My diary - A little bit of everything!

JustBe_2

Hi Sydneysmum and the others on your thread:)

Have been enjoying your post`s and have been thinking about changes I can make to start saving some cash and clearing my cc this year.

I`m not very organised when it comes to my finances and really don`t know where the money goes from month to month... so have decided at the end of this month to workout my budget and see exactly what`s going where, think I`m in for a little bit of a shock:eek:

Like trixiepix I`ve followed some of your ideas re all the toiletries and will not purchase anymore "stuff" till I need too!! and will make a start looking out unwanted and unused things to sell on ebay.

My DP has also been sent off to work with packed lunches this week of homemade soup and some nice leftover`s from previous night`s dinners.

Will be following your thread and hopefully pick up some more ideas along the way to having a good MSE year ahead:)

Goodthings to you!
JustBe x

DansMum_2

JustBe if you are familiar with this site then you'll know how brilliant everyone is

I was the same as you would spend nilly nilly and wonder why I wasnt paying off the mortgage or had anything left at the end of the week...

I seriusly started last Feb, since then I've paid off £10k of debt (inc mortgage debt) Dont ask me how I managed it coz I dont know myself :eek:

So now I find myself debt free, with savings and now working on getting the normal spends down to the minimum without losing my life

Do what we're doing, freezer/cupboard inventory. Jot it down then coss off whatever you use. I've started a spending diary this year, mainly for groceries so I can join the challenge next month and hope to spend about £130 a month 2 adults, 1 dog, 4 cats. Ebay everything not nailed down Its amazing how motivated you get

Have a frugal day xx Hoping to have a NSD again and the sun is shining finally!!

JustBe_2

Hi DansMum

Thanks for the encouragement.

Well done on paying back all that money in just under a year.

Have spent the afternoon doing the freezer and I`m embarrassed to say that I must have thrown about £30`s worth of out of date stuff into the bin!!.. Shocking:eek:

Also taken an inventory of what`s left and have done the store cupboards and have a list of what I have and what needs to be replaced in the next shop.

Must say it feels good to have actually made a little start.

Have to say I was a little confused when Sydneysmum and yourself mentioned having a NSD day,, I thought you both meant a No Smoking Day:o

Have it sussed now though:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

JustBe

sidneysmum

Hello All

Trixiepix - Well done to you for all your organising - :j - Toiletries, ebaying and using up your freezer stuff. Gold star to you. I notice on your signature that you are slimming. Are you following a particular diet?

JustBe - Great to hear from you. I think the first hurdle is to identify that you need to sort your budget out which you have done so hopefully it will be onwards and downwards for you now. This week I have been at work for 3 days and each day I have had leftovers for lunch like your DP. It must have saved me £s. Best wishes to you !

Dansmum - You sound just so motivated. I know I am making some progress but feel like I have a way to go. Keep reading and pass on some of your tips. They obviously work. :T

Had another good NSD today. This is always the same when I am at work. To be honest, I am just so tired after work that I couldnt be bothered shopping anyway. Tomorrow will be different. I have an appointment in town so I am going to visit the pound shop and see if I can find any goodies to send to my son in Afghanistan.
Food today has been leftovers again. Fruit for breakfast. Lunch was leftover ham with cheese and cranberries. Tea was a proper mix up - Spaghetti with ham and cauli in a blue stilton sauce. It was lovely. The stilton was leftover from Christmas so I put it in the freezer rather than throw it out. :T
Paid £2 off my mortgage today. I know its nothing but at least I am staying focussed.
Got some "free" dog food as well. Unfortunately my parents had to have their dog put to sleep so we came in handy to offload all the leftover food and biscuits.
I have definately felt the benefit of being a bit more organised this week. One of the jobs I have done is to sort out my wardrobe. Well I managed to find all my work outfits really easily instead of having to look for ages. I have about 5 separate outfits for work each consisting of trousers, blouse and cardi. I put each outfit on a separate hanger and it was a piece of cake. I even put belts etc with the outfits. Must go and polish my halo now. LOL :A
Anyway I have made a bit of a shopping list as I am going to have to bite the bullet and do some supermarket shopping soon. I dont think I am going to spend a fortune though as its mainly some fruit and a few "odds and sods" I need.
Anyway I hope you have all had a great day. Take care

DansMum_2

Sorry to hear about your parents dog xx

Am having a lazy day.... Nothing to ebay (well there is but I need to get into the loft to sort it out) Cant be flipped to do housework (really want a cleaner) Its raining so shant be riding today.

