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No Money - but BIG ambitions

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  • misscousinitt
    misscousinitt Posts: 3,655 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Mortgage-free Glee!
    edited 17 February 2012 at 4:31PM
    Hi

    Read your thread and just wanted to say welcome and good luck.

    As far as the batch cooking is concerned, why don't you try this? Just make a bigger batch of whatever you are cooking for dinner and freeze the LOs into portions. I do this with lasagne, meatballs, cottage pie, spag bol, chilli and casseroles. That way you are not specifically batch cooking and spending hours in the kitchen, there is just a little extra prep and you have portions of HM ready meals in the freezer for when you don't feel like cooking (and it does save money too!).

    On the fruit front, have you tried bags of frozen berries etc to make smoothies as an alternative sometimes? Aldi do cheap frozen summer fruits etc...(99p a bag I think). Also, how about making some fruit puree or mixing chopped fruit with natural yoghurt (only has to be value yoghurt) to make your fruit supplies go further. In the autumn, maybe think about going and picking blackberries and seeing if people are giving apples away - both can be frozen for future use. Just suggestions...

    Just to give you an example of how much you could save...by meal planning and freezing extra portions - we saved over £1000 towards our wedding in just under 12 months just by thinking more carefully about food shopping. Plus at least £60 of my OP every month is made up of additional food savings I make by doing this.

    You have a lot to think about at the moment and I'm sure things will come right for you on the OPing front.

    Very best of luck.

    MCI
    Mortgage Free x 1 03.11.2012 - House rented out Feb 2016
    Mortgage No 2: £82, 595.61 (31.08.2019)
    OP's to Date £8500
    Renovation Fund:£511.39;
    Nectar Points Balance: approx £30 (31.08.2019)
  • Weronika
    Weronika Posts: 260 Forumite
    I just have called and increased my monthly over payments to :j£160:T that saves me around 15 years if we stick with it!

    Now I have NO CHOICE but to save this money:cool:

    As for batch cooking - I will have to try it but somehow not sure how will it taste as I am used to everything being made from scratch and fresh ingredients.
    I do however freeze now bread - big saving in my house as we used to throw away half of each loaf, now I freeze that half on the day of purchase. I can also take advantage of promotions like 2 for £1 when each is 70p. Any leftover bread that dries out I change into breadcrumbs. That alone makes a difference.

    As I said I already shop very carefully so it is very hard for me to save without compromising on quality.
    Debt: [STRIKE]-£77.299 74,209[/STRIKE]-£72,860 Projected MF date(age):[STRIKE]2044(63)[/STRIKE] 2029(48)
    Credit Card 0%: -£1,800 Reg Saver: £4000/£6000 ISA: £0/£2500

     From March 2012: Mortgage OP: £160 pcm     (saving 29k):D
    Apr 2013 Goal: reduce balance to £72,000 to get 60%LTV & better deal
  • gallygirl
    gallygirl Posts: 17,240 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Weronika wrote: »
    If I shout at him, he will eat it but I feel so bad for making him cry that it's just not worth it.

    I wasn't that horrible :eek:. I would just say 'here's your dinner' and if they didn't want it I'd say 'ok sweetheart' and take it away. Then when they were hungry later I'd ask if they wanted it heated up. Eventually they would break :rotfl:
    A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort
    :) Mortgage Balance = £0 :)
    "Do what others won't early in life so you can do what others can't later in life"
  • Weronika
    Weronika Posts: 260 Forumite
    gallygirl wrote: »
    I wasn't that horrible :eek:. I would just say 'here's your dinner' and if they didn't want it I'd say 'ok sweetheart' and take it away. Then when they were hungry later I'd ask if they wanted it heated up. Eventually they would break :rotfl:

    Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you were horrible at all!

