We will be debt free and happy with our allotment!!!

Bobarella

Hello
First thing I noticed was that the combined gas and electric is high. Have you shopped around recently for the best rates? We are a family of 3 living in a 3 bed house and our electric is only £27 a month. Gas is variable. Higher recently as the heating has been on but we've just turned it off at the start of the month so hoping to see that back at around £35 per month soon. We're with First Utility. Anyway just a thought.
Bob

Mrs_Toast

I've just managed to get it fixed with our current supplier saving at least £50 as last month the gas was £150 on its own. I've also managed to get £50 Amazon vouchers with it so will use it for presents and put £50 towards the debt. Next I'm currently fighting with TalkTalk's website to cancel a boost we had on that I forgot about

OrangeFairy

Hi Mrs Toast

I've subscribed!

I see you are a bit tight each month....is there any job you could potentially do from home or just one day a week to boost your income?

Not a single income family but we like to get out and do free activities like geocaching and walks on the beach. However our children are that bit older so activities are different.

In the summer bike rides and picnics are my fave thing to do

OF x

Mrs_Toast

Hi OrangeFairy, thanks for subscribing.


I do actually work from home in a direct selling business but my confidence is stopping me from developing it. I do have a few customers and my first repeat customer this month and have started networking with other mumpreneurs to practice my skills. Hopefully it will pick up as it's the only way I could earn anything around my family really.


We definitely love picnics and need to sort out bikes for DH and I for the summer. There are lots of places local to us that are beautiful for bike rides. DD and I went to a local group that do activities at a local parkland today which was free. She may be just a tad too young for it but will persevere with it for now. We had a lovely picnic with friends so all in all a lovely frugal day in the sun.


Yesterday I managed to get the food shop done so I shouldn't need to go shopping for anything before payday except maybe bread (reduced of course). Today I took wellies back to Matalan that were odd sizes. I didn't even notice until I got home and then found some second hand ones I'd stored in DD's wardrobe. Lesson learnt, organise stored clothes always check before going shopping. I exchanged it for a summer hat for her and then the rest covered the parking for the parkland so all free .


Tomorrow we're having another NSD as DD and I are going to the local museum to help develop their Explorer Activity Bags. The museum came to DS's school to ask for help and I volunteered. It's a lovely museum and the yearly pass is only £15 so good value if we can afford it. Tea with be cheese and bacon pasta and I may get time to make some cakes.

OrangeFairy

Hi Mrs Toast.

Great that you are working a bit from home - I hope it starts to bring in a bit more income for you soon.

Seems you have some good cheap/free things planned with the kids which is great.

OF x

debtfreewannabe321

Hi Mrs Toast, good luck with finding somewhere to make cuts. We have one income here although I hope to change that within the next year We've managed though although we've had to cut down on lots of expenditures to make it work.

I agree the gas & elec is high. We are in a 3 bed terrace with 5 of us in the house and I pay £81 a month for both. What's the other travel? Can that be cut down? And also the entertainment? We like to do lots of free things in our free time- walks, country parks, beach (even if the weather isn't great the kids still love it), we joined the local zoo so even though it was a big expense it's worked out to be super cheap over the year as we can go whenever we like if we're short of money. Also national trust tickets are a good idea if you have some good attractions in your area (an initial outlay but I think they're worth the money).

Take care

Mrs_Toast

Thank you OrangeFairy, I hope so too. We are very lucky where we are in that there are lots of free/cheap things to do but I get into the habit of paying for things while we're there which I need to get out of.


Hi debtfreewannabe321, thanks for stopping by. Not that I want to wish my children's life away but in about 18 months DS will be old enough for free preschool so I could get a part time job while she's there. The other travel is petrol for DH's commute on his motorbike but it could probably be cut a little as I know he visits the shop a lot with that money. We have NT cards that run out in July so will use them lots and we had Chester Zoo membership last year which was great but a lot to pay out in one go. I've found a few places that do cheap season passes so will look into them. I've just fixed with BG for around £100 a month for both which will save us money over the year and we have £50 Amazon vouchers too.


Well today was a frugal day until this evening. After the school run DD and I walked to the local museum via Waitrose (for my free brew) and then back home to sort out things to sell on fb. I had forgotten about Dance Class (date night for my and DH) which is £10 and £3 for soft drinks from the bar. Next week we won't be going so will put the £10 towards savings/debt. Tomorrow will be a NSD as will be staying in to sort selling items.


DS came home with a huge hole in his school shoes so they've had to go in the bin he will just have to wear his play shoes until payday when I'll buy him some cheap black shoes/trainers from somewhere!!

Mrs_Toast

Well I've actually managed a NSD!!!!!!!!!!!!! DD and I nipped to a friend's house this morning for a play date and then home for housework and trying to sell some stuff on fb. No takers as yet but I'm hopeful. I do need to sort out DS's costume collection as he's grown out of a lot of them so they can be sold too.


On the allotment front DH is currently down there trying to finish off our makeshift shed. He's built it out of FREE pallets and will look amazing once finished. I've got some green outdoor wood paint for it that I got for free from our local tip too. Our first lavender seedling popped up yesterday as well as quite a few spring onions. We still need to sow peas and squash as well as purchase seeds for beans, red onions, red cabbage, leeks and cauliflower. I know we are a bit late for these but as their bed hasn't been dug over yet and they are autumn veg I'm hoping we won't loose out.


On another note, I've just received an email from DS's school saying they are in need of a midday assistant. It's £13,000 and is only 1.5 hours Monday to Friday. It would help a lot with debt and activities/holidays for the family but need to sort out a babysitter for DD. I'm hoping my mum wouldn't mind but as she doesn't drive her hubby would need to bring her. The only disadvantage I can see is that I wouldn't be able to take DD out for the day on occasion which I used to do quite a lot with DS. There are quite a lot of local playgroups and places to visit around those hours which would be fine but mummy guilt is setting in. The deadline to apply isn't until 7th May so I have time to think and arrange babysitters. I would love some opinions on this xx

LastFewSteps

Hi MrsToast,
Well done on the no spend day
Could you take the job for a certain amount of time, maybe until a significant dent has been made in the debt ? That's something I wanted to do but unfortunately I couldn't find anything that fits with my children
Just wanted to suggest it to you
I know what you mean about the mummy guilt, there are things I did with my eldest when he was little that I just wasn't able to do when I had my youngest, she didn't know any different though and still had plenty of fun and attention
if you can still do plenty of fun things before or after work and maybe do days out when you're not working ? its worth thinking about if it means your DFD comes sooner
Good luck

Mrs_Toast

Thank you LastFewSteps that's very helpful. I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling like this. Having a second child has definitely brought up different challenges like feeling guilty about not spending enough quality time with DS at the weekends so the extra cash would help. I've roughly worked out that I could knock about 9 months off my debt free date which would be amazing.