Staying Positive!

killerpeaty

I think you've done amazingly in the making extra money : ) the most I've made is about £70, but I am completely hopeless ha ha.

Kids parties.. yeah.. They look expensive! I think I'd just get little toys from charity shops and not tell anyone :rotfl:

The picture loan sounds scary! Very scary actually. But you can do it, you're doing so well. Also about repeating yourself, it's your diary, your rules!

I'm alright, I had a massive migraine friday through to saturday or now I'm just taking it easy Just trying to get some money from somewhere! Mind numbing tasks are good at the moment.

Adoremouse

Wow I didn't realise it had been that long since I last posted!

Killerpeaty I hope that you've recovered from your migraine!

Half term is going well, and have not spent any money so far :j we did buy two pumpkins to carve, but as I included them in our weekly food budget, I am not counting them!

DD went to a birthday party today but we already had a stash of cards, and we made our own wrapping paper (brown paper and pretty stickers ). I also used a pressie that I had bought ages ago to give to DD for Christmas, a nice jigsaw puzzle so will replace that at some point.

Tomorrow is going to be a tidy the house day, DD trashed her room (and I mean properly trashed!) so need to do some more work on that. Also need to carry on with the decluttering and Ebaying.

I have a lovely dining table set to sell but not got any takers so far, apart from someone who offered £50! Wanted at least £90 as it's in great condition and cost loads new.

I've tried Gumtree and Facebook selling sites, don't want to Ebay it as tried to sell a lovely headboard worth £200 recently and it went for 99p :mad::eek::mad::(. To put a reserve on it would cost £27 apparently.

We are doing well with our food this week, it's stretching out nicely, so I'm hoping to do what I call a half-shop next week.

Also, now it's officially November, I am starting my NSD challenge, trying to see how many I can have, then try and beat it next month. Will be hard as we're coming up to Christmas! Nothing spent today, so a good start :T

Hiddenidenity

Hope all is okay x

Have a nice weekend

Free listing on Ebay this weekend too x

Adoremouse

Hiddenidenity wrote: »

Hope all is okay x

Have a nice weekend

Free listing on Ebay this weekend too x

Ooh thank you! I will try and get some more items added tomorrow then

We had a really good long chat about finances with DH last night, and I think we've kind of had a second LBM if you can call it that. We have been quite good since starting our DMP, but not perfect by any means. Some months we have only reached the end of the month by the skin of our teeth (i.e. went overdrawn the day we were paid, so so close to being charged :eek:).

We should be putting money aside for things like car tax etc, and any extra money that we make should also be going into a savings pot! I am not going to be bringing in any money at all for the last few months of mat leave, and it's scary...without savings it's going to go belly up!

Also, we have Xmas coming soon and also DD's birthday. She has had her heart set on a party all year, like all her friends have. I am determined to give her the best party we can manage, and to pay for it all with extra money that we make/save.

So we have decided that we are going to drastically reduce our grocery money, as that is the only flexible thing! We are going to have a few weeks of eating up every thing in the house, even if it means random dinners. On the face of it we have 'nothing in the house', but I've been through the cupboards etc and have managed to cobble together the following meal plan (numbers show how many days worth, not how many portions!):

• Pasta with pesto x 2
• Red lentil soup (home made from scraps :rotfl:) x 2
• Potato wedges and baked beans (rest of that 99p bag of potatoes I bought the other day needs using up, have plenty of spices to make them interesting) x 1
• Orzo with a home made tomato sauce x 1
• Tuna and sweetcorn melts (using home made bread) x 1
• Omelettes x 1

We have enough ingredients in the house to make 4 loaves of bread, we have a whole bag of cat food (as they were BOGOF last week), loads of loo roll, 2 L milk, tons of nappies, wipes and baby food, loads of yogurts etc for lunchbox.


I will need to get butter, cheese and formula but not until later on in the week.


So I reckon we may even get away with not spending much of this week's grocery money at all. anything left over will be stashed away into the savings account :j


Feeling very positive, tonight DH tried to tempt me into getting 'treats' from the petrol station and normally I would have had loads of chocolate etc. However I declined and made him really think about whether he really wanted that bottle of wine (he would have a bottle a night if we could afford it!). He decided that he would leave it for now :T:T:T


I really feel like we have found a renewed boost of MSE energy :money::money::money:

Adoremouse

Morning diary, I had a bit of a brainwave last night and want to write it down in case I forget!

I previously mentioned that I was worried about the big Picture loan that we have. The original plan was that once we finish paying off CCCS, we would put the £500 aside that we currently pay them, into savings. Then once we have enough to clear the Picture loan we would do so. However I can see us dipping into that savings pot...I don't think we will ever get into debt again, but we are still human!

