Living for the Present...after all who doesn't love a gift!

debtfreewannabe321

Hi mc *waves* welcome

I'm an old hand at spending the day by myself avec mes enfants! If they bug me too much i just lock them in the front porch (joking honest ) xx

debtfreewannabe321

Ok so decided to use a different tact this month ( I do like variety lol)

I've filled out my spreadsheet for all incomings and outgoings that I know of for May, and have figured out what i have left afterwards. Then divided by 4. The sum left is £179.50 which is what i am allowing myself each week in May. This is to pay for pocket money for dh & I, groceries, petrol, clothes, anything else needed for the house, ummmm and basically everything that isn't a fixed bill.

So breaking it down i think i will have around:

£62.50- Groceries
£45 - petrol
£15- clothes (ds2 needs loads of stuff )
£30- pocket money for dh & myself!
£27- for everything else. I will take out the cash on Monday and it will have to last till the Monday after.

Also on Monday I need to take out (already all in budget) £30 for mobile top ups, £25 to go on post office card, and £39 from the gift funds to pay for mums birthday present (will top up gift fund as and when both sisters pay me back for their share) SO Monday will take out in cash: £273 exactly lol.

Some money is not owing to me until middle of the month but as i'm taking it out in cash each week it doesn't really matter it should be there when I need it. Any money left over will be put back into the bank and at end of month I will divide into pots. The idea for May is to leave the bank card at home....will let you know how I get on with this challenge i seem to be stuck to it :rotfl:

In June I need to collect ds1 from school so hoping finances back on track then as also want to visit sister & dad in the shire!

ALSO for May need to organise a new tenant as current one is leaving very sad about this. Perfect tenant! Paid up front, not heard a peep from him........just hoping the house is in one piece lol.

Also May I will be awaiting letters from banks regarding transactions & any ppi although pretty sure I never took it out ! (not quite sure why i'm sad about that lol as it would only be extra money I had paid out at the time )

I'm also trying to stay 'active' my deifinition of active may be different to yours though so quickly explain....I want to take kids out as much as possible. I notice my depression sneaks back in when i sit indoors feeling sorry for myself! But i don't want to/ don't need to see people every day to do this and obviously as we have no money i like the idea of taking them out and being active in the fresh air. Fresh air always gives me a boost :T:)



Anyhow.......Must go make dinner now, thinking pizza & chips it is after all a Saturday .....and should really get off mse as been on here 2 hours now :eek:

debtfreewannabe321

Morning

Well whilst dh is downstairs with kids i've so far done the following :

*checked my survey and been screened out of every one lol only need 100 points until i can get another £5 payout
*checked Valued Opinion, also screened out of all except one 25p one wohoo
*checked TCB: £4.22 confirmed just waiting for it to become payable. Will go to savings or reiki. £19.22 is still pending from Argos hoping it will be payable before June we'll see though they do take so long it is ridiculous!
*Quidco lots tracked nothing confirmed so nothing due to be paid!

Will be a NSD (there i said it so can't go back on it now lol)

Found a new car boot sale on near us on a saturday might give us something to do in future on a boring day.

Itching to start my new challenge on living off cash for May Hoping i can do it!! If i can will mean we're back on track!


Jobs for today:

*find curtains that came with house, give them a wash and put up (bored of my ones and wanted a change lol) tis :money: just to use old ones instead of buying new
*do living room.
*put blind up in kids room from my room
*change light shades from hall to bedroom and vice versa
*check banks do sweeping of money to savings
*update sig on here & spreadsheet
* catch up with washing
*do a meal plan for the week/month maybe.
*look for cheap deals on washing powder to stock up on (have stock pile money ready) & also washing up liquid & pasta & spaghetti.
*also find tenancy agreement to see what date tenant is moving out.

