Mooooving Into 2010 - Bovine Adventures In Budgeteering!

mooomin

Evening folks :hello:

I have spent a very good night eating cheese on toast and wrapping some of the Christmas presents I have stored. Once they are all wrapped I can finish the shopping next weekend - I'm going to a gig with my friend and we're staying overnight in Glasgow (Woo, cheap hotel rooms!) and then doing some Christmas shopping.

I was meant to be going to a gig tonight with Mr Fresian but I was tired and he didn't feel like it, and I didn't want to push him. I managed to sell the tickets on Scarlet Mist so have £45 in my purse £15 will go to the credit card which was the cost of the bus tickets (I wish he had told me before I bought those...!) but the rest will go towards the shopping trip next week, hurrah!

My house looks really Christmassy at the moment as the living room is covered in nicely wrapped presents and there are ribbons and bows everywhere (Mainly as Ernie T. Puss has been chasing them around the living room. I thought older cats were meant to sleep all the time....!!) I just need to quickly tidy up then I'm off to bed so I can go to M&S nice and early for the Penny Bazaar. I really want the lockable money box. If anyone picks one up and doesn't have a use for it please let me know!

Friday tomorrow, WOO!!

mooomin

A question for you good People Of The Internet before I go and get myself ready for M&S...

My no-access savings will mature at the end of the month and I will have £1050 (Woo!) available to me. I have pretty much accepted that £100 will go on the rest of Christmas, but this means I won't be resorting to credit, so woo to that.

My thoughts are thus:

£950 will be left after Christmas.

Put £650 in a no-access account for six month to remove some of the temptation.

Keep £150 in my instant access savings while I try and get used to my new tiny budget so I don't go into the red.

Use £150 to stock up on essentials for the year to keep the groceries costs down. I'm thinking the expensive stuff like cat food/litter, coffee and some tins. This will mean I can reduce the grocery budget right down in January and hopefully save some money.

What do you think?

tomtombeanie

hello! hope you have had success at M&S - did you get your moneybox?

i think your savings plan sounds sensible. particularly if you can get great prices on the stuff you're going to stock up on. i am on an Iams buying frenzy at the moment, as the 3kg bag is on sale at Mr T's for 6 quid - they are usually closer to ten, so buying them this way means it's even cheaper than buying the big 15kg bag. (puppy arrives here in 13 days!!!)

m&s points get you M&S vouchers - they don't look like normal vouchers so not really suitable for presents, but you can use them the same way. so i usually spend them on a little mix of essentials and treats (usually, knickers and wine! sometimes the dine in for a tenner). it works for us as i pay for pretty much everything on the card, then immediately transfer the money from our current account. so it's something for nothing... check the website to see exactly how many points you get for spending, i know it's twice as many points when you shop in M&S, but can't remember if it's a point per pound spent or something else. just with our normal spending, we get about 15 to 20 quid per quarter, if something exciting happens like our US holiday/flights, it's been known to be 30 or 40 quid :j

hope mr f is feeling brighter soon. enjoy your weekend - i think we're in for a wild one, weather wise! (and don't forget i'm a celeb starts on sunday - woo woo!)

5*shopaholic

HI FF
just noticed it is free lidting on ebay on sunday
i am getting stuff sorted to put on
thought you might like to know xxxx

Hopeful1

I couldn't get to M & S but am dying to know...did you get your money box?????

pointypenguin

Hey F_F

Sending you positive vibes for the poo that seems to be bestowed upon you at the moment. Glad you are feeling a bit more positive.

Your money plans sound sensible and a good mix of future planning but being realistic at the same time.

As money is tight are you considering getting a new lodger?

mooomin

5*shopaholic wrote: »

HI FF
just noticed it is free lidting on ebay on sunday
i am getting stuff sorted to put on
thought you might like to know xxxx

I am planning to spend most of the day taking photos of things and listing on Turbolister, thanks for the heads up :T

Hopeful1 wrote: »

I couldn't get to M & S but am dying to know...did you get your money box?????

Yes!! It's really nifty, I will take a picture when I am taking pics of all the Ebay gubbins.

[QUOTE=pointypenguin;26865399
As money is tight are you considering getting a new lodger?[/QUOTE]
Not at the moment. We're enjoying having the place to ourselves and Mr Fresian really isn't that well just now and it would be added stress he doesn't need. I have said to him though - we're in the very lucky position that because of my job my mortgage rate is 0.5% (Base rate) but if rates go up we will need to get a lodger quick-smart.

honeybear_2

Hi Ms Fresian :wave:

Boo to all the horrible stuff you've got on right now

But yay for the moneybox :j

Good luck with ebaying

mooomin

Just got a Rimmell lipgloss through the post that I had won from a competition ages ago.

Another thing for the Ebay pile!!

Hopeful1

flying_fresian wrote: »

Yes!! It's really nifty, I will take a picture when I am taking pics of all the Ebay gubbins.

:j Well done you! Will look forward to the piccie :rolleyes: