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

[Deleted User]

Evening all!
Quick round up of this weeks life/moneysaving exploits

Bathroom almost done- yay!! Taken a lot longer than I had planned so my tight schedule for a turnaround has been thrown a loop somewhat! (plus taking into account total amnesia for how generally rubbish/unmotivated I am when it comes to DIY!) Still - plan is it will be finished tomorrow and saturday will see me up at the crack of dawn (by 9am! ) to get painting!

Next job is to siphon £20 from somewhere to pay for hen do out on saturday night!

Sunday will be more of the same decorating wise and somewhere in there I need to do a food shop as our fridge consists of one pack of ham, salad, cheese and jam (anyone who can make a meal out of that lot is more than welcome!!) As our food/cleaning stuff has already come in at £148 this month I am loathe to spend any more money before next weekend if I can get away with it so I may try a good old storecupboard list to try and figure a way.... as far as I can figure there is enough for a few pasta bakes (one going in as we speak!) 6 meals worth of pizza/other frozen stuff plus chips, one chilli in the freezer and another pack of mince which I might defrost and try and make into burgers! Just bread and milk and the cereal etc.. should be able to stretch us out for the next 10 days ... (if mrtyo reads this he may have different ideas as to whether he is going to survive on pasta/freezer food for the next 10 day! :rotfl:)

not sure why Im feeling so skint this month the money seems to have disappeared somewhere!! mainly hen dos and wedding presents this month!

I find Im stressing myself out with trying to get everything done and "perfect" in exactly the way/price/timescale I want it....!

Healthy eating wise am hoping joining weight watchers will help so far Im not sure Im doing brilliantly but am starting (slowly!) to realise I cannot expect to do the same as I am doing and expect to lose weight! Weather is still gorgeous so will try and get our on some walks during the evenings to make the most of it! Wedding number 1 is next week so I need to try on the dress I bought and hope I dont look like jabba the hut in it! :rotfl:

SmlSave

Sunday will be more of the same decorating wise and somewhere in there I need to do a food shop as our fridge consists of one pack of ham, salad, cheese and jam (anyone who can make a meal out of that lot is more than welcome!!)

I can make sandwiches

Go try your dress on for the wedding, I'm sure you'll look lovely in it

[Deleted User]

Thanks Smlsave...:D missing the vital ingredient of bread or doesnt that matter?? :rotfl:(not sure Im up for ham and jam sandwiches is that a wierd pregnancy craving thing??)

Dress dutifully tried on -bit tighter than when i bought it but still wearable and looks ok so not the disaster I thought it might be! :T (plus cheaper than forking out for another one!)

space in next months budget found to pay off this weeks dinner out on the c/card (oh dear.... :eek:) and have meal planned in order to be able to just buy a few bits with the clubcard vouchers we have! Plan is NSD till the 26th lets see how well this works....

[Deleted User]

Evening all!
Well the weekends antics went well and only a tenner owed on c/c for night out (from which I am feeling slightly worse for wear and have needed the aid of fat coke and sugar to help me thru today! :rotfl:)

Am really seeing the progress now on the decorating front...little by little it is getting there! Am trying not to be so hard on myself/perfectionistic (is that a word? ) when it comes to deadlines/timescales!

Few of the bills have reduced now and so that will all go into savings next month!

Nothing else outstanding to pay for and only a week and a half till payday when all should break even again!

Inspired by earthgirls mortgage freedom today I have decided to set myself a goal of trying to be able to OP/save £1000 p/m

I havent quite figured out how I can to this but so far am going to try:
*Getting food shops down to £120 p/m. We have been creeping up slightly and I want to try and get this back down if possible - it may be that it is the price of food has just gone up, but for me when I go shopping I know other things are creeping into the trolley that arent necessarily "needed"
*Going through tcb/looking for voucher codes when possible when buying anything.
*stopping taking cash to work for any impulse buying of junk during lunch hour! other than maybe £10 to last me the month - when its gone its gone!
*being more mindful of 0845/phone calls abroad when using mobile as last few bills have been over budget as a result (normally use say no to 0870 but a couple of numbers havent been able to find and through ease have phoned the no on the letter!) without these my bill should come to under £11 p/m
*using vouchers and sales for presents (am quite good at this! )
*designated driver-ing therefore savings money on drinks on any nights out (largely in a "never drinking again ever" mood today too which helps this resolution seem feasible! :rotfl:)
*checking cheapest petrol and not making unecessary journeys
*clothes shopping in the sales/charity shops/friends

