Apple muncher's number crunching

apple_muncher

Wow! What awful weather outside! I was so lucky to have sunshine this morning when I was out. The lunchbox mission was a success and resulted in one v happy dd. I've sold 4 of her costumes, so made 8 of the 10 pounds needed to buy it. Also picked up a couple of Barbie dvds in a ch shop, plus sparkly wool in the £ shop where it was 3 for 2. I also took in my own coffee this week, thus saving 99p.

The latest knitting item is ladybirds and bees! Finger puppets. So simple to make tho I've not got the eyes/mouth embroidery right yet. Need to undo and try again.

My pay is in the account :T and can wait til 1st Feb to be moved, as most of my outgoings will have gone by then. Dh has also been paid - phew! Tho they got his tax wrong so he's overpaid that this month.

Arrived at Ald1 to discover that my phone where I write the shopping list had decided to need a reboot. So I scooted round trying to remember! Spent under £18 so if that really was everything, then I'm super chuffed. Previously, that would have been a top-up spend.

Am waiting for NSK to put up the Feb challenge... Months with school holidays in them are a different breed from the others!

apple_muncher

tootoo wrote: »

Hi am
a lovely person on the discount board popped some free delivery codes on for the d!sney store if still needed. I used one at the weekend.

We also brought an elsa doll for dd birthday, thanks goodness we found one as that was all she wanted for her birthday!

Thank you tootoo. I'd looked on quidc0 but not on here. Will try to remember next time! I do so little buying online now that I'm a little rusty!

Well done on getting Elsa. Dd plays with her 3 sooooo much and has integrated them into hrr Toy Story playlines! All with much peril, rescuing, ice, goodies and 1 baddie who either turns good or gets punished!

apple_muncher

A different day. Woke up feeling poorly, not sure if going to throw up or rush to sit on loo! 'Fortunately' it was the latter, which I can cope with; the former makes my whole body react badly. Had a cracking headache too. Had no breakfast, just water and sips of black coffee, got dd to neighbour for sch and went to work. My face was blotchy and red too - not too pretty! Told the cover organiser about it and asked if I could leave at lunch. Was lucky to re-jig pm classes, calling in a favour, and came home at lunchtime. By then I was feeling better, phew. Lay on sofa and ate an apple which seems to be sitting okay.

Was thinking it was something I'd eaten that must have contained gluten, but had no idea what, as I'd eaten every bit of food before. In conversation, I found out that many of the junior kiddies were going down with tummy bugs, so maybe that's what it was.

Anyway, am feeling worn out but better, so I'll try for an ultra early night. And probably no tea!

Have signed up to kat's feb challenge so am setting budgets and plans. Have realised that if it was just me and dd, then we'd spend a lot less money on food. But I'd much rather have dh here instead!

Need to think ahead to 1/2 term - want to visit the parents with dd and dh.

apple_muncher

Tum is better, thank goodness. I do enjoy eating!

Did the money shuffle this afternoon. In total I have paid £507.80 into savings and £732.90 to the mortgage. Smug face is on!

£800 of this is due to my extra income, all of which is allocated to these 2 areas, but that still means I have saved over £440 out of £1100. Wow! Even I'm impressed with myself! :rotfl: I hope I can keep this going, because, to be honest, I'm simply being careful and not spending mindlessly. I had £100 union fees to pay in Jan and I still saved 440, so feb should be a big positive too.

And once dh has sorted out his pay query, then we can hopefully pay another £600 to the mortgage. :j

Talking of dh, he's due back on Sun, and it'll be good to have him back. Not sure he'll approve of me turning the telly off if I'm not watching it, or turning the heating off early . Or just have 2 eggs + veg for tea! And soup and grated cheese for lunch...

apple_muncher

Have knitted a sparkly heart hanging decoration tonight: 2 hearts sewn together with contrasting blanket stitch and a pretty button on one side. Sparkly wool was my bargain from £shop (3 for 2). V easy and quite quick to make. Ladybirds and bees not up to dd's high standards unfortunately!

apple_muncher

In Jan 2013 I started a little notebook to note down all my spending. Not to try to reduce it, more to start to know what I was spending and where. I spent approximately £730! I had 9 NSD that month, tho probably didn't even know what NSD stood for!

