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Diary of a spendy cow

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  • Welcome back :)
    Glad your wee car passed his MOT, my Y reg jalopy goes in a few days before Christmas for hers so fingers crossed...

    Budget looking healthy, have you got many Xmas outings scheduled in the run up to the big day? I've got two lunches out with the girls from work (both under a tenner), two trips into manchester (one for lee mack without kids, one for panto/Xmas markets with kids) and one annual McDonald's breakfast that we have after dropping car for said MOT and service on our way to the bus station :)
    Christmas shopping very nearly finished, just need to wrap it all now.
    Enjoy your Sunday xxttb
    Mortgage free as of 11/11/15 !
    :Anow... to start some serious saving :A


  • mooomin
    mooomin Posts: 13,703 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Welcome back :)
    Budget looking healthy, have you got many Xmas outings scheduled in the run up to the big day? I've got two lunches out with the girls from work (both under a tenner), two trips into manchester (one for lee mack without kids, one for panto/Xmas markets with kids) and one annual McDonald's breakfast that we have after dropping car for said MOT and service on our way to the bus station :)

    One trip to t'other side of Scotland next weekend, assuming there's no snow.

    Afternoon tea for the best friend's birthday (voucher!) and probably drinks after.

    Dinner out next weekend. Pub dinner planned, but it'll still be £15-£20 I think.

    My birthday :D Hopefully Mr Mooo will pay for whatever we do though :D

    That's all before the next payday, although there's a night out that day too :eek:

    Most of my Christmas stuff is now wrapped. I have a few things to get, but nothing huge. Happy Sunday to you too!
  • mooomin
    mooomin Posts: 13,703 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    mooomin wrote: »
    One trip to t'other side of Scotland next weekend, assuming there's no snow. £30 fuel to fill up the car.

    Afternoon tea for the best friend's birthday (voucher!) and probably drinks after. £10 on top of voucher already purchased

    Dinner out next weekend. Pub dinner planned. £15-£20

    My birthday :D Hopefully Mr Mooo will pay for whatever we do though :D£10

    I decided that I should figure out how much all this might cost me!

    I think I might cancel the dinner on Friday because I'd rather keep the money for other things. I'm going out with a friend who has other friends visiting, so I wouldn't be leaving her high and dry. I'll ponder that today.

    Still no meal plan, but we've been eating from the freezer apart from Tuesday when I went to the pictures after work so just bought pasta and sauce on the way home :o

    The gifts budget has evaporated, so I need to be very clever now about how I get the remaining few people. Santa Mooo will be checking her list twice tonight :rotfl:
  • tomtombeanie
    tomtombeanie Posts: 1,023 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Morning! I think you sound quite crafty, based on your cards etc. how about a few homemade pressies this year for your last few? Cheap and cheerful ideas I have done this year - sugar scrubs and reindeer poop :)

    http://www.popsugar.co.uk/beauty/Get-Mint-Condition-DIY-Christmas-Candy-Cane-Scrub-32570658

    I coloured my sugar a pale green (olive oil + bit of blue gel colouring = nice Christmas hue!) and put into 250ml Kilner jars with a bit of Christmas fabric on top & tied on a candy can. empty jam jars with a wide top (like Bon maman) also work well...

    http://christmas.organizedhome.com/crafts/christmas/reindeer-poop

    Aldi do nice choc raisins, Asda also do and their 200g packs are 4 for £3 at the moment.

    Just a thought xxx
    Mortgage free as of 11/11/15 !
    :Anow... to start some serious saving :A


  • mooomin
    mooomin Posts: 13,703 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Spending money - £82.50
    Food - £138.99
    Fuel - £40
    Clothing - £20
    Haircuts - £20
    Entertainment - £45
    Car - £486
    Christmas - £10.38 :eek:

    Morning all,

    Updated budget is above. It's not looking too bad really. The Christmas budget has plummeted, but a good chunk of that was posting cards and presents abroad - that is NOT cheap :eek: I've only got one present to get that's urgent, the other one I can do after payday next week.

