Back to Black - XSpender's 6 Year Plan

Raini

Hello XS, Well done on the savings & all the good news! :T Think you're doing the right thing by saving that extra money, hopefully you won't miss it at all! And it is nice to see savings going up x

XSpender

Grrr:mad: Typed a long post and lost it!

Had a great weekend with DH. We had our first night out, just the 2 of us, in ages, although we bumped into our neighbours and BIL and his friends so not much of the night was spent just the 2 of us! On Sunday we used our recently acquired nat trust membership and went for a walk around our favourite walled garden. There was enough left out of the saturday night budget to buy a plant and have a drink in the cafe. Mind there was no hot food and hardly a crumb of cake left 2 and a half hours before the cafe shut so it is a good job we won't be making a habit of eating there! Had to buy DH a pastie from the farm shop on the site cos he had only had a dry manky sarnie.

Moneywise things are looking good although the month only started on Friday:rolleyes: We have stuck to our entertainment budget and GC budget so far and should manange a few NSDs this week.

I have joined the July make £10/day challenge as I mananged to make so much last month without really trying and need an incentive to get a car boot done and sell some other stuff this month.

We have decided to go camping for a week in August when we have the last 2 weeks off. We are going in our own tent and will use the nat trust membership when there to visit some local properties. Our main intention is to vist the Eden centre which will cost about £15 each I think if I book it before we go . I will take our own food as we are just going for a week and should only need £300 at the most to cover everything which I can cover with the £100+ we are saving on the mortgage each month, it will feel like a free holiday.

XS

XSpender

Oops haven't posted on my diary for a couple of days, probably because I don't feel like I have made much progress this week after all my good news last month.

I seem to have spent a lot too. Some of it is within budgets for groceries and entertainment but have just agreed DH can go to a concert at O2 with friend in Nov which is costing £65 for ticket and 2 nights accommodation. This has to be paid for now and will be his 2nd weekend away this year! He is getting nowt else I can tell ya. We have also booked two outdoor theatre tickets for august.

We have been offered a 2nd hand caravan, old, but in immaculate condition for £200. I think it's worth about £1000 really but is a friend of my mothers who wants it to go to a good home. We have a tent and all the stuff to go with it and I was hoping we could upgrade to a caravan in a couple of years but this is just too good an opportunity to miss and after talking to friends with older vans/campers they have advised us to bite their hand off for it. I am so excited about it and can't wait to go see it on saturday. Only thing is we will need to get a towbat fitted to my car which will cost another £185. The sale of the tent and other stuff should easily cover the cost of this.

Must get ebaying and sort out the stuff for the carboot so we can carboot next weekend and build the savings back up as I have calculated we could have about £2500 saved by the end of the year if we keep going the way we are excluding the small purchase of a caravan:o

XS

XSpender

It's all going a bit pete tong around here.:eek:

My laptop broker, my work laptop broke and I haven't had a clue what to write on my diary as I am a bit as I seem to be spending rather than saving.

Some good things have been happening though:

• We got the caravan and loads of stuff to go with it for, wait for it, £150:T:T The lovely couple were as embarassed to ask for that much as we were to get it for that much. We are both so exited about getting it we have booked 2 nights about 30 miles away to get used to it and can hardly sleep for the excitement. Oh how sad I am getting in my old age
• OH has been ringing around to get cheap breakdown cover as we will use his 8 year old car to tow it
• Have been using comparison sites to check the price of OH car insurance which is due end of month. This is first time I have done this and should save at least £80:j
• OH told his friend at work he was enjoying being frugal!
• Had a whole bowl of strawbs out of the garden
• Started the IVF meds and no side effects as yet!
• Got back into the swing of meal planning this week (only cos there is not much left in the GC pot)

The not so good things are:

• The savings account has been plundered to pay for the caravan and towbar.:o Last month was the first month I had managed to save up and not touch it later on in the month and the account was looking soooo healthy. We will be selling our tent and lots of other camping stuff so should make £200 at least
• Still haven't done the car boot but I have put up 2 for sale cards in the local Sainsburys:o
• Have barely made 2 quid against my make £310 challenge this month, better make that minus £389 after the 'van and towbar!!

