As ever, I stand before you as a living embodiment of both thrift and excess, sinner and saint (guffaw!), an example of things that work and moments of failure.
Some things have gone well. For example, my letter to Thames Water persuaded them that their huge increase of 26% was a bit over the top. They have adjusted their increase to the figure I proposed - so hooray! It's always worth challenging these things if you feel they are out of line. At worst you lose the cost of a stamp or the price of the phone-call. I haven't heard anything from BT yet. I may just have to send the letter again in case the naughty snow ate it.
That pesky snow - it has a lot to answer for. The slippy slidey roads meant that my weekly grocery delivery was canceled so I had to plod down to the supermarket and do things the old fashioned way with a trolley. Things started off fine, but then it's not so hard to keep sensible in the fruit and veg section. I mean, there's a limit to the degree of wild expenditure you can splash out on a few turnips and a bag of mushrooms. However, I regret to say that I fell prey to some really delicious looking biscuits, a magazine and one or two other bits and bobs. OK I stocked up on some freezer essentials, replenished my herbs and spices and bought a few cleaning materials, but even I was taken aback to find I'd spent 50% more than my on-line shop would have been.
With head drooping as I trudged back to the car, I resolved to tell this tale just to show that it is the easiest thing in the world to spend a lot more when you are in the shop and face to face with all of their marketing might than just shopping on-line from a list of necessities.
But it was a salutary lesson and the melting snow has brought a return to prudence. I will not be downhearted - I enjoyed the biscuits a lot, and the magazine is still good reading so maybe the occasional little splurge in the depth of winter isn't too much of an indiscretion.
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