TYO's 2011 kicking the mortgage into shape...

[Deleted User]

Mornin all!
MF day continued yesterday I ...
baked a cake to use up some eggs about to go out of date- turned out lovely!
Nite out with friends spent a grand total of 65p on drinks (designated driver) little money spent and no hangover this morning! also lovely night out with good friends I have known for years brought me slightly out of the stressy place I have been in to kinda get back to my roots and who I am (if that doesnt sound too cheesy!) so feeling more positive that stuff will sort itself out in the way it is meant to!
lunches and dinners all week have been homemade despite feeling knackered a lot have resisted takeaways!
NSD today just gonna catch up on a few programmes on iplayer (holby city and casualty) and do some reading ! Dinner later will be pasta bake to use up last of the veg in the fridge! may even sit outside later to catch some free sun...
everything feels better when its sunny I reckon! Happy sunday all!

Radish72

Get outside in the sun, we have had to come in as 20 mins today gave me very red arms, but BF did a bit of gardening and I did his washing

Need to go home now, and blitz my house but somehow I don't think it will get done

MrTyo

Okay so she has started to turn me to the dark side of foruming so this is my first post. I'm starting to handle the abbreviations youre all using but i put my foot down to using all the smiley things!!

Anyhow on topic, i was thinking more about us making stuff at home that we all use for granted i.e. bars of soap etc (TYO doesnt know this yet). Has anyone experimented with this, is it value for money or are there some things that making at home works out alot more expensive? Likewise any things you make at home that work out alot cheaper? From my point of view i still believe in having a good life to money balance. i.e if it takes me 4 hours to make something that would have only costs like £4 then ill pay the £4 gladly! However if i can do stuff in bulk and/or shortish tradeoff im open to suggestions.

Any tips/tricks to help us cut our already low shopping budget lower?

twinklie

Welcome MrTyo....I'm so excited about you joining! It's nice to finally meet you (as it where). I'd love to make things but have no clue...so if you do go down that road please do share. I'd only really be able to find the time during the school holidays. Splitting my time between work, home and Wales takes up too much time during school time.

[Deleted User]

Well hello mrtyo!! :j:beer::T:eek::cool::D
Only took me a year to get you over to the dark side....soon you will be starting your own diary methinks!!....

Re: Making soap- I promise if you look in the bathroom there is a lot and asda sell 3 bars for about 29p but if youd like to try making some you are more than welcome! :rotfl:

Also open to any ideas to cut shopping budget- Im thinking if I stop buying junk food on my lunch hour/boredom shopping this would be a good start! ....

Twinklie - dont blame ya for not trying anyone I know who are teachers spend thier holidays mainly sleeping! I know Smlsve was talking about making jam , wine and all those kinda things last year....I remember it made me very hungry!

MF news today ate up the rest of the very yummy chilli from last nite with leftovers!
packed lunches made...
Will vow to not spend any more money till the weekend...
7p in the change jar....
we shall be MF in no time at this rate! :A

tyo x

SmlSave

Hello MrTyo

The only things we make atm are alchol (cider, wine and flovoured spirits) Oh the jam...I've been banned from making jam this year by DH until we get a larger saucepan - its not fun cleaning boiled over goo.

The OldStyle Board are great for cutting down the price of shopping trips. Weezle set up a website where you can feed 4 for £100 a month! Some of the recipes are scrummy

wynnvegas

Hi Mr TYO,

Totally with you on the smiley faces. I made the mistake of getting Moyra Emoji for her iPhone and now I have to put up with them in every single one of her 50 a day messages!

Glad to see you've joined the mortgage free spirit. Keeping the balance is critically important as there are some people who go way ott (which is good in a way as it makes me feel a lot more normal in my efforts!) - charging the phone at work is a favourite of mine at the moment. As much as every little helps, there's a celebration of all things stingy here too often for my liking.

I like the entrepreneurial spirit with the soap making. Seems a bit on the messy side for my liking but, if you do go for it, count me in as a customer! Decent coconut soap would be a preference as I have to get mine imported from Fiji or Hawaii at the moment.

Cheers,

Billy

museumworker

:wave: Mr tyo, good to see you here. Although now you've made me worry that Mr MW might be joining us soon... can't complain about him then, can I? :rotfl:

And you'll get sucked into the language of smilies before you know it .

In terms of making stuff, I don't have much time to do such things. But I think the Old Style boards will be worth mining. We make our own meals and lunches, this is a major saving although I understand you're pretty on top of your grocery budget. Never tried to make soap - but if you made batches of special stuff, you could always give it as pressies as well as using it. Presents are one of my largest variables, so making anything to gift is financially worth doing (as well as emotionally). If you haven't already, grow some salad in the garden, that could save you lots over the summer.

And enjoy finding out what stingey bits work for you and what doesn't. I charge my mobile at work (sorry billy!) but I use some of my vast free minutes to make work calls, so think that is a fair swap. I however can't give up sponsoring friends for marathons and the like - spent £20 on one work colleague this week. I think when someone puts in that much effort for a good cause it is right for me to support them. I probably spend a few hundred a year on such things, but wouldn't cut it back.

p.s. Hello tyo too! Doing really well with the food and good luck with the no spends!

Froggy-G

Welcome on board Mr TYO!! :j:j:j

[Deleted User]

Evenin all
and mrtyo says hi too - he is currently playing computer games but assures me he will come back to say hello properly!

re: making stuff I shall leave him to attempt that and reply (and billy happy to have you as an honoured customer if it works! )

smlsave sounds like the jam was messy- dont wanna get into anything that will leave more cleaning up to do! cider etc sounds yummy but not massive drinkers here so for the effort may not be worth it -altho could work well as pressies perhaps!

I have to wonder about possibly being one of the "too stingey" ones at times ...which is why having a mrtyo is great for balance! :rotfl: I think it was great when we "needed" to save but sometimes I feel like I now feel guilty over buying anything "non-essential" !

Mw- maybe its time to get the MrMw on board here too! I hear you on choosing which things to be stingey with - yep if people are doing sponsored things Im well up for rewarding them for the effort!

Our food shops I worked out are coming in at about £130 p/m on average- and this includes toileteries like loo roll/kitchen towel/washing powder. I dont think this is too bad, but seeing some people on here manage £100 for 4 people makes me think maybe I should be able to cut down further .....I do tend to get a bit obsessive when it comes to seeing how much I can trim out! I need to keep remembering for us this is a "want" rather than a "need" right now so if we arent stripped right down to the bare bones it isnt the end of the world! I am definitely a more savvy shopper now when it comes to shopping around for different things (fruit and veg in lidl as I found today are massively cheaper than anywhere else but as they dont take cards at the one I was in no bargains today!)

MSE news this week:
£1.76 requested from tcb
free innocent voucher worth 2.99 recieved (Im doing well out of them this yr)
MOT booked at council test centre so shall feed back whether this works out cheaper!
lunches and dinners all made
library books renewed so I wont be fined! :rotfl:
need to cancel lovefilm trial before I have to pay for it...must remember to do tomorrow...
SOA re done to make sure I am saving as much as poss! think I am!

quick question someone might know and Ill have a look too -does anyone know the cheapest way to order contact lenses- just the daily ones? prob dont need them every day but when its darker/night driving/going out .... quote from optician was pretty expensive although it did include check ups etc...

glad its nearly the weekend- bring on friday!!