    It's just that one or two times I was so fed up with him refusing to eat that I did shout - and he would eat couple of spoons although big tears rolling down the face:cry:

    He is less than 2 year old so I'm not sure he understands the concept of 'eat now or you are going to be really hungry later'.
    If I won't make him eat at reasonable time he will usually realize he is hungry AFTER brushing his teeth and when already in his cot:( So I must admit he gets my cereals as the last meal of the day if I feel he was eating less than usual before.
    Debt: [STRIKE]-£77.299 74,209[/STRIKE]-£72,860 Projected MF date(age):[STRIKE]2044(63)[/STRIKE] 2029(48)
    Credit Card 0%: -£1,800 Reg Saver: £4000/£6000 ISA: £0/£2500

     From March 2012: Mortgage OP: £160 pcm     (saving 29k):D
    Apr 2013 Goal: reduce balance to £72,000 to get 60%LTV & better deal
  • gallygirl
    gallygirl Posts: 17,240 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Weronika wrote: »
    Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you were horrible at all!

    I don't need you to imply I'm horrible, I'm happy to admit all by myself :rotfl:

    Weronika wrote: »
    He is less than 2 year old so I'm not sure he understands the concept of 'eat now or you are going to be really hungry later'.

    Oh, he will, he will :rotfl:.

    Handy hint on how to get them to eat curry when a little older. Take them out for an Indian when they're around 7, and have decided 'yuk, I don't want to try foreign food'. Watch their faces when they reluctantly try it, then realise that 'mummy's special casserole' was actually chicken korma, and they've been eating 'foreign food' for years :D.
    A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort
    :) Mortgage Balance = £0 :)
    "Do what others won't early in life so you can do what others can't later in life"
  • getmore4less
    getmore4less Posts: 46,882 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper I've helped Parliament
    getmore4less wrote: »
    why not post the SOA?
    Weronika wrote: »
    I have done one based on last year but it's inaccurate as our circumstances drastically change this month.

    I'm no longer working part time and I do not know till April how much maternity or tax credits I would get.

    I am also not sure how much is my grocery bill as I never stick to the budget before. If I saw something good value I would just stock up (eg. 5 bottles of olive oil last Monday, half price, coz I use that a lot), so it's hard for me to estimate average monthly spend.
    I don't meal plan - I go to shop and see what is half price or other offer and than I'll think what to cook with it.
    No point bying chicken drumstick £3.6/kg if the pork loin stakes are half price and £3/kg!

    But I started spreadsheet for groceries last Mon and that will give me a rough indication for next month and so on.

    I think you are missing the point of planning budgets and the SOA.

    The budget/SOA is the plan for the full year looked at as a month.

    monthly fluctuations are not relevent(cash flow) it is the total for the year/12 that you plan to spend on catagotu that forms the SOA.

    Post last years SOA and the plan for this year SOA.

    99% of the time there are things overlooked.
  • Weronika
    Weronika Posts: 260 Forumite
    Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

    Monthly Income Details
    Income from Employment (after tax). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,733.33
    Benefits (Inc. Child Benefit/Tax Credits & Income Support). . . . . . . . . . . 280.00
    Income From Savings & Investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.33
    Monthly Expense Details

    In Your Home

    Mobile Phone(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
    TV Licence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.13
    Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.50
    Home Phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.50
    Cleaning Products/Cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
    Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45.00
    Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45.00
    Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.50
    Council Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121.00
    Home Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.33
    Mortgage/Rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400.00
    Plumbing/Boiler Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.00
    Mortgage Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00
    Food and Household Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433.33
    Drinks for Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.17

    Motoring & Public Transport

    Petrol/Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120.00
    Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00
    Car Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.92
    Car Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68.75
    Car Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.67
    Rail/Bus/Taxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.33
    Breakdown Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00

    Family

    Nappies/Baby Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.00
    Laundry/Dry Cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00
    Childcare/Play Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47.67
    Travel Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00

    Entertainment

    Satellite/Digital TV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.00
    Family Days Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43.33
    Big Days Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00
    Eating Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.33
    LEGOLAND. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.50

    Clothes, Health & Beauty

    Optical Bills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.33
    Haircuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.67
    Work Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.33
    New Children's Clothes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.67
    New Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33.33

    Big One Offs

    Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
    Winter Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.50
    Summer Holiday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.67
    Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.33

