Dot's Diary - MFW as part of simplifying my life!

Happier_Me

Hi Dot

I have just read you diary and really enjoyed it!

Well done for leaving your job! I have a love/hate relationship with my job myself - it is high pressured, I work full time (often long hours) and with two primary age children. Our mortgage free date is not too far into the future so I intend to stick at it for a little while longer!

I stopped paying for kindle books a couple of months ago, I now search for free, 4 star+ rated kindle books on Am@zon. You can limit the seach to specific genre's. Most free books are fairly good, you just have to resist buying the next in the series (although I find they are often quite cheap at £2ish a book). So I don't feel too guilty if I indulge ocasionally:D

Dot_Common

Hi Happier Me - thanks for the tip on the kindle books, I will take a look! I'm a sucker for buying lots in a series - got a bit carried away with Agatha Raisin and Daisy Dalrymple mysteries earlier in the year, so I will have to exert some self-control!

Fairly quiet day MSE-wise, though I managed to get all the bedding washed and dried without resorting to the tumble dryer. Mr C is putting a bike shed and some other big bits cluttering up our garage onto ebay tonight hopefully - double bonus of money and space if they sell!

I want to get more fruit growing in the garden, the strawberries have done really well this year - but am waiting for super-cheap raspberry canes, I'm hoping they'll appear in the next few weeks as we're coming into the season for planting them.

And we've set our first MFW target - need to get savings up to £10,000 before we start OPing. Yikes! We have some of this already (though less than we did 6 months ago ), but won't know exactly where we're at until we get confirmation of an upcoming tax bill.

Day 2 of the meal plan - Chicken biryani for dinner :T

Dot_Common

Mainly in the garden today, clearing some more lawn and bushes to expand my 'grow your own' area. I've got my plant shopping list sorted - I'm after about 6 raspberry canes, an asparagus crown and some rhubarb - I will try to find someone locally who will split me a bit. I'd love a couple of fruit trees, but need to investigate what size I need for the space. But all of this lot will need planting in November, so I need to be ready with the space.

I did contemplate growing some garlic, but then I saw that organic garlic bulbs only cost about 30p, and it would have to be in my raised beds for ages, so I'd rather concentrate on higher cost produce.

Not a NSD though, I've gone through the knee of my favourite jeans, so have ordered a new pair from Uniqlo (love that shop), and also bought a couple of heat-tech tops which are great as a thermal layer. And the total meant that I could use a £10 off code. :j

Dot_Common

Jeans arrived and are going back - I stupidly ordered the wrong size, even though I was actually wearing the same pair when I did the order... :doh: Heat-tech top is perfect though.

Ebay sales are underway, and I am trying to resist the temptation to constantly check ( even though I get an alert on my phone when there is a bid, I still can't help checking!).

And big money saving action of the day - I've given notice to my cleaner. It costs me £113 a month, and much as I love someone else doing my vacuuming, we just can't justify it. Feel a bit bad for my cleaner , which is what has stopped me cancelling before, but I will ask around to see if anyone locally wants some hours.

Meal plan still going well - jambalaya for dinner! Great for using leftovers, plus a tiny bit of chorizo packs a lot of flavour.

edinburgher

Feel a bit bad for my cleaner , which is what has stopped me cancelling before, but I will ask around to see if anyone locally wants some hours.

It is a shame, but I suppose losing work occasionally is one of the 'joys' of being self employed/working for a changing client base.

Dot_Common

Really really need to get the food bill down - despite following the meal plan, the week's shopping bill has still ended up well over £100. I'm going to go through the itemised bill shortly, to work out where the money is going (wine probably ...)

Ebay sales are going well - over 65 watchers for one of the items, with it finishing tomorrow (must stop checking every five minutes!!).

And we've been investigating loft insulation - have looked into the green deal, but I'm really not convinced about getting locked into a long term repayment plan, I'd rather get the savings myself! So I think we're going to buy the materials and do it ourselves, then try to board one half. Problem is, Mr C has eczema that flares up in the proximity of the evil loft insulation rolls, so putting it down is going to have to be my job :eek: I am not noted for my DIY...

edinburgher

So I think we're going to buy the materials and do it ourselves, then try to board one half. Problem is, Mr C has eczema that flares up in the proximity of the evil loft insulation rolls, so putting it down is going to have to be my job

If you take accurate measurements for the boards to be cut (measure several times, a tiny bit smaller is probably better than a tiny bit too big as you're going to be putting huge amounts of insulation over the top), Mr C could cut them to size away from the attic? That way he could do some of the work and you would be left with rolling out the insulation (which isn't hard by any standard)

The green deal looks ok for older forever homes, but loft insulation is a cheap job in the grand scheme of things. It's probably better to eat the initial cost yourself than take out credit for it (no matter how tortuously it's worded to make you think it isn't credit!)

Dot_Common

Cheers edinburgher - I can probably just about manage rolling out! Will suggest that to him.

Dot_Common

It's been a few days since last posting, with not all that much MSE-wise going on.

First ebay sales went very well, got over £300 :T for selling the bike shed and a couple of bits of furniture we don't need any more. Just need to get it out if paypal and into the savings account! I think I will only go for ebaying something I think it'll make at least £20, I think other selling / donating options may work better for me for lower value stuff.

Going through the receipt for our shopping, I think we overspent because we were buying quite a few of our 'usuals' even when they weren't specifically needed for the meal plan :doh:- maybe a lack of confidence in sticking to the plan! So we need to be stricter. And I have started doing an audit of the cupboards and fridge/freezer, so that I know what we already have and what needs using up - before then doing the shopping. Sounds obvious, but I have never done this before!

Final bit of good news - I've been approached about doing some new work, at the highest daily rate I've been offered so far :j - not yet confirmed, but it'll make a nice boost to the savings if it happens, and bodes well for what I may be able to charge going forward!

edinburgher

Without wanting to face the combined wrath of the MFW legions, we don't meal plan, I can't be bothered. We will occasionally batch cook, but that's just because it's hard to make small quantities of certain meals.

We save money on groceries by shopping for loss leaders (i.e. whatever is on offer at L1dl that week and isn't total nonsense), eating lots of vegetables and avoiding convenience food.

I like structure in my life, but not with my food!