Blinded by the LBM...!

Beencounting

Ah, Monday...the [STRIKE]worst [/STRIKE]best day of the week :rotfl:

I have some to dos on my mind, but I'm not sure whether I'll get them all done today, they're more likely to be spread across the week.

I need to

• Check bank and update projected end of month balance
• Update cash balances
• Sort mealplan for the week with OH
• Food shop
• Find out how to reclaim DS' bus fares from last week
• Sort out photos for train tickets
• Re-join the library

The last one will probably be later in the week, but I'm really missing reading. I usually by 3 - 4 books from Amaz0n every month, so by not doing so it's quite a saving , but I feel like I'm missing out. The first thing to do will be to find out where the library is!!

tabby_cats_mum

You can't beat a cat for keeping your feet on the ground! Enjoying your diary and off to mess with my spreadsheet.x

Beencounting

tabby_cats_mum wrote: »

You can't beat a cat for keeping your feet on the ground!

Ha ha, that made me laugh!!! Thanks Tabby, I needed that

Beencounting

Update on my post this morning:

Projected month-end balance now exceeds OD (-£2017), so I'm going to need to find £17 savings from within the budget if I'm to avoid pulling anything back from the emergency fund. At this stage I can probably manage it, as long as no other surprises appear . There's no spend on the clothes budget (£30) at the mo, so this is the first target .

We've been and had our photos done and bought our season tickets for the train. OH for a month and me for a week as I'm planning to take some leave in a couple of weeks, so weeklies are more cost effective for me til November. Balance on travel budget will be £21 after the tickets plus this weekends fuel clears the bank :eek:, not sure how that will see us through to the end of the month!

I've also been online and found the library . I think I'll have a wander over there on Wednesday as I have lunchtime plans for tomorrow.

Beencounting

Weekly food shop update:

Well, it's all gone very pear shaped , I knew it would be very tight this week as there didn't seem to be enough food in the house last week, especially snacky food, which my family are especially fond of.

Our budget was £45, spends are:

cat food & frozen veg bought yesterday - £7.69
A1di today - £41.03
Asd4 today (stuff we can't get in A1di) - £26.19

Total: £74.91 :eek:

This is NOT good , nearly £30 overspent.

I'm going to have to think very carefully about what will be left by month end, and then do some revisions for next month. Luckily the minimum payments on the CCs will have dropped, so there will be scope to re-jig the budget. Our current monthly repayments are way too high to sustain on an ongoing basis, so I will be looking to reduce our planned payments until they are more affordable. Still, at least I don't need to panic as I have the emergency fund to fall back on if necessary .

Hopefully this won't be necessary though if we get the insurance refund cheque soon. We've also got some cashback due (in November), I think it's £75 from the phone contracts.

Been

Skintfoodie

Supermarkets are killers, I walk around trying to add up as I go along to try and make sure I don't overspend. Could you perhaps make flapjack or something to have in as snacky food, and cut down on amount paid out on stuff like that? It's having the time to do it too I suppose!

Beencounting

Skintfoodie wrote: »

Supermarkets are killers, I walk around trying to add up as I go along to try and make sure I don't overspend. Could you perhaps make flapjack or something to have in as snacky food, and cut down on amount paid out on stuff like that? It's having the time to do it too I suppose!

Hi Skintfoodie, nice to see you here

I'm pretty much the world's worst cook, even the children cook for me, rather than let me cook for them :rotfl: I'm lucky as OH does all the cooking, and he's very good, but he's not really into making cakes. I'm not complaining though...well, not much .

Been

Beencounting

We had our first morning on the train today , all went well apart from the rain! I arrived in work earlier than usual and will finish a bit earlier too .

Been out to lunch with one of my mates, I'd allowed £10, but only spent £5.35, so still got £4.65 in my purse , although I feel the need for some choccie, so will pop out to get a something soon .

I still need to check the bank balance today and calculate my closing balanace for month-end, but otherwise it's pretty quiet here at BC Towers!

Been

allybee101

How about baking with the kids to produce various treats - lots of simple baking recipes on BBC food page and other online resources. Flapjacks are pretty cheap, as are fairy cakes/cupcakes and biscuits.
I'm not feeling very inspired on the money saving front right now so I need to give myself a good kick!

Beencounting

allybee101 wrote: »

How about baking with the kids to produce various treats - lots of simple baking recipes on BBC food page and other online resources. Flapjacks are pretty cheap, as are fairy cakes/cupcakes and biscuits.
I'm not feeling very inspired on the money saving front right now so I need to give myself a good kick!

Hi Allybee

I'd love to say I could do this, but I really am carp at cooking :rotfl:. TBH, I've got no interest in it, so don't really put the effort in. I'm the kind of person who throws a pizza or something in the oven then promptly forgets about it, only coming back to the kitchen when I smell something burning...cakes wouldn't stand a chance :rotfl: Luckily I'll eat most things, including burnt pizza .

You're doing great on the money front, it won't be long and you'll be free of the debt-shackles, now chin up and get debt busting

Been