rlc22's 3 year challenge!

mummalove

Hi Rach and welcome Just wanted to pop along and say good luck with your future plans and OPs. It was very interesting reading your SOA, I still haven't done mine although I do have my own similar version on a spreadsheet.

[Deleted User]

Hi Rach and welcome!
be warned..this can get addictive!!
looks like you have some great plans already for what you can cut down- for me the biggest savings were food shopping (though that has crept back up due to me being less forward thinking and more impulsive!) buying stuff that will do a few meals- eg big spag bol/chilli, making use of the freezer rather than chucking stuff out, meal planning and also going down a brand or 2 - some of the value stuff is just as good as branded and sooo much cheaper!
Also I haggled on my mobile contract down to the best deal I couldve got elsewhere - phoned them and said "X company can offer me this, obviously Id like to stay with you but if not I need to move" - so they pretty much matched the deal for the same price!
Apart from that - things like using amazon/ebay to get rid of old stuff is also good
good luck with it! even if its only pennies I think it feels good to feel/be more in control of finances rather than the other way round!

rlc22

Thanks guys. Everyone is so nice here

The shopping bill can definitely be chopped. For a start we can stop having takeaways so that should shave about £30 a month from it immediately. Before the Tesco deals points changed I changed up enough to get £100 to spend in restaurants, so that should allow us to go out and not feel like we're having to cut back IYKWIM.

We've got the surveyor from FD coming out tomorrow, so have been busily tidying the house and trying to make it look as valuable as possible. Today I need to print out a copy of the details from the last house down my road that sold (almost identical to mine) to help me justify why I've come up with the valuation that I have

As far as money saving goes, I think the next week is going to be a washout. It's my birthday on Saturday (3-0 :beer:) and so I've got a lot planned, including going to New York next weekend (I did say that I spent a lot on the credit card last month :embarasse). I'm very excited though and determined to have a great time (aided by the fact that the trip is a bargain for what I'm getting).

rlc22

Deleted_User wrote: »

looks like you have some great plans already for what you can cut down- for me the biggest savings were food shopping (though that has crept back up due to me being less forward thinking and more impulsive!) buying stuff that will do a few meals- eg big spag bol/chilli, making use of the freezer rather than chucking stuff out, meal planning and also going down a brand or 2 - some of the value stuff is just as good as branded and sooo much cheaper!

This is definitely something that I'm going to do first. I'm also an impulsive food shopper - I've tried meal plans before but forgot to get things out of the freezer etc. This time though I'm going to make myself to do lists and put the menu for the week on the front of the fridge to help me out.

rlc22

Got home to mortgage statement. We now owe £207,666.20.

Looking forward to my day off with my boy tomorrow and a fun weekend ahead

To do list:



[STRIKE]

• Call Sky and cancel movies

[/STRIKE]

• Look into Freesat and see if that would suit DH's TV needs
• Start proper meal plans to see if we can cut down on grocery spending
• Bundle up DS' old clothes and list on eBay (4 blue Ikea bags full of stuff to get rid of!)
• Declutter spare bedroom and list any suitable items on eBay

mummalove

Wishing you a very happy birthday at the weekend :beer: It's my birthday on Wednesday too...

Funny as its my best friends 40th on Saturday like you and she is going to New York next weekend too (she doesn't know it yet, her bf has booked it as a surprise ). Have you been before? I went 3 years ago - absolutely amazing place...I cannot wait to go back again, you will have such a good time...sooo jealous!!!

rlc22

mummalove wrote: »

Wishing you a very happy birthday at the weekend :beer: It's my birthday on Wednesday too...

Funny as its my best friends 40th on Saturday like you and she is going to New York next weekend too (she doesn't know it yet, her bf has booked it as a surprise ). Have you been before? I went 3 years ago - absolutely amazing place...I cannot wait to go back again, you will have such a good time...sooo jealous!!!

Thanks mummalove! All the best people are born in January I find :rotfl:

Oh wow - your best friend is going to be so excited when she finds out! I've been a few times before (I was last there in September, so I've not had to wait long to go back again!), but never in the cold. I'm definitely packing my thermals...

mummalove

Oh yes, for sure!! Another good friend of mine has a birthday today too...luckily we don't exchange presents (so no spending there)! It was my 40th last year and I loved every minute of my big day...we went away to Barcelona for mine, another amazing place. Enjoy your special birthday, it will be great We went to NY in July and boy its was cooking!! Least you weren't going a few weeks ago, when it was knee-deep in snow BRRRR :eek:

SeriouslySeekingtoSave

Welcome aboard! (man get me, I've only been posting for a couple of weeks and I here I am welcoming the newcomers!).

I think £150 a month for yourself is very reasonable, if you aren't broke then there is no need to scrimp excessively. My one comment would be that you take note of where that money is actually going - getting frittered away is exactly the sort of thing that I am trying to cut out from my life. Use the extra that you save from cutting out the dead wood by putting it to one side and then maybe the next time you go to New York you'll be able spend the extra you've got tucked away from your monthly allowance and keep it off the dreaded CC!

rlc22

SeriouslySeekingtoSave wrote: »

Welcome aboard! (man get me, I've only been posting for a couple of weeks and I here I am welcoming the newcomers!).

I think £150 a month for yourself is very reasonable, if you aren't broke then there is no need to scrimp excessively. My one comment would be that you take note of where that money is actually going - getting frittered away is exactly the sort of thing that I am trying to cut out from my life. Use the extra that you save from cutting out the dead wood by putting it to one side and then maybe the next time you go to New York you'll be able spend the extra you've got tucked away from your monthly allowance and keep it off the dreaded CC!

Hello :wave:

Thanks for stopping by . I'm definitely a master fritterer. I know that writing down spends has definitely helped some of my friends so I'm going to give that a whirl.

The good thing about booking on the CC is that it's a cashback one !

Good luck with your OPing too. I just had a quick peek at your diary and it looks like you're doing a good job. Let's hope that we can both achieve our goals this year