the money because it's not a priority. I might tart it up a bit if I find some cheap enough, but I don't enjoy painting whole doors and walls inside a house. The summer house was different, I could slap it on, it didn't matter that it wasn't perfect.

Anyway, I've got tho go, Heidi needs to have a tablet, that's if I can find her, she went out earlier but might be back in now. Garcia has been in for his breakfast, he scoffed it down that quick, he brought it back up again, yuk. Mayze is lounging on the dining room table aka the painting/sewing table. It's going to be a hot one today. I shall go and see Stan in the mobile library later to change some books.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Bargains from the car boot sale.

Hello, back again. It's been wet and miserable outside, so when I got back from Crafty Club I decided to stay in and get on with another project. I bought some wool and felting needles from the Scrapstore ages ago, and apart from having a play with it, I haven't touched it since. Time to get serious and make an effort to produce something. 

I've seen a project in the latest Stitch magazine, June/July, it was wet felted, with an abstract design, and has a lot of machine and hand stitching on it. It was made into a cover for a kindle. I thought I could make something similar but bigger, dry felted with the needles, and make a wall hanging. So I've spent all afternoon on that while watching Heatbeat videos on yooootoooob. Early days but it's coming together nicely. 

I went to the local car boot sale yesterday morning, at the football ground. I don't go very often, about three times a year, this is the first one I've been to since last summer. I found a few bits and bobs which might be useful. I already have a lot of tiny beads, but often when I am making something I can always guarantee I don't have the colour I need. I found this box of beads for £1. 

All this lot was in a box on a table with a label saying £2 the lot. I asked the woman if she was trying to get rid of them, she said yes. I gave her the £2 because it was worth it.

Here they are sorted, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. Some of it is too big and a bit ugly so those pieces will go on the cat table to sell. The small beads and small shiny items will be used in crafty projects. 

I was looking for a straight up and down plain glass vase, and I found one. It's 10 inches tall, cost £1, and I have an idea for it.

I'm going to get on with a bit more needle felting, so I'll say tatty byes. Thank you for all your comments on yesterdays post, you really are too kind. All I do is live my life the way I want to. I am just being me.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Light up the garden

Hello. I've been playing today. The mayo jars are quite dinky, I like the rounded shape, so what to do with them? I know, make tee light holders. Wrap a bit of wire around the top and make a handle, and daub some nail varnish on them. I didn't want to spend a lot of time painting neat patters, so I just did some rough stripes, and added spots with a permanent marker pen. They look good hanging on the pink sticks. 

Or in the lilac tree, which is regrowing after I hacked it down last year.

I tried them out after dark.

Put them on Bugsy's grave, looks nice.

Put them on Rocky's grave, looks nice.

I've got some more jars, I'll make a few more. The lights are still shining, I can see them from my window, they've been out there for three hours. I need to buy some more tee lights, I only had these two in the cupboard. Easy to make, why not have a go.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip