13 Moons ... ( *** Off, I'm Fabulous )

Shoe_Gal

:eek: Sympathy on the tight budget - am already thinking mine is too tight

Lula-Hula

Good afternoon to all,

it's quite bright & a mix of clouds + sun here, but still I havent set foot out of the house .

I did post the card in time yesterday & as I knew I was feeling too rubbish to do a workout, I did do a long way round walk to the post box, just so I kmew I'd done some activity.

Finished off the Baileys last night so now only have wine or spirits in the house & at the moment I dont fancy either.

Got up about 8 this morning - not enough of a lie in - & after the yoga stretches I put the washing on & had a bath. DDs trips to the climbing centre today so I wanted to make sure I was looking my best for all those fit & athletic climbers .

I had just finished doing my nails when the phone rang & one of DDs friends parents called to offer her a lift there & back. I was torn between wanting to lust over hardy rugged climbers or saving 20 miles worth of petrol ...

Saving the petrol won :j, well, that & the fact that with my current curvacious physique, I look more like the kind of girl who doesnt do much exercise but can sure cook up a hearty feast. Imagine how disappointed a rugged & hungry climber would be to come home to a meal of cup a soup, hobnobs & rockcakes :rotfl:

I spent my free time wisely by hoovering DDs room getting screend out of 4 surveys & catching up on emails to friends.

DD arrived home ravenous & exhausted - climbing is hard work & rather scary. We used to go as a family years ago as my dad was a very keen climber & I do like the idea of it, but then I like the idea of a lot of things.

I'm staying home today & having a NSD, but tomorrow we need to go out & get a few more grocery essentials, some cat food & I'll probably tie the fuelling up into the same trip as I can then do a loop of a journey.

The budget is about to get a lot more 'interesting' as in addition to the large miscalculation, I've also forgotten that I need to buy the contents insurance out of that £114 :eek:.

So, rather than paying £125 each week & then treating the minimum (direct debit )payment to CC of £28.75 as an extra payment; the week it goes out, I will just pay £96 to make up the total to £125. That will give me a few extra pounds.

I'm off to investigate insurance again, might have to forego the extra laptop away from home protection this year.

Karmacat

That sounds wise - you have to be able to carry on, and you already have big extra repayments. You'll get there, you sound so much more focussed these days.

Lula-Hula

Karmacat wrote: »

That sounds wise - you have to be able to carry on, and you already have big extra repayments. You'll get there, you sound so much more focussed these days.

Thanks KC,

that's a really encouraging post :A.

I am indeed focused, & that has only happened since I felt secure about having all my funds in place. The funds have only become a possiblity since getting a new job. The knowledge that I finally have all my outgoings either covered or saved for gives me the confidence to make the large repayments on the CC.

The amount I'm paying to the CC is also possible due to a previous council tax overpayment ( for 3 years) which resulted in my not having to pay any this year.

Finally succeeded in getting a 0% CC deal has also been a huge help.

All these factors & quite a few other ingredients have brought me to this stage of the journey.

There is no one method that has made it click into place, it's more as though in my universe all the planets in perfect alignment to succeed this time. I do have a very strong feeling that this will be a once only opportunity & that I have to grab it & make it work.

So, after hours of searching through the insurers on quidco, I didnt come up with a single one that was cheaper than the AA renewal price. They are on quidco thought so I thought that rather than ring them & quote my renewal number, I would try clicking through to their site & see if the cashback would still be awarded. I was completely honest about them being my present insurer although when I checked the paperwork ( which I should have done before :doh:) it is actually lloyds tsb, but I wasnt sure if I could put that down without being done for fraud & potentially getting thrown off quidco.

Will just have to wait & see, if it does go through I'll have another £19 towards the laptop fund .

If it doesnt, I still have cheap contents insurance for £45.26.

On the subject of laptops, I had completely forgotten that before christmas I put £10 into one of the cash fund slots, & that I hadnt paid it in, so what with that & this weeks, I now have another £20 towards it.

Need to go check bank now to work out exact amount of squids left for the next 23 days.

Back in a bit ...

Lula-Hula

Hmmmm it's not pretty.

I get paid in 23 days & if I've calculated everything correctly & not forgotten any payments or direct debits ( bit hard to know as bank holiday seems to have delayed a lot of stuff) then I have £70.35p available in the bank for fuel & groceries/household stuff.

I do have £11.10p in my purse so that helps, but I am interested to see if i can actually survive on that amount.

I've changed my mind about filling the car up, as I might not even need that much so will opt for just adding a tenner's worth when it dips to a 1/4 tank. Yes, I do have running out of fuel phobia, thanks to the bf many years ago whose car spluttered, choked & ran out of juice on a level crossing _pale_.

