Want to be a mfw but worried?

brummiebabe

ally - have just read your whole diary over the last few days - and wanted to say how brilliantly you're doing:T:T.

Quick question though - how do you manage to keep your grocery budget so low???? We're a family of 5 & our's is more than double yours - & we struggle with that:rotfl:

ally18

Hi Brummiebabe,

Thanks very much for reading. Re my grocery, well I tend to swap around really. Whenever t's have vouchers, I use them and I also use ff as they have the money off vouchers all the time. Plus a big help is walking around with a calculator. If I stick to the sums, I stay within budget but there are only 3 of us so £180 is well good enough.

My kids are not fussed on big meals so we have lots of variety. They would much rather have things like wraps with chicken and salad in rather than a large meal of meat and gravy etc, plus with them being teenagers, I encourage them to make their own meals sometimes. As long as there is fruit, veg, meat and dairy stuff around for them I am happy.

As regards toiletries, I buy from fb where nearly everything toiletry wise is 99p. We don't have cheap makes either. Plus I make my own laundry gloop. That's the biggest saving of all.


Well on to my May problems! Car mot'd cost £215, plus need new front and back brakes within next month as advised!

The boiler is being replaced at the end of the month and I have turned down the 'advice' of having the water and gas earthed. As it is not an absolute legal requirement I am not having it done as that would have cost £120. Boiler cost will now be £2400 plus plastering and stuff etc.

I have noticed some guttering is coming away from the roof so this needs to be looked at plus 4 small double glazed windows need resealing as they have condensation in.

Oh well.

Grocery spends left for month is only £50 however freezer and cupboards are full.

ally18

Up date for May. Overall a very expensive month however, I now have a new gas boiler and no further dripping overflow. So that big job out the way. Still the car to sort, windows and guttering. No op this month.

Have set more veg seeds however and weather is looking good. Need to keep smiling.

ally18

Gosh, over 7 months since I last updated. I can't believe the time has gone so quickly and am now in another year!

Well, since updating last June, I have still carried on doing ops when I can. Situation all the same, however job wise is more precarious due to the performance system being changed this year. I am now in the position of having someone who does not know me or my job, report on my performance. And if that performance is not good enough, I could be in a position of coming under restoring efficiency which means ultimately being kicked out of the job. Hmm, this is a new way of letting people go without paying redundancy! Our bosses at the top are clever people are they not, achieving the said quotas they need and saving money in the bargain. As I have over 20 yrs service, I will lose it all. Unfortunately, I am in the position where some of my targets are out of my control so to say that I am angry about this, would be an understatement.

Anyway, to carry on and to stop ranting. M2 has been having the majority of ops and figures now stand as follows:

M1 - 53k
M2 - 4.5k

so owing just under £58k now.

I really need to have the majority of this sorted by 2027, when I am 60 so fingers crossed.

I need to start selling a lot of clutter!!

ally18

Just carrying on with my update, eldest at uni is doing wellthough costs do keep occurring. Everymonth so far since Sept! My savings potis being slowly attacked though in a good cause. She has now informed me that she and a groupof friends are now looking at houses to rent as this will be cheaper thanstaying in halls. Really?
Middle child has started driving lessons though these arepaid for out of her p/t job. Unfortunately, there will be no car arriving soon for her. I hope she realises this lol.
Youngest in school still.
So, some budgets have been upped/changed to accommodate new things thisyear. I have started at a gym, yes Iknow an added cost but it is my spending money so therefore not anaddition. So far, after 3 months I haveput weight on after working out like a crazy woman 4 nights a week. What is going on there, I have no idea. I don’t think this getting fit is all it iscracked up to be to be honest so come Oct, it may disappear.
This year, food shopping has changed. I am still sticking to the budget, now £160per month for ¾ adults but am trying not to buy processed food. I can’t believethe rubbish in some ready meals! I nowbulk buy meat from the market at the beginning of the month and freeze this insmaller packs for the whole month. Buying lots of vegetables for making hm soups and the bread maker is veryactive. So far, so good, will see how itgoes.
Hm, new boiler is quite nice. On the colder days, it has been very welcometo sit in the front room for a change as it does get warm now. However, costs each month have been aroundthe £90 mark for my gas and electric since end Nov with dd being £95. I have been getting up earlier in the morningto take advantage of the economy 7 tariff elect so washing and drying is donethen which is why elect is still high.
Still further jobs to be done this year. I haven’t sorted the guttering out as itdoesn’t appear to be too bad at the moment. I do need some decorating doing when the weather is better as the houseis looking quite dismal and the 1980’s carpet in the front room is starting tobug me now. Water rates and council taxsavings will be put aside for that I think.

That’s all at the mo.

missindecisive

Thankyou for your diary, have just read it all from the beginning for the first time and find it really interesting...lots of people reading it will be able to identify with you in some way...keep us posted x

ally18

Hi all,

Another week and the last one of the month so pay day here soon, yay!
DD1 needs some equipt for uni so £50 needs to be found this week. Emergency £25 money and some from water rates saving I think to cover this, which was not expected!
Grocery budget still on target, have £28 left for this week which should do for ff. I will need to go through the cupboards and meal plan for next week though to make sure I use stuff up. Weekend was a ns extras wise one fortunately, apart from food and diesel which is normal. Made hm soup, bread & two cakes to cover this week.
Have checked mortgages online and yes more interest is on which is disheartening but come the end of the month, I will smile when another payment comes off .

ally18

Morning all,

Nearly the end of the week again, I feel like I've been asleep all week as the days go by so quickly!

Good news for DD1 who applied for a scholarship at uni and has been told she was awarded it due to her high points scores from college last year. This means she has extra money towards her uni course costs and some living expenses for this first year. So proud of her and a great reward for her hard work in past years.

Now to encourage DD2 to work hard but she is really enjoying her course at present and is doing great so not much encouragement needed. She also wants to go to uni when she finishes :eek:.
Have only spend around £2 this week on extra milk, everything is coming out of cupboards and the freezer. I made a hm rice pudding in the slow cooker last night for the first time, was quite impressed as it was lovely. Just lots of calories though. I have been to the gym every night again so far this week so am keeping to my personal agreement with myself but oh so tired when I finally get home at 8.

I've just spent time reading through this thread from start to finish, can't believe I started in 2010. It just shows how the time goes by. In that time, I paid off a car loan and i'm down to under £5k on m2. So pleased I have carried on with it. :j

norfolkdream

Hi ally18,
I'm a newbie but an oldie, we have spoke in the past on here and I am just reading through members that I remember.
Thought I would pop in and say hi (trying to get my post figure up lol) cant say who I was on here though as had a stalker

ally18

Hi norfolkdream, many thanks for popping by, hope you are well whoever you are

Well another week, start of another month. Normal mortgage payments have been made and figures are as follows:
M1 £52,700ish
M2 £4,4ish
I am hoping to sort out a few bits tomorrow when I can move over my savings from last year's bills and make another op to m2.

This weekend was spent doing diy. I had to replace my letter box which was easy enough to do and then I had a draught problem in the roof to sort out. This meant putting more insulation up there and fixing wooden panels to some of the rafters. It isn't the most attractive fix but it should work (I hope). I will need to wait until the winds come back to see how good a job I have done.

Anyway, grocery budget was met, diesel budget was fine too. Used emergency funds for the diy and some from savings.

February should be no bills, at the moment that is.