Aspirations of Frugality and Fun on the Road to Mortgage Freedom

DedicatedDFW

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

I took a pair of shoes back to primarni yesterday which were a Christmas gift. They looked lovely but didn't fit. I HATE the fact that they will only let you exchange without a receipt and will steadfastly refuse to give you a gift card refund. Had to trawl around the shop looking for things I didn't particularly need or want to avoid losing the money :cool: ended up with a pj top and a candle.

Have joined the 2014 crazy clothes challenge on the DF diaries board, aiming for no clothes spends whatsoever in January, and then will see how long I can keep going for.

It is frustrating with returning things isn't and then *having* to find something straight away - hopefully though you'll get lots of use out of the pj top

Well done on committing to that clothing challenge - i've bought so much this last week i could probably easily achieve that in january :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Happy New Year pavlovs_dog

DedicatedDFW

pennyforthepot wrote: »

Great start to your diary - clearly a woman who is very focused Subscribed

PFTP X

Hi an Happy New Year PFTP

Thank-you - i will look out for your thread too - your savings are very impressive :T

DedicatedDFW

jwil wrote: »

Happy New Year DDFW :j :j :j

Happy New Year jwil :j:j:j Lovely to see you again xx

DedicatedDFW

Morning All and Happy New Year :j

I hope everyone had a good night ?

I had a mixed night really - starting with my outgoings increasing by £5 a week :eek::( Not good news at all. I don't know how much my train fare will be this year either - my budget will be set once i find this out.

I've also just made myself a horrid cuppa :coffee: - how? i ask myself :eek: But in true MSE style i have drunk it :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: - the next one *will* be better :rotfl:

The weather here is horrid - i'd like to just stay in today - i think my Mr will want us to go out for a walk though will wait and see when he gets up

I've not ordered the wine making stuff yet but do intend to get round to this today - i know it will save me money but its just parting with the money in the first place that i struggle with :rotfl:

I ended up ordering another jacket yesterday as well - and i found that really hard to do even though i know i will return one - basically the jacket i bought fit me nicely but i always like to try the next size as well just to be sure that i have got the absolute right fit - and of course spending any money its important to make sure its well spent ie that the item is right. Still its horrid having that amount of money sat on my card until i return one

I have one of the dresses to return to the same place so it is no big hardship popping in - and i have the item to take back once i get the gift receipt :cool:

Today i was going to do a new recipe - only decided when i got up - it was just preparing and cooking the veggies differently to how i have before - a quick check though tells me the recipe i want to follow would nececcitate.... ooh edit i thought i'd need to go to the shops but no i've found a recipe for which i have the ingredients in already and i'll add a bit of my own ideas to this too :T:T:T

Off to catch up on the threads and to have some brekkie too - and a better cuppa

slowlyfading

Happy new year! Here's to 2014

LAM2011

hey DDFW - happy new year and all the best for 2014. I am hoping to join you and the lovely other peeps on this board next year lol.

DedicatedDFW

LAM2011 wrote: »

hey DDFW - happy new year and all the best for 2014. I am hoping to join you and the lovely other peeps on this board next year lol.

Hi LAM Happy New Year to you too and lovely to see you again. Your sig is very impressive i bet you'll be on this board this year

DedicatedDFW

I work well with lists, i like crossing things off them and the sense of achievement it brings i find a list makes me do more than i would otherwise achieve i like the focus and diversity of a list too - that it can have 'wash pots' on it as well as 'run' and 'bake cakes' I also like to get things down on paper and out of my head with this in mind i have been pondering things over xmas and have decided to put down some small changes i want to make. I hope to start doing things this month and if they work then keep them up through the coming months too. Some will be to save money but enjoyable as well - such as baking more bread (inspired by SF ) So here goes:-

1, Bake 1 loaf a week as required (i.e no need to bake it of we don't need one ) this should be both moneysaving as cheaper than shop bought and i enjoy it too :T
06/01/2014

2, Start 'the year of the use ups' Target: Coffee - make a proper cafetiere coffee jug each week i am tired of having over-full cupboards - it'd be great if they were overfull with the stuff we use all the time but they aren't. I found 4 boxes of coffee in the cupboard - i knew they were there but never got round to using them up. There are lots of other use-ups that i need to do as well and in other areas like make-up but Coffee is a good start - we like it, it'll create space as there is no need for 4 boxes and it'll delay having to replace the instant coffee so money saving too :T
1/1/14 first pot made, 07/01/2014, 14/01/2014
Used last bit of small pot of cream
Used up the chick peas
Plans to use up the plain flour

3, Water - i need to drink more i will measure my water bottle after and aim to drink 2 litres of water a day - it'll stop me drinking pop / coffee so save money there :T And will be good for my health and help with my next target

4, 8 5k runs i've got out of the habit and need to start up again. 8 works out at 2 a week but i'll need to build it up and didn't want to do just 1 a week so hopefully do-able. This should have overall health benefits and help with my weight loss target too

04/01/2014, 08/01/2014 3.5 miles,


5, Tuesday, the day of cashback each tuesday check if there are any good cashback offers available

07/01/14, 14/01/2014, 21/04/2014

6, Complete and submit assignment for uni
19/01/2014

7, 30 minutes a day following my dream i enjoy it, it could lead to a new career so i need to work at it

8, Shopping list to be kept to a minimum each week there's alot of food in the house but we still need fresh stuff and the odd ingredient but i need to shop smartly and keep the bill as low as possible NO BUYING PREPARED POTATOES UNLESS VASTLY REDUCED

9, stick to the meal plan as far as possible will save time and money :T and as far as possible as i've already had to shuffle meals around to different days

10, No buying clothes in january or shoes or accessories :eek: Moneysaving - thanks to pavlovs_dog for this one
1 bag £20, 1 bag £12.50, 1 skirt £30 , 1 skirt £5

11, Try to find the good / humour in the day e.g work may be hard but i can make it better by appraoching it in a cheerful manner and not letting this be worn out of me as it has been by other in the past

12, NSD tally: llll llll ll

13, No eating after 8pm during the week

06/01/2014, 07/01/2014, 08/01/2014 Thursday = failed, 13/01/2014, 14/01/2014, 15/01/2014 failed on 20/1/14 21/1/14, 22/1/14

14, Bay of e 28/100 and 26/72 - photo'd & written up ready = /46 target changed to 10/48 = 38 to go 2/38

that'll do for now i'll add to it if i think of any more but it is a good start and should have some good impact too. Some are easy wins or they may all seem so ? but it is for me about forming new good habits so i am happy with this now and am about to have a glass of water

Feb: £500 bay of e challenge - seel ipod / dock - record player & records ad bike, no newclothes etc., clear living room chllenge, clear spare room challenge - completely. First complete utility declutter all shelves emptied sorted and restores to order. Utility ultra clear

pavlovs_dog

happy new year DDFW, hope it's a good 'un.

Loving the list. With you on the coffee thing, we have a million and one filters and a diverse range of coffee sample packs but rarely use the coffee machine. Going to try make make proper coffee a feature of weekend mornings, as it is the only time of the week we're both up at vaguely the same time. I'm more of a tea gal myself, but have a substantial stash to work through before I'll allow myself to buy more.

slowlyfading

Loving the list we've got lots of stuff in cupboards that needs to be less cluttered, so I'll you on that one