5 year plan for debt and mortgage freedom

walby1993

Hi DB,

You sound like a very savvy food shopper - you have inspired me! Previously I have been spending about £210 a month on food for two of us but this does include takeaways/meals out . Was hoping to aim to reduce it to £150 a month but seeing as you spend £110 a month and you have a LO to buy for I think that I should at least aim to match that! February should help ease me into it though with only 4 weekend :rotfl:

Good luck!

rachelww1

Hi DB,

Well done on getting you OH to agree to getting rid of the car. I've noticed so much difference in the 3 week since we got rid of DH's car. Also well done on getting him on board with your debts. It's an uphill struggle with them sometimes . Mine's a lot better since I decided to do an envelope system - I won't let him near his debit card. If he decides to overspend on petrol by going to watch football (like is is on Tues), he has to take it out of his envelope

LittleFatFairy

Hi D.B.

Can't husbands be frustrating ... can't say too much though as mine keeps bailing me out, which is why I want to be better in control of what I spend.

You are really inspiring me with your meal planning. Just wanted to check about the pearl barley. Do you have to pre cook it or do you just cook it up with the meat.

I can see that you definitely are more economical than I am with your meat. We had fowl pie yesterday (cottage pie but made with turkey mince) and had 250g of meat each. God that's bad isn't it. Thought maybe if I added the pearl barley in that might stretch it out.

My daughter is 5, doesn't eat much so I can't complain!! Only that she won't eat with us and has to have different meals :mad: I know, I know it is up to me to sort it out, but I just can't seem to do it!

Anyway good luck with getting rid of the second car. We did that - I had a two seater, Mazda Roadster, loved it. Totally impractical so got rid! Best thing we did as it saved loads.

x

Deeperblue

Jan 30

It's so good to hear that other people have noticed a big difference from getting rid of their car. I really think it's the best thing as it was just disgusting how much petrol it could get through (big executive type car) and just saving that alone will be great :j

Previously I have been spending about £210 a month on food for two of us but this does include takeaways/meals out . Was hoping to aim to reduce it to £150 a month but seeing as you spend £110 a month and you have a LO to buy for I think that I should at least aim to match that! February should help ease me into it though with only 4 weekend

I used to spend ridiculous amounts on food back when there was 2 of us and before we had debts to pay off... £350+ a month :eek: Looking back now I have no idea what I could possibly have been buying.
I slowly reduced the budget I would allow myself over a few months, and work really economically to get it to £110. I feel like I've been done if I have to pay full price for anything now :rotfl: I have to say that once I have this debt paid off though I am definitely upping it £150 as it's a lot of work with all the meal and shopping list planning.

I won't let him near his debit card. If he decides to overspend on petrol by going to watch football (like is is on Tues), he has to take it out of his envelope

I feel I'm being quite harsh when I do that with my OH... harsh, but fair

Just wanted to check about the pearl barley. Do you have to pre cook it or do you just cook it up with the meat.

I can see that you definitely are more economical than I am with your meat. We had fowl pie yesterday (cottage pie but made with turkey mince) and had 250g of meat each. God that's bad isn't it. Thought maybe if I added the pearl barley in that might stretch it out.

My daughter is 5, doesn't eat much so I can't complain!! Only that she won't eat with us and has to have different meals :mad: I know, I know it is up to me to sort it out, but I just can't seem to do it!

When I was making the cottage pie I cooked it before hand, simmered it for 20 minutes or something until it was soft, then mixed it in with everything else before putting the potato on top.

When I do chilli's or spag bol with it in I just add it once I've got all the tinned tomatoes and everything in the pan and, again, simmer it slowly for about 20-30 minutes.

I bet that pie tasted really good though :rotfl:I have to say that all my recipes taste nicer with all meat and no barley, but they go twice as far when I have it in, so that's the compromise. If you do try using it I'd suggest using small amounts to start with and slowly up it and that way you wont notice so much. Pearl barley is really good for you though.

Fortunately my little girl has yet to reach the stage of being a picky eater, but I'm sure she will eventually... not sure how I'll sort it out when I get there either so can't offer any advice! Let me know how it goes so I can get some tips




I listed 40+ DVDs on ebay last night, though there only cheapies so I'm not sure how well I'll do with them. I did see someone in the 'up your income' bit talking about the best way to sell baby clothes and remembered how much of LO's I've got upstairs in suit cases, so that's my next job: ironing and getting pictures of all that lot to list.

Food:
Made a batch of pasta bakes today (probably 7 portions)
- My reduced ham slices 400g £1.18
- x2 pepper (red and green) 54p (bit of a luxury!)
- Onions ~80g 5p
- Penne pasta ~500g 48p
- x2 tins tomatoes 62p
- Cheese ~100g 50p
- Basil + Oregano (should have put garlic in too but forgot!) 20p

Layered cooked pasta/everything else/cooked pasta and topped with some grated cheese. Have freezed it like that and would cook in the oven for 30 mins when defrosted.
Total: £3.57 = 51p/meal

So I've now got 22 meals in the freezer for next week.

