Statement of Affairs

Spirit_2

The baking cupboard was investigated today. Along with all the Jam I also seem to have cornered the market in Suet and expensive drinking chocolate.

I have had a couple of days off, and it is just as well; money saving takes time. Thank you everyone for getting me going.
Today:Cancelled M& S payment protection on CC saving 40 per month.

• Had a response from Scottish Power, reducing my direct debit from 62 to 31.
• Made home made flapjacks so that when OH arrives home tomorrow there will be something home made for him. Reality has not lived up to the fantasy however and they are not very nice.
• Made a cheese and potato pie for dinner for me (have not eaten that since I was a child).
• Read the pet insurance board to see if I can reduce this. Got a quote from M&S for 3x as much as we are already paying.
• Biggest thing though was looking into the endowment. Not concluded on that yet.
• Did not spend any money today.
• DD phoned and I told her of the 'things money cannot buy' theme for dad's Birthday. She thought it fantastic and offered a couple of ideas that she would like to do.

I think this may be the quick wins over now though. I am quite surprised how quickly it seems to be falling into place (for me) we will see what happens when the family is all together again. In the synopsis of our family and the food budget I did not mention that DD has a longstanding boyfriend who is in training for the eating event in the 2012 Olympics and is often here with her. I may have to fill him up with puddings. More specifically suet pudding with jam.

JAMIEDODGER

LOL @ spirit

i loved the bit about specifically suet pudding with jam made me chuckle:D

again, day two and you seem to be on a roll! its great you DD thought the themed birthday was a good idea (sensible girl.... must have a great mum!)

i have a recipe for flapjack if youd like it. basic, simple, tastes good. and is cheap:)

have you joined https://www.quidco.com? i just sorted out my new pet insurance with petplan through them and earned myself a cool 35.00 cashback and it was cheaper than my current insurance:D in fact if you buy anything...do it through quidco if you can and watch the money stack up. i have earnt about 360 quid since i joined last year!

Excellent news on the PPI:) £40 a month brilliant! and also fab news about the scottish power dd too:D and congratulations on your NSD:D

tallyhoh

When you feel ready have a good clear out of the cupboards etc, surprising what you find. I did the wardrobe last week and found £11.21 in various coat pockets and approx £37 in euros.

The bathroom yielded lots of little bottles of shampoo and stuff, emptied into a big bottle can keep us going.
Don't forget some items can be returned to the shops. Like 5 jars of peanut butter if you are not going to eat it. I used to work for Sainsburys and people took stuff back all the time. Even dog food if the dog died.

I decided to start using my "good" stuff instead of keeping it for "best", or selling it on ebay.

Having a good clear out also gives you some idea of what you have, saves buying it again.

Since I cut down on spending I live a lot better>

hypno06

Suet pudding and jam :rotfl:

You have made a fantastic start and must be feeling on top of the world, but I am just going to warn you of a couple of DFW problems that crop up, in the hope that you can avoid them!

• DFW burnout - the first few days are fab - we cut back this, calculate that, cancel the other and can see huge progress made. Then what? After a few weeks we feel as though we have stopped making progress - we want to keep making big steps, but just remind yourself that it is baby steps on this journey. Not every day will reap something to cancel. Post on the "what small steps" thread and the "what will you spend today" thread to hopefully avoid the burnout.
• LBMs come at different times, and if others in the household have not had their moment yet, it can be very frustrating. Rather than give in, come on here, have a rant, and compare notes with others who are also suffering with flickering lightbulbs!

Good luck on your dfw journey, and keep posting here - it really does make a lot of difference on a daily basis!!

sparklymessygirl

Hi Storm,

It does look as if the endowment should go - but do investigate selling it rather than simply surrendering it as sometimes you can get more money.

Sparkly

Spirit_2

OH home this evening I have talked to him about :

• our total level of debt,
• what I have done over the last few days
• My spending plan for this month. He has agreed it with it and is pleased about it. We will discuss budget with and will use "green" tack.
• OH will ebay/sell some bits and pieces and try to find cheaper contents insurance
• I have set a cc repayment target of 1000 per month following the snowball plan and paid 836 of these today.
• I have ordered a weekly fruit & vegetable box which will commence Friday.
• The endowment is staying - there was an announcement from Standard Life today that seems to have impressed people who know more about these things than I do.
• OH has eaten a flapjack (said it was OK) ; we had chilli & salad made according to my meal plan.
• On the down side the kettle stopped working so will need to be replaced.

Small steps I know but important to me.

chevalier

Hi there
Have you joined your local freecycle group yet? www.freecycle.org. You can get things for free on there - all sorts. You have to join your local group first, but there may be a kettle with your name on it waiting for a new home. All you have to do is pick it up!
Best of luck with your debt challenge. And well done OH for coming on board with the plan
chev

aah

Hi there

what a great start - do keep it up and lovely to hear from you.

A.

Spirit_2

I have just completed my first week with a reformed family budget. OH is bought in to it and tells me what he has spent each day to include in the spending diary and DD knows that we are going to waste less in future and is happy with this (so far).

The fruit & veg box turned up and is very good. It never occurred to me to say "no plums", we have tree-fulls. Having consulted the old Style Board yesterday and reading a post from someone else with a lot of plums, tonight, I am making Delia's plum chutney. The plums are usually all badger food. I shall be having a late night tonight as in my enthusiasm I failed to notice how long it takes to cook chutney.

The 50th Birthday plan is developing. Another nephew has offered a fabulous gift "that money can't buy" ; he has arranged for his Olympic athlete pal to give OH a lesson in his sport - OH is an enthusiastic amateur :j.

We have been eating off the meal plan,making home made bread and even the flapjacks are being consumed, albeit slowly. I have not replaced the kettle yet as we are boiling a kettle on the stove. I have yet to join freecycle but have now investigated quidco which looks very good.

Thankyou for all the early days encouragement that got me started.

Spirit_2

We have now completed week 2.

Progress is steady, on the upside the Old Style eating is going very well. On the downside we have to have some maintenance done to the house and I had not anticipated this (OH is not doing it - last time he was at roof height he fell off (and yes he was badly injured)). We are awaiting a quote.

• I have followed up the Household Insurance comparator and will switch from Norwich Union to Axa and save 400.
• OH and DD's boy friend are doing some maintenance on the horse trailer today and it will then be sold.
• The spending diary is up to date and has really highlighted how much we spend on fuel. It is the planned level (70 per week) but it seems a huge amount when we are cutting back on everything else.
• The August grocery challenge is 400 and I have spent 144 so far.
• Timing payments out of the bank accounts properly so that I am not paying earlier than they need to be will reduce overdraft interest.

We go on holiday next Saturday (which is where my LBM started) and I have 'saved' 600 towards it, we have to pay the balance of the villa on arrival and we have a night in a (too) expensive hotel. OH total that he thinks we need is 1300; I think we cant afford any of it, but do not want to lose what we have already spent so I am aiming for 900.