A Thread for After Debt?

Little_bit_dizzy

Order summary

Total Savings:£0.14Your Guide price:(38 items) £25.77Delivery charge:£4.50Subtotal:£30.27Payment summary

Total left to pay:£30.27
Whooop Whoop! Just goes to show what can be done!

Leaves £9.73 for a trip to Liddies for dog mixer and veg. It also includes 2 weeks worth of cat food (offer!) and 4 bottles of radox (offer!). Thanks everyone!

backinbusiness

Wow!

I went away for Hogmanay and this turned into a 9 page thread!!

Welcome one and all.

Off to unpack just now, but will come back and read through later.

Happy New Year all.

BiB x

JulieGeorgiana

Well Done Dizzy!

Next time maybe try 2 weeks of shopping and just get the veg in the week between. That way you could save on delivery! :money:

Before I fell pregnant and sick I used to do a BIG shop of non fresh items once a month and just top up on fresh fruit and veg between... but I say you should start small. Because popping to the shop could cause temptation and cost more then the delivery

Another thing I do is make a list on MySupermarket and print it and take it to the shop and stick to it... I stopped paying delivery at all now!

But WELL DONE :T

Backinbusiness That's because it was a good idea for a thread

Even is not-in-debters need support on the straight and narrow!

Ps. 5 pages... come back tomorrow if you want 9 :A

Little_bit_dizzy

JulieGeorgiana wrote: »

Because popping to the shop could cause temptation and cost more then the delivery

Another thing I do is make a list on MySupermarket and print it and take it to the shop and stick to it... I stopped paying delivery at all now!

But WELL DONE :T

Thank you! I feel so pleased with myself, I think once the debt had gone I really did get a bit carried away with 'having money' again but I realsie now how much I could have saved with a bit of concentration. Told DH now that the budget is £40.00 p/wk: END OF! As long as he gets his rich tea biscuits he'll be happy, but he did look a bit startled!

I have a new blue notebook, which is rapidly turning into my finance bible. I've made a list of 'regular weekly buys' so I just need to have a quick check in the larder / fridge each week before I do my order. On the next page I'm keeping a note of all grocery expenditure, just to keep me paying attention.

Popping to the shop isn't a risk in this village - they don't stock much and the nearest supermarket is 8 miles away. I work on the basis that if I get a £3 delivery slot (which you can usually get on a Tuesday so I'm hoping I can eek things out for 10 days!) it's worth paying for it, it would almost cost me that in fuel not to mention the time, effort and the lure of beautifully merchandised non-essentials!

By the time I finish work I too tired to think about going shopping, I just go home and light the fire, cook dinner, feet up & watch tv! Though I did treat myself to a tapestry kit just before Christmas to make a cushion with so I don't always just veg out :rotfl:

The new budgets are coming on nicely - I keep forgeting things we need to account for. The coal lorry drove past earlier and reminded me so I added coal to the 'pot' list. Luckily this year we had loads in so haven't had to buy any at all yet. I'm hoping that we can get through until March / April time before it all goes as sometimes or local coal company do a 'summer price' (and we'll have money in the pot by then).

Right, I'm packing up excel until after I've created a culinary masterpiece with a pork chop! Hope everyones had a fabulous day. Thanks so much to everyone on the thread, I really feel so much more positive, organised and in control than I did.

JulieGeorgiana

Dizzy Your DH sounds like mine! As long as biscuits are on the shopping list... he doesn't care how little I spend or what I feed him! Hahaha!

I am so glad you are feeling more in control now

Have you got a 'Pets' pot? one to cover routine jabs, dewormers and deflea treatments?

I use my spreadsheet as you use your book... I have a list of EVERYTHING we buy routinly split into 'Weekly' and 'Monthly' and do a stock check every thursday morning. Then I use my menu plan to add to the list specifics for meals. Then go shopping (after starting the Meal Plan thread on the OS Board!)

Well I am doing my 4 week meal plan for 20th Jan - 16th Feb (I am being optimistic... Roo will be here by then so I can eat normally again! I've not done one in 8 months since I got sick...!) and setting up my shopping lists etc so it'll need very little tweeking (considering I won't have time with the baby here) and DH can do the shopping for me! I am so excited

Ps. I have a sweep booked for next Thursday AM! Baby Roo could be here on Friday 13th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

QueenB.

