Mortgage freedom..Shala_moo's attempt at a diary..

pink_poppy

Good luck, we are having an austerity month from today too. That includes no wine at all, which will be tough

Don't forget to go through TCB or Qu1dc0 for your car insurance. I've just renewed our car & house insurance, both of which have been auto-renewing (the house for 10 years ~ oh the shame ) and have saved nearly £500, plus we have cashback to come.

Do you still go to SW or is it just your OH now?? Just wondering if you could post your meal plan so that I can pinch some ideas

shala_moo

Thanks for popping in all :wave:

Pinkpoppy, hope your austerity month goes better than ours.. I asked OH to pick up some potatoes at work today (there's a F&V shop) and 4 jacket potatoes cost him £1.50!!! The quality wasn't the best either.. :eek: lesson learnt!

I still go to SW but I couldn't make it this week as I was working. I'm not the best example of a good member - I tend to lose a couple of lb a month at best rather than 2-3lb a week like some people.

Feel free to have a nosey at some of the menu plans on the slimming world thread on MSE (here), people on there have much better success than me!

For the last week our meal plan was
- fruit, oats and yogurt for breakfasts
- leftover tea or ryvitas with cheesespread for lunch
Tea's were:

• fish and roasted veg, salad
• meatballs, tagliatelle and carrot noodles
• chicken curry, rice, stir fry veg
• beef kebabs, lettuce wraps, mint yogurt and onion salad
• chicken and roasted BNS, salad
• sausages, mash and veg
• treat night after weigh in:o - HM meatball sub, crisps and icecream

We don't tend to eat a lot of meat-less meals as OH doesn't feel it's a proper meal without meat so it's not something we do often. Definitely couldn't get away with a soup meal or egg on toast for example.

So carrying on our sneaky ways to save pennies..

• unplugged my phone as soon as it had charged up
• 6 hours over time done
• stripped the blueberry bush of the last berries before the birds had them
• took hair extensions out myself - saving the removal fee

xx

pink_poppy

Thanks for that shala_moo, never thought to look at the SW thread :doh:I used to post on there many moons ago before I fell off the wagon and never managed to climb back on

beanielou

Not to SW example either :rotfl:

shala_moo

At least we try Beanie!! You've lost double what I have so you're way above me on the list :T

So this austerity thing is tough, OH got hangry last night so we ended up at the shop so he could have burgers for tea instead of what we planned. However, we limited what we bought whereas previously we'd have gone a bit "wild in the aisles" as Dale would say.

This morning we'd got nothing for in the house for breakfast - no milk for porridge or cereals, no butter for toast, no eggs, no fruit, no yogurt :rotfl: OH went up the shop for a couple of pints of milk in the end so at least he could have his porridge (value oats and milk wasn't adding up to any more than 20p so I can't complain really).

Todays austerity measures :

• windy and warm so washing out on the line (used free sachet of conditioner, although don't usually bother)
• 2nd lot of washing put on airer outside, I had to dig it out from the back of the garage(no room on the line and I would have previously put it in the tumble dryer)
• no tv on whilst browsing the net - don't really pay attention and it's just a waste of electricity
• cut OH's hair (not hard just a no2 all over)
• found a bug in the container I keep salt in :eek:, so used the salt as weed killer on the patio

e.t.a. just remembered to check my T$B account for the interest earned this month, £8.26 OP'd to mortgage.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend xx

shala_moo

Still continuing with our austerity month here but not brilliantly well, I've had some pay outs to do which were unavoidable but what it's learning us is that we can often make do when usually we would just spend without thinking.

So money stuff this week (and tips I've picked up off the Sneaky ways thread.. still ploughing through it)

• banked dentist fee cheque and OP'd - £19.70
• another 4 hours overtime done
• all surveys up to date *yawn*
• been sent 10 pouches of cat food to trial - saves approx. £2
• used rolled up old magazines to keep my long boots upright, that way the leather won't crack - i'd been looking to buy a boot tree for a while
• transferred my facial cleansing gel into a foamer bottle, this uses loads less gel now so it should last a while
• paid for a 12 week countdown at Slimming W*rld - means you get 12 weeks for the price of 10 and I know i'll still be there by then!
• SIL gave me some of the SW cereal bars that she doesn't like - saves £2 :T
• a few times today I've gone to use kitchen roll to mop up spills but realised I could use an old tea towel that needed washing anyway instead.. saved pennies but it's the principle

The bank lady tried to get me to go in for a mortgage meeting with one of their advisors when I went in to bank my cheque. Not the best thing to do to a MFW is it? :rotfl: She'd glazed over by the time i'd told her the benefits of an offset mortgage as that bank doesn't offer them.

Vile weather here today so the washing is in the tumble dryer but no heating on yet even though it's a bit nippy!

Off to make a cuppa to warm myself up a bit xx

e.t.a. a few more

• ran out of washing up liquid - had some stardrops in the cupboard so using this instead
• Tesc0 have subbed some very expensive whiskey for the one we usual have - OH is delighted :rotfl:
• using the halogen oven again instead of the big one
• frozen some manky carrots ready for making stew
• grocery shopping for the week has come in <£40 for the first time in a while!
• made my own hair rinse - rosemary and water - it's supposed to really clean out your follicles so stops excess oils being produced and also thickens hair - we'll see

quite enjoying the saving pennies things we're doing, feels like i'm actively trying to do something positive again!

beanielou

Sounding very positive

shala_moo

Austerity month continues with a few obstacles..

We had a power cut on Tuesday (2 in fact) so had to empty the freezer/fridge and take it to a relatives. That was fine but it meant we had no food in for tea, OH offered to take us out for dinner but we went and fetched a chicken from Morris0ns instead It wasn't nice - really rubbery, greasy _pale_ and £5 :eek: so lesson learnt, never getting one again!

So on to positive things to happen this week

• Made the Big Energy Switch - currently with E0n paying £73, would have gone up to £95ish :eek:, new collective supplier is promising £69/month, plus £30 cashback, plus nectar points
• off work today, petrol saved £3
• free cat food seems to be felix, so cat is happy and we're happy he didn't enjoy the explanation of why he was having to eat free food.. it's hard to explain austerity measures to a cat

Not so positive

• mid week shop £27 - not even sure what i bought other than a lot of pepsi max (on offer).. I don't drink or smoke so this is my vice
• bought a packet of minstrels from the vending machine 60p :eek:

I must look and see if what we are using elec/gas wise could be cut some more - is £73/month acceptable for a 4 bed detached? I think we're classed as an efficient house when I look on the website but surely there are ways to be more efficient.

The double glazing needs changing which would save on heating, however, changing 9 massive windows (one bay) would outweigh any savings made!! Maybe i'll have a mooch on the getting ready for winter thread.

xx

beanielou

Love explaining austerity measures to a cat :rotfl:
Nine doesent get it either!

Pearla*Merle

Brilliant to read all good news from the shala_moo front lines! You're going great guns, loving all the moneysaving activities, well done :T