Learning to Live on Less!

sweetpea26

Morning WI

You have achieved so much these last few days, well done to you. Everything seems to be settling down for you and you seem very focused.

You are doing superbly. Onwards and upwards.

White_Iris

I got my frugal-groove back over the weekend :j (although it seems to have left again this morning!).

I transferred our credit card to a 0% deal, not sure how long for (waiting for all the virtual paperwork to go through) but hopefully it will be the 30 months they advertised. I finally got around to listing on eBay - only 8 items but it was free listing and if they sell I should make a nice amount. I cooked a roast chicken for tea, then stripped off enough meat for two more meals, then chucked it all in the slow cooker with the "juices" (mostly water I suspect) from the roasting tray and the veggie cooking water to make some stock. I must remember to do something with it this morning though! :cool: I combined some errands and finally returned some library books that have been sat waiting to go back since just after Christmas (no fine though as I did remember to renew them online ). I also remembered to load the washing machine last night and set it to come on in the early hours - no electricity saving sadly but it does mean it was ready to hang up first thing so hopefully it will be dry enough to iron and put away tonight. Oh and I did a basket full of ironing in front of Countryfile, last night.

I really need to do some cleaning and tidying this morning but it's so grey and cold outside all I want to do is curl up with a cup of tea and a book. I've got an hour and 45 minutes before I need to collect the children from pre-school and in that time I will...

• put the childrens car seats back in my car (currently sat in the middle of the living room)
• do something with the contents of the slow cooker
• clean the kitchen
• clean the bathroom
• finish my cup of tea (;))

White_Iris

White_Iris wrote: »

I really need to do some cleaning and tidying this morning but it's so grey and cold outside all I want to do is curl up with a cup of tea and a book. I've got an hour and 45 minutes before I need to collect the children from pre-school and in that time I will...

• put the childrens car seats back in my car (currently sat in the middle of the living room) DONE
• do something with the contents of the slow cooker DONE (sort of )
  
• clean the kitchen DONE but it's messed up again with the lunch things :mad:
  
• clean the bathroom DONE
• finish my cup of tea (;)) DONE and started another!
  

I've also cleaned and hoovered the bedrooms and stairs and once I've finished my cuppa I'll start downstairs (now that the children have finished lunch - pointless cleaning before they eat). I've fished the bones and meat from the stock, just need to give it a final sieve, then I can chuck everything in the dishwasher and get that on, clean the kitchen, hoover downstairs and whip round with a duster. Phew!

White_Iris

Ooh, forgot to add that we've been given a big fridge freezer, so we've swapped it for our little under-counter fridge and now have double the freezer space we had before! I'm a bit excited about it (we have loads of fridge space too and I don't have to bend down to see what's at the back!) and I'm already planned what frozen foods to start stocking up on!

I also got my self-assessment codes back from the tax-man, so I can self-assess for the "mammoth" profits I make being an accidental landlord. Hopefully, I won't need to pay anything as I don't have any other form of income but I'm a bit nervous about messing it up and having to argue my case when an enormous bill appears!

White_Iris

Got my self assessment done last night and hopefully I've done it correctly and won't owe anything. I only made £127 profit from our rental and I have no other income so I shouldn't have to pay.

It's a bright dry day here and I should be out in the garden, tidying up but it's blooming freezing and strangely foggy, so I'm going to hide indoors drinking many cups of coffee, until after lunch. The children are at pre-school this afternoon and once they're gone I'm going to have a good clear out of their toys and dressing up stuff, and hopefully chuck out a lot of the plastic tat they've accumulated. I also need to sort out the garage/utility room as it's become a huge dumping ground but it's so cold out there I'm not sure I can bring myself to do it! Then there's the stuff that's been stuffed under our bed. :eek:

In the six months or so since we've been here, we've managed to clutter up every available space and it's starting to make me twitchy. I need to get rid of the old cot beds that are currently stashed under the childrens beds, then I can put some of their toys and games under there, then I can use the blanket box the games are in to stash some spare bedding, then I can put some of the stuff from under my bed in to the airing cupboard!

I also want to get rid of the too-big freebie sofa we've got in our conservatory (which no one ever sits on) and swap it for something a bit more streamlined (ideally without spending too much money) but that's at the bottom of the to-do list, along with a new, smaller rug for the living room.

Ok, feeling moderately motivated now. Off to think about tackling the utility room.

debtfreewannabe321

You're sounding very upbeat and organised lately I hope it continues for you! I can't seem to get motivated, it's too cold (very foggy here too in Essex) and I just want to hibernate! I will have the big de-clutter before we move out of here anyway so just need to keep on top of it for the moment as it's not too bad atm. x

White_Iris

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

You're sounding very upbeat and organised lately I hope it continues for you! I can't seem to get motivated, it's too cold (very foggy here too in Essex) and I just want to hibernate! I will have the big de-clutter before we move out of here anyway so just need to keep on top of it for the moment as it's not too bad atm. x

My mood has improved over the last few days but I still have more hibernating moments than get-up-and-go ones! I have finished the utility room and it didn't take half as long as I thought and I managed to move things around without killing myself too, which is a bonus. I feel much better now - one thing I can tick off my mental list. I've also boxed up some toys and puzzles to go the grandparents house and had a quick rummage though the rest of the toys and chucked out a few bits. I need to tackle the dressing up clothes but I want a trunk or lidded box to put them in and until I find something they might as well stay where they are.

debtfreewannabe321

We got 2 hanging basket brackets and turned them upside down and screwed them into the bedroom wall and hung all their (ds2 & DD) dressing up clothes on there. They love it as they can reach them and it looks pretty in their room too

White_Iris

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

We got 2 hanging basket brackets and turned them upside down and screwed them into the bedroom wall and hung all their (ds2 & DD) dressing up clothes on there. They love it as they can reach them and it looks pretty in their room too

That sounds like a great idea - very ingenious! I was thinking about some kind of hanging system but they can't/won't hang things up properly, so in reality I'd be doing it all the time and the idea of stuffing it all in a box and closing the lid is much more appealing.

Got some bargain lightbulbs in Tesco this morning, reduced to 15p each, so I stocked up - our wall lights seem to burn out bulbs worryingly quickly. I also nabbed a few other bargains that had been reduced to less than half price but that meant that a trip for a few basics turned in to a trip where I spent £20 of next weeks grocery budget. :eek: I also had to dip in to next weeks money to put £10 of fuel in the car, so that leaves me with £20 for next week!

Nine days left of the month and so far no use of the credit card, DH has stayed out of his overdraft and we still have £250 in savings! Fingers crossed we can keep it up!

debtfreewannabe321

We've also got 9 days left till pay day and £20 left

I did spend the food budget for next week already so i'm hoping that £20 will get any fresh we need and that there will be no unexpected spends so we can stay out of the savings and in the black till pay day :T