Budget or bust........again

XSpender

****creeps back on to my diary, coughing at all the dust****

I have been AWOL for a few months due to life getting in the way and have seriously taken my eye off the ball.:o

I have been diag nosed with coeliac disease, have started to eat meat for the first time in 25 years and have lost the plot with our finances due to mis management and overspending. I have even had to resort to w0nga a couple of times as we have no other back up.:o:o

The good news is if I keep a tight rein on things until the 22nd July which is our next pay day we should be back on the straight and narrow but with not a bean saved and our holiday spending money to find by the end of August:eek:

Plan for between now and then is:

• Stick to the budgt for food, diesel and everything else. There is £170 left for this.
• Contact 2nd hand baby ware shop about selling some of DS stuff e.g.high chair, baby bath, travel cot, booster seat and back carrier.
• I have found a car boot sale that is free for sellers so I wont to go there by the end of July as we could do with a clear out
• Stick to meal plan and learn about cooking healthy and cheap meat meals. I am really enjoying meat but have never cooked it or bought it my whole adult life so this is a real learning experience.
• Make a decision about the dogs, they are currently living with DMIL after one nipped DS who was pestering her but I won't have them back. Missing them loads but their quality of life is better at DMIL's. If she doesn't want them permantly I will need to find them a good home:(
• Open bank account for DS, pay in his birthday q and start up a small DD

I think I set myself over ambitious and downright unachievable goals at the beginning of the year and have become disheartened.

By the end of 2012 I want to have finished the make over of our living room (need new lightfitting and cushions and a mirror/picture), paid for the Christmas we want and have saved £300. This means I need to cut down our expenditure to free up some extra cash and also to try and raise some through selling our unwanted items but god I hate ebay:(

Wish me luck and give me a boot up the bum when I get complacent again x

****slopes off to get the stardrops to spring clean my diary***

Kitchenbunny

I'm going to subscribe to your diary, if you don't mind. I have difficulty sticking to budgets myself and have only recently started getting into the mindset to do so. Do you post your mealplans anywhere so you can get ideas from other people? It might help.

K xx

XSpender

Hi Kitchenbunny

I posted my meal plan on the meal plan thread on the old style forum for the first time this week. The plan for the rest of the week is:

Su - Roast FR chicken with all the trimmings
Mo-Fruit curry (made with LO chicken)
Tu-Lemon chicken with rice and peas and green beans (LO chicken)
We-Beef/bean burgers, HM wedges and corn on the cob
Th-Spaghetti with GF pork meatballs and a jar of Ald1 tomato sauce (with GF garlic bread for me)
F-Bean and lentil chilli with HM wedges and cheese

I tried sausage last night and liked it so the 36 I have in my freezer will be making an appearance on the meal plan next week.

DH wanted to go to C0stc0 today to look at the meat this afternoon. Nothing I fancied except a big pack of bacon (worked out at £1.09 x 8 rashers). Also got 2 cases of brast0n beans which work out at 20p tin and John W3st tuna at 69p tin. Not sure if to add to grocery budget or start a 2nd purse thing.

DH has decided to have a month off the drink so have spent £12:eek: on some milk thistle for him but it will save on drink over the next month.

My birthday is at the end of the month so I am sure we will be sharing a bottle of wine or two then;)

The c0stc0 spend has thrown my budget out a bit. I had to renew my membership and I am still puzzling out where to allocate the spend. I might divide it by 12 and deduct £2 from each months food budget.

Kitchenbunny

I'm intrigued by the fruit curry It sounds lovely though I post on the old style forum for mealplans too. I've not tried going to c0stc0 so have no idea if it works out cheaper. Would be interested to find out if it is worth the membership though.

I tried to do the 2nd purse thing, but found it wasn't for me. I couldn't get my head around it and then just decided I'd be better off buying what I needed and making the savings at the time instead of putting other money aside (3rd purse). The money was still in my account at the end of the month rather than in a purse, so I could still use it.

I guess it's just horses for courses. If I see an offer on something I know I'm going to use I get them in and then just check myself if I see the same offer on again.

Kxx

brizzledfw

Good to see you back X Spender ..your diary subscription had been lurking on about page 4!!!:rotfl:

I have been lost to the world of MSE too recently..too much RL happening!! Pleased you have been diagnosed..are you beginning to feel better?

XSpender

I decided in the end to include all the c0stc0 spend including the membership fee in this months grocery budget. Doing it any other way is a bit of a cheat really as I don't have any other pot to pull the money out of.

DH has had such a carp week he managed to stay off the drink until tonight but should get back on the wagon tomorrow. I didn't buy any beer for him he had some that we already had in.

