2014 - New Rules to Live By

Pennydropped

This is to keep me on the straight and narrow financially. I need to set up rules to follow and get myself in a better position financially. Being a single parent with 2 DCs at home, it's important to have savings to fall back on and money put aside for specific expected expenses.


So what rules do I need? I'll list off those I have put together so far, and will add as I go, as hopefully I will learn new things this year to add to my list.


1. Once out of the overdraft, STAY out of the overdraft.


This is fair enough. I'm currently constantly dipping into the overdraft, and I hate it. So first and foremost, get out of it and then stay out of it.


2. Pay myself first to build up savings.


Again, I need something to fall back on for emergencies like car problems, unexpected repairs, things like that. Ideally, I'd like to get £2000 in this fund by end of 2014 (barring any emergencies of course!) So I estimate if I put £50 per week in a savings account, I'll have £2600 by the end of the year. That means £600 leeway in case of an actual emergency will still allow me to hit my goal.


3. Save money for expected expenses.


I don't want to use my emergency fund for things that I can plan ahead and budget for. In my opinion, that negates the purpose of having an emergency fund! This would be for things like new washer or dryer (in case of break down) or other new appliance, Christmas, birthdays, planned days out, things like that. I plan on putting aside a base rate for this, but leaving the option open to increase the amount if needed.


4. Build up credit on electricity and gas meters.


I plan on continuing the amount I'm paying now over the summer to build up credit on the meters, hoping that next winter it will mean a good sized cushion in case of any financial problems. It also means it's easier to budget for it.


5. Continue upgrading the interior of the house and doing DIY to complete the home.


It's expensive, of course, to continue DIY, but a necessary evil. There is so much still to do, and although I'm not in a huge hurry to do it, I'd like to get busy and make a significant amount of progress on it this year. This is a council house, which means at least I won't have to pay for any specific repairs, but I still want it to be properly maintained, so some of the work I will need to do myself or pay for someone to do. It's that whole "care for your home and it will care for you" thing, I suppose.


6. Finish paying off any debts that are possible, in an aim to be debt free.


I have a few debts. One is mine, and a few are joint with an ex, although they are not in my name. It's only right to help take care of them, as we were together when the debts were built up. It does make things a bit more complicated, as obviously I don't want to end up being responsible for the entire debt, just my half. The debt that is mine is currently being paid at £25 per month. I'm hoping to increase that amount to at least £50 per month in order to decrease the balance enough to pay it off at the end of the year.


7. Make changes to my grocery shopping practices.


I want to keep buying many items that are budget/everyday value/essentials/basics (depending on where I'm shopping), however, I also want to use more local shops whenever possible. There are two butchers nearby that I generally frequent - one shop down the street and one at a weekly market. There is also a fruit and veg shop that is fairly close that I could go to once a week, as well as Aldi's super 6 purchases.


I would also like to try using more "in season" fruits and veg along with trying new produce I haven't used very much (or at all). So trying new recipes and meal planning will obviously play a big part in my plan. I usually do meal planning, but over the holidays have become quite lax about it. So today I will put together the first meal plan for 2014 and make sure I do this regularly.


That's a good start, I think. I will be working on my budget today, fine tuning it, and then my meal plan and my next grocery shopping list. I have some things stocked up a bit, so I'm hoping to keep the shopping to a small shop this week.

Squirrelly

Best of luck with your plans I have just started out to, ready for the fresh start a new year brings!

Pennydropped

Day 2 and I'm already being naughty. I ordered takeaway pizza for the DCs today for lunch. Although slightly redeeming factors, we ate the leftovers for supper and there's still some leftover for breakfast (DS2 insisted we save a few pieces for morning as he loves cold pizza), and I used a voucher so it was under £20. It was overcompensating on my part, as the DCs' father was supposed to visit them today and he cancelled last minute. So I thought it would be nice to give them a little New Year's Day treat. Any other day, I probably would have dug something out to make, but we're a little low on fast and easy stuff at the moment (and have been eating turkey for days), so I chose pizza.