We aren't allowed to make overpayments on the loan, but the brainwave I had is that we are allowed to make overpayments on the mortgage! :j:j:T:T:j:j

The Picture loan is secured on the house, and the reason we want to pay it off is so that we can move, as soon as it's paid then we're gone as we will have the equity that we need. However, if we pay the loan amount off the mortgage (on top of the usual mortgage payments) then when we sell the house, we can pay off the Picture loan then...it will be the same difference in essence.

Now this plan isn't perfect, because we pay more interest on Picture than the mortgage, but then again, the mortgage is charging more interest than we would gain with a savings account, so still better than saving!

Also, our mortgage does allow us to have money back from overpayments, so if we do need to draw some money back out for a real emergency we can do...it's just not as easy as dipping into a savings account so we are less likely to do it.

I think it's a jolly good idea myself and am off to make myself a celebratory sandwich and cup of coffee :A

killerpeaty

Hey adoremouse! I like the idea of paying off your mortgage, but have you considered having an emergency pot? I know that a lot of the MFW-ers are keen to have one before chipping away their mortgage.

I'm gutted for your 99p headboard, I would have been livid! I'm selling a couple of bits on ebay but we just want to get rid of them.. Not really get money for them..

Adoremouse

killerpeaty wrote: »

Hey adoremouse! I like the idea of paying off your mortgage, but have you considered having an emergency pot? I know that a lot of the MFW-ers are keen to have one before chipping away their mortgage.

I'm gutted for your 99p headboard, I would have been livid! I'm selling a couple of bits on ebay but we just want to get rid of them.. Not really get money for them..

Hello :wave:

I have indeed thought about an emergency pot, and we do definitely need one. I have managed to put £350 aside this month as hubby had a bumper commission month! On paper I can add £500 more next month (assuming he hits the target that he thinks he will), so that will set us well on our way.

Also, I'm going to be coming into a bit of money soon, not sure when but should be within the next couple of months. It's an inheritance that is taking ages so sort out. I don't know how much it is, but I've been told to expect around £4,000 at least. Depending on how much it is, I might try and do F&F payments on the CCCS debts...however I doubt it will be enough.

I think that I will end up stashing a couple of grand for a rainy day, and throwing the rest at the mortgage as an overpayment...every little helps!

I've had a good day after all...the table sold for £75 which I am happy with as at one point I had sold it for £40 out of desperation but that lady never showed up! So I'm popping to the Post Office to pay it in tomorrow before we spend it on rubbish. In the past we would have had a take-away to celebrate, especially as we were late eating and there isn't much in the house, but not any more :cool:

It also ended up being a NSD as the bonfire night I was taking DD to was cancelled. Poor DD was upset, but we were meeting her friend there and her Mum, so I invited them back to ours for coffee and playing.

I am going to be spending some money tomorrow though as will be booking a holiday for next year. Luckily it's a cheap one shared with ILs, in a caravan on the south coast, and the deposit is only £60 which we will split. So only £30, and we will be paying for the rest out of Ebay sales etc (once Xmas and DD's party have been paid for!). Loads of time to chip away at it, and it's really not much as ILs are very generous and are paying the majority of it

Can't believe that half term is over already! Have just looked at diary and this week I have a friend coming over to spend the day with me on Weds, so I will need to feed her and her kids. I think I will make the red lentil soup that I had planned, and some home made bread. Not sure if that is enough, but if I make a crumble (I have all the ingredients) for afters then all I need to buy is some custard or cream!

Also have friends coming for dinner on Sat, but they will bring booze and nibbles, and we are making home made pizzas, which are very cheap and I have most of the ingredients in the house. Just need more cheese and maybe something interesting to put on top!

I might make a pavlova for pudding as they are pretty cheap to make, and after stodgy pizza we won't want a hot pud.

DD's bedroom didn't get touched this weekend so my mission for the next couple of days is to get it sorted, definitely by Weds when my friend comes over!

Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend and is looking forward to the week ahead?
xxx

Adoremouse

Oh and I thought I'd already posted this, but can't see it...we've paid just over £10,000 off our DMP :j:beer::j

Hiddenidenity

Adoremouse wrote: »

Oh and I thought I'd already posted this, but can't see it...we've paid just over £10,000 off our DMP :j:beer::j

What a fab amount :j:j:beer:

killerpeaty

Hiddenidenity wrote: »

What a fab amount :j:j:beer:

I concur entirely! Well done Adoremouse!

RE: inheritance, I know a few people (I'm 22 with friends roughly of the same age) who have been expecting money from inheritance, loans to be given back (by their own useless father /cough), etc and have not seen any of the money. So I say, don't spend it yet! It'll be a nice "surprise" when it comes ^^

When my dad died I knew I wouldn't get any inheritance due to his business debts (they were completely manageable as his business was strong) but hey we still have the house. Got to be happy about that!

Red lentil soup sounds lovely : ) And when I have pizza I have mini ones and cut myself tiny tiny slices. I'm so cool. :cool: