Learning to Live on Less!

White_Iris

Sewerage sorted and bill will be less than I budgeted. Insurance sorted but still don't have the final figures. Thank you notes all done and posted, bathroom cleaned, (more) laundry done, just need to vacuum top to bottom and I'll get a gold star for house-wife-ness.:D

Need to check banking as my eBay fees should have come out and there will be some rearranging to be done. I paid a smidge off the credit card the other day, just to get it down to a round number and keep my OCD happy. Still haven't listed anything on eBay and still haven't paid the admin fees though :mad: must get both done today.

White_Iris

Hmm, dilemma. I've been sent a voucher for Mr T's - £15 off a £60 spend online. I've also got some cash-back coupons from them which would just about cover the cost of a cheap delivery slot. So, could I get the same amount of food from them, spending £45, as I could if I used that money in a discount store like Aldi? I would get clubcard points as well I suppose. I think I'll do a stock take and check out their special offers, as I know we're low on freezer food and then decide.

White_Iris

Not enough on offer at Tescos to make good use of the money off - maybe next week.

I'm trying very hard to get myself focused on frugal living this year. This month hasn't been great, although I did have the best of intentions. We're halfway through and have very little spending money left and even less to pay off the credit card. However, we haven't used the credit card and DH is not in his overdraft (only £50 but he just couldn't keep out of it, resulting in a £6 charge each month :mad:).

Grocery shopping has been somewhat chaotic but if I can keep away from the shops until Monday I can hopefully pull things back. I haven't overspent but there's nothing in my grocery savings tin and although the cupboards are fairly full, a lot of it is snacky stuff left over from Christmas, not proper food. I need to put some fuel in my car but I should be able to last until next week. This will need to come out of the grocery budget, so I'm aiming for a £40 spend next week.

I've been investigating lots of UK-based frugal blogs and I'm pleasantly surprised by how many people are on the same wavelength. Although being frugal may be quite fashionable at the moment, a lot of people are doing it out of necessity while they deal with debt and it's good to read about their struggle and how they cope. I'm starting to get my head in the right place, I think.

White_Iris

Finally completed a quick simple sewing project that's been hanging over my head for months and it's such a relief to get it done - why didn't I do it ages ago? :wall:

The house is reasonably tidy, the laundry is not quite overflowing, so I'm going to spend the next hour or so drinking coffee and reading frugal blogs. I've just spotted a 30 month 0% credit card balance transfer deal in Martins email, so I think I'll apply for that tonight, as if we can it paid off in that time frame (we'd need to pay it off by about £65 a month) it takes us to about the time we're aiming to be able buy our forever home.

Our landlord came round the other day to do a few repairs and while he was here DH asked him what his intentions were, for the house long-term. I've always had the impression that he would like to move back here in a few years but he said he was watching house prices and at some point in the future would consider selling it (not any time soon thankfully) but he also commented on how we were in a similar position and were also waiting to sell. I get a feeling that if things work out we may be able to buy this house in a few years (as long as he doesn't want too much for it), which would be great as it's a good size, great location and we wouldn't need to move again!

jwil

Good luck with the credit card, and that would be fab about the house!

White_Iris

jwil wrote: »

Good luck with the credit card, and that would be fab about the house!

Hi jwil, lovely to hear from you. I'm following your diary but I'm a lurker rather than a poster I'm afraid. It must be hard to get back in to a work routine and leave baby jwil in childcare and try to keep debt-busting (and deal with car problems ) but I'm sure you'll get the hand of it before too long. You're so good at eBaying, you'll get your MSE mojo back soon.

White_Iris

Some good news from our third party mortgage lender last night. After much back and forth about what paperwork they needed to allow us continue renting out our house, we finally sorted it and as a result the admin fees we need to pay have been reduced from £250 to £100. :T

We also had a very thrifty tea last night, using up lots of fridge leftovers and big wodges of toast (using the last of DHs homemade bread) instead of chips/mash/pasta. Plus the children loved it and scoffed the lot!

Today will be a no spend day and if DH hadn't taken the credit card to work with him, I'd be arranging a balance transfer to a new 0% card (will do that tonight instead). Right then, off to check the bank accounts then a big of frugal blog reading before I head out to collect the children.

debtfreewannabe321

Great news on the reduced fees :T

P.s I love your new signature!

jwil

Great news about the mortgage and the reduced fees!

jwil

White_Iris wrote: »

Hi jwil, lovely to hear from you. I'm following your diary but I'm a lurker rather than a poster I'm afraid. It must be hard to get back in to a work routine and leave baby jwil in childcare and try to keep debt-busting (and deal with car problems ) but I'm sure you'll get the hand of it before too long. You're so good at eBaying, you'll get your MSE mojo back soon.

Thank You I lurk on a lot of diaries too, I'm trying to make more of an effort to keep up and post.