We are about to pull the purse strings soooo tight!

debtfreewannabe321

Good to know about the farm shop pricing. I have recently swapped to mostly organic anyway so I should think that taking that into consideration then the farm shop could be a good alternative I love to buy locally and support small businesses so I think I will try them next week (and will report back!)

Alice_in_Poorland

Worth a try DFW, not sure I could go every week but I have to say the quality seems to be better.

Yesterday was a NSD and we got invited to a BBQ so we didn't have to cook at home........I know its a bit cheeky thinking that way but..:D

I've sorted the money out for the next few days, we only spent £12 at the party on Saturday so shouldn't need to visit the cashpoint until Thursday (pay childminder). We've got bus, milk, lottery and football money sorted, and there is still some change in my purse.:)

Today should be another NSD, don't plan on going anywhere, will try and sort the back garden out.......some of the weeds are so pretty,hehehe.

Hope everybody has a great day, it feel so good to have some lovely weather.xx

debtfreewannabe321

Have fun in the garden! Lovely day here but black clouds are looming they had best p1ss off! I want a nice day so i can do all my washing and get it dried quickly lol xx

Alice_in_Poorland

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

Have fun in the garden! Lovely day here but black clouds are looming they had best p1ss off! I want a nice day so i can do all my washing and get it dried quickly lol xx

Hope you got your washing dry DFW, we had lovely day, weather was fab, garden looks much better (still lots of work to do but it's a start!!), did my ironing last night and have pegged another 2 loads out today:).....before the rain tomorrow.:(

I got in the car this morning and notice the petrol light was on,:(........OH didn't say anything when he went out in the car yesterday, will have to get some on the way home from work, so not going to be a NSD like I had hoped.

OH is taking DS2 to his cricket match tonight, he's got £10 which is the change from Saturday night (so he doesn't look like the poor relation) for cricket subs and a drink.

xx

Alice_in_Poorland

I've put £20 petrol in the car on the way home and picked up a loaf of bread....I miss the freezer!!!

Whilst I had a quiet moment at work I went on to the comparision sites to check my car insurance, can't believe the cheapest quote is £220 for the year, I'm currently paying £54 per month.:eek:......OHs got 3 points for speeding which has pushed the cost up.

Everybody has just come in from cricket, money all spent on drinks and food.....but DS2s team won.:)

xx

brizzledfw

Hi folks

Sorry bit slow to comment here..but we are finding that buying our fruit and veg direct from the farmer makes a big difference price wise and the quality is great..so we use a box scheme from our local community farm ( with handy 10% off as we are members..which luckily doesn't mean I have to do any weeding!!) and R&verford.

Also...I have long been believing that we allspend too much on mechanical/ electrical items that we only use rarely eg. Tools, kitchen stuff...and lawnmowers. Why do we each have one??? The per use price makes no sense at all to me. I have decided with neighbours that when our lawnmower, for example, conks out that we will not buy a new one but share theirs...and when theirs does we can always contribute to a new, shared one. We share our green waste bin subscription with 3 houses and it seems to work.

Wish we could do more of it actually..communal supplies have to be the way forward:) So don't get it fixed Alice..just borrow!!

Have a great evening everyone x

Alice_in_Poorland

brizzledfw wrote: »

Hi folks

Sorry bit slow to comment here..but we are finding that buying our fruit and veg direct from the farmer makes a big difference price wise and the quality is great..so we use a box scheme from our local community farm ( with handy 10% off as we are members..which luckily doesn't mean I have to do any weeding!!) and R&verford.

Also...I have long been believing that we allspend too much on mechanical/ electrical items that we only use rarely eg. Tools, kitchen stuff...and lawnmowers. Why do we each have one??? The per use price makes no sense at all to me. I have decided with neighbours that when our lawnmower, for example, conks out that we will not buy a new one but share theirs...and when theirs does we can always contribute to a new, shared one. We share our green waste bin subscription with 3 houses and it seems to work.

Wish we could do more of it actually..communal supplies have to be the way forward:) So don't get it fixed Alice..just borrow!!

