A blissful home - mortgage_girl's MF diary

pennyforthepot

mortgage_girl wrote: »

I'm going to see how long I can make £100 last me - generally I spend about £70 a month but I've got a cupboard and freezer full of food and have just stocked up on staples so i'm hoping to make £100 last me 100 days - can it be done?

That is some challenge :eek: if only I could do that with my family but with 3 constantly hungry teenagers and DH to feed it would be a struggle to manage it on a tenner a day!

Will be following you with interest on that one

PFTP x

mortgage_girl

icontinuetodream wrote: »

Good luck!!! I'll be watching you!!! :rotfl:

Thank you...and i'll be watching you too!

pennyforthepot wrote: »

That is some challenge :eek: if only I could do that with my family but with 3 constantly hungry teenagers and DH to feed it would be a struggle to manage it on a tenner a day!

Will be following you with interest on that one

PFTP x

Heck! I guess i'm lucky in that there just me and a very well looked after snugglepuss to feed . I think I might be able to achieve it with some very careful and organised menu planning but we'll see. There's no harm in trying and anything that helps be more mindful of what I spend is definitely a good thing - as long as I don't end up living off beans on toast for the last month! :eek:

I've had a lovely shopping day today with my partner (yep i'm loved up and very happy! ) I bought some more leggings for work and a new top without spending a penny - nope I didn't steal them and i'm not magic, I used vouchers that i'd earnt from CP. :rotfl:I also used discount stores to stock up on toiletries and cleaning stuff, so it's been a day well spent. Is it a bit sad that i'm almost as excited about the money i've saved than the new clothes i've bought? Oh the trials and tribulations of being a mortgage free wannabee!

MGx

mortgage_girl

Well it's been a very MSE weekend in the MG household. I spent yesterday morning pottering in the kitchen making a carrot and lentil soup to use up a stash of carrots that had been lurking in the bottom of the fridge. It was delicious and there was some to put in the freezer - bonus! Apart from buying chicken feed it's been a no-spend weekend, and i've kept the heating to a minimum, wrapping up in an extra jumper and snuggling up with my snuggle-blanket on an evening - surprisingly it hasn't been too chilly. I have noticed that the house is much warmer since having my new front door fitted - hopefully i'll notice the difference in my energy bills too. I've done my meal planning for the week ahead, which is actually the first time in a long time, so apart from milk I shouldn't need to buy any other groceries.

I took the Christmas tree and decorations down today and now the house looks really bare. I think I may need to find something bright and twinkly to put where the Christmas tree was. I'm back at work tomorrow *sigh*. I'm not feeling motivated but i'll be fine once I get there - and it is my ticket to mortgage freedom. It'll probably do me good to get back into a routine, i'm just not looking forward to the alarm going off in the morning!

On that note I think it's time to go and get tucked up in bed with a hot water bottle and book. I'm sure snugglepuss will follow me too!

Goodnight!

MGx

mortgage_girl

Well I have survived the first three days back at work and i've actually quite enjoyed getting back into a routine. I've done some batch cooking in the evening too - anyone would think I was taking this £100 for 100 day challenge seriously or something! :rotfl:I've also been a bit more thrifty with the central heating, i'm secretly hoping to get my direct debit reduced as my account is in credit by quite a bit at the moment...either that or maybe a nice cheque might be winging it's way to me soon. So my blanket and hot water bottle have become my new best friends on an evening, and I must admit it's been so mild that I haven't felt the need to have the heating blasting out for too long on an evening.

I've been spending quite a bit of time reading over the past few nights and it's been lovely. I've got loads of books that i've started reading but never finished, so my aim is to read them before I start any new ones from my 'to read' stash. Looking at my collection I doubt that i'll have to buy any books this year - i've been a bit of a book-a-holic in the past so hopefully my 'addiction' will sustain me for a while.:)

I'm slowly building my running up again after a two week break, it's amazing how quickly you can lose momentum with something once you're not doing it regularly. Before Christmas I could run for 30 minutes flat - now I lucky if I can run for 20! I'm determined to get back into it though and aim to be back to my 'old' running self in a couple of weeks.

I'm also going to get back into my decluttering routine. I've started tonight by listing a few bits on the local fb selling page and i'm going to aim for 15 minutes a day, focusing on one room at a time. I'm going to start with the living room first as that'll be the easiest. I might try and get back into my flylady routines again once I build up a bit of momentum.:)

Right off to catch up with a few diaries and then i've got a date with a book!

Have a lovely evening everyone!

MGx

mortgage_girl

Well I must have had a premonition or something because the day after my last post a lovely cheque turned up in the post from my gas/electric supplier, needless to say it went straight into the op pot.

It's been a week since I last posted and what a busy one it has been. I've spent quite a bit of time decluttering and have managed to sell a few bits on the local fb selling page - there's still a long way to go but i'm making progress. I've also got some tutoring under my belt and have managed to keep on top any surveys I have been sent.

My running is virtually back on track - I managed to cover 4k in 26 minutes yesterday and could have gone further but my lace came undone and I lost my rhythm. I've also found a really good 5k-10k training plan on the Bupa website, so i'm really excited about getting started with that.

Tonight i've made bubble and squeak to use up some old cabbage - so i'm feeling very virtuous and am having a chilled evening watching 'Up'.

MGx

icontinuetodream

Hi MG :wave: Just thought I would pop in and see how you are doing with you £100 challenge.....hope all is going well!!

mortgage_girl

icontinuetodream wrote: »

Hi MG :wave: Just thought I would pop in and see how you are doing with you £100 challenge.....hope all is going well!!

It's going really well thank you icontinueotdream.:) I have a plenty of food in my cupboards and so far i've spent £67.91 of my budget. It's going to be a stretch in the final few weeks but i'm aiming to get as close as I can to my target. How's yours going?

MGx

littlegreenpeas

Well done Mg on your grocery challenge I love reading your diary.
Lgp x

icontinuetodream

mortgage_girl wrote: »

It's going really well thank you icontinueotdream.:) I have a plenty of food in my cupboards and so far i've spent £67.91 of my budget. It's going to be a stretch in the final few weeks but i'm aiming to get as close as I can to my target. How's yours going?

MGx

Excellent!!:T Still doing pretty well with mine...haven't gone over the £15 yet but the stocks are depleting!!! I am starting to see gaps in the freezer now and the cupboards are definitely looking tidier, but.....I did buy some more tinned tomatoes the other day as I just can't seem to think of food unless I have them as a safety net!!:o:rotfl:

mortgage_girl

littlegreenpeas wrote: »

Well done Mg on your grocery challenge I love reading your diary.
Lgp x

Thank you LGP and hello :wave: It's nice to know that someone's enjoying my ramblings.

icontinuetodream wrote: »

I did buy some more tinned tomatoes the other day as I just can't seem to think of food unless I have them as a safety net!!:o:rotfl:

Haha - glad I'm not the only one with 'tinned tomato deficit anxiety' :rotfl:Well done on sticking to your £15 budget :T

Things have been busy in the MG household, i've been doing some extra tutoring, decluttering and selling a few bits and bobs as well as sw@gbucking and doing online surveys. In between all of that i've been continuing to train for my 10k and can now run 5km in 35 minutes which i'm quite pleased with. I've found a 5k-10k plan on the Bupa website to use now that i've finished the 'Couch to 5k' plan so I'm looking forward to getting started with it.

There's just a week to go at work before half term, thank goodness - it's definitely been a testing one! I'm trying to get everything done this week so that I have no schoolwork to do during the holiday and can spend some time relaxing.Speaking of relaxing I think it's time to get tucked up in bed with a good book.

Goodnight all

MGx