So, holiday spending aside. I'm still doing other things to save money
- boiling up kettle of water and putting in a thermos in the morning to use for tea and coffee throughout the day
- using loads of basics/everyday value/essentials items from supermarkets
- mealplanning and buying according to sales at supermarkets when possible
- using more local smaller businesses when I can (not always less expensive, but IMO better for the local economy in the long run)
- having at least 2 or 3 veg meals during the week to cut down on meat expense
- buying a mix of inexpensive pre-prepared foods (like fish filets or fish fingers, bolognaise sauce for example) and making some foods from scratch (meatloaf, casserole, stew for example)
- buying certain items only on sale or basics which are cheaper (crisps, soda pop for example) so we don't have them too often


Some of my food purchases are guided by what DS1 will eat. He is disabled and has some specific food issues, which means he is limited as to what he can or will eat. This does affect my grocery list to a fair degree, so I can only cut it so far. And it can limit what I cook for the DCs as well. I like to make things homemade when I can, but I also know that sometimes it's still okay nutritionally and just as good to buy ready food as well, provided it's a good price. I'm happy to do a mix of each. The DCs like homemade cookies, for example, which I make fairly regularly, but I also keep a few inexpensive biscuits on hand (rich tea biscuits, digestives from the basics line). Not pricey and handy to have.


I would like to make some small purchases that I consider necessary, but are a bit outside my normal budget, so I am planning on spending a bit of extra money this month and next month on them. For example:
- paint for both DCs rooms
- some posters and/or wall deco for their rooms
- possibly new curtains for their rooms (if I can find some affordable)
- new shower curtain (2 at poundland)
- new bath mat
- small carpet/mat for the downstairs bathroom


I promised the DCs that I would start with their rooms, as they are badly in need of paint and a minor update. Then I'm going to put extra money aside for carpeting the staircase.


I know, I know. Seems like loads of money going out on everything. I'm just going to have to conserve where I can, cut where I can, and make sure when I do spend that I get the best buy available.


My next money-saving step is to re-examine our TV package. We have Virgin Media, which I like, and it's a tv-broadband-landline package. But it's a fairly pricey one. I have it at that level as I don't really get out - don't go to the cinema so I like to have the movies available at home - and DS1 finds certain programming comforting to watch over and over. DS2 has some favourites as well. But I'm going to look and see what I can do to shave the cost - I don't know if I'll change the package or not, but I have to at least review it regularly to see if a lower cost option is available.

Pennydropped

Okay, I've redeemed myself for the pizza. I've downgraded my tv package and it's now £27 cheaper a month. Hoorah!! That £27 can be put in savings every month!! I was a little embarrassed as checking the channel listings, I saw that the DCs weren't watching the channels on the higher package level anyway, and I can easily give up the Sky movies, as I can watch films on Netflix. Now I will spend a few months seeing if we can slowly start ignoring the channels on this level package and drop another level, saving even more. The DCs already watch quite a bit on Netflix anyway.


They tried to talk me into upgrading broadband, but the speed I have now is sufficient (and I don't want the expense of a new hub). And they gave me information about upgrading to Tivo, but again, I don't want the expense, and what we have works just fine as it is, so I just don't see the need to change at the moment.


Clothes dryer not being used this week except for sheets and towels. The weather seems to be slightly warmer so the heater will only need to go on the regular timed periods (3 periods of one hour over the course of 24 hours). Brighter out, so less lights on. So hooray for less electricity being used!


I was going to do a grocery shop, but on looking at all the cupboards, I think I probably have enough to get us through until Tuesday easily, provided I pick up a container of milk over the weekend. Other than that, we've got enough food to make meals and a few snacks for all of us.


Still up in the air about the car. There's an electronic sensor that seems to kick off regularly (I think it has a short, although they've checked it before and said it was fine). The thing is, after a few days, it seems to just reset and be fine. So I'm waiting it out for a couple days to see how it goes. If it doesn't reset by tomorrow, I'll have to ring and have it looked at. Fingers crossed it resets.

want_to_save

good luck on your journey I have subscribed to your post

trishx

Good luck Penny! Sounds like you've got your priorities in order and are capable and determined! Subscribing

Pennydropped

Ah, colour me pleased. A silly little clearance bargain in Sainsburys made me smile. 25p for an 18pk box of basics mince pies. So I bought two of them. A lovely little supply of "coffee snacks" that are still good for a few weeks. I think 50p for 36 mince pies is a great deal!