Things I wont/cant scrimp on:
*life insurance
*union fees
*holiday once a year (but happy to do it on a budget!)
*running a car- need for my job

Once I come up with a cunning plan to make all the savings add up to a good size OP I shall report back! any tips I havent thought of much appreciated.

At the moment OP stands at £215 p/m with an extra £205 being saved elsewhere so thats just about £600 more to find.....hmmmm....

yukkibear

Good luck with trimming the food budget. mine just keeps creeping up and I don't think we're eating any better

[Deleted User]

Thanks yukkibear
Food budget is definitely my plan to tackle for the coming months...its so easy for it to creep up tho especially with convenience foods/shopping ...
Havent figured out quite how to get up to my OP goal but am starting!

In good news- bathroom is now all finished and looks lovely!! That means too I know where I stand financially now and can get cracking on finishing the place off! Am hoping it will be done in the next couple of weeks so can have evenings and weekends back without worrying/thinking about it (as mrtyo would say even my "thinking" is worrying! :rotfl:)

Not much else am being frugal till payday next week and budget tightly in place from there baring any other big/unexpected spends!

Next months thing to tackle is getting/keeping the food spends down p/m as they have crept up for sure...

Right better get off to work! have a good day all!

CathT

Good luck with the new challenge of OP £1000 a month. Earthgirl is certainly an inspiration.

Glad to hear the DIY plans have come together? What do you have planned now the bathroom is finished? I would love new kitchen/bathroom but think we need to extend before doing anything which we can't afford so I am stuck with them for now!

Radish72

I love shiny new bathrooms all clean and shiny

Have you tried it out, think my 1st shower in new bathroom was for about 20 mins, it was lush

[Deleted User]

Thanks Cath
Yep definitely a lot of inspiration on these boards! havent figured out how to make it up to £1000 pm yet tho!
Hope you and bump doing ok?
Now bathroom done need to finish off painting and flooring and then we are all set for it to go on the market *fingers crossed* Id forgotten the stress and the effort (!) that can go along with the uncertainty of house buying/selling!

Hey Radish
nope not used it yet but may need to at the weekend after all the painting! :rotfl:
how goes it your end ?? off to take a peek at your diary for an update!

Am sooo glad its friday today am really tired after a lot of early starts! slight lie in tomorrow but then a packed weekend so maybe an early friday nite for me! Oh I am such a party girl :rotfl: Should be a low/no spend weekend tho despite the busy-ness....

[Deleted User]

Hmmm how did it get to Monday morning so quick???!

Good weekend despite a few too many glasses of wine making my head a bit worse for wear yesterday!

Still- I soildered on :Aand we got some more decorating done plus friends for dinner!

On the decorating front place is looking fab- just flooring to be done then painting the bedroom then should be all set if mrtyo is reading he definitely deserves most of the credit as I have mainly been useful in painting round the edges and cleaning!

In other news my MSE plan of joining WW hasnt yet worked- in fact seems to have had the opposite effect of me eating so much junk Ive gained weight! (even I know this is not supposed to be the way it works!) Am feeling uncomfortable at this weight and not fitting into most of my clothes so something has got to give (like biscuits!;) ) I think a lot of it has been eating through boredom/stress/because food is in front of me! so need to make some changes there... Lots less junk in the house which is a good start now just to avoid the biscuit tin at work! :eek:

Have had a couple of interviews for jobs , one of which I was hoping for but just got pipped to the post - dissapointing but good practice! Interestingly the MF goal has made the investment into work much less as it doesnt feel like the be all and end all it once did - more a means to an end!

Quietish week this week, more finishing off decorating then away again for the weekend - will be glad to get a weekend with a lie in! still I think I may spend bank holiday monday asleep ...

Have a good monday all