Coffee and chocolate

miggy

DS gets an allowance from us of £26 pcm. (He's 14: the amount was calculated on a mixture of age and some costs he is expected to cover but some of these are lost in the mists of time).
Somehow we've got into the situation where he spends the money in advance - so now he's into August's! - DH keeps track and lets him know if there's any left at the end of the month (last month there wasn't).
While this is an improvement over the old situation where we really didn't know what was going on, it's not ideal. We need to keep a written record of what's gone on, so he and we can't disagree over what we 'owe' him.
Basically he is convinced we are a month out in our calculations!
I even wonder if it's worth offering him an F&F settlement! LOL but this has been going on for months and we have had major stuff to deal with so this got pushed onto the back burner.
For the time being I think a notebook to set out an agreed position and track further spending is essential (besides it lets me set up a notebook - I like notebooks ).
Meanwhile, I asked him which of the things he gets are from his money, and which we pay for (word of explanation: nearly all his spending is done by trips to the various supermarkets: he likes to go with DH - who is a soft touch compared to me because when I'm tired I sometimes dig my heels in, whereas DH knuckles under!). The difficulty is that DS is a touch OCD and the trips matter to him. The plus side is that he's amenable to reason if it's approached at a neutral time and in a reasoned way.
DS didn't know what came into which category,DH will know but he's at work and it's not going to be easy to find time soon to discuss it with him so I think I'll just make a best guess and get some written guidelines down... in the notebook of course!
Thoughts:
DS pays for sweets, fizzy pop.
We pay for yogurts, fruit juices, bread rolls.
If DS wants anything specifically (just as, for instance, I might buy in a partic flavour of yogurt for his brother or sister) then we canpay for them but they are only 'his' if he lets me label them as such.
(No idea why he expects people to know what's his and refuses to label them. I set up a white board for people to track what was theirs but it hasn't worked - could get a new pen and start it again).
To do:

• notebook
• explain to Ds what is happening and why (benefits to him) (may involve the F&F settlement, LOL - but then he wouldn't feel cheated - and even if we are convinced we don't owe him, he doesn't agree)
• agree categories/limits with DS and DH
• agree a starting point so no-one owes anything to each other
• set up white board again

N.B. He has a healthy bank account but isn't using it for Tesco buys - could discuss this with him - he must take his card if shopping with Dad, if so we could pay him in advance by DD? Basically although he doesn't acknowledge it even to himself, I think he's better off this way as payments get missed sometimes so he's better off - set to do well in business, this one!

miggy

Some of today's 'To Do' list is going to have to remain undone due to lack of time.

miggy wrote: »

shower and get dressed! Prepare clothes for me and DS to wear to the dinner, and pack.

Done except DS has elected to pack his own - there is an empty case on his bed & he's gone off to Tesco! He asked to borrow £10 off me, I said no. He went anyway!

miggy wrote: »

Ensure animals have food for overnight, water plants.

Yup!

miggy wrote: »

Moneysaving: clear out the fridge

Threw out old food to the value of about £2 but made up bolognese sauce which is now in the freezer, froze some red currants from the garden too, generally can see the back of the fridge now!

miggy wrote: »

and make a few inroads into the larder, where there's unknown treasure and a few crumbs.

No.

miggy wrote: »

1. I need to sort out how much to each but before that I need to work out what I am allocating, i.e. what savings/income can go into these two pots?

No - will take time.

miggy wrote: »

I need to give some thought as to DS's spending (separate post methinks) which needs some stronger guidelines.

Made a start and fired a few warning shots in his direction!

miggy

Today has been, strictly speaking, a NSD on my part but in fact we have paid for diesel and a meal out for several people so the fact the money didn't go through my hands hasn't made any difference to our total financial situation.
Very good meal, though!
MS things: fed assorted weeds to rabbits, LOL! Also fed them some dry food but noticed I will have to get some more soon.
Reused disposable lenses - with care and careful cleaning.
Oops - far too many calories!
Positives: mum okay (spent ages worrying when I couldn't get in touch with her last night but I think she just fell asleep and I've spoken to her today - and her Tesco order has come so she has something new to eat). Spoke to DD on Skype - was slightly concerned when she said she & her cousin had been partying and had a brilliant time (!) but she assures me it was fun because she was so amused buy some 60-going-on-16 year olds who were partying rather enthusiastically!
Green bin day tomorrow so our bin is already at the collection point and tomorrow I will be able to stuff it full again and the lawn will be slightly tidier (before the next lot of clippings).
Also recycling collection in the morning - just as well as ours is brim-full. Oh, and three milk bottles out for the milk man so more space in the kitchen.
Generally a very very nice day, my seating plan for the meal out worked, the food was great and everyone got on well. Oh, and we didn't get stuck in traffic on the way home.
And - Dh and I had a walk up to a local farm, enjoying the lowering sky and the swifts chasing the midges. Who needs fame and fortune?

miggy

I've just posted this to the Approved Food discussion thread but for the record and in case anyone knows, here it is again:

