A stay at home mummy who wants to be a mfw - Yes I can and Yes I will!

icklehelen

Happy New Year Stacey!

Enjoying keeping up with your diary and seeing your savings pots grow!! We are having a frugal January too - have a £40 pot for food which I believe will be more than enough!

I am cutting our spends wherever I can as we have just bought a business so DH has quit his job!! :eek:

Where have you got that estimated water meter charge from?? That seems extortionate!! A meter should bring your bill down unless you are a 5+ person family! We have the washing machine on at least once a day, have a drencher shower and a bath that I regret the size of now we have a child and our bill is still half of what we would be paying rates!

Looking forward to seeing what you can do in 2013 - good luck!

ickle

TwinnyD

Hi Stacey,

I agree with ickle that the estimate for a water meter sounds high. 4 of us on a meter is now £45, was a lot less when we were both at work and didn't have little people! I'm sure when we switched to a meter we had about 12 months to switch back if we wanted so you may be able to trial a meter and see how much it costs you.

Good luck with your 2013 targets

I_want_a_baby

Yawn! Morning Everyone!

Thank you so much for all of your replies!

Firstly B-J-D, thank you. With regards to spending so little on food. This month it has been achievable because the cupboards/freezer are quite full with food leftover from Christmas so it is mostly milk, bread, fruit & vegetables that we need.

On an average month our budget is £200 and I expect that we actually spend £180. This is literally just for food and maybe £5 worth of alcohol. If either of us wanted any specific alcohol we would pay for it out of our personal spends.
I buy meat from a local butchers but my sister works in the office so I get a discount that brings the prices down to supermarket level. Other than that I buy fruit & veg at the local greengrocers which is SO much cheaper than supermarkets - 2 cauliflowers for £1, huge bowl of bananas (10) £1 etc.
Milk I buy at Iceland £1 for 4 pints and I also buy their mature cheddar which is a steal at £5 for 1kg and IMO tastes just like cathedral city! I batch cook my meals at the beginning of the month which gives me 4ish meals a week ready prepared and then I just buy what I need weekly to fill the gaps.
I would say that the biggest thing that has helped stay on budget is doing my butchers order & tins/essentials shop at the beginning of the month spending say £50 and then drawing out say £120 at the beginning of the month and taking £30 of that each Saturday as my cash food budget.
(I have a separate budget for formula milk, nappies & wipes which I bulk buy ONLY when on offer).

Icklehen - good luck on your challenge!! I will keep posted to see how you get on!

With regards to the water calculation, I went through it on the phone with him - 2 adults, 2 children, DW on 1 x day, WM on 1 x day, mainly showers rather than baths (as only shallow baths for kids), no real water use in garden etc and his estimate was £750pa based on their average usage figures. I was shocked at that to be honest. I think I will leave it as it is for now and then at the end of the year when I see what our actual usage is here I might see if we can switch to a metre for a trial and at that time see if I can get any water saving devices (as per linz's suggestion - thanks linz!).

Thanks for your input too Twinny D, reassuring to know that you pay less. It is a difficult decision to make as if there is only a couple of £'s difference I would rather stay with a fixed cost but if I could potentially save £10+ per month then of course it is worth doing.

Wow sorry didn't mean to talk so much! Yesterday as well as sorting out the bills, I lowered the thermostat from 20c to 18c, it has been a bit too warm to be honest and we haven't needed to 'put a jumper on' so 18c it is and 18c it will stay! I also put ALL of the upstairs radiators on setting 1 and ALL of the downstairs ones on setting 3 as it is normally warmer upstairs and the thermostat is located up there too.

Anyway I am aware that we are expecting some colder weather soon so today's plans are to:
Locate de-icer & scraper.
Pack a very mini essentials bag for car including bottle of water, blanket etc.
At same time empty the car boot of all non essentials to reduce weight/save money.
Locate grit for path, sledge, snow shovel etc just in case we are lucky enough to get snow that settles.
Fill car with fuel (as on empty).
Need a few essentials for warm breakfasts/frugal warm dinners to bulk out what already have - porridge oats, pasta, passata etc.
Ensure all kids hats/gloves are to hand.
Repack changing bag.

Thanks again for commenting!