LotsaLuck wrote: »

I'm so stressed and unhappy its unbelievable! The fear of losing the rest of the cash to bills and being totally broke again is keeping me awake at night. I keep thinking, should I be doing something else with my life, do something fun with the money, start living after all those years of money worries... I just can't enjoy it at all.

Pathetic I know - if I was reading this when I was struggling with every penny to get credit cards paid, I'd hate this person

No kipper here, but a warm welcome. Congrats on becoming DF and i think many of us here will understand how you are feeling But as JulieGeorgiana has said that fear, as long as you keep it at a managable level, is what will keep you DF in the long run. I have so many outgoings & pots I often wonder how i ever managed to get DF as there doesn't seem to be all the extra money i thought there would be. But i realise that that is because i am more organised now and work in advance which can be difficult to start with (I only became DF last August/September).

Personally I would take a small amount of that money, £50 maybe and force myself to use it for a treat and then as others have said put the rest in the bank out of temptation and earning some interest.

QueenB.

JulieGeorgiana wrote: »

Ps. I have a sweep booked for next Thursday AM! Baby Roo could be here on Friday 13th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:j:j:j:j:j:j

Don't worry about the whole Friday the 13th thing, I have always found that I seem to be luckier on those days and think of the cheaper flights Roo can book in years to come:money:

I plan my shopping around 3 things, storecupboard items, vouchers/offers and the shops prices/discount times. I make a shopping list and then check out the cost of the items online before deciding where to buy them and then my shopping day is planned like a military operation

JulieGeorgiana

QueenB. wrote: »

:j:j:j:j:j:j

Don't worry about the whole Friday the 13th thing, I have always found that I seem to be luckier on those days and think of the cheaper flights Roo can book in years to come:money:

I plan my shopping around 3 things, storecupboard items, vouchers/offers and the shops prices/discount times. I make a shopping list and then check out the cost of the items online before deciding where to buy them and then my shopping day is planned like a military operation

I find the same thing, i'm not bothered, or I would have booked the sweep for the 19th!

I had an uncle who wouldn't leave the house! Crazy! :cool:

Oh!!!! And you should shop around what's in season too! I won't pay more then £1 for a bag of fruit... so we eat what's on offer that week! Kiwi's are on offer a lot, and non of us really like them!!! I only shop around offers if they are cheaper then what I had planned... but I buy the Rabbits veg depending on whats on offer/inseason!

Isn't it funny how we are all doing things in a simular way (being REALLY REALLY organised) after coming out of the other side. oes to show that being organised and budgeting is the key to not getting into debt

JulieGeorgiana

QueenB Something just occured to me reading one of your posts. You are saving up for Car Insurance to pay in full, which is why you don;t have month right now because you have only a few months to get the money saved.

Are you thinking long term? Once you have paid your insurance are you planning on working out what it'll cost next year and setting aside 1/2th of the cost per month??

Once you do then within a year you should see that 'extra' money emerging and know that it can be done with what you want because everything is covered

QueenB.

JulieGeorgiana wrote: »

I find the same thing, i'm not bothered, or I would have booked the sweep for the 19th!

I had an uncle who wouldn't leave the house! Crazy! :cool:

Oh!!!! And you should shop around what's in season too! I won't pay more then £1 for a bag of fruit... so we eat what's on offer that week! Kiwi's are on offer a lot, and non of us really like them!!! I only shop around offers if they are cheaper then what I had planned... but I buy the Rabbits veg depending on whats on offer/inseason!

Isn't it funny how we are all doing things in a simular way (being REALLY REALLY organised) after coming out of the other side. oes to show that being organised and budgeting is the key to not getting into debt

Another place i have found cheap seasonal fruit is at car boot sales, normally the smaller local ones not the ones that resemble market stalls or cheap shopping centres. I have found many bargains there such as a whole box of apples for £1:eek: my kids eat so much fruit the fruit bowl needs constant refilling and if some of the fruit in the box is not looking great i bake and freeze. I love August when we go fruit picking, so many wild apple trees and blackberry bushes. I can't believe how much shops price blackberries at:eek: some hedgerow picking and we can get a massive tub full for free.

I completely agree being organised and budgeting is a major key to being debt free, just being in control of your own money feels great, those last few years in debt i really came to hate handing over so much money to someone else. Thats why each pence is so important to me, its finally ours and I'd rather have a few pence that are mine than have something that has been brought using credit. We may have a house that needs TLC and an old car, second hand furniture and very few latest gadgets but what we do have is ours, paid for in full and that gives me such a great sense of achievement.