~ D.B. ~

Deeperblue

Jan 31

"Owe no man anything." - Roman saying

So here we are at the end of Jan and I think I've accumulated as much debt as I've actually paid off, but that'll be that last time I say that. Onwards and upwards from now on. I'll do another totalling up of my debts in the middle of the month when all the DD's have come out and see if it's any better or worse than Jan.

I'm going to have a quick rummage up stairs in a minute and grab a few baby bits for Ebay, aiming to put 3 things on every night for the next 3 weeks to see what I can make out of it.

I'm thinking of growing my own herbs this year in the garden. I only have a scrap of space so I'm not sure it'd be worth my while to grow veggies (potatoes maybe, just in tubs), so herbs seem a good choice since I use them all the time. Will look into this.

Food:
Spent another £1.38 on milk
- Total for week £32.28 on food £10 on nappies/wipes.

We've eaten all the sweet stuff we brought though so I'm going to have to cook up a batch of biscuits or there'll be civil unrest in the house.


~ D.B. ~

rachelww1

Offer from subscriber part of good food mag. 5 potato tubers, patio bag and 5 packets of seeds worth £21. £4.50 to cover p&p. plantoffers.com (code GFP20)

I thought I'd try this as we get through loads of spuds, but I am a rubbish gardener :rotfl:

Deeperblue

Feb 01

This may sound like a stupid question, but can you just plant a potato and then get loads of potatoes from it later down the line? Will have to google that!

I listed 3 little bundles of clothes on ebay last night :T It was suprisingly hard to find things to sell out of all the bags of baby clothes I've got upstairs, mainly because I kept thinking "ooo... thats too nice to sell, I'll keep that for number two" :rotfl: So anything nice I don't want to sell and anything rubbish I wont be able to sell!

Speaking of little ones, she got a cough, cold and conjunctivitis in both eyes at the moment so i'm not getting a great deal of sleep :coffee:

Don't have the energy to list anything tonight but fingers crossed she has a better night tonight and I'll do 6 tomorrow.

Food:
Eaten most of the pasta now so I'll get the cottage pie and bolognese out of the freezer tonight.


Spent £2.25 on Calpol today.

Got some extra work today which should bring in £65 or so and I should get paid for overtime I did on new years eve at the end of this month, about £120 :T Still haven't had the bill through from the work on the chimney so maybe I wont have to pay that till next payday

Really must compare home/contents/life insurance.

~ D.B. ~

Deeperblue

Feb 2

Had a chance to look through my jewellery box today and found a few bits and pieces to sell that I never wear. A lot of it is silver in not so great condition though, so I had a quick google online and found I can clean it up with baking soda and water. Excellent . Will get in all on Ebay tonight.

Already got a couple of low bids for the clothes I put on yesterday so I'll need to invest in some brown paper tomorrow I think.

Food:
Got the cottage pie and the chilli out of the freezer now and will probably be able to leave to spag. bol in there for the last week in the month. Will see when mum can take me shopping again again soon

Spent £1.38 on milk + 17p on a fudge bar.

~ D.B. ~

Deeperblue

Feb 3

Finally got that bill through which was a bit more than I though *sigh* everything seems against me this month! :rotfl: Never mind.

Didn't list anything on ebay -again- last night since hubby didn't have time to put the pictures on the computer I will do it tonight though! Promise!

Food:
Made ginger bread biscuits today and mum gave us some bakewell tart too so thats deserts sorted for the rest of the week. Going to write out my shopping list tonight since mum may be able to go shopping with me tomorrow :T I should be able to keep it a cheap shop since I've got lots of various tinned things left to use up in the cupboard.

The cottage pie and chilli will probably be gone by tomorrow so I may try making a chicken curry for Saturday night using whatever I have left in the fridge and cupboards.

~ D.B. ~

Naomim

Hi DB:wave:

I've been following your diary with interest so thought I ought to stop lurking and say hi

You sound really positive about getting past your debts, and I too have one of those pain in the bum husbands although he's generally on board. Like Rachelww1 I use the envelope system for us both. It works well.

My two children caused a big chunk of our debt.. maternity leave! lol

My DS is 5 and a fussy eater too. (like his father :mad:) Wont eat mince, fruit and most veg... DH has IBS so red meat tends to be a no-no, the 1 year old is dairy intolerant.. that leaves me, the human dustbin with a cast iron stomach. Cooking in this house is a challenge! haha

I'll keep popping by when I can.

Naomi x