Only freedom will do

slowlyfading

I love reading about your yummy sound meals

choccielover

Ed a quick question if I may

How long do CSD typically take to invest in a fund? I opened an S&S isa with them and paid in some cash them invested in the vanguard 80 fund but it's been sitting in pending transactions for the last 2 days..... is that normal or have I not pressed something?

Thanking you

Suffolk_lass

edinburgher wrote: »

Like El, I'm trying to get our grocery budget under control, but the freezer is still heaving with bargains. I managed to use all of our frozen food and a bunch of weird food cupboard purchases over the last fortnight, but if I see a deal on something we'll definitely use (say meat or freezable dairy), I will always take it.

I am prone to the bargain thing with our grocery shopping too, so about two or three years ago, I started working with an annual budget which includes a 13th "monthly" pot. This is my bulk buy/bargains pot and while not totally trouble-free (tendency to hoard), I do buy my snob-brands when they are on offer and fund any bargains out of this without the same impact on paper. I never pay full price for toiletries, cleaning products or cat food, and just yesterday, I bought 6 months supply of washing detergent at half-price. Last week I bought some butter that seemed to be cheap and froze it. Sure enough, up by 8p a pack this week. Works for me!

Have a great weekend
SL

pavlovs_dog

edinburgher wrote: »

[*]Use debit cards wherever possible (only spends going on CC are Mrs E's train tickets and any emergency groceries she picks up)

Happy weekend peeps :coffee:

Do you not use any kind of reward/ cash back CC Ed? Or does stoozing the 0% offers work out better for you financially?

edinburgher

choccielover wrote: »

Ed a quick question if I may

How long do CSD typically take to invest in a fund? I opened an S&S isa with them and paid in some cash them invested in the vanguard 80 fund but it's been sitting in pending transactions for the last 2 days..... is that normal or have I not pressed something?

Thanking you

Choccielover, the settlement date (i.e. the day that your S&S holdings will be updated to show the newly purchased units is always shown before you commit to the purchase). From memory, it's something like +3-4 working days? So, while your price is determined at the next dealing point from when you make your purchase, it usually takes something like 4 days until everything is settled.

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

I started working with an annual budget which includes a 13th "monthly" pot. This is my bulk buy/bargains pot and while not totally trouble-free (tendency to hoard), I do buy my snob-brands when they are on offer and fund any bargains out of this without the same impact on paper.

That's a great idea SL, I had thought about linking the months (so that over/under spends would partially correct the following month). I suppose that's just the logical conclusion of what you do, although you're intentionally earmarking a proportion for bulk spends. I worry that if I tried that, I'd navel gaze over what was or wasn't bulk :rotfl:

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

Do you not use any kind of reward/ cash back CC Ed? Or does stoozing the 0% offers work out better for you financially?

I do neither PD, I probably should as we're on reduced income these days. Do you have a card that you can recommend? We tend to rinse our purchases through a V1rgin credit card, which has accumulated enough points for a business class return to the US or Asia over the years that I have been using it. Still, it's a bit of a shell game, as the benefits could be cut/disappear at a whim.

Speaking of bulk purchases, this morning I have had my hair cut, picked up the pump for our new environmentally friendly laundry detergent and bought enough dishwasher tablets for over a year L1dl have 10% extra free on their strong tablets and I'm yet to find anything cheaper. So £33.21 spent on a year of clean plates. Plus the electricity, God knows how much we spend over and above what washing up liquid would be, but it's sooooo convenient

edinburgher

Things I am glad of this afternoon:

• Our new coffee maker is idiot proof and makes a lovely espresso
• Our smart TV connects directly to Amaz0n. DD currently relaxing with The Secret Life of Pets, paid for with free credits from accepting slower deliveries on occasion. Only 99p for a movie this weekend for anyone else with similar facilities

Got #10 from a P2P referral, added this towards our 2018 savings target :j Sig updated

choccielover

Thanks Eds

debtfreeoneday

Thank you, reading in here this morning, I've remembered something I needed to do!

Thank you!

Suffolk_lass

A good day to stay warm and cosy with the forecast today - mild and wet for you, if I'm not mistaken; snow for us a bit later.

My definition of what are stores changes according to whether my monthly budget can afford it to be honest, so apart from things like laundry detergent and coffee, which are always bought "in bulk" when on offer, the rest is fairly flexible - so it's really a way to not feel guilty when I buy things on offer and to ensure I don't bust the annual budget.

Would you mind sharing the results of your toothpaste research? I have looked at ours and the ingredients are horrible (4 tubes in stores so no immediate hurry to replace). I know Fluoride is very unfashionable now (filthy chemical) but my Mum saved and paid for my Sis and I to have a series of fluoride treatments in our teenage years as there was none in the water supply (!)

SL

bournefree

I like the idea of a 13th month. I put aside £300 for Christmas food, which is pretty similar. If you do a non-monthly plan, when you get to Christmas you can enjoy it more and it makes January much less of a lean month!