I want to be Debt and Mortgage Free by 35!

lorriedriver1988

killerpeaty wrote: »

Hi Lorrie! You sound like you're doing so well.

What's the plan to get your food bill to £35?

It's a shame that you can't get hubby on board with the ebay cots, is there no way of getting some bits from charity shops?

Hi killerpeaty,


Thankyou for your comment. As for the £35 food bill, I have managed so far to create a meal plan and worked out where is cheapest to buy items. I plan to do an online shop on Tesco, go to Mr A, Aldi and Mr M for bits and pieces. I just need to be strict with DH.


I am going to look at bay of e, charity shops and netmums as soon as I have more money saved from surveys etc.

lorriedriver1988

Hi everyone.


Today has been a nice day, going at my own pace. Trying to figure out how to make money go further. At the moment, all I have achieved is a meal plan and a Mr T order. I also roughly know where I need to go to make my £35 food and cleaning budget last a whole week.


MSE efforts for today:


* One load of clothes washed at 30 degrees and placed on airers
* All surveys completed.
* Thanks to a thread on here found a website that compares the prices of nappies and wipes. I will be buying enough own brand nappies from Mr T to last the whole month and wipes from Mr A. Hoping to spend less than £35.
* Completed all surveys available.
* Redeemed 500 points from Apptrailers- not much but every little helps.
* All meals from stores
* Started planning next week's shop.
* Started planning an MSE birthday celebration for DH.


Bigger picture plans:
* Need to think of ways of cheap or completely free ways of sprucing up garden after extension will be finished in a few weeks
- so far painting garden fence with paint already in garage
- using lawn seed in back of cupboard to patch up grass.
- use vouchers from surveys to buy raised beds for plants grown from seed?!


Finishing off extension-
* paint whole extension once flooring has been laid with paint already purchased for a grand total of £1.99.
* put light shade up that was bought reduced
* can I buy flooring and get flooring laid for less then £150?!
* pictures for walls- go to N**t outlet to have a look at canvasses that are reduced- use giftcard?!


And ultimately....
how to find the money to actually start making OP's on loan?!


Lots to think about.

lorriedriver1988

Evening everyone,


Today has been another busy day. This morning I went to the midwife's drop in clinic to see if she could chase up some appointments- still no nearer to being resolved.


As the credit card hasn't reset today, I wasn't able to make my monthly purchase of nappies and wipes. However, I had to spend £1.24 on bread and crisp from Mr T. Also I must come clean and admit I spent 0.95 of my own money on hand santiser and a Mr T value chocolate bar. I know, naughty me.


MSE efforts for today.


* Completed all surveys available.
* Received 32p from app trailers
* Got a lift to work as DH is using last of diesel before receiving new car tomorrow
* Got buses everywhere else using newly purchased weekly bus ticket
* Looked on bay of e for baby items on local ebay deals mapper.
* Looked on bay of e for underlay for flooring. Still not sure this will be the cheapest option. I think I will probably post elsewhere on forum for advice as I am very naïve.
* Found £60 in account so put towards cost of flooring.


Its an exciting day tomorrow. We are getting a new car and roof is finally going up on extension. Yippee!!!


Still no closer to being able to make an overpayment on loan :-(

Baldybear

Good morning

Have subscribed, cheering you on to your goals, you seem like me (although I am single with no kids ha ha) on having insane goals, but like you would be fantastic to achieve them

Re the garden has anyone you know got any plants in the garden that you like, maybe get some cuttings etc and then re-plant, be free. Also not sure if there any seeds etc that you can get, know on freebies board there was advertised tomato seeds, if you like them of course as would help you save some pennies on the grocery front too come the summer.

lorriedriver1988

Baldybear wrote: »

Good morning

Have subscribed, cheering you on to your goals, you seem like me (although I am single with no kids ha ha) on having insane goals, but like you would be fantastic to achieve them

Re the garden has anyone you know got any plants in the garden that you like, maybe get some cuttings etc and then re-plant, be free. Also not sure if there any seeds etc that you can get, know on freebies board there was advertised tomato seeds, if you like them of course as would help you save some pennies on the grocery front too come the summer.

Thankyou for your comment. I am starting to think I have set my targets to an impossible level, simply because at the moment our income is very limited. But I will try everything to achieve my targets. Good luck with your targets. You sound like you have determination to achieve them. Do you have a diary?


I am going to keep an eye out for freebie seeds, it would help a lot. Thankyou for the suggestion.

lorriedriver1988

Evening DFW's,


Today has been one for changes, the roof on the extension has partially gone up and we now have a new car. The only downside is I have spent over £10,000 today. Money seems to be going out more quickly than its coming in.


