Just want to be debt free

crapwithcash82

Hi Kadiya, did my spreadsheet make sense to you? Sorry I wasn't back on in the afternoon, I ended up quite busy at work! Hope you find it helpful anyway! x

kadiya

Hey CWC, your spreadsheet made perfect sense to me and is exactly what I needed!Thankyou!

Shopping turned up today and you can tell the chidlren have missed their fruit, they've already got tucked into it LOL
Am going to try and make a homemade pizza for dinner tonight and we managed to get a cheesecake for £1 which will make my oldest extremely happy, as it's her favourite
Only problem is that the shopping, with veggies and milk which I wouldn't normally have delivered, all came to over £80...and we've just realised that we are running out of nappies :mad:
It seems so silly that for all of us, an £80 shop doesn't cover everything!
In all honesty though, I havent meal planned yet so it almost seems like a step forward and a step back...
Feel a little down about it to be honest, but then again, from where I am sitting, I don't think I am trying very hard yet, so better pull my finger out really:p

crapwithcash82

kadiya wrote: »

Hey CWC, your spreadsheet made perfect sense to me and is exactly what I needed!Thankyou!

Shopping turned up today and you can tell the chidlren have missed their fruit, they've already got tucked into it LOL
Am going to try and make a homemade pizza for dinner tonight and we managed to get a cheesecake for £1 which will make my oldest extremely happy, as it's her favourite
Only problem is that the shopping, with veggies and milk which I wouldn't normally have delivered, all came to over £80...and we've just realised that we are running out of nappies :mad:
It seems so silly that for all of us, an £80 shop doesn't cover everything!
In all honesty though, I havent meal planned yet so it almost seems like a step forward and a step back...
Feel a little down about it to be honest, but then again, from where I am sitting, I don't think I am trying very hard yet, so better pull my finger out really:p

:T:T:T:T

Glad the spreadsheet makes sense!! I sometimes confuse myself with my columns and formulas!! :rotfl:

I think you have done well to do a food shop for £80 for 2 adults and 3 children!! How old are your little ones? I find that I do that too, get home from the shops and then think, damn, forgot nappies!!

Oooh I'm with your daughter on the cheesecake front!! Its one of the few puddings I acutally enjoy!

I find the meal planning thing really does work, although half the time my OH complains that he "might not want sweet and sour chicken next Tuesday" - I just tell him tough - he can't complain at the HUGE food shopping bills if we do it his way and just buy a load of random food from the supermarket and then not stick to my meal planning!

Where do you shop? I normally go to Tesco's, I'm not too sure I'm keen on changing unless I really have to do drastic cut backs!! x

crapwithcash82

Hello Kadiya, just passing through and thought I would say hi!! :hello:

kadiya

Hey CWC, it was really nice of you to pop by and see me.
I know it's been a while, and I'm sorry to have diappeared.
Things aren't going terribly well here and I'm really struggling.
It's not just money, it's EVERYTHING.
I'm feeling pretty low and really lonely. I don't have any to talk to.
Gods that so pathetic.

crapwithcash82

kadiya wrote: »

Hey CWC, it was really nice of you to pop by and see me.
I know it's been a while, and I'm sorry to have diappeared.
Things aren't going terribly well here and I'm really struggling.
It's not just money, it's EVERYTHING.
I'm feeling pretty low and really lonely. I don't have any to talk to.
Gods that so pathetic.

Hello again Kadiya, good to see you online again!

Sounds like you're having a rough few days and things are getting on top of you. It doesn't sound pathetic at all, everyone has times when they feel down and their problems get to them a bit, so don't feel like it sounds pathetic! I would send you a hug but you know what the hugs on here look like!! :rotfl:

Are you feeling any better today? Perhaps your hormones are just giving you a hard time - how long is it now until baby arrives? It might help to write things down, maybe just getting things down on paper and off you chest will help? Do you go to any ante-natal groups around you where you could have a chat with someone?

Big Hugs and hopefully talk to you here later if you are online.... I have an exam tonight but I'll try and log on when I get home to see if you're online.