Right, kick up the bott, what am I gonna get down by Sunday.

- send off ads for tent, camping gear, diving gear and amp to free ad paper
- sort out 2 boxes of stuff in loft for the car boot
- go pick up my new caravan:T
- clean my already spotless and immaculate new caravan:p
- spend as little as poss on groceries this weekend and meal plan for next week
- sort out OH insurance and get a good saving

Will pop back in later in the week to update. **wanders off muttering I must update my diary, I must update my diary**

XS

XSpender

When I had my LBM back about 12 months ago I bought a book (not very frugal I know but I was just starting out on the MSE journey:o:money:) by an american guy,something to do with Debtors Anonymous I think, in which he said that whatever happens the money will always come to you and gave examples of where people were down to their least bean and something turned up.:A

Before the IVA, I never had any money coming in except basic salary, things would break, go wrong, I'd c**k up the bank account and get fees. In the last 2 months I cannot believe the amount of money that has come to us from various means, about £500, without us making any concerted effort. I am going to fish that book out of the loft tonight and have another read.

This month, although we have spent money on the caravan and towbar, we have sold our old camping gear to a neighbour for £150 and got £75 back off the towbar people for shoddy workmanship which OH can easily fix himself. The rest of the money will go back into the savings to replace the money spent on the 'van and towbar.

We are off to try out the caravan this weekend and have booked 2 nights in a site not too far from home. This has put us £6 over the entertainment budget but is the only opportunity we will have to try out the 'van before we drive to Cornwall of our hols at the end of August.

The carboot looks like it isn't going to happen this month as we just don't seem to have the time or much inclination really.:o

Must sort out OH car insurance this month. Had a look at one comparison site and think there is a saving to be made there.:T

I am doing quite will on my July goals although I have no idea how I ever thought I would manage £150 on the grocery challenge!

huxley

Enjoy your weekend:D although you may have used your savings least with the way you have been approaching things you had savings to use. Also pre LB would you have been quite to active in selling the camping gear as soon as it wasnt needed to refill that pot or would it off just been packed away to be dealt with another time. You're doing good keep going:j

XSpender

I still have all my hardly used scuba gear that is now out of test and I haven't dived for over 4 years!:o That is the next thing on the list to sell, I have stuck an advert in the local supermarket and am determined to put it in the local free ad paper by the end of July.

If I don't get the car boot sorted in the next 4 weeks it won't be getting done before the end of the summer as we are busy every week after that.:eek:

XSpender

I have soooo much work to do I shouldn't be on here at all:o:o:o

Took the tent and all the camping gear over to our neighbours house last night and they gave us the money and a bottle of wine:T Must nip along to the bank at lunchtime to pay it in to the savings account or it will get frittered away, especially since we are away this weekend.

I have made an extra £245 against my £310 target so far, need to see what can be done to make up the rest. It will have to be a carboot but I just can't seem to find the time to get it all sorted out.

OH is back from his 3 days away with work and I can't wait to go away in the caravan for the first time. I hope the weather stays dry and sunny.

Off to check the internet banking and do a mini update

XSpender

:mad:I've checked the bank account and I am not a happy bunny:mad:

OH has been away 3 days and two nights with work and has managed to spend £62!!!!!!:eek: I could see that he had taken out 2 x £20 when he was away and he did tell me on the phone he would be taking out the 2nd twenty but I thought he was paying for his meals out of that but there is another £22 come out for 2 meals....Grrr....

We will get the £22 back but the £40 on beer is what I am peeed off about.

There is now £40 left in the account, with just an £8 dd to come out but this has to last us until a week on Monday and we need £6.50 for the camp site fees.

We have spent a lot of money on trying to get the computer fixed and tickets for theatre next month and concert tickets for OH in nov as well as rejoining the nat trust but I hate having so little left in the account at the end of the month. It stresses me out.

We will end up spending a little of the money we got from selling the camping gear and I really didn't want to do that. Next month we are on holiday for 10 days so will be unable to save extra to top up the savings account.

jacey98

hi XS

hope your good havnt been on for a while so need to get myself in gear and catch up.

well done on your selling bits i made about 230 on ebay from 16 things really impressed need to sell more i think!!

pop back soon

jc x