It’s been an expensive fortnight, that’s for sure. I’ve been struggling with knee pain for years now – actually, at least the last five years – and I’ve been to the doctor about it with nothing resolved. When it got to the stage that I couldn’t walk without limping and shooting pain in my leg, I booked an appointment for a biomechanics assessment.
Whilst I was waiting though, I bought some Scholl orthotic insoles from Amazon. The result was amazing – they stopped the pain almost entirely and I could walk normally! If I was a health blogger I’d rave about them for pronation-induced pain, but… I’m not.
I still needed to have my gait professionally assessed to make sure I was actually going to fix the problem, not mask it, so I plonked down £45 for the appointment and the next week, paid a whole £95 for some legit orthotic insoles. *GASP*
That’s a lot of dosh spent on my knees (feet, I know, but the feet are causing the knee pain) but it’s worth it. Being frugal doesn’t mean being stingy and short-sided about your health, does it?
So here’s some of what we did to save some of that fast-fleeting dosh!
Look After My Bills
I shared a new post about Look After My Bills, which is a great free service that actually switches energy provider for you. Perfect for busy people or those who need a helping hand!
I’ve been listening to an interesting podcast that touches on customer lock-in, which is exactly what holds us back from switching regularly. Check out my post here and find out more about Look After My Bills.
Strategic school runs
This is a bit of a left-field suggestion from Ste – he pointed out that he tries to park well away from the school when doing the school run, in order to avoid both wasting a lot of time and spending a fortune on petrol in the inevitable traffic jam that happens every morning and evening.
Smart guy!
Big box of reduced cat food (and making some from scraps)
Still trying to pounce on anything that’ll make our food bill lower, especially since I’m worried we won’t do as well as we want to this month (the stress!).
This time we managed to pick up a big box of cat food pouches at almost half price, and we simmered some leftover chicken scraps to make our dinner stretch to the other three furry bellies we have to feed.
Bulb’s price drop
Back onto the subject of energy, I’m currently with Bulb, who have just emailed me to say they’re dropping the price of gas. Winner!
Rawpixel membership ending
I’ve loved having my premium Rawpixel membership and now that my free two months is at an end, I’m glad I downloaded so many beautiful images when I did. Now I can pass it on – get a free Premium month here – if you need stock photos for anything, you’ll be so glad you did!
Over to you…
Have you found any ways to have a frugal week?
I’m linking up with Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Five Frugal things I’ve done this week’ linky.
3 Comments
I hope your knees are sorted soon. I can relate as I’ve been suffering from plantar fasciitis for years too! I’ve spent so much money as the five or 6 cortisone injections I’ve had in my heel so far has not really helped much.
I’m also happy to hear your ‘bulb’ news! Waiting to hear how it pans out. All the best for another frugal week ahead.
Hey Joleisa, sorry to hear about that! It’s all related, isn’t it? Funny how much your gait affects your overall health – my mum walks just the same as I do and she’s had lots of heel pain problems. I would definitely recommend the Scholl insoles as they are so squishy as well – I’m going backwards and forwards between my prescribed pair and those!
I need to look at look after my bills!