Keep your chin up! xxx

crapwithcash82

Hi Kadiya, just wondered how you were doing and if you were feeling any better? I hadn't seen you online again since, so just thought I would check in and leave a little message! x :wave:

kadiya

Just remembered I had this...
Well, quite a lot has happened, so where to begin?

1) biggest piece of news I guess is that after a recent scare and a scan, it turns out I'm expecting a boy This has made MOTH very happy lol

2)my family have disowned me. it's been quite a number of weeks since we last spoke to each other, and it's all because I helped someone out and they didn't agree with it. Would like to say it didn't bother me, but that would be a bit of a lie.

3)I havent managed to reduce the current level of debt in our household, but will discuss this more in a minute

4)We are applying to move house. We have a range of options open to us, from staying with the council, to taking private housing to moving out of the area completely, which is looking like our best option at the minute, as we don't have any ties aorund here to keep us here. Moving to another area where we actually have family would be good for support etc.

So thats the big bits of news, lots of little things have happened too, but don't seem as important

As for the debts, we haven't really made much of a dent in them.
We start the week with good intentions but end up spending, usually on take outs, again, because I'm just too exhausted to cook and MOTH is always so anxious about me :S Doesn't make for a healthy family, but as I'm due to have this baby in about 7 weeks or so, I'm trying to only look at it as a very short term thing until the boy is born.
So current debt still stands at nearly £1200 for overdraft as well as catalogues :S I don't have all of the information to hand right now, but will get myself organised properly so I can write it up on here.
However, I finally got round to asking the midwife to fill in a HIP form for me, which will be a welcome £190, as well as the Sure Start grant at £500, and this will pay off most of the overdraft at least.
I know this isn't what it is intended for, but I have been using the overdraft to buy clothes, a new car seat, bouncy chair etc etc for the boy, because we had given all of our old stuff away, figuring there wouldn't be any more children! so really, any money I recieve will replace what I have used.
Luckily though, on the MSE front, I got ALL of the boys clothes from ebay, three bundles cost me £60 which will keep him going in vests and 'jamas until he is 9 months old!I thought that was really GREAT! I may keep my eye out for other stuff too, becuase I didn't realise how good ebay was for baby things!Wish I had thought of it for my other children, would have saved me a fortune! :S
So, heres to trying to get on top of things before the boy is born, and that we get a grain of common sense between now and August!

kadiya

Did an online shop today to last us for the next 3 weeks AT LEAST and it looks like this:

Crisps multipack - variety x1 £5.00
Snacks x6 £2.88
Milk chocolate bar x6 £1.62
Giant rainbow drops x 4 £1.20
Foam fruits x6 £1.68
Pasta bake - cheese and bacon x 1 £0.99
Pasta bake - tomato and bacon x 1 £0.99
Pasta bake - tomato and herb x 1 £0.99
Pasta sauce - bolognese x 6 £2.16
Curry sauce x 6 £0.42
Stir fry sauce - chow mein x 4 £3.28
Sweet and sour sauce x 1 £0.30
Fusilli pasta x 1 £3.46
Spaghetti x 3 £1.17
Mandarin segments x 6 £2.22
Mixed berries in light syrup x 3 £3.09
Peaches in syrup x 6 £1.62
Pear halves in juice x 3 £1.83
Pineapple pieces in light syrup x6 £2.46
Apple & blackberrry fruit filling x2 £1.70
sprinkles x1 £0.60
Dream topping x3 £1.80
Jaffa cakes x1 £0.50
Custard creams x6 £1.80
Instant coffee granules x3 £1.47
Hot chocolate x2 £1.00
Strawberry milkshake x1 £1.00
Sugar - granulated x1 £1.84
Baked beans x6 £1.74
beans and sausage x6 £1.62
Spaghetti loops x6 £0.84
Corned beef x6 £6.54
Hot dogs x6 £2.64
Tuna flakes in brine x6 £2.88
Whole food cous cous x2 £1.20
Beef ravioli x6 £1.20
Macaroni cheese x6 £2.34
Chicken noodles x6 £0.60
New potatoes x6 £1.56
Sliced carrots in brine x6 £1.08
Chopped tomatoes x6 £2.16
Puree - garlic x1 £0.62
Gravy granules - chicken x 1 £1.56
Gravy granules - original x1 £1.58
Apple & blackcurrant squash x2 £0.52
Lemon squash x2 £0.52
Orange squash x2 £0.48
Bran flakes x3 £2.10
Fruit & fibre 3 x£1.92
Coco rice x6 £3.96
Porridge oats x2 £1.16
Baby wipes - fragrance free x2 £1.40
nappies x 3 £11.91
Floss harps x1 £1.40
PH mouthwash - clove x1 £2.68
Bodyspray - java x 2 £1.68
Antiperspirant roll-on x1 £0.30
Semi skimmed fresh milk x1 £2.25
Whole fresh milk x1 £2.25
Finger rolls x1 £0.85
Cistern blue x1 £0.31
Multi surface wipes x1 £1.50
Seasonal salad x2 £1.00
Stir fry x1 £0.50
Whole cucumber x1 £0.70
Tomatoes x1 £0.68
Bananas x1 £1.26
Brown onions x1 £0.67
Mature white cheddar x1 £4.98
Thin sliced ham x4 £2.08
You'd butter believe it x 2 £2.10
Swiss roll - chocolate x3 £0.39
White loaf - medium x3 £1.14
subtotal £131.92
multisave discount-£4.61
eVoucher discount-£3.50
delivery £3.50
estimated total £127.31