I have £672 to pay for last year's college fees. I agreed to pay £224 June, July and August but am really struggling to pay the June payment. I was told I would get a student loan for my fees by the college but student loans say we earn too much. I have to pay it or I cannot proceed to the last year of my course. We also have to find our holiday spending money by the end of August. Eeek!!!

I have some plans though!

• Send off my ipod to be upgraded to a new one free and then sell it (£75)
• Sell DS baby equipment to a local 2nd baby shop (£25)
• Sell DS child back carrier thing on fleabay (£50)
• Carboot, free to sellers (£100)

I have repaid the w0nga I borrowed twice over the last couple of months and will not need to use this again but must find the money for the college fees and holiday. Every time we have been on holiday in the last 3 years...err that's 3 times then....we have been worried about not having enough money and it has impacted on the enjoyment of our holiday. We don't go mad but like to have the odd cuppa in a cafe and meal out. 2 of the attractions we want to visit this year will cost us £60 and DS is free!

Brizzledfw - I am feeling much better thank you. I have so much more energy. DH says I am enjoying my food for the first time in years and colleagues and family say I look less drawn in the face and stressed out!

I had pepperoni tonight for the first time ever!

XSpender

I forgot that one of the big things I am doing to raise some cash is to try and claim back DH PPI. However we don't have any account numbers and they are all paid off quite some time ago but I suppose it's worth the price of a few stamps. I might see if any of the companies have websites I can apply through.

I don't know if barklays wil entertain us though or will keep the money if they do as they were our biggest creditor when we had ourt IVA even though it has been settled in full for 2 years ago but on a final offer not that we had paid 5 years worth of payments.

I have thought of another couple of things to sell to the baby shop and went past it today but it was closed. There was a mobile number on the signage but couldn't write it down. Will ask DMIL to make a note of it as she lives just up the road.

XSpender

Meal planning is going well but I seriously need to cut our food budget in August. It is still ridiculously high. I have asked the ladies and gents on the GC thread for a few pointers and am on a mission to get is much much lower than the last couple of months. This is where we over spend and I want to spend that money on other stuff.

I do have quite a lot in so I DO NOT need to buy very much at all this month!

I haven't done anything towards my plans to raise our holiday spending money and my college fees.

I am going to spend a bit of time tonight looking in to DH PPI claims to see if we can get them sent off this weekend.

The weather is a bit unpredictable to sort out all the stuff for a car boot.

TARGET BY 31ST AUGUST - £1672:eek:

SAVED PAID £0

I also need to sort out where we are with our energy supplier as we are behind I think as our DD has been cancelled a I need to make an arrangement with them. I also need to find a cheaper tariff with them that doesn't tie me in. I finish at 3.30 tomorrow so will take a couple of meter readings and give them a call.

XSpender

Right, plans for today.......

• Use bendy veg to make soup
• Tart up above soup for lunch with HM cheesy herb bread from OS thread
• Order copy of last secured sett fig and a new one so I can work out how much is coming off each month. No chance of paying it off early but seeing it come down keeps me motivated
• Book a spray tan for a races day using groupon voucher (personal spends)
• Ring around to find a cheap place to get my nails done for races (comes out fo my personal spends) as they are a complete mess
• Washing (not much) and DH does the ironing:)
• Change sheets on both beds
• Vaccum upstairs and downstairs
• Clean kitchen floor
• Take meter readings and phone energy company about DD
• Clean bathroom - probably a job for Sunday
• Get DH to send off 2 of his PPI claims

I did the food shop for the week yesterday and was pleased with my spend of £46.70, much, much lower than usual and still got plenty of fruit but avoided buying any snacks and did not need any meat except sandwich ham. DH did turn up his nose at te cider I bought from Ald1 but did manage to drink it and asked if there was any crisps but I hadn't bought any as they are not essential and he needs to lose a bit of his belly;)

Next month is a 5 week month and I really would love to spend £350 or less on food shopping but by the time I have bought DH beer, DS nappies and dog food this doesn't leave a huge amount for food. I need to be on it like a car bonnet all month instead of the last few weeks when money gets a bit tight. This needs to be a big focus next month.

It's my birthday in a couple of weeks and I want to be able to afford a meal out for the 3 of us, probably Sunday lunch, as I have never had a meat meal out!

I have saved just under a tenner in my save the change pot with the bank so I am off to a slow start with my big target:eek:

TARGET BY 31ST AUGUST - £1672:eek:

SAVED PAID £9.61

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi X-spender - just spied your diary

I'm useless at budgeting too and finally sussed out that it was why I kept ending up in debt .... again ..... and again ..... and again

Determined to break that cycle now & have set up some budgeting pots to cover annual things and - touch wood - it'll work!:money:

Will pop back to see how it's going!