Drip feeding...

Thistlewhistle

Oh my WS, what a hectic life you lead!

I had to shell out for a new boiler last year. I paid half out of my emergency fund and had to finance the other half. I'm squirrelling away a few bob here and there to pay it back sooner but it's a slow go at the moment.

Still, nothing compared to your boiler, car and vet bill all in one month! Strewth!!:eek:

T;)

wildesavings

Thanks TW. It's certainly felt :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: at times this last few weeks. All would've been 'oh well, we'll be fine' IF we hadn't just hammered our EF to cover sick leave!

We will be fine thanks to MSE and having our LBM 8 weeks ago - it's crazy how much money I've saved us already. Mainly from the grocery shopping which was a crazy £800 per month! (lot's of other non food stuff fell in the trolley at each shop!). Our bills are the lowest they can be now without cutting things like Sky and Mobiles but we're not on the breadline ... yet. We just can't OP anything over our regular £100 for a few months lol - The fridge freezer is making a weird noise now though :exclamati :rotfl:

wildesavings

Busy morning but very MSE.

9 jars of spiced peach chutney made for Christmas - these will be for neighbours & friends at Christmas. I'll also make some Chilli jam in November for those who like it hot too

Need a shop as I just had to water the milk for DD3 breakfast - oops! Will pick up everything we need for this years Christmas Cake too. I love all the prep for Christmas. Cycled everywhere yesterday and run the girls ragged at the park for good measure. Was almost a NSD but not quite - ice lollies were a necessity.

Off to Church this AM then GrandPrix this afternoon whilst fruit chopping a soaking for the cake with my girls. Very contented day

wildesavings

Phew - All children packed off for the day! And breathe. DD1 thinks I'm wonderful this morning (a rarer occurrence these days) as she LOVES coronation chicken sandwiches from our local posh cafe and we haven't been there for months due to funds. Yesterday's roast chicken was stripped to the bone and mixed with smartprice mayo, mango chutney and a little curry power. She practically skipped out of the door with her lunch and will no doubt sneak a bite of sandwich at break LOL

wildesavings

Barcl*ys account switched out to c00p today - £40 £co and £100 from them to sweeten the deal. Feels a little scary as I'm worried I'll incur charges for late DD payments etc but I'm assured that rarely happens and I certainly wont foot the bill. Also a tad sentimental, I've had my AC since I was 16! 17 years. Silly really, but £140 for very little effort is too good to pass up.

Will come off mortgage once paid up

Goldiegirl

Hello !


It sounds like you had an expensive month. I had a new boiler a few years ago, and in the following months It was very noticeable that our gas usage went down a lot. So there is a silver lining for the future bills


The grocery shopping is always a good target when you start the MFW life. Although, with a special diet, you accept that price isn't the main driving force, it's what's in the food that's the priority.


Sounds like everything is progressing nicely:)

wildesavings

Goldiegirl wrote: »

Hello !


It sounds like you had an expensive month. I had a new boiler a few years ago, and in the following months It was very noticeable that our gas usage went down a lot. So there is a silver lining for the future bills


The grocery shopping is always a good target when you start the MFW life. Although, with a special diet, you accept that price isn't the main driving force, it's what's in the food that's the priority.


Sounds like everything is progressing nicely:)

Thanks Goldie - you must find it tricky too as trying to eat low sodium is probably harder than gluten free now. All the packaging shouts about being gluten free but salt is sneaky! I'm keeping the spends low by cooking my own GF bread and only buying what we need for the next 4-5 days of meals as my daughters eat me out of milk, fruit and veg in 3 days whether I buy a weeks worth or 4 days :eek: It's working relatively well but there is always room for improvement. :rotfl:

Looking forward to submitting this months Gas and Elec readings too. After 4 weeks of no heating or hot water the gas usage must be minimal! We've also invested in LED spotlights (x12 in kitchen) that use a fraction of power to run. Its a large kitchen (18'x18') but with one smallish north facing window so the lights are on whenever we're in there from September to April and its just too gloomy.

Luckyinlife

Know what you mean with the kitchen issue my mums is the same need a light on soon a lot in there
them spot lights should help the issue out tho so enjoy :]

Cheaper gas and elec is always good news :]

Goldiegirl

wildesavings wrote: »

Thanks Goldie - you must find it tricky too as trying to eat low sodium is probably harder than gluten free now. All the packaging shouts about being gluten free but salt is sneaky! I'm keeping the spends low by cooking my own GF bread and only buying what we need for the next 4-5 days of meals as my daughters eat me out of milk, fruit and veg in 3 days whether I buy a weeks worth or 4 days :eek: It's working relatively well but there is always room for improvement. :rotfl:
.

I buy very little processed foods these days, and I can home in on the salt content on packaging in half a second!

i've found that I can make a lot of things myself, for example, baked beans, which I can do with passata and tinned haricot or cannellini beans.

I also make my own bread, and use LO salt so I can keep bread in my diet. This also I means I can have pizza, with homemade dough, a home made tomato topping and veg, with a hint of cheese on top. I have half of the pizza and Mr Goldie has the other half, but he has extra cheese, and chorizo or pepperoni on his half.

When I'm eating out, if they have a gluten free menu, I'll often have a look at that, as it doesn't have all the coatings over the food, so it's better for me as well.

Special diets can be a challenge, but I think it means we eat a good balanced diet, which is a plus

wildesavings

Just did the meter readings and £4.98 of gas used in 3 week! £30 less than last month so far. Elec looks to be slightly up but its colder and darker already so more lights on. I actually like this time of year 'season of mist and mellow fruitfulness' and all that. Not so keen on jan/feb/march though.

Christmas present chutney looks cute in their little hexagonal jars. 50% of presents purchased and stored. Unfortunately its the cheaper 50% of the gifts. Only £350 left in the Christmas bank account but we've another 4 paydays at £80 pm to add so we should be dandy