WTBSEs 'Starting From Scratch' Savings Diary.

WantToBeSE

Morning All Just off to work (yawn!) will be back later

JoJoC

Enjoy work! I'm on a holiday today and tomorrow because I had a few leftover days.

It's nice today so instead of going to softplay, we're going to the park!!

Free!!

WantToBeSE

Tickets and Travelodge all booked I was able to use the clubcard for an adult ticket, so it only cost me £45.89 instead of the original £53 ish Add the £68 for the Travelodge for 2 nights, the total cost of the trip is £113.89

Really looking forward to going Will have to update my savings amount now...New total stands at £1108.28

However, I SHOULD be able to save £100 again on Friday, so am actually only £13 down..although I could (WILL!!!) take £13 from my food shopping for the week and put that into savings too.

right, that is ALL the money I am going to spend on Luxuries, until April. So, how much can I save between now and then? Hmm...will work that out later (secretly hoping to hit the £2K mark..shhhh ) but still have the £1500 in mind for the rest of this month.

1 target at a time!

P.S. Don't worry, I am not ignoring everyones posts/replies just been a bit carried away with planning this trip. Will definitely do a 'proper' post and reply to them

cathybird

WantToBeSE, have a fun trip Haven't caught up with your posts the past few days due to being away myself but I reckon you deserve a bit of a holiday. Plus £113.89 is so cheap!!

WantToBeSE

Hiya Cathy, I hope you had a nice time away? Thanks, I really feel like we deserve it too, and cannot wait

JoJoC

What a bargain!

I've had a bit of an annoying bit of news tonight- the guy that i rent a parking space from (next to my work) is moving out at the end of the month, which means that I need to find somewhere else.

The only other ones that I can find are £100 per month and over, and none of them are quite as convenient as the one that i had. How annoying!

I've emailed quite a few in the hope that I can negotiate on the price once they've seen that I'm interested in a long-term arrangement but I'm not feeling too hopeful.

:mad:

Anyway, enough about me and my parking rage!

Today was a NSD for me hooray!

WantToBeSE

Jo, have you looked at https://www.parkatmyhouse.com/ ? Worth having a look if there are any spaces in your area. It would work out cheaper than town centre car parks
Well done on your NSD! Have you had a nice few days off work?

I am hoping to take Monday of work next week. I have told the agency not to book me any clients, and also told my private client I wont be working. Not sure what I'll do with myself..i may have a bath and put a DVD on and spend the day on my PJs! Pure luxury on a Monday

Miss O- what was HP studios like? Neither of my children are into HP unfortunately, but both of them love Minecraft (the computer game). There is a 2 day Insomnia gaming festival that I would love to take them to but that will have to wait until next year http://insomniagamingfestival.com/
Children are so expensive aren't they! Especially school shoes. My oldest is at secondary school now, and aren't allowed to wear any other colour shoes apart from black.
How is your saving going?

TM6- i'll be checking out your thread later to have a good read

Trying out a new recipe this evening, its this one: http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-slow-cooker-apricot-salsa-chicken/ It is bubbling away in the SC (slow cooker) and when I came home from work it was lovely to be welcomed by yummy smells! We'll have it with rice and salad. Might have a glass of red wine to go with it. I love my SC in the winter time, its so comforting and makes life so easy just to chuck everything in.I am aiming to try 1 new thing every fortnight, but I am running out of SC ideas, all they seem to suggest are soups, casseroles and stews. So the recipe above really appealed to me

MissOptimistic

Hi WTBSE - the HP was fantastic, but we are all fans which Im sure makes a difference and we went on the 29th December so they had decked it out all Christmassy - we stayed in the Premier Inn about 5 mins away and managed to get £29 rooms ( although we needed 2 rooms with 3 kids :eek:) anyway the next day when the Receptionist asked if I had slept well, I mentioned that the pillows weren't as comfy as usual and I had tossed & turned all night resulting in trapping a nerve in my neck and she refunded one of the rooms as part of the 'great nights sleep guarantee' :rotfl:
My boys used to be into minecraft, but I just don't get it! And that music too!
The saving is going well so far, its the temptation to spend it I'm struggling with - I still owe a bit of money to my mum & dad and would also like to clear my overdraft, but I think I will reach a safety net of £1000 and then concentrate on those for a couple of months. I've managed to save £455 since Jan and I have a few more bits ending on Ebay over the next week!
Your day off sounds lovely, make the most of it - pamper session, chocolate, DVD's and PJ's sounds like bliss

MissOptimistic

Also, I love my SC and can resonate with expensive shoes, I had to get DS1 a new pair on Saturday, luckily we have a Clarks Outlet near us and they were £29.99 - he's a size 8 :eek: I did buy him cheaper ones in September, they were half the price but that's what you get I suppose, they lasted 4 months.
My hubby says he doesn't like stuff done in the SC as it reminds him when he was a kid and he was forced to sit infront of a pile of revolting stew until he had eaten it all. I have done beef casserole and curry etc in mine which he has eaten & enjoyed but he still maintains it all smells the same! It tough though as I am working on Thursday and won't get in till six ish, so its slow cooker tea again!

JoJoC

Thanks lovely- yeah parkatmyhouse was the first place I tried because that's where I found the guy that I'm currently renting off. It's a 6 minute walk to my work and less than half the cost of city centre car parks. What a pain!!

I've had a lovely couple of days, although not done anything special really. Today, I spent most of my child-free day making a photo book of my son's first year. I was supposed to do it at Christmas but never got round to it!

I think your day off to pamper yourself sounds lovely you should definitely treat yourself!

Miss Optimistic- my husband is a bit funny about slow cooker things because he thinks they're all a bit stodgy and thick. He prefers meat, veg and potatoes cooked the 'proper' way. If he wants that every night, he'll have to do it himself because I don't have time for that! He happily eats the slow cooker meals but I know he doesn't like them as much. I love them

I think your goal of getting a £1k safety net is a realistic one! It's always good to have that buffer there isn't it? You've done well to get your £455 so almost half way there to the first target!

Another NSD for me today tomorrow i need to pay for lunch out with work colleagues as one of them is leaving for a new job. I think it'll just be an express lunch so hoping for just £5. Then will need bread and milk on the way home so I shouldn't spend much more than £8.