Roadside service came out and tested the car for me, as well as recommending a garage to take it to for repair (a nearby one on their approved list). And he even rang them to see if they could look at it early this week and rang an auto part shop to find out the retail price of the part that seems to be faulty, so I'd have some idea of a reasonable cost to repair. With any luck, it'll be under £100 to repair, based on that information. Fingers crossed.


Condenser dryer being used today, as it's sheets and towels being washed. I'm happy to hang up most clothing until dry, but not those. I found an interesting tip today (after I'd dried the towels, of course!!) that if you put a dry towel in with the wet clothing, it decreases your drying time. I will try this next week and see how it goes. Always happy to decrease the time. The other thing I often do is hang towels up to dry partway then put them in the dryer to finish off.


I've managed to sort it so YouTube can be watched on the television, so some programmes that the DCs enjoy can be watched on the television. Again, in another attempt to cut back the reliance on specific channels in the Virgin package, in preparation for another cut to a smaller package in a month or two. I'm feeling quite positive about that. The goal is to get it to basic channels only.


I'm looking forward to getting back to my usual routine once school is back in session. There are a couple supermarkets in one general area locally, which means I can take advantage of sales items all in one go, without wasting extra petrol - but supermarket-hopping is not something I like to do with 2 DCs along, especially when it means getting DS1's wheelchair in and out of the car each time!


There is some serious garden work that needs to be done, which I simply can't do with both DCs around. The front hedges need to be trimmed. I don't have an electric trimmer, but I would think I could at least do a semi-presentable job with manual branch cutters/trimmers, right? Here's hoping, as THAT's on my "to do" list for this week! I've got a garden bin that's been largely ignored over the winter, and it annoys me to pay a full year's fee to have it picked up, when part of the year it just doesn't get used at all. So now that school is starting back up, I can do some garden work as well. I have most of the equipment I need, it's just investing the time.


I reeeeeaaaallly want to have a vegetable garden. REALLY really do. But... I suspect I may have a black thumb. I am not the best of gardeners. I think if I put my mind to it, I could possibly kill off a plastic plant. I applied for and was offered an allotment locally at one point, but had to turn it down as it was a very difficult spot to work with. I know my limits. I took my name off the list as I felt it wasn't fair to keep it on there if I wasn't able to take what was offered at this point.


I'm going to start perusing the gardening threads and see what I can come up with for a small start to gardening. I have seen lots of slugs in our back garden, so that's a big concern - will I be able to keep the slugs out? I'd love to have fresh produce though. A small start, I think. In previous years, I've tried tomatoes - not bad, carrots - never seem to work well for me, lettuce - okay, and a marrow that was labelled as a pumpkin in a garden shop when I was buying small plants to grow. As it got larger, it was clear that it was no pumpkin. LOL The DCs were quite disappointed.


Goodness, not much sleep lately, as DS1 has been having lots of asthma flareups. He's usually up in the night anyway, but up and highly agitated from asthma and coughing is not good at all1 I'm off to refill my coffee cup - today is a "drink coffee til you jitter" day.

Pennydropped

Appointments. Tons of appointments. Tomorrow both DCs are back in school again, and then my list of things to do starts with making appointments for an eye appointment for DS1, hospital eye appointment for DS2, OT appointment for DS1, appointment with asthma nurse for both DS1 & DS2, and then contacting the eye doctor where DS2 got his glasses to get one arm replaced (from his old pair with previous prescription) as it's already broken after 2 weeks wear (faulty maybe?) and contacting the council as I had a log fire in my open fireplace and my upstairs bedroom (directly above the living room where the fire was) filled with smoke - had to open a window and clear it out. I had the council out to check it before I had a fire in the fireplace and they checked it and said it was fine. Obviously they were wrong. I'm not very happy with that - it could have been dangerous!


I've finally figured out a spreadsheet for my budget and have spent time inputting information into it. It's not perfect, there are some things I'd do differently if I knew how, but it'll work, so that's a start.


I spoke to the garage owner today about the car. As the fault is random and is not misfiring at the moment, he recommended driving the car for a few days and see if the error re-occurs and then bringing the car in at that point. So that's what I'm doing.