Stacey x

B-J-D

i see now how shopping for the month probably make more sense, stocking up then running down, im just always scared of running out of food!! that veg and fruit is really cheap! i bet taking cash REALLY helps too! i add formula and nappies into budget so thinking about it on ACTUAL food i probably dont spend that much... emm? will keep my eye on this and im gonna try meat shoppin for a month.

as if its going to snow this weekend!!! wev had such a mild, but wet, winter so far i thought we might have escaped the snow, oh well, snuggles on the settee watching the million kids filmed we recorded over xmas sounds like a plan for us this weekend.

have a good weekend x

I_want_a_baby

Hello fellow MFWer's!

Well it is with deep regret that today I must announce that I have ceased my £65 grocery challenge. At the beginning of the month it seemed like we had loads of food in the house when in fact we had loads of chocolate, crisps, biscuits and alcohol. We have run the cupboards and freezer almost bare and have really struggled these last few days so I have caved and done a huge food shop order to fill us back up and give us more healthy food and more warm food too! I am really pleased with how well we did though as we have really eaten up lots of stocks and s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d it all out. I am very hopeful that we will be able to save some of our food money next month too. I was starting to feel uncomfortable when my little boy asked for soup or other things 'to be warm' and we didn't have any. Also he now takes packed lunches to nursery 2 days a week and they were beginning to look very unhealthy! So big shop done, but I'm still happy!

We are also on target to save £30 of cash from the fritter money into the bucket list fund.

I will be able to give more accurate figures at the end of the month.

Been doing quite a few bits to the house this week so been spending on a bathroom mirror cabinet, shelves, hooks, paint tester pots, a mirror for downstairs toilet, lampshades etc etc. Surprising how it all adds up but it has all been budgeted for.

Really trying to get a daily/weekly routine together and keep on top of the house to allow more quality time with the kids (rather than the other way round!). I have so many things I need to do at the moment and 'feel' really busy. In fact I think I might write down a master list tonight and even though it might feel daunting to look at, at least it will be out of my head and I can try and tackle say 3 x things a day.

Decided to try and sell a few bits that are surplus to requirements and start saving for an Ipad. Yes the money could go to the mortgage but we are doing really well saving for that at the moment and we need a short term goal to look forward to! So far I have sold a coat for £8 so that is how that fund is looking.

We were also discussing only having a short weekend break for a holiday as we haven't really saved enough to go for a full week and then hubby could book another week off for a staycation - days out and trips to country parks/beaches.

Oh so much going on and so much to update you all with!

I will come back with some figures soon but for now cheerio!

(Scuttles of to tidy up quick as promised before hubby comes back :rotfl:!)

Speak soon

Stacey x

I_want_a_baby

Ah how so much changes in this household in just one month!

Have been a little disallusioned as of late, we decided to abandon OP'ing with the exception of the £103.90 DD increase.
We wanted to spend our money on 'living life' and enjoying ourselves.

However I have been doing a lot of thinking and you know what, as much as I love our little house (and love it I DO!), what I would really love is to live in the sticks rather than in town, I would love to have a big garden rather than a little patch, I would love my garden to get some sunshine too! As much as I love where we are and would happily stay here, I want somewhere where we can life the lifestyle we want in peace and quiet too.

We have both always lived rural and had big gardens/veg patches/country walks on our doorsteps/log fires but we have been priced out of these homes and into a town. I am so glad that we bought when we did and what we could afford yet have actually decided that we should 'aim for the dream too'.

So I have decided on a HUGE MFW challenge - to pay off our mortgage and get a home that fills all these voids. It will cost double the cost of our current home, so paying off the mortgage is essential so we can afford the next mortgage!.

I am going to do this challenge *on the sly* as my husband knows what I am like and how I can get a bit obsessed so I want to try and see what I can do this year - without impacting our lifestyle of me as a SAHM - and then reveal my master plan when I can show what I can achieve without him knowing.

So on that basis I need to save as much as possible whilst giving the impression we are not saving. :rotfl:This will actually be easier than it sounds as we don't really live a lavish style and like it this way!

I will update with some figures when I can but lets just say currently on our income now we will be unable to complete this challenge. So I am hoping that at some point I will be able to find some evening work and also find some really good ways to save some pennies. Last year when I got my head down I did amazingly so I know I can do well I just need FOCUS!

I hope you will all have me back and I am looking forward to become a frugalistic super scrimper :money:in disguise!

Speak soon!

