Banishing the black cloud

maggiecon

Lots of ringing around today to price the best option for my mum for her birthday and TalkTalk are definitely the best value.

She will get her landline, her fibre broadband, anytime landline calls and mobile calls, their plus TV package and a free mobile sim for £35.95 per month increasing to £40.95 per month after 6 months and £45.95 per month after 12 months on an 18 month contract. Add to that £30 back through Quidco and £100 of lovetoshop vouchers. Because of the cashback and vouchers it averages out at £25 per month over 18 months. Her TV is also on the blink so she can use the vouchers in Argos towards a new one.

This is not as easy as I thought it would be, I should have just bought her a new handbag :rotfl:

maggiecon

Yeah, made it to the end of a budget week with a surplus in the pot - £20. First time in ages.

Heading to Asda after work to stock up on groceries. I have learnt a great new trick for keeping my grocery spending down. I write my grocery list down after planning my meals, I then log into the Asda grocery website and put everything I need in my shopping trolley and then print out the list and take it with me. This provides me with a total cost for my shopping before I hit the shops which is a great incentive for not buying anything that isn't on the list. It also sorts all the items into groups according to the aisle they are on, which makes getting around the shop a lot quicker.

Meals planned for this week are;
tonight - Leftover veg casserole and potatoes
Tomorrow - Eating out at lunchtime, broccoli and stilton soup for dinner
Saturday - Dinner Dance, let the kids get a pizza
Sunday - slow cooker beef stew
Monday - Sunday leftovers
Tuesday - Bacon and courgette pasta and garlic bread
Wednesday and Thursday - Freezer Lasagne

supersaver1000

I love it Maggie. Have done the same myself a couple of times, must make it a habit. :T

maggiecon

Car Insurance sorted for the grand total of £369.71 and £41 back through Quidco. All paid for with cash and no credit needed :T:T

Groceries are bought and the cupboards are nicely stocked, still looking for some nice veggie recipes. I made this vegetable casserole on Monday and let it sit over night, as advised to let the flavours develop. Well unless the flavour they were describing was cardboard I most have missed something!! I have come to the conclusion that me and lentils just don't go. I am sorry but they just taste like mush. I can handle them in mince dishes and that's about it. Back to the drawing board I'm afraid. Trying to eat healthy is really hard!!

We still have no shower in the house and I haven't had a chance to drive to B&Q for the tiles, it could be next week before we get it sorted.

My Emergency fund is nearly empty, the rental pot is empty and I only have £75 of my budget left to get me to next Thursday, I really hope hubby gets paid today or its going to be a looooong week. :rotfl:

maggiecon

Just want to do an update on what I am now referring to as Crazy November. Because every bill seems to have come out of the woodwork at the one time. Just in the middle of my Christmas shopping.

Tax 2 cars £99 each (Paid total cost £218)
Blinds for house £265 Not paid
Accountant £384 Paid
Car Insurance £350 ( Paid £369 but hope to get £41 back from Quidco)
Brothers bday £40 (paid)
Mums Bday (60th) £200 (£50 paid another £250 to go)
Speeding Fine £60 (Paid)
House Insurance £200 (Not Paid)

Total expenditure is £1201 which includes £90 service for hubbys car. Cant wait to get mummy's birthday over with next week to get back on track again. I have drained my emergency fund dry, but at least I can say I have paid every bill with cash and not credit.

supersaver1000

Don't forget Jack's smoky lentil burgers or I have a spicy lentil and tomato soup recipe - both are yummy.

maggiecon

Had a great weekend, went to dinner dance on Saturday night, 3 glasses of wine and ended up drunk. Cheap Date!! LOL

Hubby gave me no wages this weekend, he paid for Saturday night and gave DS a lend of £60 to buy new clothes as he wont stop growing. He has shot up nearly a foot in 18 months. Mums birthday is coming up this weekend.

I have decided this is definitely the week to get back to exercising, I am going to go running tomorrow night and to make sure I do it I am going to go to my running club. Otherwise I don't think I will do much on my own. However, I still don't think exercise is my problem, I think it is my diet, I ate dinner last night at 7pm and when I went to be 3 hours later my stomach was rumbling with hunger!!. I am obviously not eating well during the day.

Meal planning is great as it sorts out dinners but I need to start concentrating on breakfast and lunches. Breakfast is the hardest for me as I really don't like cereals and I stopped eating porridge because I am sick of it.

On the great recipe hunt I can confirm that broccoli and stilton soup tastes and smells like socks :rotfl:

maggiecon

Got an email from my solicitor last night about my ex tenants, they lost their claim for their deposit through the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and are now back to pursuing their claim for their fall.

They are now issuing proceedings apparently, so need to go and speak to solicitor, I spoke to their previous landlord a couple of months ago and she said she got similar letters from them and she just ignored them. However, I think they will keep pursuing this one.

I just cant understand the law, how can someone who falls due to their own stupidity claim of someone who had nothing to do with it. The tenant told me, hubby and my brother on three separate occasions that the fall was her fault and not to worry about it and then nearly a year later decides she wants to claim.

Now that that rant is over back to the money saving, I need to buy tickets for Hubbys graduation today which is another £65!! That means no money left in the pot until Thursday. Luckily there is enough food in the freezer to get us through. Still haven't bought any Christmas presents for DS as I have no idea what he wants.

supersaver1000

Hi Maggie, we ring the changes with a breakfast omlette. One or two eggs in a small frypan. Bit of grated cheese (I keep a box in the fridge). It's really quick and keeps you full for ages. Soup for lunch is also filling. Both take longer to digest than other meals. Ss1k

maggiecon

I started back at the running last night, I managed about 3.5 mile before my legs started to ache so much that I had to pull out. I wasn't even out of breath and would love to have kept going but hamstring and knees were in pieces. But at least it is a start. Feeling it today though!!

There is a large lasagne in the freezer for dinner tonight which will also do tomorrow. I have been having Weetabix for breakfast this last couple of days and starting to feel the benefit. unfortunately I cannot eat without a big spoonful of sugar.

Speaking to the solicitor yesterday he reckons if ex tenant did pursue her case she could get anything from £7.5k up to £25k depending on how complicated the fracture is, thankfully she cant claim for loss of earnings. Also the fact that she waited nearly a year before claiming will be a factor, as well as her having told three different people on three occasions that the fall was her own fault will also help.

He has also suggested that I need to pull together evidence of all the damage she has done to my property and for the unpaid rent, on the basis that if she keeps pursuing me I can at least recoup some money from her. I even have her ex landlord jumping at the chance to help me due to all the bad dealings she had with them too.