Am under the sleeping bag covered in cats

Will really have to go to work tomorrow but no forum so no idea what I'll do :eek:

Really wish I could shift my secondhand paperbacks. Trying everywhere but no luck. Will have to brave that carboot... Last time we did one we did about £60

sidneysmum

Hi Dansmum - Thanks for your post. I can just imagine you under the sleeping with your cats. How many do you have ? Sidneysdad loves cats and we have 2 - a big fat ginger moggie and a black cat. The pair of them are bone idle. All they do is sleep and eat, broken up with a 5 minute toilet break outside. LOL :rotfl:

Had a good day today - Mainly because I have not had to go to work. Had a bit of a spend but only bought what I had planned. Went into town this morning and spent a couple of pounds in the pound shop getting bits and pieces for my son in Afghanistan. One of my money saving tips is not to pay for car parking. I really object to paying so I drive near to town then park up and walk for the last 5/10 minutes.
Did my supermarket shopping this afternoon. Spent £17.00 at Morrisons. I was soo pleased especially as £7.00 of it was for nappies to help out my sons girlfriend with the new baby. The rest included fruit, a hock of ham, toothpaste and a few other items I need to add to meals for this week. Unfortunately I couldnt get any kale which I need to feed to the tortoise so I will have to go to another supermarket sometime in the next few days. Morrisons was empty today and the girl on the till told me that they had been dead since New Year. Everyone must be saving their money like us. :T
I paid another £2 off the mortgage today. I hope that I receive a few hundred pound rent from a tennant this weekend and when I do I will be paying it straight off before I am tempted to spend any of it. :A
Had a bit of time this afternoon so did a bit of future planning - I have been keeping a spending diary with all purchases in it - so I updated that. Also I have been trying to come up with a new timetable for the days I work. I work flexi time so have decided I am going to travel to work mid morning and come home early evening in order to avoid all the traffic. Recently, what should be a half hour journey has taken over an hour (each way). I`m sure there must be a fuel saving somewhere in all this !! All this means is that I will have to organise our evening meal befor I go to work rather than when I get home. Nothing difficult about that. Hopefully it will free up about an hour each working day. :T
Anyway I hope all you good people have had productive, frugal days. Apparently the forum is closed tomorrow so we will have to have a double helping on Sunday !!:)

rubytuesday

Hi Sidneysmum I've enjoyed reading your thread which I have just come across.
I have decided that this is the year to stop procrastinating and start tidying all those cupboards and drawers that I've put off for a long time. I live by my fridge magnet premise 'Dull women Have Immaculate Houses' so there is lots to be done but I don't want to be too 'Stepford'. Have done a kitchen cupboard today!
For the most part I am avoiding Mr T's like the plague - I used to walk to my local everyday, it's just round the corner and thus have saved a fortune. I did cave in yesterday though when I received a leaflet through the door and went to stock up on the offers, half price olive oil, prawns, tuna, cathedral cheese etc so I'm even more stocked up and made sixteen pounds worth of savings. Got reductions on yummy food from Waitrose too to go with a boxed cheese girlie brought back for me from Val d'isere. I'm not going to buy whoopsies just for the sake of it if it isn't nice stuff. Unfortunately my Mr T never has anything decent!
Leftovers for lunch today and dinner of Turkey broth from the freezer and a bread and butter pudding cobbled together from half milk and half Greek yogurt that needed using up today, left over fruit from a tin of fruit and nuts and dried cranberries.
I'm keeping a spending diary and also making a note of any savings made. So far this year 125 pounds (sorry pound sign not working!)in savings.
I've managed seven NSD's so far this year.
Good Luck with your endeavors! x

rubytuesday

ps Trixipix your descriptions really made me laugh! I have the calamitous cellar!

trixiepix

Hey Sidneysmum,

Thanks for checking in on my thread:beer:,
Dansmum - i so wanted to be under a blanket of sleeping cats today rather than what i had to be doing (((((soooooooo jealous))))) - my old cat popped off the feline coil last year and i do miss him.
oh and btw ditching 10k of debt is absolutely amazing - i can't wait to announce i'm debt free (me thinks it may be a while yet!!!)

Sidneysmum,

Yep i am dieting and have been for around a year, it's been very slow and steady (so that i can stick with it) and last year lost 2 of the 4 stone i needed to lose ( in saying that i have had very sinful pizza for dinner, but hey it's friday and didn't cost me anything - result) - last year i rolled with replacing meals with shakes (stuff you can buy in the supermarket) and it worked fine (once you can get your head around not eating real food for 2 meals out of 3) but this year i've been sticking with ww (something i've done before) so hopefully before long i will have lost the weight i'd gained over christmas (not good but was worth it:rotfl:)

Well done you only spending £17 in morrissons - i have to do food shopping tomorrow, so wish me luck - i'm going with a £60 budget in mind rather than the usual £85 -£90, i'll need to stay focused!!!

Have a lovely weekend and will check in on Sunday

xx

trixiepix

Hey Rubytuesday,

Trust me, my shed of dread, attic of doom and cupboard under the stairs (which even the spiders are so digusted with that even they won't live in there - spiders these days eh!!!) are very real, very scary places -lol:rotfl:

My wardrobe is nudging up to the top 3 places in my house in need of desperately needing thinning out but it's gonna have to get in the queue with the other areas.

So much to do so little time.................
...........perhaps i can pay the spiders !!......

Have a fab weekend

xx