Learning to Live on Less!

White_Iris

Skint_but_Optimistic wrote: »

Hey as long as you do manage the coffee.

Im doing an aldi shop today. Falaffel anyone?

I did try the sofa/coffee/children/tv combo but they kept trying to steal the coffee (OMG could you imagine 15 month twin whirling dervishes hyped up on coffee:eek:) so it was drunk double quick - nap time now so might try and sneak in another cup to be consumed more leisurely :rotfl:

Wish we had an Aldi or Lidl nearby - the closest is about 25 minutes away in the town I used to work in - used to use them a lot when at work but sadly no longer What is falaffel? I hear it a lot on TV but I've no idea what it's made of, it sounds terribly exotic!

Skint_but_Optimistic

Its middle eastern I think, and its spiced meat normally eaten with a minted sour cream sauce... its really cheap in Aldi and a nice snackage / lunch option!

I think its worth a journey once a month at least for bits and bobs. I go to wilkinsons too, and try to stock up on washing tablets.

Eek no, not twins on caffeine. but I know when I was on maternity leave, the planned coffee didnt always materialise, and that was with one child. So hats off to you!

White_Iris

I went with a cup of tea in the end (really need to cut back on coffee!!) and also managed a bit of thrifty sewing and have almost patched up DHs "lounging around at home" jeans...I really don't know what he does to them but they've almost worn away between the legs :eek:

I've also accidentally bought a crochet hook on eBay I've been wanting to try it for ages (hate knitting but want to make some blankets and things), I was strong enough to avoid buying any crochet yarn as well though... I'll check out our local fabric shop first.

Felafel sounds really yummy - might have to make an effort to head to Aldi!

Skint_but_Optimistic

And its not daylight robbery, bargain treat food.

Well done with the patching and planned crotchet projects!

White_Iris

Woo-hoo, someone has bid on my high-value item on eBay - plus there are 8 watchers so it may push the bidding up! Even if it doesn't it means I've made £50 and I've cleared a lot of loft space as it's a really bulky item.

debtfreewannabe321

morning iris I've got 19 bits on ebay atm, thanks to you giving me a reminder about the turbo lister (much easier than doing it the other way) only £3 in bids so far though lol and it ends in an hour !

Have you looked into how much your house would rent out for? Have you thought about just renting one room out to a student/business person or suchlike? My aunt rents out two of her rooms in the summer to foriegn students and makes all her kids share in one room lol. She makes plenty of money from that though. If i had the room i'd be doing the same lol but as i don't even have rooms for all my kids think i'll have to give it a miss.

Well done on getting your cc2 down so much you can easily do it before xmas (positive thinking and all that ) xx

White_Iris

Just managed to redeem another £10 voucher from a survey site - yay! One step closer to a money neutral Christmas :-)

White_Iris

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

morning iris I've got 19 bits on ebay atm, thanks to you giving me a reminder about the turbo lister (much easier than doing it the other way) only £3 in bids so far though lol and it ends in an hour !

Have you looked into how much your house would rent out for? Have you thought about just renting one room out to a student/business person or suchlike? My aunt rents out two of her rooms in the summer to foriegn students and makes all her kids share in one room lol. She makes plenty of money from that though. If i had the room i'd be doing the same lol but as i don't even have rooms for all my kids think i'll have to give it a miss.

Well done on getting your cc2 down so much you can easily do it before xmas (positive thinking and all that ) xx

Good luck with eBay - a lot can happen in hour!

We could rent the house out for about £150 more than our mortgage payment - which after fees and insurance probably wouldn't leave us with much but it shouldn't cost us anything. the only stumbling block may be our mortgage provider - we'll get in touch with them soon to see if they have any issue with us renting it out for a short while.

Renting a room isn't an option - out spare room is really just a box room with space for a bed and nothing else. Also if someone wanted to rent a tiny room in a house with two boisterous dogs and two noisy toddlers I would imagine they'd have to be a little bit bonkers and might not make the best lodger anyway :rotfl:

debtfreewannabe321

i rent my house out that i own, I make £300 extra on it, but i have to then pay £80 to the management company that look after it, £10 a month towards landlord insurance, £20 into maintenance and then whatever is left is mine. So it usually ends up being about £100 extra. My mortgage is interest only though so not making me any money really. It will also be empty again by end of this month so you have to factor in those times when you may be paying your mortgage and rent. Saying all that though it has worked out for me in the long run (been renting it 3 years now) as i certainly don't want to live there (poky 3 bed terrace) and i can't sell it even at a loss- just no interest in the area !

xx

White_Iris

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

i rent my house out that i own, I make £300 extra on it, but i have to then pay £80 to the management company that look after it, £10 a month towards landlord insurance, £20 into maintenance and then whatever is left is mine. So it usually ends up being about £100 extra. My mortgage is interest only though so not making me any money really. It will also be empty again by end of this month so you have to factor in those times when you may be paying your mortgage and rent. Saying all that though it has worked out for me in the long run (been renting it 3 years now) as i certainly don't want to live there (poky 3 bed terrace) and i can't sell it even at a loss- just no interest in the area !

xx

Exactly our situation - interest only mortgage, no chance of selling, except we probably wouldn't make as much extra in rent as we have quite a hefty mortgage as we paid too much for the house - bought at the peak of the housing market, about a month before everything crashed :-(