    Normally I get paid on the 28th, but instead am getting paid next Friday :eek: That leaves six weeks between paydays. BAH. I'll need to pretend the money isn't in my account!
  • mooomin
    mooomin Posts: 13,703 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Morning all :D

    Well, I got paid on Friday (nine days early :eek:) and there are now 38 days until I get paid again :eek: :eek:

    Here's how the budgets are looking:

    Spending money - £178.28
    Food - £236.78
    Fuel - £70 (after filling up yesterday)
    Clothing - £30
    Entertainment - £45
    Christmas - £59.40

    Christmas is bought :j I've got a few more wee things to get (chocolates and whatnot) but these will be getting bought with Nectar points. I'm off to Sainsbugs shortly to get that out of the way :eek:

    I managed to get a couple of presents for birthdays through the year yesterday in Staples of all places as they had a pre-Christmas sale on. Their Christmas cards were 10p as well and the 3 for 2 was working :money:

    My weekly shop in Morrisons was a good one too. I brought the discount vouchers they had sent me as I don't normally reach the minimum spend threshold but like to give the vouchers to someone with a huge trolleyfull, but when I got to the checkout I'd spent £49.04. One pack of gum later and I'd saved £8 :rotfl:

    Anyway, had better get cracking as the shops will be mad today :eek:
  • beanielou
    beanielou Posts: 95,627 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Academoney Grad Mortgage-free Glee!
    :wave: to moomin.
    I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.

    Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
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  • mooomin
    mooomin Posts: 13,703 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    beanielou wrote: »
    :wave: to moomin.

    Hi Beanie :D

    I suppose I should do an update at some point :o
  • mooomin
    mooomin Posts: 13,703 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Morning :D

    Beanie has prodded me in to updating as I'd totally forgotten :o:o

    There are still 15 days until payday (how?!) and the current state of finances is:

    Spending money: £85.51
    Food: £108.71
    Fuel: £40
    Car: £500 - with the insurance due next month and the car going to the garage on Thursday for (another) wheel bearing issue and a door handle that's decided to start coming loose :rotfl:

    The first payment of £128 has come out for my new kitchen :D That's getting fitted in six weeks :j Before it happens I need to get a good set of to do lists in place for the weekends before it happens. I still have a few bits to buy as well - laminate flooring and things. That's (thankfully) coming from a different budget.

    I have a few bits waiting to pay out from cashback sites - I just changed £5ish from TCB into Clubcard points, which will hopefully hit my CC account before the next statement :D That'll make them worth £20 in (probably) pizza vouchers :T The other £35 I'll take as cash when it finally goes to payable.

    I have a holiday to Dublin planned for April - meeting up with a whole big bunch of online friends :D I have my flights already and am staying with a friend so save on hotel costs there. I have £275 put aside at the moment, and hope to get that to £500 before I fly. I'd rather take too much than too little, but as I'm going for five days £100 a day seems reasonable to cover all my food, fares and entrance to things. I hate feeling like I'm scrimping when I'm on holiday ;)

    In the spirit of new year and new financial gubbins I have:
    • Changed to the Virgin version of Freeview. :eek: I miss Living already, but it's saving me £6 a month, so I'm coping. I have Netflix and Prime anyway, so I'm covered for series :D
    • Cancelled my Fat Club monthly membership. I really don't like the wifey at my new class so I'm going online only. That'll save a bit too :D
    • Not buying more meat for the freezer till I eat what's there. That's been fine this week - next will be more...creative :rotfl::rotfl:

    That's my update - time for a cuppa now!
  • Hey Moo :wave: I'm back (again!) my spending just spirals out of control if I don't have to 'fess all on my diary! :rotfl:

    Will need to catch up on what you've been up to .....
    mooomin wrote: »
    In the spirit of new year and new financial gubbins I have:
    • Changed to the Virgin version of Freeview. :eek: I miss Living already, but it's saving me £6 a month, so I'm coping. I have Netflix and Prime anyway, so I'm covered for series :D

    I feel your pain! My Sky deal came to an end & discovered that their plans have changed. The Documentaries (that I used to pay £1 / month for) are now a separate package costing £6.50 more :( - have downgraded but .... boy do I miss some of them!
    Grocery Challenge £211/£455 (01/01-31/03)
    2016 Sell: £125/£250
    £1,000 Emergency Fund Challenge #78 £3.96 / £1,000
    Vet Fund: £410.93 / £1,000
    Debt free & determined to stay that way!
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