I’m biting the bullet
Not chewing the fat…
Buying a ‘puter
That’s not as fat
Slimmed down and sleek
But reconditioned too
Saving me money
Not brand new
Might do more art
For a start.
Upgrade
Tag: Cost
Up to 100% effective?
I chuckle when I see this on adverts, ‘up to’ means that the percentage efficiency could be anything from 0% to 100%! But we are fooled by the top percentage. It’s the same sort of trick where a price is £9.99 instead of £10.00, the brain is tricked into thinking it’s a more than the 1 pence you actually save!
So think before you buy and be aware of tricky marketing, please!
My bike
Name the most expensive personal item you’ve ever purchased (not your home or car).
45 years ago I bought myself a ladies mixtie frame 10 speed bike.
It cost £120 which was a lot of money then and as a student I had to pay monthly to get it. I think it took me 6 months.
But it got me through college and into the first jobs I had. It was my method of visiting family and friends. I must have ridden thousands of miles on it.
Bikes are a means of transport for all sorts of people. Who needs ebikes. Keep cycling.
A painting
Name the most expensive personal item you’ve ever purchased (not your home or car).
I don’t think my insurance company would appreciate me giving out details of what I bought and how much it cost. This post may be fun, but it’s encouraging people to share information that might just be tempting enough to cause a theft.
Yes I know I might be overreacting, but my Jetpack account gets shared to other social media sites. People here might not know where I live, but others do.
I’d like to know who writes these prompts? I try to answer most of them, then I wonder if I’m being foolish? Yes it’s more content for my page, and it saves me having to think about a topic sometimes. But am I letting my guard down too much! I can chose my own topics and be circumspect, but answering others questions can be too enlightening for your own good. Beware…
I don’t!
What brands do you associate with?
Brands? You can keep them. Expensive, exclusive, snobbish, wasteful, fashion victims.
I have never really bought brands, especially clothes. I don’t feel they mean anything to me. I can see how expensive brands exclude the majority. Or people spend money they can’t afford to go one better than their neighbours.
In some ways I can see the manufacturer Ford’s argument that you could have any colour of car so long as it was black! Now people want exclusive sports cars, or utility vehicles. But to me as long as a car gets me from A to B safely and at no great cost? I’m happy. It can be shabby, growing moss on the bodywork. As long as I can use it for transport that’s fine.
Imagine the savings? You don’t have to spend too much to get something decent. If I can I will try and choose reliability and boring mundanity over glitzy, showy brands. And with those characteristics you can have something that is less likely to get stolen. It makes life easier not to bother with brands.
Colder evenings
There’s a chill in the air
And it’s only September
Autumn already
Shorter days
Longer (cold) nights
I will not switch on
The dreaded boiler
Until my lips and fingers
Pinch in the cold.
Layers of clothes
Must be the answer.
Use the cat as a blanket.
Coats on the bed
I remember that
When I was a child.
Bench post
We were thinking of replacing a garden bench with a new one. The seat has rotted through because we didn’t use wood preservatives and there were a few ones for sale at a garden centre we visited at the weekend. But I gasped when I saw the prices! This one was almost £500! I used to pay less than that for a few nights holiday accommodation, although I can’t see us having a holiday this year. Everything has got too expensive.
At least we have some money to spare, but only because of cutting back. It meant we could afford the vet bill today. I’d rather do that than buy clothes or shoes. Life is crazy, but I’m not going to complain, a lot of people have it far worse than us. I think we have to learn to be kinder to each other…. (and not buy benches…)
Tired
Ugh! I got up really early to move the car. My parking pass has run out, so I can’t park in front of my house between 8am and 9pm so I’ve had to find a spot in another street.
The good news is that I have applied for the pass. I had to use the Internet as the council does not have an office open to the public anymore. Everything is via their website. What about people who are not computer literate, or don’t do online banking? Poor people are gradually being disenfranchised. They could use a library. But lots of them have been closed due to budget cuts.
So I have done the forms online and got a receipt to prove I’ve paid. But I still have to wait for the pass to be posted to me. The bad news is that post isn’t delivered as frequently as it used to be. At one time post was delivered on the next day all around the country. That includes most of Scotland, Wales and the far south west. Now, however, the royal mail is concentrating on parcel deliveries. It’s letter service is a lot less important (all those emails…) and to add insult to injury the price of a first class stamp is now £1.10 (at least depending on its size). I can remember when you could buy a stamp for 20 pence.
Worse still, the email says that due to high demand, it may take ten days for the pass to be posted out! That will be ten Working days, two weeks.
So at least I will be getting up early for a while. Although I can have a lie in on Sundays and bank holidays!
Shivering
It’s still cold and wet, the rain has been falling all day. We are expecting our fuel bill again soon, so I’m keeping warm by stopping in bed under the duvet in the morning. I’m fine there with a book or my phone. My hands get a bit cold but I could buy some thin gloves. It’s mad that things have got so expensive and at the same time the weather has stayed cold. But unlike the photo, blossom and leaves are starting to show as a green and white fuzz on the trees. The forecast is for a 10°C rise in temperature at the weekend, up to about 19°C. We will see…..
Five hours!
My brain hurts! It’s taken over 5 hours and I’ve got a lot of my apps working on this new phone but I can’t get my emails back. It’s driving me bonkers (mad). I will keep trying, or go back to the phone shop on Monday. Luckily I’ve got it to work on my old PC.
This phone has double the memory of the old one and a better camera, but it cost only 20% of the price of my old one.
Now I need to keep concentrating on things and stop moaning about it!
Mallaband-Brown 