Journey to the Promised Land.

BlueMoo

Thanks ApronAnnie.
I really believe that we are incredibly fortunate so giving money/help/time to those less fortunate is something that can absolutely be done.

Even if it is only £10 a month or an hour's volunteering, anyone can find something they can give.

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£16.07 left of Grocery budget.

May well have to go over due to OH's being off work for the next couple of weeks with back pain and surgery.

Increased expenditure on petrol, hospital parking, etc. etc. means probably no MOP little extras to be made this month,

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Supper of fillet steak, potatoes dauphinoise with creamy gralic peas. (Mon)

Supper of pasta bake with siciliano sauce and a bit of cheddar.
(Tues)

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And now on to the money news I promised:

Current Mortgage
£170,094.66

MOP account £8.13

Interest in December
£588.90
Daily Rate : £19.63 (UNDER £20!) :j :j :j
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In line with my NY Resolutions, I have been planning my finances after the wedding is paid off. Looking good so far, but would like to have a bit more money for socialising etc., as we have really cut back due to saving for the wedding and it would be nice to just let loose a bit.

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Deciding weigh-in will be every Monday morning and shall confess all here to keep my on the straight and narrow (literally!)

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Still not sure yet on hobby - will have to have a good look at local college courses/gym/etc.

Reading plans going well.

Unfortunately no foodbank donation this month as my budget is all out of shape due to OH.

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Wedding updates to follow tomorrow.

RunningGirl

Happy New Year BlueMoo!

Soooo envious of your food spends - well done you :T
Oooh, wedding plans update - shall pop back tomorrow for a little peep. I love weddings!

kirstypark

loving the wedding plans - those rings must be stunning!

I am another one who cannot cancel our standing order to charity - we have sponsered a child for the past 10 years and get the odd card and update from Sierra leone about him. Now he's 16 i am wondering if i will still be paying for another 10 years for him? But never been tempted to cancel that standing order.

BlueMoo

WEDDING Updates:

Can not believe that we are in 2014 and less than 100 days to go.

Getting very excited, but trying to remain calm as well as don't want to wear myself out.

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Lots of things organised over the Christmas holidays.


* More venue decoration bits have been given as a gift for Christmas so thatis very nice. Helps as well with budget - which looks like it's about 250 over,but with relatives pledging a few gifts as Christmas/Birthday/Wedding presents,we should only pay out just under 10k (so still on budget to us) .

*Bridesmaids have chosen dresses and they have been purchased. Slightly overbudget but relatives are chipping in for a good part of the cost, so underbudget to actual cost I need to pay out.
They are absolutely beautiful so very chuffed. Just need to MoH to sort outher dress.

*Hair & MakeUp is now sorted and got a fantastic deal on this. Have decided to splurge and get all the Bridesmaids done as well. Need to decide hairstyle though, and hairstyle for the Bridesmaids though I know how I want make-up done.

*Added some more alcohol to be purchased onto the budget. This will be covered by a gift from the in-laws. They have been very generous with their gift so am very grateful.

*Bought the OH a wedding present of some very fancy new shoes that were bought in the sale. They were an absolute steal so couldn't resist and they are wonderful.

*Rings have been picked up. They look beautiful and mine works so welll with my engagement ring so very pleased as it is quite uunusual.

*Added £20 cash on to budget just in case of everything.

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Still awaiting on
*Flowers
*RSVPs
*Finish off final round of invites
*Shoes/Tiara
*MoH to buy dress
*Book mini break straight after wedding
*Buy Cutlery/Plates


Then in February it will be paying everyone! :eek:

Current Budget total

10229.51

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Supper last night of BBQ chicken, rice and corn.


Trying to use up the freezer and stores as lots of additional spends this month due to OH's hospitalisation.

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HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE

tootoo

i love a good wedding!You're so organised

FamilyLife

Congrats on upcoming wedding! I got married last summer and wasn't nearly as organised. I tried to be frugal but it was amazing how the costs spiralled. I think I did better at budgeting the honeymoon- we had a California/ Vegas road trip which was great but a little busy! Good luck with the rest of the to-do list

Pearla*Merle

You've done great with the wedding budget :T And good luck to Mr BM with his hospital adventures, hope he heals up quick!

Peonie

Hi Blue Moo, sorry I did not get back to you but I think what you have planned for the hallway sounds great.

BlueMoo

Sorry everyone - what with OH hospital visit, I have had barely anytime so have just been updating on the GC board in my lunch breaks.

Hope everyone is doing well though, no chance to have a look on the other diaries today unfortunately as very late lunch break and will need to crack on with work in a sec.

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Soooo envious of your food spends - well done you :T

Thanks RunningGirl, not doing very well this month due to so much extra food is needed whilst OH is at home eating out the fridge and cupboards of anything edible!

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loving the wedding plans - those rings must be stunning!

I am another
one who cannot cancel our standing order to charity - we have sponsered a child
for the past 10 years and get the odd card and update from Sierra leone about
him. Now he's 16 i am wondering if i will still be paying for another 10 years
for him? But never been tempted to cancel that standing order

Sorry I missed this Kirsty somehow - What a lovely thing to do. It's so important to think outside ourselves sometime and remember those who are really struggling. Maybe you could write and see if he still needs it, otherwise perhaps you could sponser another younger child who may need it more. Not sure how it works though to be honest.

