Learning to Live on Less!

debtfreewannabe321

definitely works out cheaper! I bought clarks once and had to be carried home after having a small heart attack! £30 for a pair of baby shoes?! What planet do they live on when they decide these prices!?!

glasgowsaver2011

White_Iris wrote: »

We did consider that, and definitely will next time, but as we went in on a busy Saturday morning we felt too cheeky to walk away with nothing after taking up the assistants time getting them both measured. Also they had both gone up about a size and a half and needed new shoes quickly before their feet burst out of their old ones!

they get paid to be there whether or not you buy....

Take advantage of it :money:

White_Iris

Skint_but_Optimistic wrote: »

Oh no the easily swayed by other males tack!

You know they should be kept like hunting hawks with their little blinkers on. LOL - husband blinkers, what a great Dragons Den idea!

mines the same. Talks about stuff with other blokes and then all of a sudden there is a new opinion which haddnt been the case before the "conversation"

Swamp him in woman logic, its that car or no car, and you give him 2 weeks or he gets a push bike!

Sadly he already has a push bike which is worth a few hundred pounds, needs endless t.l.c. and cash spending on it and gets used once in blue moon - a better threat would be that I'll sell the bike and use the profits to buy a car instead. :rotfl:

debtfreewannabe321

glasgowsaver2011 wrote: »

they get paid to be there whether or not you buy....

Take advantage of it :money:

exactly! :rotfl:

I doubt they care either way, although a few times i've been too embarrased to just walk away so did one even worse and asked them to save the shoes for us behind the counter and we'd come back with cash :rotfl:not sure why i thought it was worse to just walk away rather then get them to go to the trouble of saving us shoes we had no intention of going back for, just because i felt stupid about being so petty about price

debtfreewannabe321

White_Iris wrote: »

Sadly he already has a push bike which is worth a few hundred pounds, needs endless t.l.c. and cash spending on it and gets used once in blue moon - a better threat would be that I'll sell the bike and use the profits to buy a car instead. :rotfl:

:T:T:T good plan! :rotfl:

White_Iris

Well, we got a car for less than we budgeted and although it needs a little bit of cosmetic work it'll do perfectly for DH :-) The insurance for him was a bit steep but he needs to build up some no-claims discount of his own - next year should be cheaper. Need to have a sort out of the finances tomorrow - move some money around, check balances etc. Also need to post some eBay parcels (assuming the buyers pay at the end of the auctions this evening), as well as the usual Monday deep-clean to remove the accumulated grot of the weekend, so tomorrow may be a little bit busy!

White_Iris

Managed to get the downstairs cleaned and some washing out on the line this morning, before going out to the park and posting some eBay parcels although only half of my buyers have paid, so I guess I'll have another trip to the P.O. this week). Still have get the washing in and hoover upstairs but that can wait for a little while.

I've realised that we're well in to October and I haven't set myself any new resolutions. This month has started to fly by and I'm feeling a little disoriented so I'll keep the resolutions simple...

• Spend as little as possible on the new car (although it needs an MOT in a few weeks)
• Get Christmas organised (i) cards (ii) presents (iii) decorations
• Be mindful of what I'm eating to continue losing a few more pounds
• Keep credit card spending to a minimum and continue to nibble away at the balance

White_Iris

Just checked the bank accounts and things aren't looking too bad - credit cards aren't great but they are under control. DH and I have agreed to simply go cold turkey and completely get rid of the smaller credit card as it's simply too easy to spend on it. Without it we really will have to decide what's important and what can wait.

We've also pretty much decided that we'll take the house off the market and wait a few years until the market improves and we can sell the house for a decent price instead of giving it away. Having a second car will make living here easier and as long as we've moved to the town we want to be in before the children start school, they shouldn't be affected too much even if we start off in a rented house and buy a place later.

debtfreewannabe321

Good idea to get rid of the small debts first it helps boost the morale lol. I hope you get rid of them once paid off too, so as to stop temptation

I'm sure the decision you've made about the house is right too, the market is dodgy as anything at the moment. And like you say as long as you are in the village you like before kids start school i'm sure it'll all be good (esp with a car each now!)

Do you plan on getting the kids out to local playgroups etc now you have transport?

White_Iris

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

Do you plan on getting the kids out to local playgroups etc now you have transport?

A baby and toddler group started in the village in September, so we've been going to that for the last few weeks. They seem to enjoy it and I think their immune system is going to get a boost as they've had a new cold every week since we started!

There are other groups we could go to in our nearest town but I don't think they're entirely suitable at the moment - they often do arts and craft type activities for the older children and it's a bit of a nightmare trying to keep two toddlers away from the unsupervised glue and paint tables. The cost also starts to get a bit prohibitive - £2ish per child, per group adds up if we go each week.

I am going to start taking them to the larger parks in our neighbouring town and we have a really lovely nature-walk place nearby. I'm also looking in to free activities at our local library (although my two still think books are for eating and tearing, not reading - quite embarrassing when you're in a library!).

Having a car also means I can get out to the supermarket more easily (although there is still the challenge of maneuvering the pushchair or finding a trolley that sits two toddlers), so I can visit the cheaper shops like Aldi and Lidl, rather than relying on Tesco deliveries. My plan over the next few months is to come up with a decent menu plan, maybe a 10-day/2-week menu, inventory the cupboards and freezer and start shopping a bit smarter.