Thursday 30 June 2022

June Spending (and some bargains!)

 

I can't help rescuing plants in the bargain corner of my local Dobbies.  Usually all they need is water, dead heading and a bit of TLC.  I filled all my big pots and raised beds in my front garden last year with similar bargains and about 75% of them have survived 😊 Today I got 3 dahlias, a dianthus, a tray of 20 snapdragons (69p!!!) and 2 trailing brachyscomes (rock daisies) for a bargain total of £12.34.  The snapdragons are annuals that flower from now until October and the rest are all perennials that should last forever if I look after them.

They also have a Sainsbury's outlet so I picked a few food bargains as well.  The strawberries are Scottish ones from Perthshire, just up the road from me.

As much as I love strawberries, even I couldn't eat 2 punnets in one day so I chopped and froze one of them.  They'll be handy for smoothies, overnight oats, porridge etc when you just need a few to add colour and flavour.  And I'll enjoy snacking on the other ones today.

I popped over to the plot yesterday and cleared another area of weeds.  That one bed plus the area around it filled another 3 rubble sacks.  It's not perfect but already looks much better.  I'm beginning to see a difference every time I leave 😊

Today is the last day of June so it's time to look at this month's spending.  I received confirmation of my single occupant discount (25%) from the council for my council tax.  That's a saving of £636.55 a year that I hadn't budgeted for so I'll add that to my savings account.

Total spending this month was a whopping £696.83 😲 That's almost £200 over my monthly target!! 

The good thing about writing down every penny spent is that I can see where I've overspent.  Around £120 was on school related stuff like end of year gifts for the kids and the staff who work closely with me.  Our photocopier/printer at school has been broken for a month (it needs an obscure part replaced) so I was printing more things at home and needed to buy more ink than usual.  I've also paid to get some extra blood tests done to check my vitamin levels.  And I treated myself to a pair of comfy casual trousers.  So it's all accounted for I guess.

That means once I've paid all my monthly bills, I can add £195.99 to my savings.  Plus the over budgeted £636.55 from my council tax discount.  Plus the £509 kitchen and bathroom repayment from my inheritance money.  Making a total of £1341.54 this month to put into my account.  

Savings total at 30th June 2022 is £6463.51.  Still on target for the year so far 🤞


10 comments:

  1. Teachers always end up spending so much of their won money in the classroom.
    I wish administration understood that

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    1. Just remembered I also bought an anatomically correct baby boy doll for our Home corner and to help with our RSHP programme. People making decisions about what we should teach should back it up with funding for the resources to do a good job!!

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  2. My daughter finished her NQT as I retired at 57 in 2007.
    I spent over a £100 in an outlet when we were on holiday resourcing a topic she had been given to teach with not a single book to back it up. Her Dad just laughed and said-37 years you’ ve been doing this and now you are going to use your reduced pension to keep on supporting an underfunded education system. We do it for the children so that we make a difference to their lives. Catriona

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    1. Yep we do it for the kids. I teach in an area that gets a lot of extra funding due to poverty but we still buy and make a lot of our own resources. My mum is a retired Headteacher and she makes me loads of stuff for my classroom!

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    2. She and I would have a lot in common I suspect not least that we love quilting. Just yesterday I framed a Harry Potter jigsaw for my 47 year old! I too am a retired HT who had enough at 57.
      I do lots of different volunteering roles now and enjoy each day as it comes. Keep saving!

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    3. Yep, saving like mad!!

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  3. I used to despair at the 'dead plant section' of Wyevale (now Dobbie's) and once I photographed a huge section of desiccated Box shrubs and Bay trees all with £19.99 price tags and obviously all destined to be thrown away, pointing out the large amount of revenue they were losing. I got a lovely letter back and a £20 voucher, so it was worth it ... I did go the dead plant section the following week and it was marginally better. Aldi is the worst culprit for that around here, I would love to be able to access their bins and rescue all the dead plants.

    The single occupancy saving is a good one isn't it, and luckily we both qualify for it now after a mix up when we first moved in to our new homes. As they owed me last years as well as knocking off this years, I have hardly paid anything this time, so I used the money towards a few days away in August.

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    1. I know someone who got 30 ish mature fruit trees from my local Dobbies at £5 a tree because they'd lost their labels. She had a new build property in a couple of acres and now has a flourishing orchard with apples, pears and plums. We can't name most of the varieties but they're all edible and delicious!!

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  4. I know snapdragons are supposed to be annuals but i had some in a planter and they came back year after year, they are very good at self seeding so you may enjoy them longer, I too love to rescue plants when I see them and I'm enjoying your exploits on your plot. Tory

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    1. Brilliant! I didn't know snapdragons self seeded so I'll refrain form dead heading later in the season!! I've had calendula, poppies and nasturtiums for a few years now all from one original packet of seeds as they self seed like mad!

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