Learning to Live on Less!

jwil

No, it will be my second I'm not really into these 'days' but always send a card to my Mum and I did get a card last year from baby jwil.

At least it's not here immediately, I was panicking a bit for a second there!

Sorry you didn't have a nice first one, glad your OH has at least tried to make up for it a bit since

White_Iris

Soooo cold, trying to reduce our utility bills so I'm sitting wrapped in a blanket in a dingy room because I don't want to put the lights on. The children are at pre-school and then we're going to MILs for lunch, so I can get away with heat or light until about 2pm I guess. :money: I noticed last night and this morning, how many lights get switched on and left on (mostly by DH :mad:) and how much other stuff gets left on when not being used - definately have to be more vigilant about stuff like this if we're going pull back some of our energy over-spend.

I've also realised that our line rental saver has expired so that'll be an extra £15 on our February bill. Normally I'd use the money saved from not paying council tax, to pay for the saver again but there was a problem setting up our new account when we moved, so we had our two months off in August and September. I'm not entirely sure what our bills account will look like at the end of Feb but I'm just going to wing-it, as long as I check daily I can top-up if I need to from the savings.

debtfreewannabe321

can you not pay for the yearly line saver with savings and then set up a monthly DD from your main bills account to pay it back each month? I have done this with most of my yearly bills to begin with until I'd saved up a contingency for each separate thing. You'd probably save more money doing that then keeping the money in savings for their interest (well you would in my bank anyway they don't seem to pay an awful lot out for savings!)

White_Iris

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

can you not pay for the yearly line saver with savings and then set up a monthly DD from your main bills account to pay it back each month? I have done this with most of my yearly bills to begin with until I'd saved up a contingency for each separate thing. You'd probably save more money doing that then keeping the money in savings for their interest (well you would in my bank anyway they don't seem to pay an awful lot out for savings!)

We could do this and it would be the sensible thing but at the moment I need to put a mental block on touching our savings for anything! We've been here before and, although we start with good intentions, once the imaginary seal has been broken we 'll dip in to it again and again.

DH got his first salary from his new job today which has coincided with starting to repay his pension contributions. We were expecting his payrise to equal his pension but unfortunately it's slightly more so we're nearly £100 down. :eek: I'm adamant that we start paying the pension again though, as it's a really good one and the only one we have! We'll still have enough to pay all the bills and save at least £200 but our spending money will be cut. So February will be all about making money through eBay and saving money on groceries.

White_Iris

BIG shop this morning, spent £70 but it should easily last two, if not three, weeks (although I will need to top up bread, milk, fruit and veg). I found myself at the other end of town, so popped in to Asda and got some reduced meat, which will easily make four or five meals, so I'm happy I decided to shop there rather than drive to my usual places. I got a bit confused by the lay-out though and was running short of time, so there were a few things that got missed but if I pop to Aldi on Wednesday I think I can get it all for less than a fiver.

Things are looking pretty tight this month but I would like to find about £30 for half term week, so we can take the children swimming and to a soft play area. Hopefully this can come out of the grocery money if I can get to the end of next week without any major spends.

White_Iris

We've had to dip in to the savings this month and it was for a want and not a need. We've been offered a share in a beach-hut (which are as rare as hens teeth round here!) but it cost us £100. We will get lots of use out of it and it's definitely worth the money but it's annoying we couldn't find the cash elsewhere.

So far this month the finances are looking ok - we don't have much for discretionary spending but all the bills are covered and we don't have any events this month. The cupboards are full of food and I still have £120 left to get though the next 3 weeks. As long as we can save a bit for half term then I think we can to the end of the month without a struggle.

The problem at the moment is that both DH and I are setting a large chunk of our pocket money aside for future events. He has a stag-do in April and I need to get a crown fitted on one of my teeth in May. I'm glad we are planning ahead for it but it does make things tight now. It won't stop then either, as we have the wedding to save for as well - it shouldn't cost too much, we don't need much in the way of clothes (DS might need some formal trousers but I can pick those up on eBay) but we will need to find £90 for a hotel and probably £120ish for fuel.

debtfreewannabe321

I'd forgotten about half term until we had already reached February and i'd allocated the money to everywhere but the week off !

At least looking at the positives you are looking forward and saving for things in the future, meaning you won't need to keep dipping into the savings you already have :T The beach hut couldn't really be foreseen and is a great price so I say enjoy it and let that one go on the savings front

White_Iris

MARCH
Mothers day card and flowers (x2) - £30 hopefully can use clubcard vouchers for some of this
Vet bills - £50

APRIL
Hotel for visit to family - £100
Fuel for visit to family - £120
Spending for visit to family - £50 will come out of our monthly pocket money
Birthday present (x2) - £40

MAY
Ball tickets (belated birthday present) - £70 being saved for each month by DH
Birthday card and present (x2) - £30
Childrens birthdays (presents and day out) - £100

JUNE
Birthday card and present (x2) - £40
DH birthday and meal out - £100

JULY
Wedding hotel and fuel - £210

:eek::eek::eek: Better get my money making/saving head on. :money:

White_Iris

Haven't posted for a few days because nothing note-worthy has happened. Overspent a bit on this weeks top-up shop and I now only have £10 left for half term treats. I relisted a few things on eBay over the weekend and noticed that someone left me a negative feedback for an item I sold before Christmas. :mad: Totally unfair comments and she had clearly not read the item description as everything she criticized was clearly described. Frustratingly all I can do is leave a response and wait til it drops off in a year!

debtfreewannabe321

Oh no to the e3ay feedback! I have given up with there mostly but I had some unfair feedback. I'd sold something in used condition, said it was suitable for garden play and they complained and said the item was clearly used and didn't look nice they got it for 99p !!!!!! (item was £30 new! ) I was so upset I stayed away for months lol. They can retract it so perhaps you could approach them, i've had sellers contact me before asking me to change mine when i've left negative feedback. Thing is I very rarely leave bad feedback and only if I really have been ripped off so I rarely remove it :eek:!

I've no money for treats over half term and really wanted to go to the cinema (£30 for all of us) and maybe soft play for one day (£10 for 2 little ones) add in a few snacky treats that I don't keep in the cupboard and it takes it to nearly £50 :eek: ! The holidays are so expensive! xx