Have a great evening everyone x

Thanks brizzle, the fruit and veg box sounds like a great idea. I wonder if you collect or get the box delivered?? I've tried all sorts to keep a fresh supply of fruit and veg but keep the cost down. Not sure I could got down the route of growing our own. We've got a big enough garden but I haven't a clue.

The sharing a lawnmower makes sense but feels totally alien to me. As it stands OH hasn't made any attempt to get ours sorted (I asked him if he would sort out getting it looked at last week but as yet nothing's been done) so we will be 'borrowing' one for a little while longer. I wish our neighbours/friends were more approachable on things like this......or is me and my 'keeping up appearances' front I put on.:(

xx

Alice_in_Poorland

It's another lean week in Poorland. We ran out of cat food yesterday so I called into sburys (its cheaper from C0stc0 but it's not local and not planning on going until next week at the earliest), also got some chicken, fish and bits for lunch boxes, spent £42:eek:.

Sburys pet insurance have taken a payment even though the policy has been cancelled. Called them and it's going to take 7-10 days to pay it back into the account.

Tonight I've paid our childminder and have about £6 in cash in my purse. DS3 starts beavers on monday so need £10 joining fee and £3 weekly fee. OH is going out on Saturday night, he's driving to keep the spends down.

Can't believe its Friday tomorrow, although I really dislike the first 2 weeks of the month when money is just flying out of the account.

xx

Alice_in_Poorland

Yesterday was not a good day.:( Kids were tired, OH was fed up as well, didn't help that his phone has broken, just switched off and now won't switch on.

Have g00gled it and tried all the suggestions, looks like could be a software error. His contract is up for renewal in August (currently pay £16.14) so not sure what we'll do, he's got DS1s old phone but he's lost all the pictures and phone numbers........we should of downloaded the pictures and saved the numbers to his sim.....hindsight a wonderful thing!!

The dog is shedding her winter coat, there is furball tumbleweed everywhere in the kitchen. The more you brush her the more fur seems to come out.

We have run out of cereal now, I just can't believe how much food the kids eat, for breakfast they have toast/crumpets and cereal (normally 2 bowls or 5 w33tab1x type things), in the week a massive packed lunch, sandwiches/rolls, fruit (normally 2 of), yogurt/jelly, HM cupcake, sausage roll/cold pizza.......and DS2 still has something from school canteen. When they come in the first thing they do is open the cupboard/fridge and announce they are starving!! I wonder if its just a habit? I always say have a drink first and then see if you are still hungry (think I should practice what I preach ).

Will do a meal plan and see if we need anything else.:( DS2 has a cricket match tomorrow (weather permitting) so will take a picnic. I must learn to chill......I want to watch him (even though i don't understand the rules) but I need to get some housework done........mmmmm the housework can wait!

Weekly update on pots, 20p pot upto £52.80 and £2 pot upto £80.:)

xx

brizzledfw

Hi Alice..I am afraid I just think kids eat a lot. My OH is as lean as a bean but always used to consume vast amounts of food, usually cereal when he got home from school. Toast too. I think buying cheaper cereal is the way forward though. We are now trying 'Sunday cereal' so the expensive stuff only gets eaten at weekends..
Porridge, cornflakes, Rice Krispies and weetabix rest of week

Yes fruit and veg gets delivered to the door FOC if you spend over £10.. Which in my house ain't hard. I am not into wasting time in shops if I can help it.

Try herbs and salad first. Easy peasy and on windowsills first. Have loads of tomatoes coming on..wonder if I could post them to you? Would you like some? They in turn were passed to me by a neighbour..;-)

Try approaching neighbours..you may be surprised. Maybe they feel the same? We are now good friends with ours..helped by being in terraced houses etc. but even so I would avoid buying a new mower or paying for big repairs if you can.

No one knows about our debt, not even OH really. So I too have keeping up appearances issues..BUT...am now determined not to spend money on things I don't value...like household mechanical items!! :-)

Have a great weekend. Hope weather perks up.