Bang...and the debt is gone! (Hopefully!)

MissShoes

No sign of phone bill being taken out which is frustrating so balance is still £46.98.

Another £6.07 on its way from paypal. Awaiting payment for 4 more things which sold today totalling around £25 before fees.

No payments have cleared yet, should all be on Wednesday.

Saw menu today for lunch thing on Sunday. Looking at around £25-30 including drinks per head. More than I wanted but happy that I have that coming in from ebay.

OH got some basic groceries in today out of his money which was nice of him. Milk, cheese, fruit, veg, frozen pizza and bread. Still leaves me with £13 for 15 days.

Had pasta for lunch and dinner tonight which is annoying. Hopefully if I'm home from work at a normal time tomorrow I can have something else.

Need to eat more fruit and drink more water and take winter vitamins. Looking run down, tired, stressed and grouchy.

Spent £3.48 on breakfast today and £18.30 in post office. Used cash I had already taken out for cleaner so will have to remember to take cash out on Thursday ready for her.

So I have around £100 with which to pay cleaner (£25), go to lunch (£30 max), post ebay items (£20 max) and pay phone bill (£25 max) which means it's all budgeted for although extra is on its way from paypal once people pay. Could go well, could all go wrong!

Shoes

MissShoes

Had an iffy week. Bought breakfast a few days and lunch a few others. No excuses but a crazy week has left very limited time for organising- any free time was used for sleeping.

So there are 8 days until pay day.

I have £35.45 in the bank and another £5.02 on the way from paypal. No more paypal on its way, I've taken an ebay hiatus for the end of this month.

We have £5 in the grocery shopping money.

Mealplan for this week:

Monday- fresh pasta and pork with salad
Tuesday- sausage and potatoes and veg
Wednesday- ww ready meal for me, leftover curry and rice for OH
Thursday- spag bol
Friday- lasagne or cottage pie (made on Thursday)
Saturday- beef stirfry
Sunday- beef and veg casserole
Monday- tuna pasta bake

Will need to buy canned tom, tom sauce, milk and maybe cheese and ham.

Breakfast is cereal/toast/eggs during the week and bacon on the weekend.

Snacks are leftover choc and crisps for OH, fruit and s/f jelly for me.

Lunches are salads/cous cous/pasta salad/sandwiches/leftovers

I have to spend on groceries and also post one item, my final ebay sale. I'm also waiting for vanquis to send my final statement so I can pay the residual interest and be done with it.

Need to contact landlord about them missing an appointment, need to do some work, need to hit the laundry mountain, need to blitz the bedroom. Need need need!

Very tired and there's lots more to do but I've forgotten. Big day at work tomo then a few more days before I get some time off- although this will be spent writing so no rest for the wicked.

Shoes

MissShoes

4 days til payday. I have £5 in my bank account!

I also have no money left for groceries but plenty of stuff in to last until Tues morning when the month starts, the budget is reset etc. A big tesco online order has been put in for around £150 which OH has paid for so it will be delivered on the right day. As our budget is £260 pcm for both of us, this means I owe him £20 due to it being over his half.

Onepoll is up to £30.55- need to keep on this- I reckon it could be done within a couple of weeks then need to withdraw it.

OH working late today so it's a ready meal for me and some trashy tv as well as putting away a load of laundry that's dried.

I need to do some work on my budget for next month- there are some big bills (TV license, car tax, mot and repairs) which is frustrating but the worst part is not knowing the car costs- we are splitting all these bills 50/50. I will pay them all and then take half from OH bank account.

On a positive note, this month's wages is the last month with a garnish on my wage so next month I'll have an increase of around £200 pcm.

Nothing much listing on ebay, a couple of pieces. One seller emailed to say the item hadn't arrived- nothing I can do apart from refund which is frustrating.

A lot of house costs coming up- a unit, 2 rugs, 1 floor lamp, 1 mattress protector, 2 extra deep fitted sheets, 3 pillows and 3 pillow protectors. These will all be ebay purchases and ikea stuff and be purchased as and when we can afford it.

We also need 4 fitted draught excluders, 1 draught excluder for the front door ready for winter as well as dressing gown for me and a throw. These will be done as and when/if we can afford it so these purchases are in the back of my mind.

I am crossing fingers that I'll be able to pay off my DP card and LPF card this month in full- I really want to but it will definitely be very close.

Will formulate a plan and post it tomo.

Shoes x

miggy

Well done for keeping on track! Roll on Tuesday!

