Lulabelle's MFW Diary

lulabelle1

Well, after deciding against the B2L for the time being I slept very well, so I'm sure that it is the right decision.
This means that I can give full attention to work and also my MF dreams....
Had a fairly frugal weekend with minimal spending, I think just about £20 all together which is pretty good.
We had a look in the loft and found some of DS!'s clothes from when he was younger, will be washing them and they will be perfect for DS2 - so no urgent need now to buy clothes for DS2, so money saved!
Also, found a few things for flea bay, so potentially will make a few pounds here too.
Have had a few friends comment that life is too short and "you can't take it with you" in respect of me not blowing all of our cash each month. I know what they mean but you can't live life as though you will die tomorrow, the chances are that we will last longer than that and I for one like the idea of not having a huge mortgage hanging around my neck for when I do live longer than tomorrow! Rant over..... I'm sure they mean well but it's not exactly as if we live like we are destitute, just perhaps don't rush in to purchases without questioning whether it is something we really need......

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi L, I completely understand your feelings about comments from others. You will have seen from my diary, that I experienced similar comments and it is frustrating. However, we and our virtual buddies on this thread will be sitting pretty in a few years, as others have done before us, knowing our money is our own, to do with as we wish.

Sorry the B2L didn't work out, but knowing that you are sleeping better, then it was a wise decision and can be revisited at any time, if the two years seems too long.

Good luck with your cost cutting though, look forward to you sharing the ham recipes. I use the Economy Gastronomy recipe book and love their ham ones.

Best wishes, Tilly

lulabelle1

Ahhh Tilly, I have the same book and this is where the Ham inspiration came from. I love it with champ and especially like the gnocchi dish.
Some of their recipes and ideas are fab!
It's great to chat to like minded people as very few people that I know share my thoughts in regards to getting rid of my mortgage.
L x

lulabelle1

DH needs to sort out his car insurance and also we need to do the breakdown cover for both of us, any suggestions as to the best place for cash back or a great deal....?

lulabelle1

After a little bit of googling, I think we will do our breakdown with autoaid. £38 for everything we need for both of us for both cars seems very good. Have done a little bit of research (lots about autoaid on is site) and it all seems to be in order.
I'd budgeted £100, so £62 saved, yay!!
Car insurance next.....

lulabelle1

I've just analysed my spending for the last week and it is as follows:
Supermarket - 116
Fuel - 59
Nappies - 20
Alarm clock for DS1 - 7
Withdrawn (still have 10 of it) - 20
Book for my sister - 10
Total - 232

It probably seems high to some people, but I'm really quite pleased with it. Last week was £245 and the week before that, which is when I started my MFW diary, it was £641 - so as you can see, some improvements have been made.

I haven't included money that I have spent on fuel for my car, parking and a few other things as I claim them back as expenses through the business, so they don't really count....

Also, I haven't included Christmas presents as I'd already saved and accounted for these.

If I can stick at this kind of average spending going forwards then I will have a little bit more to throw at the mortgage at the end of each month.

The eBay items that we found in the loft are still in a pile waiting to be photographed and listed etc etc.

lulabelle1

Needing to encourage DH to sort out the eBay stuff. It's spread around in my office and the lounge and it's driving me nuts already...... He likes to do the eBay and works part time, so it's his project!!

lulabelle1

I shall throw in a monetary incentive for his bike fund, that ought to do the trick.

sweetdaisy

lulabelle1 wrote: »

I've just analysed my spending for the last week and it is as follows:
Supermarket - 116
Fuel - 59
Nappies - 20
Alarm clock for DS1 - 7
Withdrawn (still have 10 of it) - 20
Book for my sister - 10
Total - 232

It probably seems high to some people, but I'm really quite pleased with it. Last week was £245 and the week before that, which is when I started my MFW diary, it was £641 - so as you can see, some improvements have been made.

I haven't included money that I have spent on fuel for my car, parking and a few other things as I claim them back as expenses through the business, so they don't really count....

Also, I haven't included Christmas presents as I'd already saved and accounted for these.

If I can stick at this kind of average spending going forwards then I will have a little bit more to throw at the mortgage at the end of each month.

The eBay items that we found in the loft are still in a pile waiting to be photographed and listed etc etc.

£20 for nappies - do you buy disposable, reusable or in bulk? I tend to buy Tesco nappies (not the value ones) and they cost around £6.20 for a pack of 54, size 3/4.

lulabelle1

I use pampers active fit, I got 2 boxes for £20. Size 4+, think there are approx 65 in each box......