That should be enough, after it is a day of rest supposedly lol :rotfl:

debtfreewannabe321

Oh and have re-listed 3 items on ebay. Free p&p on all and put a buy it now price bumped up starting bid etc to cover p&p. hoping to get rid of them (thanks to jwil who gave me this idea)

And have checked out ebid thanks to bonnington...not used it yet but have signed up

debtfreewannabe321

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

Jobs for today:

*[STRIKE]find curtains that came with house, give them a wash and put up (bored of my ones and wanted a change lol) tis :money: just to use old ones instead of buying new [/STRIKE]:T
*do living room.
*[STRIKE]put blind up in kids room from my room[/STRIKE]
*[STRIKE]change light shades from hall to bedroom and vice versa[/STRIKE]
*[STRIKE]check banks do sweeping of money to savings[/STRIKE]
*update sig on here & spreadsheet
* catch up with washing
*do a meal plan for the week/month maybe.
*look for cheap deals on washing powder to stock up on (have stock pile money ready) & also washing up liquid & pasta & spaghetti.
*also find tenancy agreement to see what date tenant is moving out.

That should be enough, after it is a day of rest supposedly lol :rotfl:

half way through run out of steam for mo though :rotfl:

debtfreewannabe321

Jobs for today:

*[STRIKE]find curtains that came with house, give them a wash and put up (bored of my ones and wanted a change lol) tis just to use old ones instead of buying new [/STRIKE]
*do living room.
*[STRIKE]put blind up in kids room from my room
*change light shades from hall to bedroom and vice versa
*check banks do sweeping of money to savings
*update sig on here & spreadsheet[/STRIKE]
* catch up with washing
*do a meal plan for the week/month maybe.
*look for cheap deals on washing powder to stock up on (have stock pile money ready) & also washing up liquid & pasta & spaghetti.
*[STRIKE]also find tenancy agreement to see what date tenant is moving out.[/STRIKE]

Ok emailed tenant and asked if he is intending on staying on or not. If not i emailed my dad and asked if he knew anyone/anywhere i could get a tenant by June 1st!! I really don't want a gap in tenancy if i can help it!

updated signature nearly up to 30% on my savings. :T

Going to check online for washing powder etc now and then finally get round to meal plan! decided to use choo's plan (or whoever she got the idea from) and make a meal plan and save it then i can use it another month i think if i get say 6 monthly plans up i can mix and match them and never have to do another again :rotfl:

slm6002

What a great idea - we have used most of freezer stocks up now so i am looking to fill it buy doing double quantities of things so i can just grab something in a hurry

debtfreewannabe321

Meal planner done

Will post here it may inspire someone

Meal Planner 1


1. Steak & Jacket Potato

2. Spaghetti Bolgnase

3. Lasagne

4. Bacon & Cheese frittata with salsa & salad https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/2626402#Comment_2626402

5. Bacon roast Chicken with potatoes http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/8190/bacon-roast-chicken-with-potatoes.aspx

6. Sausage casserole & mash

7. Pizza & chips


Meal Planner 2


1. Fishfingers, beans & chips

2. Curry & Rice with poppadums & chutney

3. Sticky back ribs, corn on the cob & jacket potato http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/588630/sticky-bbq-ribs

4. Rumbeldethump https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/40685834#Comment_40685834

5. Shepherd's Pie

6. belly pork with Veg https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/15450761#Comment_15450761

7. chicken and bacon lasagne https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/43713278#Comment_43713278


Meal Planner 3

1. Veg & lentil soup with rolls http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/red-lentil-vegetable-soup-ghk0208

2. Jacket potatoes with cheese & ham and salad

3. Chilli con Carne with Rice

4. Kebab (chicken or pork) rice & pitta & salad

5. Pasta with chopped sausage & bacon & sauce

6. Fish & Chips with peas

7. Spanish Chicken with rice https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/49271817#Comment_49271817



WEEK 4 TO BE MEALS MADE FROM EXTRA PORTIONS OF WEEKS 1-3.

Piquant_2

That's an impressive meal plan! I have a table of meals in a Word document and cut and paste that into a week's menu. Not all cross referenced like yours. I'm going to copy you and put links to the recipes in, such a good idea. Thank you!

Piq

debtfreewannabe321

ah thank you piq now all i need to do is to get all this on £250 or less a month (plus all the other groceries lol) xx