Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

katep23

Hi NG, don't know if it helps but it's free to list cars on Gumtree - we sold a 1980s moped and 1960s motorbike on there recently and had quite a lot of interest in both.

newgirly

Thanks kate, I will do that!

newgirly

Time for an end of year challenge

I've done it many times before, nothing too exciting but a grocery challenge for the last three months of the year.

My aim is to stick to a budget af £1000 until new years eve. Thats £10.87 a day for the five of us, the cat and dog and also covers alcohol, toiletries, and cleaning. I've deducted the £66 thats already been spent since the 1st in lidl (wish I'd bought less now!)

Ideas to achieve this are:

Homecooking combined with frozen meat /fish
Use more frozen veg- less waste
Baking bread
Bulk buy toiltries from £1shop and get delivered (less temptation!)
Ditto wine, look for offers / vouchers get delivered if cheaper
Bake sweet snacks /cake
Use my supermarket to compare

Thats it so far!

newgirly

Eric has not sold, £1,140 was the highest bid, plus a text offering £1,500.reserve was £2,000 which was low enough! I guess I will stick him on gumtree and see what happens. I know I paid a reasonable price for him as I watched literally 1000's of minis

I have spent ages estimating what we need to see us through until new year toiletries/pet food etc. wise, filled baskets on two different online pound shops and tesco, then found a £12 off £60 spend at tesco so went there, lots was cheaper as its mostly all own brand. £71.64 spend.

Firegirl

Good luck with your challenge!!!! It sounds like a good plan!

CathT

Very savvy food shop Newgirly. Good luck with your budget and selling Eric.

newgirly

Up early to tidy, dinner sorted for tonight already - left over roast from mums yesterday for the kids and dh, left over hm veg curry for me.

I'm not bulk buying wine for the next few months, too much temptation

This might be a better way to shop long term really, in theory i should never run out of non food items, and possibly will spend less as im not buying for convienience when we run out , but when cheapest.

Edit, thanks cath, it whiled away an evening whilst watching downton!

newgirly

Just had another text from the guy that was constantly trying to buy eric cheap last night, i told him the reserve was 2k as he offered 1200. Now he has said he "needs " to buy thr car and has offered 2k. Why offer to buy a car unseen? Do i waste my time arranging a viewing, think its too cheap anyway!

AlexLK

Work out in your own mind if you'll take £2,000. If so, what's the harm in letting him view?

As for people buying classic cars unseen, the answer is plenty.

edinburgher

Probably nothing wrong with letting the chap view if he's actually offering £2k, but I would be wary as he sounds a bit contrary. I appreciate that haggling is part of the process (probably why we'll end up using one of these firms that advertise on TV to avoid it in future). So remain optimistic, but be exceptionally suspicious if he seems to be a flake/starts trying to do complicated things involving money transfers etc.

I agree with GG, sounds like you're in justification mode for something shiny. I am not sure whether a Panda can fit 5 people + their luggage. We saw a couple on the road yesterday and they were tiny and quite boxy.