Fast forward to Jan 2014, month 3 of the NSK challenges. I have had 17 NSD and spent £260 ish. :j result :j !

Feb is considered a short month, but it's only shorter by 2 or 3 days, so I view it as a more concentrated month! And it includes 1/2 term which will need a bit of planning.

Am signed up for the Feb challenge: February 28 days later.
- 15 NSD
- set a food budget and reduce it by £20. Set at £280 but includes veggie boxes this time (up to £56 unless I cancel one...)
- fuel + travel £100: oyster plus tank of fuel
- lunch to work: 12
- food bamk donation £5
- exercise 3x30mins per week = 12 sessions
- choose a DFD - May 2018 - rather arbitrary!
- document evry single spend - analyse my 'other' category
- pay debt first - paid extra earnings of £800 to savings + mortgage when paid at end of Jan. But Tilly tidies and weekly saving challenge monies all add up!
- hone and tone food cupboards - have plenty of starches to use up, but it's slow going as I don't bake much at the mo, trying to go sugar and grain free.
- no coffee shops
And my own extras:-
- declutter 50
- lose 4lbs - lost 4 in Jan, another 4 would be a milestone weight.

Outgoing amounts:
- giving £188
- saving challenge £114
- dd £50
- food £280
- travel £100
- charity shop £30
- other £40

Roll on Feb!

Pearla*Merle

You're doing super well with your saving & OPs, apple muncher!

The knitted hearts (& everything else!) sound adorable & you've got some great ideas for the stall You're right about even a few rows adding up over time, I'd do well to remember this myself(!)

I had to laugh about the rugby, I had the exact same thought the other day! ...oh my goodness, I just looked it up, it starts tomorrow? Hooray! (OH won't be pleased, he's not that fussed about it but I could watch it all weekend! :rotfl:)

apple_muncher

Wales v Italy now on - yay!

Took dd to ballet today and then trawled round charity shops. Got a jumper for dh, 2 tops for me, 4 books, 3 teddies and a bday present for my sister in June. All for £14.42. We did end up in sbucks, which is a banned location for all nsk-ites. But i took dd's lunchbag and only had a small filter black coffee, so only paid £1.55. Can't really justify it!

Now it's juggling time. Want to watch rugby, and knit; dd wants me to play! So we've made a Minnie Mouse shaker maker thing she had for her bday and now she has her Kids Klub picture to colour in. When she finally stops leaping round the room like a jack in the box!

Saw a lovely string of hanging hearts on brown string in a ch shop. About 8 hearts. I can make that using knitted hearts instead of sewn ones!

Habibiboo

apple_muncher wrote: »

Got 4 fingerless gloves knitted - result. Tho they're not yet sewn up, of course!.

:wave:
Finally caught up, sounds like excellent knitty progress! Perhaps you could go winter themed with your stall if you're aiming for aroud Christmas time ... quick knits like these gloves as well as your decorations could fill up the stall nicely and are bound to be popular items!

I knit lots of hearts for people - I fill with lavender in the summer and cloves etc in the winter - another idea for your stall treasures, perhaps?

Well done on your January totals (savings and MOP) - it's great when you can literally see where the extra money you're working so hard for is going with something so positive, inspirational! Hope Feb turns out well too!

apple_muncher

DH got home mid-morning and we were here to greet him. Dd has a nasty cough and is pale so I didn't want her going to Kids Klub. Dh is shattered. He had a 12 hour overnight flight with no sleep. So I sent hime off to bed for an hour or so this afternoon.

Took my gas/leccy readings this morning, and plan to do it again in 2 weeks time to see the difference between it just being me + dd where I control the lights, kettle (hardly used) and heating, and when he's here.

Am feeling good about the knitting totals. Have actually sewn up one pair of gloves! And am enjoying making the hearts - I know I am because as I make 2, I darn in the loose ends, add a bead and sew them up. They also meet dd's approval!

DH has changed the SO to the mortgage, putting it back up to £700 for Feb, and has paid the extra £600 for Jan manually. Yay!

Got to see most of the rugby whilst 'helping' dd paint her minnie mouse shaker maker. It's lovely to see the concentration on her face when she's painting. She's in bed now, but coughing quite a lot, so am anticipating another broken night! I did get her out for a walk in the sunshine earlier, which we both enjoyed immensely, tho it wore her out.