MSE efforts today:


* 2 x 30 degree washes and placed on airer to dry
* Received 32p from app trailers
* Completed all surveys that were available
* Bought 4 packs of cheapest nappies on offer at Mr T, spent £16.25 in total, which included milk and coffee for the builders- need to add to grocery total. I know am over £45 and still need to buy items for DH's birthday meal.
* Used weekly ticket to go one way to work. Hubby did offer to take me, but at the expense of lunch out. Told him to pick me up and go home for lunch.
* All meals from stores
* Set out next menu's plan and adjusted food order to accommodate for new offers, hopefully bringing down the total.
* Physio rang for follow up appointment this evening and am going in the morning.
* Look on bay of e for baby items, no luck.


Bigger news:


I looked at balance transfer cards for part of the loan, but it is not going to happen as our income is so low.


Also realised that £150 is not enough for a decent floor, hoping to have £250-300 to spend, current total £0.


Night all.

lorriedriver1988

Evening DFW's,


Feeling rather buoyant at the moment. But I have managed to have an expensive day, some necessary and unnecessary. I have blown the food budget because of DH's birthday, I have overspent by £6.82, so annoyed. However, on the plus side it is cheaper than all the family going out for a meal. Additionally I went to see physio today and they have decided to try hydrotherapy with me. I have been booked in for Monday, meaning I need a swimming costume I fit in, I desperately looked on the bay of e for a second hand one. There were plenty on there but they would not be delivered in time for Monday. I then looked around on various websites looking for a cheap one, most of them priced around the £16-20 price mark. However, I looked on Moth- care and found one for half price, reduced from £24 to £12. I have ordered it and made sure I went through TCB. Its just an unexpected spend.


So more MSE efforts:


* Interest and cashback £6.05 received from 123 account transferred to monthly H2B savings
* Received £3.00 in paypal from p**ec**e- transferred to monthly H2B savings
* Completed all surveys available
* Collected free bounty pack
* Used bus to get around
* Took snacks and water so not tempted by cake oe coffee shops whilst out.
* All meals from stores
* Did spend £1.99 on mascara in B**ts- but received 100 advantage points for buying it- making it 0.99p
* Picked up meat offers in Aldi for next week's meal plan before offers change tonight-£1.68 spent on sausages and bacon
* Readjusted Mr T order to reflect coupons received in post and from the new Aldi offers that I will buy on Saturday
* Researched prices of items that I received money off coupons for in bounty pack- hoping for some freebies.
* I must reconfigure credit card and check total so far.


That's it for tonight.

lorriedriver1988

Evening DFW's,


MSE things for the day:


* Took DS1 to hearing test at hospital. Parked at MIL's and walked to hospital, no need to pay for parking.
* Completed all surveys that are available,
* Checked banking for any spare pennies, money looking dire to tax credits being messed up
* Cheque from car insurance company arrived for replacement car seats
* Used bus ticket to get to work
* Price compared more items on food shopping- will adjust shopping in a bit.
* Redeemed £10 voucher from survey site, will be added to stock pile of vouchers
* All meals from DH
* DH treated DS1 to sweeties for being a good boy at hospital, £1.63 spent.


Off to browse internet more.

lorriedriver1988

Good evening DFW's:


Today was food shopping day. Total spent: £36.20. £1.20 over budget. Breakdown of food shopping:

Mr T: £25.75
Mr A: £2.87
A**I: £7.48


I have a learnt a big lesson today that A**I is a lot cheaper on most items, particularly fruit and veg. I have made a mental list of everything that I will be buying next time to come in on budget.


So MSE things today:
* Used £1 off coupon to get free De**ol wipes from Mr A.
* All meals from stores
* Clothes washed at 30 degrees and placed on airer to dry
* Completed all surveys available
* Redeemed £40 from 1 poll, will be going towards April's H2B monthly savings target
* Checked for any mystery shops
* Started next week's food shop
* Continued looking at flooring- have found cost for someone to lay. Its expensive.
* Need to set short term savings targets for things we need/ need doing
* Need to look at financial products and review.


That's it for today

lorriedriver1988

I am setting my short term savings goals out for myself so I know how I am getting on with my targets:


Saving Goals


1) Extension floor: £0/350
2) Garden furniture: £0/55
3) Garden tidy up: £0/100
4) Furniture: £0/100
5) April's H2B monthly targets: £0/227.27
6) B-Savings: £0/10.00
7) Loan overpayment: £0/50


Will update as and when money come's in/ becomes available.