Lulabelle's MFW Diary

I'm really getting in to the whole decluttering thing... I now have 40 items listed on fleabay..... and a huge bin bag full of stuff that needs to be photographed and listed...

I've decided to start to go through the loft - I then have 4 piles; rubbish (recycling bin at Mr T), charity, fleabay, use again ourselves...

Anything that doesn't sell on fleabay will be sent to the charity shop.

We've just done a few bags of stuff so far but it's amazing what can be found.

I've decided that this de cluttering is going to be good for the mind.... it also serves the purpose of realising how much "stuff" has been bought over the years and then just cast aside..... perhaps it will help to make us think about buying more "stuff" in the future........

Plus, if a few £'s can be made in the process then thats brilliant. This will of course be used for an OP rather than funding more "stuff"!

My home office is looking a bit worse for ware with all of this stuff everywhere, but these 2 weeks that I'm off work are the perfect time to indulge with such a task.

All if the items listed last week on flebay have sold today... And I got more than I dreamed to imagine.... Will wait until all of the items have been posted in order to work out how much I made and how much can then be sent as an OP to the mortgage.....

Have listed another batch of stuff and have more in a pile waiting.... My office is a mess. When this lot is all out of the way, it will be back to the loft for more stuff..... I'm actually really enjoying the decluttering especially getting some £'s for it.

We had a lovely day out to a raptor centre yesterday... We got to see all sorts of owls, buzzards, eagles etc and watched a flying demonstration....we also got to see various snakes, lizard and such like and a family of Meir cats that had just had babies.....

We used tesco vouchers and took a pack up with us, so we managed to just spend £3 all day and the children really enjoyed it.

Today we have been to a local park...... We have an annual parking permit, so no cost there..... Took a BBQ for lunch for which we had to spend £4 as didn't have everything we needed... Used tesco vouchers to buy ride tickets and enjoyed a rowing boat on the lake and a trip on the train. So, just £4 spent on lunch. Again, the children had a wonderful time, infant we all did.

Not sure what our plans will be tomorrow, but we're focusing on low cost things.... So far we've had better family time doing the low cost things ... Our London trip last week was expensive, enhausting and actually quite stressful.

Food spending has been really good the last few weeks and a vast improvement. I spent £5 in Mr A today n some bits and pieces and we now have dinners planned for the next few nights.

I talked to DS1 today about mortgages and why we need to be sensible with money... He's only 8 but seemed to grasp what we are trying to achieve. He understands that we want to be mortgage free in 4 years and not have to pay the bank any more money! He's super excited about all of the things he can buy in 4 years time!! He also really liked the idea that it means the house will be ours and no one can ever take it from us. Maybe he's too young, but I think it's good to get him on board and star teaching him some kind of understanding of how the big wide world works.

A very quiet rainy day today.... a nice break from days out.

Posted some of the eBay stuff - waiting for the this batch to pay and then I'll transfer the money out of fleabay and make a small OP with the proceeds.

A little bit of food shopping to take us through until Sunday and then we are away on Monday for 5 days.

Looking round my office and I just have piles of stuff:
-still to be photographed and listed
-listed but no bids
-listed with bids - so will definitely sell
-wrapped and waiting for payment so they can be posted

It's like a small production line.

I might try and get the small pile photographed and listed later once the children have gone to bed. That will do me until after the holiday and then I'll be back in the loft to grab some more stuff to either chuck, send to charity, fleabay or start using again....

Went for a lovely family bike ride today, followed by a play at a country park and then a picnic lunch..... Spent just £3.75 all day....

We've been out 3 out of 4 days so far this week and have spent less that a total of £10, this is amazing for us and I would never have imagined it possible.

We're being really good this week so that we can have a few treats when we have our holiday next week.

Spent some time wrapping all of the items on eBay that have bids and labelling them up so they are ready to go once the auction ends and I've had the payment.

I almost had a crisis tonight and bought another handbag but DH stepped in, told me off and saved the day. Phew....

I have a problem with handbags for anyone who hasn't read my diary.... Before my MFW days I spent too much money on them and whilst I've whittled my collection right down, it's still a weakness for me. However, if I want to achieve our mf goal, I can't buy anymore....... Every now and then I'm stupid and get tempted but thankfully this time DH told me off. I had a chat with him a while back and said under no circumstances am I allowed to buy any more and that I needed him to be really tough with me. Anyway he was, and even when I suggested I could get it now and put it away for Christmas, he wasn't having any of it. Thank goodness.

So, back on the straight and narrow......

The weather looks wonderful for the next few days, I hope everyone manages to get some quality time in the sunshine..