Aspirations of Frugality and Fun on the Road to Mortgage Freedom

DedicatedDFW

Hi KC,

I definitely agree that the odd £1's really do add up and i am the same as you - the other week i didn't take enough food to work for packed lunch - i had thought i had something in my drawer but didn't. Anyways i made do with what i had and had an odd combination of crab sticks, bacon fries and left over sweets - and alot of drinks to try and fill me up. I was only a couple of hours away from home time so felt money spent would be a real waste

But i also try and have a balance so i will spend £1 on crisps once or twice a month on shopping but that is it and they are enjoyed so all good

Another thing i have stopped doing though is handing things out at work :eek: - on occasion i would take cakes in i made etc. and i do enjoy baking and cooking but then 1 day someone said 'make x next time' it may have been meant in a nice way but i thought it was quite cheeky that they were putting in a request - and the only thing they have offered me was the one flavour of chocolate in a box that they didn't like :eek: I have also had quite a few people asking me for stamps and headache tablets i just say i don't have any now as i have had to pay for these and i find it is aways the same people asking :mad: Whoops a bit of a rant there - but yes i am more mindful of small spends now

DedicatedDFW

Well that has felt like a productive bit of time.

I photo'd all but 1 of the items for bay of e - as i forgot what it was

3 items i had selected will be put in the weigh-in bag instead - these were donated to me and on inspection they are not of a good enough quality to sell. Ideally i will find 3 new items today to make up the shortfall :cool:

I tried on the boots - its such a silly thing - they are 1/2 to a whole size bigger then what i am and so i've always been put off wearing them - the story involves shopping when a little tipsy :beer: and these being the last pair and my Mr treated me :smileyhea Anyways sober i thought that the shop had just said about the shoes being a bit on the small side there But i have tried them on again now and only just got my foot in them! They are very long and pointy too which was part of me thinking they looked too big but this is just the style of them. And if i had got my size there is no way they would fit so all good there :T

I also sorted through the shoes again :cool: I will need to keep the black ones for now but am on the lookout for a better pair.

I meant to say yesterday too £65 for the 2 pairs of shoes seems alot but the dearer of my shoes have lasted longer and the cheaper ons were very cheap and have barely lasted 2 months so a better investment i think.

I also tried on a skirt that was donated to me and this will be suitable for work which is good as i don't like to buy work clothes :cool:

And i have bagged up a skirt to be returned too so all quiteproductive i think

Some more assignment achieved too :T

i still have the dress and a top to try on

and ideally i'd like to find a couple more bits to sell to take me up to the 100 maximum :cool:

edinburgher

All your talk of de-cluttering is making me feel very springlike, nothing beats a clean, calm house

Sorry you've been facing a few unexpected spends, but on the positive side you are doing very well forcing yourself to list items on eB@y :T

I think I've got my first non-paying buyer in nearly 5 years, it's very annoying, isn't it?

Re. grocery spends, I find that the single biggest factor is *where* you're shopping. Until I discovered that Mrs E was pregnant, I was doing 90%+ of our shopping at L1dl. Since the pregnancy, she's been a little bit finicky with tastes and some branded stuff has started to creep in, meaning we're visiting Mr T and Mr M more. The cost has shot up (easily £30/mth more already for very similar stuff).

I'm looking forward to the baby coming along and good habits getting back to normal :rotfl:

Karmacat

DD, it sounds like you've got it down fine - and I'm in awe of the declutter/bay of e thing you've got going on, thats really admirable!

Ed, I'm glad you're cutting Mrs Ed some slack I was with my pregnant niece-in-law last weekend, and we were talking about that very thing, "I need it, I need it now!" it was very sweet.

DedicatedDFW

edinburgher wrote: »

All your talk of de-cluttering is making me feel very springlike, nothing beats a clean, calm house

Sorry you've been facing a few unexpected spends, but on the positive side you are doing very well forcing yourself to list items on eB@y :T

I think I've got my first non-paying buyer in nearly 5 years, it's very annoying, isn't it?