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i love a good wedding!You're so organised

Congrats on upcoming wedding! I got married last summer and wasn't nearly as
organised. I tried to be frugal but it was amazing how the costs spiralled. I
think I did better at budgeting the honeymoon- we had a California/ Vegas road
trip which was great but a little busy! Good luck with the rest of the to-do
list

You've done great with the wedding budget :T
And good luck to Mr BM with his hospital adventures, hope he heals up quick!

Hi Blue Moo, sorry I did not get back to you but I think what you have
planned for the hallway sounds great.

Thanks everyone- glad I'm not boring you! Yep, generally a control freak! So stayed true to form!

I think with weddings - it is very personal. Yes I could just spend 600 and just get married but I want to be surrounded by my family and friends and celebrate - and that costs money. I am happy to spend it though, and really looking forward to it all now. It's affordable and budgeted spending so not too worried about the finance side of it though it has been a hard slog sometimes saving all the money.


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Food has been mix of things - roast lamb, chilli beef, pulled pork, rice, etc.etc. Might update this if I can dig out my updates on the GC thread.

Lots of food eaten by OH as well for lunches and snacks so I cooked three large joints of lamb, beef and pork to keep him going sandwich wise and whatnot.

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Budget not looking good this month with all the additional spends on food, petrol, parking, missing work and the like.
Got a full weekend this weekend too, and the same for next weekend.

Will just have to work it out I guess, and maybe take a bit of money from the treats account to tide us over.

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Still no overtime at work and this now looks like the default position in the business. I may have to re-evaluate my job, particularly as well with the re-alignment of my job role, as I need the extra money to be honest, but will wait until Easter I think before starting the job hunt for serious. Just already got so much going on. Need to take it chunk by chunk I think and break it down so it doesn't get too overwhelming.

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Very excited anyway to see lots of long lost friends over the next couple of weekends. Should be a real blast!

BlueMoo

Sorry poor neglected diary - have really been struggling with OH still not recovered and hospital appointments, plus work, plus all other life bits.

Have pretty much just been on the GC challenges.

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A couple of things have gone on - quite a few trips, not very MSE but lovely to see family and friends.

Lovely salon visit as well for a bit of pampering - looking forward to booking my next one.


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Wedding stuff:
The bridesmaids accessories and corsages have been delivered! They match the dresses perfectly - always a risk when buying online.

Just need to pick out their jackets/shawls/cardis but can't as waiting for MoH to buy her dress and send me url/pic.

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Showed my MiL my wedding spreadsheet - she was v impressed.

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Have booked my H&MU trial which will be done in February. Eek! So excited for this. Been looking at lots of images online to see if I can print one off and show as an example - it's hard otherwise to describe in words what you want.

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Need to purchase another bridesmaids dress which I am finding very difficult. Have taken the plunge and ordered a bespoke one from eBay (english seller) and if it is the same as the picture it will be fab. The colour is quite a difficult one - sort of a metallic tinge, so fingers crossed. This has cost £35 so under budget.
Once this dress has come through, and if it is right I can get on with purchasing the BMaids accessories.

Cutlery and Plates have now been purchased as well. Tested we could use plastic cutlery on the food, and it was fine. Cost of £19.53.

Bought Runners for the tablecloths. Managed to get them on sale as well, so saving of 2.81 per roll. Cost £17.97

Florist for centrepieces chosen and price agreed. Went with the more expensive florist but really liked their ideas and they are much closer to the venue as well. Cost £300

Went to speak to the caterers and have agreed the basic outline of what we want. Negotiated a 10% discount as well on whatever we order. Budget £850 (then 10% off)

We will then self-cater some nibbles to go along with this. Budget £150


Still Need:
Napkins
BMaids Accessories
Tiara/Shoes
Ribbon
Balloons
Need to book in a Salon day to go and get properly pampered as well.

TOTAL Running BUDGET:
£9999.53



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MONEY:

Paid off rest of deposit for honeymoon.

Trying to plan budgets once we have finished paying for the wedding - want to ease off a bit and allow a bit more day to day freedom

MOP account : £8.46

Mortgage Interest: £606.52 - really want to try to get this down below 600 for 31 day months.

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Bought a Costco membership and did my first shop this weekend.

Spend of £93 on food and groceries (£19 spent on other things which are not included in GC)

So TOTAL of 95.75 (ish) and my month lasts until 22nd Feb!!!

I think I am going to switch to Annual Budget, but keep my £100 a month as a guideline to ensure I don't go wild.

Managed to be really restrained and just spent money on stuff that was needed (no treats like 100 snickers!)
-Apples
-Mince (£20 worth!)
-Cheese
-Wipes
-Loo Rolls
-Pizza (for the OH)
-Breakfast Rolls

I did however stock up on some very expensive shampoo that in COstco deal was half price! So that was approx £13.48 on 6 months worth of shampoo. I have decided to include this in GC spend.


All that is needed now is Milk and some Fresh Veg.

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