Stacey

QB_Wolf

Don't know why but that post has really put a big smile on my face!! Good luck.

I_want_a_baby

Thanks QB Wolf!

Well so far so good!

Last night had my hair cut and coloured. Cost £35 but was budgeted for, we eek out the visits so tend to go 8-10 weeks rather than every 6 so I justify it this way!

This morning walked son to nursery (I so wanted to drive) it was bitterly cold, drizzling and just plain miserable but I persevered (and thought to myself about all the fuel costs I saved and the exercise I got) its just over a mile away. Gave son £5 to give as a donation to someone running a half marathon to raise money for a childrens hospice.

Then walked just over a mile from nursery into town. (no parking costs!)

Bought two 4 pints of milk from iceland £2.

Then headed to the greengrocers where I got
500g mushrooms, 500g blueberries, 800g grapes, 10 bananas, two large courgettes and a huge butternut squash for £7.04

Then I went to sainsburys where I got
Sains butter spread (1/3 off), basics fromage frais, sains granola, sains shreddies, sains rice crispies, I was going to buy the basics cereal bars (6 for 99p) for sons lunch box when I noticed that their musli breakfast slices were £1.25 and there was 6 x 2 slices which will do 12 servings for him! I also got basic choc biscuits for the tin and mcvities choc caramel biscuits (hubbys favourite) for him to take to work as they were half price 87p. Total shop was £9.35 but I used a £3 luncheon voucher & £5 worth of nectar points so ended up paying £1.35 cash.:money:

Another mile+ home too!

So happy with todays progress! Fessed up to husband about the big plan so he knows why I am not throwing our money around although I didnt disclose the amount I have as a target or my target date as they are SO ridiculously out of our reach I know he would be put off by it! I basically said leave the saving to me and tell me if I am scrimping too much!

**the biscuits are to show him I will still get treats & to thank him for coming on board with the big plan**:rotfl:

I will be back shortly with some figures.

Stacey x

linz

Hi Stacey,

If you aren't already aware you may be interested in scanning the receipt for your milk into Topcashback 'snap and save'

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4437809

I_want_a_baby

Thank you Linz! :beer: I did not know about this at all and WOW I am going to have some fun doing this! There are a few items on the list that I actually need so to get them cheaper will be great!! THANK YOU SO MUCH for giving me the link!!

Well so much to update already in just two days!

So may as well start with the not so good. Got a quote to block pave our driveway £2k and do a patio for the rear garden £1.5k.

Our driveway is currently gravel and is used by all the neighbours cats as a litter tray, we keep standing in cat mess (at night when we can't see it to pick it up) and it is just getting silly. Block paving it would make it look so much better & tidier and stop this problem so this is a priority for us. Husband is going to get another couple of quotes and then see if he can reduce the cost by taking a day off work as holiday and doing some manual labour.

Patio is also needed as the bottom half of the garden is very boggy and gets no sun but we feel we can put this off until next year and see what we can do to improve it ourselves in the meantime.

So unfortunately our MFW savings will have to divert to these savings pots for the time being.

However as I have my MFW hat on I realised that our current MFW savings £675 for next deposit & £675 ready to OP are in our ISA and if we take it out before mid may we will lose 180 days interest. So with a lot of saving and moving little bits of money around we will be able to pay for the block paving WITHOUT touching the MFW money already saved (have managed to get £2k together already).

However we still need to save for the patio £1.5k, plus replenish the £300 savings we had saved for a new living room& stairs carpet and replenish the money we have put by to help our parents by a further £341.11. As I have 'borrowed' the money out of these accounts to make up the block paving fund.

So on the positive side we can afford the drive to be done without touching our existing MFW money savings, but on the downside we need to save just over £2k before we can get back on the MFW wagon.

So here are my ideas on how to at least start getting the £2k together.

£100 - Cash in premium bonds its all I have but I have never won anything so this can go into the pot.
£47 - four numbers on the lottery last night :T
£120 - Council tax free month this month
£127.50 - predicted savings next month - free water bill month, fully saved in a few 'budgets' so monthly amount from that.
£394.50 - thats a good start I think!

I'm off to investigate this TCB snap&save and get the app on my phone:).

Hoping to get the above savings saved up as soon as possible so I can start seeing my MFW challange figures rise!! At least we will still be OP'ing the normal DD extra of £103.90 a month!!

Good times!

Stacey