Re. grocery spends, I find that the single biggest factor is *where* you're shopping. Until I discovered that Mrs E was pregnant, I was doing 90%+ of our shopping at L1dl. Since the pregnancy, she's been a little bit finicky with tastes and some branded stuff has started to creep in, meaning we're visiting Mr T and Mr M more. The cost has shot up (easily £30/mth more already for very similar stuff).

I'm looking forward to the baby coming along and good habits getting back to normal :rotfl:

Thanks Ed - with the decluttering i am doing it for alot of reasons - as you say that feeling of calm is unbeatable and with less stuff the house is easier to keep clean and tidy. I don't buy lots of stuff - the reason i have alot of clothes is because i keep stuff for a long time - i have some things that i've had for 16 years :eek: but it has felt good to have a good clear out the other reason i am doing it is for the mental break from studying the physical decluttering is a welcome distraction I need the money so a clear out and sell is a good option for me And our house is very small with little storage - i only have 1 wardrobe and no drawers / shelves for jumpers etc.

The NPBs are really annoying - i've had quite a few lately and usually by the time i realise they aren't paying and offer it to the other bidder they have found something else so i realy do feel lke i've lost the sale :mad: - sorry you've had an NPB too

:rotfl::rotfl: re. getting back to good habits - i shop at Mr M's mostly and try to pop into the cheaper shops too - we do have some own brand / cheap brand things but there are alot of things where we have tried things and 1 of us thinks its ok but the other doesn't :cool: I need to have a good think about things i can do. Making muesli would save a good chunk. On cheaper items i buy: pasta, the garlic bread i mentioned, tuna, tinned tomatoes, kidney beans - but even with these i have noticed the prices going up

DedicatedDFW

Karmacat wrote: »

DD, it sounds like you've got it down fine - and I'm in awe of the declutter/bay of e thing you've got going on, thats really admirable!

Ed, I'm glad you're cutting Mrs Ed some slack I was with my pregnant niece-in-law last weekend, and we were talking about that very thing, "I need it, I need it now!" it was very sweet.

Hey KC - i think posting on here makes me accountable - there have been a lot of times this month i've not wanted to bother with the declutter but have felt i should due to it being a target on here and i felt better after doing it to :cool:

I now just have th last section of wardrobe to do as i went through my records and i sold quite a lot previously and the ones i kept i am set on keeping

Alchemilla

I have a non paying bidder also.
Grr to them.

PositiveBalance

DedicatedDFW wrote: »

PB - your PM box is full

Not any more, it's not!

You've been busy. Well done! :T

DedicatedDFW

Alchemilla -grr! indeed to the NPB :mad:

PB - i have PM'd you Hope all is well with you?

DedicatedDFW

Hi all

Today i faced up to the scary credit card bill :eek: This months bill has the car repair bill on - although it still has to go back in at the end of this month but i needed to split the cost out. Other spends include some of the xmas prezzies, stocking up on grocery offers to save money in the coming months as well and the usual spends. It has been quite a bit of extra money to find

Next months bill will have usual spends (travel costs & grocery spends) as well as home insurance, 40th birthday gift purchase for close family member, extra car repairs and the new shoes i needed to replace.

Aprils bill will be usual spends and car insurance.

So for the next few months i have quite a bit of extra and unbudgeted spending going on the card

This months bill is pretty high *but* i am shuffling money to pay this off in full and *hope* to still keep up with my savings and mortgage overpayments :cool:

I don't know if i can keep this up for each of the 3 months. But i will give it a good try and if not i know i can always use the money budgeted for overpayment, home improvements and savings but i'd like to try and avoid that :cool:

I am also noting any bay of e income etc. that is being diverted to this bill and hope to catch up on that as well

At least i've address the card now - calculations are that i am £30 short on paying the full balance so hope for some sales *fingers crossed*