    Odds & Sods

    Newspapers & Magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.83
    Tax & NI Provisions (self-employed only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.83
    Regular Charity Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.00
    Coffees/Sandwiches/Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.00


    Total monthly income. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,021.67


    Total monthly expenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,873.46
    Debt: [STRIKE]-£77.299 74,209[/STRIKE]-£72,860 Projected MF date(age):[STRIKE]2044(63)[/STRIKE] 2029(48)
    Credit Card 0%: -£1,800 Reg Saver: £4000/£6000 ISA: £0/£2500

     From March 2012: Mortgage OP: £160 pcm     (saving 29k):D
    Apr 2013 Goal: reduce balance to £72,000 to get 60%LTV & better deal
  • Weronika
    Weronika Posts: 260 Forumite
    getmore4less wrote: »
    I think you are missing the point of planning budgets and the SOA.

    The budget/SOA is the plan for the full year looked at as a month.

    99% of the time there are things overlooked.

    I am not sure if I'm missing the point - I do not know what my income is going to be - I cannot plan expenses without knowing how much it will be.
    I have posted SOA below as a rough estimate of what I'm going to need to pay, but I just don't know as my situation is going to drastically change now - I'm not going to work for the rest of the year and to be honest I am not sure how much the new baby will cost me - surely most of the big stuff I already got.

    Oh, and from March we OP mortgage so it will be £500 not £400, so it will alter the figures further.

    I put £100 grocery a week as a rough estimate but honestly do not know how much I spent at the moment - putting everything into spreadsheet from 13.02 so will know next month better what to expect.

    1 thing I know I need to buy is a very good mattress for a double bed - probably around £200 but didn't research it yet.

    The holiday spent is for plane tickets only to see grandparents once a year (£500 for 3 of us last time), and other grandparents twice a year (£150x2 for me and baby). But that was based on under 2 year old and fare is different for over 2 year olds, and I'm going to have a new baby this year AND I might have to pay for another adult to go with me as they are quite long journeys so I'm not sure how it will pan out at all!

    Any thoughts appreciated.
    Debt: [STRIKE]-£77.299 74,209[/STRIKE]-£72,860 Projected MF date(age):[STRIKE]2044(63)[/STRIKE] 2029(48)
    Credit Card 0%: -£1,800 Reg Saver: £4000/£6000 ISA: £0/£2500

     From March 2012: Mortgage OP: £160 pcm     (saving 29k):D
    Apr 2013 Goal: reduce balance to £72,000 to get 60%LTV & better deal
  • Weronika
    Weronika Posts: 260 Forumite
    Also, how do you budget for things like taxi from hospital? Do you keep emergency fund or something?
    One thing I am pleased about is that our hospital gives out parking permit for £10 and it last for the whole pregnancy - 2 years ago we spend a fortune on appointments and when I had to stay in hospital after the birth. That's at least £50 saved in parking fees!

    My SOA says I got around £48 underspend each month. I'm going to spend it on various pieces still missing from the house - I need a vine glass set, curtains for spare bedroom (wasn't used till now), bed for my monkey, because the cot will go for the baby. The list goes on and on when you have new household! My friends still are joking about time I invited them for dinner and didn't have enough plates:embarasse
    Debt: [STRIKE]-£77.299 74,209[/STRIKE]-£72,860 Projected MF date(age):[STRIKE]2044(63)[/STRIKE] 2029(48)
    Credit Card 0%: -£1,800 Reg Saver: £4000/£6000 ISA: £0/£2500

     From March 2012: Mortgage OP: £160 pcm     (saving 29k):D
    Apr 2013 Goal: reduce balance to £72,000 to get 60%LTV & better deal
  • gallygirl
    gallygirl Posts: 17,240 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Weronika wrote: »
    My friends still are joking about time I invited them for dinner and didn't have enough plates:embarasse

    I'm sure that was very embarrassing at the time :o but..............






    :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
    A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort
    :) Mortgage Balance = £0 :)
    "Do what others won't early in life so you can do what others can't later in life"
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