On the face of it, it looks like I may be able to stretch it all much further, especially as MOTH informed me we have rice, pearl barley, milk puddings, sauce mixes and seasonings in the cupboard, as well as chicken breast, chicken portions, lamb chops (mmmmm) sausages, fish fingers and frozen veg in the freezer!
Sheesh, thats a LOT of food!
The rest of this month is going to be really tight as well, with the bills we have to pay...somehow, the spending just got completely out of control
But thats ok, after this food has arrived on Wednesday, there isn't actually anymore money for anything spare (as in take outs ) until well into next week.
So the only money I had for this week is for the cupboard restock and for gas and leccy top up. Thats it.
Hmm...perhaps I should make a meal plan now.
I'm wondering if some forward planning would mean we are more organised and don't need to resort to picking up the phone for food...

kadiya

1)Bacon, eggs, hash browns, beans and sausage, fruit smoothie
2)Hot dogs, chips, spaghetti, fruit salad
3)chicken Chow mein, fruit crumble
4)Pasta bake (cheese and bacon),salad
5)fish fingers, chips, sweetcorn/carrots, fruit smoothie
6)beans on toast, fruit pie
7)Tacos w/ onion rings, "trifle"

Small shop for
bread
Milk
Fruit

8)Lamb chops, new potatoes, asparagus, peas
9)Corned beef hash, green beans, corn on the cob,
10)Chicken curry,spinach bombay potatoes, nan bread,Veggie rice(?)
11)pasta bake (Tomato and herb), fruit salad
12)Vegetable soup (broccoli,cauli,carrots,peas,potatoes),HM bread
14)Burgers,chips, corn on the cob, "trifle"

Small shop for
eggs,
bread,
potatoes,
fruit
salad
Milk
stir fry mix
Butter
Nappies
toiletries/cleaning stuff

15)Spaghetti with sauce
16)Chicken portions with Vegetable cous cous
17)Beans and sausage on toast, Fruit
18)Jacket potatoes with either cheese or tuna and mayo
19)Pork chow mein, "trifle"
20)Pasta bake (Tomato and bacon),salad
21)Vegetable Stew, Rice

Small shop for
Bread
Milk
Fresh fruit
Hot drink stuff
Squash

22)Corn beef hash pie, baked beans, fruit
23)Chicken curry,veggie rice, bombay potatoes
24)sausage, chips, veg
25)Beef ravioli, salad, garlic bread
26)Macaroni cheese
27)Tuna pasta bake

All this is based on the assumption there are no items missing from the shopping :rolleyes:
I didn't think I would get so many meals from what I have in, aswell as the shop on Wednesday!And there will still b e plenty in the cupboards for lunchtimmes and for snacks too, although if we are able to make it through 27 days without buying any extra sweets/biscuits/crisps (bearing in mind I still have cooking ingredients in to make scones and "twinks hobnobs if needed, or even a basic sponge) then I may stop buying them full stop!!