I'm of two minds regarding baking bread. I love fresh bread but at the same time, it seems that people are pricing homemade bread at 47p roughly (from a few other threads). I'm paying 47p a loaf for bread at Aldi, so while it's not "fresh baked", it's good bread and I think I'm going to stick with that for now. I don't have a bread maker, although I do have a mixer with a dough hook. But it's extra work I don't necessarily need at the moment, so bought bread it is. (with maybe an occasional loaf of homemade as a treat)

Pennydropped

Oh, goodness. Crazy days. Finally got DS2's glasses fixed (or more accurately the arm replaced by the arm off his old identical pair of glasses). But I did request that they order a new one, as they've verified it was faulty, and then when the new arm comes in, they'll put the old one back on the old pair. Always good to have spares.


I've allowed myself to order one DVD per month, if there is one that we like. So this month was Wreck It Ralph. DCs are currently watching it now. At £6.99 with free shipping, I certainly can't complain over the price. Cheaper than seeing it at the cinema!


DCs school shoes still need to be replaced. I was going to do it over Christmas holidays but there weren't the right sizes in the right styles (they both need to wear the trainer type as they complain their feet hurt and tend to get blisters from the more dressy style). Easily a bit more wear in them, so even after I buy the new ones, I'll wait until they have to be swapped - just like to have them on hand and ready in case one of the shoes blows out.


School issues and appointments have taken up most of my time in the last few days. I'd like to think that Monday will start with a clean slate again, so I can start back on getting things done around the house.


I suspect my weekend will be filled with sock sorting. The evil washing machine slowly was pilfering socks from the laundry loads over the last year and recently seems to be spitting out extra socks in each load. So I have a huge stack of mostly black school socks to sort though and match. Fun times! lol

Squirrelly

Ah pennydropped, we have a sock monster who lives in our washing machine too. I now have a big curver box that I throw all the black socks in and hubby and I just grab two that are the nearest match every morning, not a perfect solution but it saves loads of time.

Take care and keep going x

Pennydropped

Today was "sort through the toiletries day" in my bathroom. Goodness! Who knew there was all that shampoo, lotion, and soap hiding here and there all over the place??


Let's see:
2 huge bottles of apple shampoo
1 huge bottle of coconut shampoo
1 huge bottle of coconut conditioner
1 bottle of baby shampoo
2 bottles of "chocolate" shampoo/bath soap (Christmas gift - DS2 loves it, DS1 won't touch it LOL)
1 bottle of dandruff shampoo
1 bar of cinnamon shampoo (DS1's favourite as he is able to shampoo by himself to some extent with it)


4 bars of soap
2 bottles of shower gel


4 bottles of lotion
2 bottles of baby oil


I also found 3 shower curtains (poundland, sealed in package still), cotton balls, and 6 toothbrushes - 2 adult, 4 child - still sealed in packages.


The DCs are due a toothbrush change, so theirs are being changed tomorrow. The shower curtain is also being changed tomorrow.


So... the bottles with the lowest amount in them will be used first, just to lower the amount of bottles sitting on the shelves. I've also moved about half a dozen older face cloths from the "good" shelf to the cleaning basket as they're getting a bit threadbare. There's still plenty of nice ones left.


I'm also going to be spraying the strong mould/mildew cleaner I bought at Lakeland before Christmas on the shower tiles to clean it up. I can do that during the school day so I can open the window as it apparently has some fumes to it.


Eventually I'm going to have to take down all the wallpaper in the upstairs bathroom and paint it. I'm not a huge fan of wallpaper in the bathroom anyway, but it's kind of grotty from condensation and spraying it with bleach to get rid of mould. We had to go around for ages with the council to get a fan put in the bathroom as they kept saying just leave the window open, which I couldn't do - first of all it was too cold for DS1 and he'd get distressed and it wasn't safe because he could reach the window. I'm dreading starting it as any wallpaper that has been removed so far in this house has been a nightmare to remove!! But I read somewhere that vinegar and water and a mop would do the job well, so I'm thinking about trying that when I get that far! Can't hurt to try!!


Edited to add that I had to spend £4.95 on a decent can opener, as mine finally broke beyond repair. And then £5 on some household essentials. Now I need to be careful grocery wise for the rest of the month!!