(My first Approved Food order has arrived).
It came with a 2-sheet print-out of the invoice. First sheet all well, exactly as ordered, except they forgot or ran out of shower cleaner. No note of substitutes (I only listed one and it wasn't used) and no refunds or owt like that.
Second page - not a single item as ordered! Good job there were only 5 items on the page.
I've tried to ring the firm, no reply. Can't find anything on the website to tell me what to do about the assorted unwanted items - which are worth more than I paid by about £6 which sounds like a nice problem except I have no use for a lot of them. Really! They have also doubled on two lots of 'treats' - and nice through that is, we don't need the calories.
Any clues what I do please?

miggy

Aside from the Approved Foods delivery (I emailed them and am waiting to hear back) I have spent a little today - I didn't give myself time to go anywhere but Tesco, so spent a bit more on some items but not too bad. I did buy spring onions & organic beetroot that were marked down, soap & shower gel (needed), mamade and sugar to make marmalade, and sausages for tea. We're still using up my bounty of cheap spuds from the other week.
MS stuff - saved 3p on soap, LOL! Also bought salady things as above but wouldn't have bought them today if they weren't marked down so that doesn't count as as a saving.
I also bought more micropore to dress DS's wound, but he isn't likely to need it much longer (he had an arguement with a saw).
The marmalade will be about £3 for 6 jars, i.e. 50p each which I don't think is the absolute cheapest any more, but it's very good. I use a bit less sugar than it says on the tin. Oh! Saved 3p on the sugar too!
I fed my friends on Approved Food cakes instead of buying posher biscuits in tonight but this may not be all that MS as we are now a good part of the way through a Jamaican Ginger Cake. The boys love it.
And... DS has given me 1p towards the mortgage fund! LOL.

knitwit67

Good luck with approved food. I don't think I will bother using them it all sounds very time consuming.

miggy

I had a look on Tesco's website - their cheapest marmalade is 27p! I seem to remember we tried it and it was thin but not too bad at all... that's if I've got the right one.
Their most expensive is £1.79.
So have I over-spent by £1.38 or saved £7.74?

My thoughts on this: I might have bought the cheap one but probably not regularly. I wouldn't have spent out on the expensive one. I might have bought the second cheapest (58p) (so would have saved 48p) but occasionally buy something more expensive.
Actually I have had an inspiration here: it's usually DH who buys it - it's he who gets through such a lot of it! - and he might well get something else at the same time so there must be savings in having it on the shelf at home, so potentially avoiding a trip out.

miggy

Good news! I had an apologetic email back following the mistakes with my order - they've offered me a significant discount on my next order! As I'm happy with the quality of what I actually got, and the things they put in by mistake mean I haven't lost financially (in fact if I had wanted them, I would be gaining financially), I'm happy with this.
So... more towards paying the extra mortgage installment! :j:j:j

KnitWit, my experience of online grocery shopping is limited to Tesco & Approved Food, and last week I had to chase up Tesco for not delivering an order at all, though previously we could have set the clock by them, they were so reliable. IMO, the real hassle is doing the first order, when you're still trawling through trying to find how they've described things, and sorting out how to go through checkout. After that it's not so bad and eventually even I learned to do an order quite quickly. Approved Foods was easier as they have less stock.

miggy

Observations on my first order:

• I ordered on Thursday, goods arrived on Monday lunchtime. I didn't get the text to say they were coming but I think that is to do with the courier. Poor delivery chap was worried as his electronic signature thingy wasn't showing him all my instructions about what to do if I wasn't in. Keep it shorter next time.
• Best bargains - undoubtedly the 2kg Loyd Grossman sauces at 99p and 59p.
• Not so good - Hills chocolate cream biscuits - which I would describe as cheapy bourbons but haven't tasted yet.
• missing - four items
• wrong quantities - two items
• unasked for - 3 cartons orange juice (can certainly use these), 1 extra box with 30 cupcakes (not healthy but will get used!), 12 extra creme eggs (ditto!), 29 chocolate and nut bars (DH has taken some to share at work - we certainly don't need the calories!).
• Funniest - all that chocolate!
• Healthiest - chickpeas, cous cous, above-mentioned sauces.
• Useful - single portion cereals and tins of soup: as I have to take food to work this will save me in hassle and last-minute buys of ready meals.
• Customer Service - very helpful though couldn't get an answer by phone so this was by email (my discount code has just arrived).
• Price - probably saved over £50 (guesstimate) on a £28 order. They say I saved £65.11 but that doesn't take into account what I would normally avoid buying because the normal price is too high.

miggy

WooHoo! My mortgage overpayment fund, if I've added up saving on this thread properly, now stands at £34.20! That's real money!
I counted the Loyd Grossman sauces savings but not the others from AF so there is more in there somewhere.
What I haven't done is to off-set overspends or things I wouldn't usually have spent on... I've eaten out or had coffee out an unusual amount of times recently, we had the trip over for the birthday do as well but I guess that comes out of the visiting family and presents funds.
I have decided for now that extra shifts and sleepover payments from work count towards the dentist's bill, so if I get the same in August as I have in July, I can have the work done at the end of August.
Meanwhile - when to make an overpayment?! (Not really got time before work).