Janineh1982 MFW Chapter Begins :)

littlegreenpeas

Hello
Don't be hard on yourself it sounds like a perfectly good money saving day.

There is only 2 of us and £50 is my limit and most weeks its below. Batch cooking makes a big difference. I do agree with you its the odds and ends for cooking that cost extra money especially spices. I am sure someone will be able to give you tips.

LGP

janineh1982

Thanks LGP - I'm slightly incapacitated ATM after an op - so struggling with not rushing round at my normal 100 miles an hour - hence feeling pretty useless/unproductive!!

I agree with the spices, I have a cupboard full but always seem to need something else!!
Will keep a look out for tips on other diaries

Well if you and others can do it for £50 I'm going to have a jolly good go! And have decided to properly knuckle down and menu plan and buy accordingly (May as we'll make the most of my [STRIKE]boredom[/STRIKE] recovery) to try and ensure we hit £50pw - my only slight challenge is DH works away sometimes and it's v last minute a lot of the time. Figured if I keep 3 meals a week where no fresh produce is specifically bought I can re jig/plan accordingly!

NSD on the plans again :money: - silver lining if you look close enough at everything I suppose :T

janineh1982

Good news, I have been let loose today for the first time in a week+, i had a hospital check up and also had to nip and buy a few bits......... Bad news.....spent money i [STRIKE]probably[/STRIKE] definitely shouldn't have :mad::(:mad::cool:

Spends today:-
£2.40 Parking - Budgeted
£34 Birthday Present - Budgeted
£27.09 Groceries - Budgeted (Still under my £50 week target)
£17.39 Pharmacy - Budgeted
£0.00 - Used a free greetings card voucher i had collected for M & S to buy B'day card
£12 Mascara Primer - Not Budgeted - did need a new one though
£80 Clothes :eek: - Definitely NOT Budgeted - I did get 2 lovely spring dresses & Jacket from Sainbugs and some lovely blue stiletto heels from Nex7 Clearance

Sooo - i am currently trying to justify said new purchases (clothes/shoes) and also talk myself into taking them back, all at the same time - in pretty much equal amounts - who knows which side will win :rotfl:

Payday isn't till next Friday and the pot is looking pretty bare, i have £25 set aside for my piano lesson and then about £18 remaining. I shouldn't need anymore food - covered till Sunday and then DH is away in Milan (ugh - if he had timed better i.e not around my op, i could have maybe had a cheap weekend away! - not very MSE though i suppose ).....

Anyhow he's away Sunday eve - Fri eve, so basically just have to feed myself & the hounds all week. I have enough fruit, milk and freezer/cupboard dregs to easily last till then + we make our own bread.
My Car is almost 3/4 full with fuel and i won't be traveling anywhere apart from to the shops and maybe a few friends house.

This weekend we have nothing planned apart from my first walk with the pooches tomorrow in almost 1 1/2 weeks - can't tell you how much i have missed being out in the fresh air everyday , visit to my parents and then a night in front of the box (again) :cool:....Sunday much of the same, pooch walk off to friends little boy's 1st birthday tea party (everything bought, just need to wrap) and then DH leaves for his 'exciting' course in Milan.....

Have a list of things i need/want to get done this weekend - but still need DH help so as not to overdo it after the op - hence not sure it will happen :mad:

janineh1982

First walk with the hounds this morning after over week and a half :j

Jobs to do today:-
[STRIKE]Wrap present/write card[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Hoover - DH[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Polish[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Clean B'room - DH[/STRIKE]
Ironing
[STRIKE]Visit parents[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Make bread[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Butchers for Ham/eggs[/STRIKE]
Review finances with DH ( will involve wine and mucho persuasion)

janineh1982

Wow v glad we walked the hounds at lunch - an hour later and the wind is howling, black sky and then the storms opened up :eek:

DH is having a quick nap on the sofa after an 80 hour working week bless him + running round after me , he's also planning a run tonight :eek::eek: but he takes our youngest dog who loves it and it goes someway to tiring the monkey out

All jobs done today apart from ironing and finances! I suspect the former will be a job for me in the week :cool:

NNSD (nearly no spend day) - £3.20 spent on ham which was planned but didn't manage to grab any from the farm shop yesterday.

Muser1

Found your diary yesterday and read it all. Very impressive numbers! I think you probably live fairly close to us I love being minutes away from the peak district.

Good luck xx

janineh1982

Hi Muser - not sure where you are - we are in the town with the 'apparently' famous (ish) crooked spire :doh:(i say apparently as the majority of colleagues/clients and people down sarf always seem to know we have a crooked spire when i mention the town name )
I know what you mean about the peaks - i work in London fairly frequently and never fail to appreciate coming home to the 'green' and space + being 20 mins away from it at the weekends to walk the hounds

I've just had a read back over my diary, which is intermittent to say the least :o (work in progress!).... apart from our core goal, which is to buy a house and be MF as quickly as possible - everything else has changed and adapted quite alot :rotfl::rotfl:

Our timeline originally was spring 2013 for 65k deposit and 250k mortgage, with the plan to be MF in <6 years.
We have in that time, got engaged, got married, both turned 30 and decided the budget has gone from 1/4 million to 1/2 million :eek:for the forever house with the MF dream now in < 10 years :doh:

With no further changes on the horizon (she says :whistle:) - now is really the time to knuckle down again and save save save :money: until we find the house of our dreams:j
(technically we have found the house of our dreams, made an offer Nov 2013, which was rejected and then they removed it from the market for Xmas - so hoping it comes back on this year so we can nab it!!)

NSD yesterday and today, also managed to time walking the hounds just about right - got wet but only a little and the heavens opened again 20 mins after we arrived home!

DH has just left for the aiport, so it's a quick sandwich for lunch for me and then off to a 1st birthday tea party :beer: - what a rock and roll lifestyle i lead :rotfl::D:p

janineh1982

Back to work tomorrow - I have mixed feelings, will be glad to be back in the land of 'normality', but know I will prob have 1000+ emails to catch up on and respond to at least half :doh:

Gentle walk with the pooches earlier for 60 mins, cheeky SOS sandwich for lunch and then off to piano lesson shortly :T

Spends for the day
£2.40 parking at hospital
£25 piano lesson (hour instead of usual 30 mins)

To Do:
Compare car ins quotes
2 week meal plan
Sainsbugs shopping online (have £15 off voucher for orders over £60 - will use DH email addy as for new customers)
Price up Benidorm holiday/long wk end with the girls for later this year (my b'day and Besties 30th)
Try and avoid putting heating on :cool:

janineh1982

Well - yesterday was terrible - 11 hours of almost back to back escalation calls - Welcome back Janine

Trying to stay +ive and focus on the good:-
NSD
Lovely peaceful walk with the hounds @ 7am - very wet, but therapeutic
Had no time to eat - apart from a protein shake - will have helped weight loss for fat club weigh in tonight!


Today is likely to much of the same I suspect re work :(:( - ahh well soon be over the hump! :cool:

Need to shop round for car ins and check £co and try and summon the motivation to iron! :eek:

Muser1

We are just down the by pass. Live in Sheffield now but like Ches Vegas for things like the cinema it's less frantic than centertainment.

500k is a cracking budget! Will you buy in the national park or stay where you are?

Keep posting