Good news so far about the contents insurance cashback, it has tracked so now just need to see if they actually validate.

Planning on having a very long lie in tomorrow, do the ironing, clean the bathroom & then a wander to buy cat food & a few groceries.

Will report spends when done.

Shoe_Gal

We have about the same amount to last 2 days - a little mini challenge going on

Souk08

Morning lady, I to think you are looking very focused and totally know what you mean about where you are at with money. Sometimes you are just 'in the zone' to do things and everything seems to be in place for that.

Have always meant to ask where you actually keep all your different pots, as this is a fab way of doing things.

Have a lovely day, whatever you do. I've got a bit of a sore head after last nights wine fest but don't fell too bad. My gay friend is asleep in my bed so I'll have his entertaining chat for a bit and then will cook and do some pottering today. X

Karmacat

You're very welcome, Lula!

Hope you've slept well ... I have an idea about making your money stretch. Two ideas, really: first is going down a brand, which is bog standard mse, but the second is to go to frozen veg, not fresh - it *is* fresh, very often, and its a lot cheaper. A lot. A kilo of broccoli florets, even at Waitrose, is £1.27 - no way can fresh compete with that. I'd seriously advise it - I'd have been lost at this place without frozen veg.

Lula-Hula

Morning all, now that's what I call a lie- in

It's lovely & sunny here today, but I'm still all blocked up & coughing :mad:

Souk - I bought a mini documents wallet in tatco a few years back ( they still have them) it's the same length but about half the depth of an A4 one & has lots of 'slots; with a tab at the top to put a title or name in. I have an envelope ('borrowed' from work :shhh:) in each slot & put my cash in there.

I've done this for years, way before coming to MSE as my home-job has always been paid in cash & I didnt have a current account (just 'savings' ha ha )

I originally got the idea from my Grandmother who would use my Grandpa's empty pipe tobacco tins for things like presents, the milkman, newspaper, eggman & coalman etc ...

Karma - thanks for your thoughts & suggestions, I'm pretty much already on the waitrose essentials range for most things, I have a large stock of potatoes & onions (co op had huge bags for £1 ) so can make potato pies, mash etc. I will buy a bag of frozen mixed veg as that's easy to add to meals.

I could quite happily live on jacket potatoes or pasta for supper with packet soups & a piece of fruit for lunch but I think DD needs a bit more variety than that.

We have loads of baking stuff & rarely buy cakes or biccies anyway, it's things like milk, cheese, yogurts & fruit for packed lunches which cost a lot.

I'm not too concerned at the moment as when DD1 was tiny we lived in a bed sit for 18 months with only a microwave for cooking, we were really really hard up & it wont do me any harm to remember those days & how we pretty much lived on baked potatoes, eggs, baked beans & frozen veg with just fresh air for entertainment .

I dont remember buying any clothes or shoes for me back then, it was all about pure survival; gas & electricity meters that ate up 50ps & having to use a launderette for washing. At least it was warm in there though & the lovely mangeress would always give us a cup of tea & biccies for DD & the man from the tattoo shop next door would come in & offer to give me 'free' tattoos .... He was persistent but nice & I am still unmarked by ink .

Hmm, it's funny looking back on those days. They were really really bleak in some ways & it was a very gritty existence, but at least it was real, challenging & exciting. Now sometimes, my life seems so sanitised & well ... yes, boring . I have a home, a car, a job, bank accounts with money in for my bills, a useable CC for emergencies & a cover plan in case my washing machine breaks down so that I dont have to go the launderette.

OMG - I've become middle class :eek:

Thank goodness I still rent so have some small amount of credibility left :rotfl: The sooner I get that camper van/boat the better.

Right, need to drink the lovely cup of tea that DD has just brought me & then haul my lazy @rse out of bed.

Back later ...
xx

RosaBernicia

Lula-Hula wrote: »

I've changed my mind about filling the car up, as I might not even need that much so will opt for just adding a tenner's worth when it dips to a 1/4 tank. Yes, I do have running out of fuel phobia, thanks to the bf many years ago whose car spluttered, choked & ran out of juice on a level crossing _pale_.

Good plan - am doing similar as got fed up of filling it and then kicking myself to realise that there was £30 worth of petrol going to sit doing nothing for 6 weeks.

I also bought a petrol can - about a fiver I think - and filled that so I know if I do get low and am in a hurry, can always chuck that in. Saves the panic of realising am on motorway / in middle of darkest countryside and have no idea when next fuel station will turn up.


You've just reminded me about launderettes so I think I have to go hug my washing machine

Rosa xx