You're so close to that extra £200... I expect it will feel like an enormous amount and it will make a significant difference to your budgetting.

Just a thought... can you freeze sandwiches to grab for busy days? I've had mixed success with this but it might save a bit.

Anyway, I wanted to say 'keep going, you're doing a great job!'

MissShoes

miggy wrote: »

Well done for keeping on track! Roll on Tuesday!

You're so close to that extra £200... I expect it will feel like an enormous amount and it will make a significant difference to your budgetting.

Just a thought... can you freeze sandwiches to grab for busy days? I've had mixed success with this but it might save a bit.

Anyway, I wanted to say 'keep going, you're doing a great job!'

Hey Miggy, cheers for posting. How you getting on? I know...it's tantalisingly close! It will make all the difference before Xmas so I'm really happy that I only have one more month to go.

Have read about others freezing sandwiches. Not really viable for us- all the freezer space is for bulk buys, batch cooking and rtc stuff.

Really want a second freezer! xx

MissShoes

3 days to payday. £5 in the bank. NSD for me. OH treated us to a mammoth takeaway- isn't he great!

Budget will be done tomo xx

miggy

MissShoes wrote: »

Hey Miggy, cheers for posting. How you getting on? I know...it's tantalisingly close! It will make all the difference before Xmas so I'm really happy that I only have one more month to go.

Have read about others freezing sandwiches. Not really viable for us- all the freezer space is for bulk buys, batch cooking and rtc stuff.

Really want a second freezer! xx

We got one of those... for some reason I can't find stuff in it any more than I can in the original one! Even less, actually, as it's a chest freezer. One of the reasons for this is that DD works p/t in a supermarket and buys food very cheaply there, then freezes it and loses track of what she's got. This includes sandwiches!

Maybe not such a good suggestion than.

We are living off microwave meals and toast as a kitchen cupboard had an argument with the cooker and now neither is fit for use. :eek: Just waiting to sort out the insurance and that phase will be behind us...!

MissShoes

miggy wrote: »

We got one of those... for some reason I can't find stuff in it any more than I can in the original one! Even less, actually, as it's a chest freezer. One of the reasons for this is that DD works p/t in a supermarket and buys food very cheaply there, then freezes it and loses track of what she's got. This includes sandwiches!

Maybe not such a good suggestion than.

We are living off microwave meals and toast as a kitchen cupboard had an argument with the cooker and now neither is fit for use. :eek: Just waiting to sort out the insurance and that phase will be behind us...!

Oh that sounds like a nightmare! How long will it be like that for? Hope it gets sorted asap- that doesnt sound like fun at all.

I'm going to investigate getting a second freezer...It'd be a squeeze. I wonder if I can find out how much it costs to run a freezer a month...of to google xx

miggy

I'm sure ours costs more than it should as it's ancient and the seal is no good. They are supposed to run better when very full though, aren't they? In which case ours is saving us a fortune!

I'm glad we are only without a cooker in the short term. We have the microwave and sandwich toaster (and DS2 has resorted to cooking on the fire, being a Scout and all!) but sadly the slow cooker also succumbed to Revenge of the Wall Cupboard and it doesn't seem to be the weather for salads. We've been out investigating cookers this afternoon and I am told the insurance goes through in days once they have the details - so it's up to me to get all that together (and check my emails for the one from the electrician confirming the goods are beyond use).

Incidentally my two older children have proved they don't actually need to be fed by me at all: both of them have been buying their own food or getting other people to feed them! DD has now offered her boyfriend's kitchen for us to make Sunday lunch... I sense a change in the power balance, LOL.

By the way, it's worth watching small ads and Freecycle for freezers. We got our second one through a friend who knew someone else who didn't want it.

MissShoes

Still got £5 in my bank, another NSD for me. Have decided to spend this on some hairclips- yay!

OH bought a cheeky fastfood meal tonight- not the healthiest weekend for us, and I made lunch from leftovers in the fridge.

Have done my October budget. It's so dependent on the car bill but it might (she whispers) be possible to clear Dorothy Perkins card this month- that is my target. We shall see.

Grocery budget of £260 is already decimated. The big shop will be around £190. That leaves £70 for milk, cheese, bread, fruit and veg for a month- will be tight.

I've checked the calendar and I have limited social events for this month. I am determined to be very very very very frugal and part bitterly with each penny I have to.

Fingers crossed for car bill.

Shoes

ps up to £30.55 on onepoll. Must attack that- just £9.45 to go.