PeppaCoin's bid for financial freedom

PeppaCoin

Also I realised I have sort of pushed Christmas to the back of my mind, hoping it would go away but its only 9 weeks away and there are presents to buy *sigh* We don't have a huge family, but there's still enough to cause me stress!

Our son is still young (3) so I have a bit cheekily used some of his bday money to buy a couple of xmas presents already. He won't know the difference and it just helps us out a little. I have also put a couple of books away for him. I think the next step is to set a realistic budget

Jones_1982

Hello PeppaCoin. Do you do your food shop online?

I highly recommend doing your weekly shop online as you can keep tabs on what you're buying. When we go the supermarket we spend approx £40 more than if we do it online.

Your food shopping bill is quite high, I set a limit of £60 for my online weekly shop (including delivery as we don't drive), there's two adults and 1 dog in our household and then withdraw £20 cash to cover bits for the week.

Give it a go? good Luck

PeppaCoin

Hi Jones :wave: Thanks for stopping by,


Funny you should say that - October was my first month of shopping online (in fact I am actually due to click and collect tonight!) and we have definitely saved compared to previous months when we seem to visit the shops EVERY DAY.


Our food bill includes all household things eg cleaning products, shampoo etc and also powdered milk for our son, but we're REALLY bad at saying no to treats so shopping online has definitely helped with that.


Your £80 per week works out to £346/month. We're aiming for around £400 (or as near as dammit!) so around £93 per week for 2 adults, 1 child and 1 cat, so not too bad but always room for improvement!

HB_2027

Hi

Well done on getting your new higher paid job:T and your husband coming round to spending less.

HB2027

PeppaCoin

With a heavy heart I have today cancelled my gym membership *sob*. On my good weeks, I do go between 4 and 6 times, so it was definitely getting used but that £35/month could be better spent elsewhere at the minute. Never mind.


I've also applied for a First Direct account for my husband (to get the £125 switchover bonus). That may be a few months down the line but will be welcomed all the same!


Unfortunately I've had to book my car in for service (agh!) but hopefully they shouldn't find anything wrong with it just now as I had quite a lot of work done earlier in the year and the car isn't too old (2011)

PeppaCoin

I think the first direct £125 payment will actually come in in November which will be useful for xmas!


Have decided to cancel my car service (as I'm not entirely sure its even due and will be a bit of saving).


Annoyingly the tablet we bought for my son's birthday is no longer working (after 5 days!) so going to have to try and sort a replacement. I rang Tesco (who I bought it through) and they said its discontinued now so I can have a refund but no replacement. Agggh! I'l try Vtech direct.


Also complained about the 20mins I had to wait for my shopping at Asda Click and Collect the other night, and received a £13 refund on my shopping.


Heard back from MBNA too re PPI. I'm not convinced I ever actually paid any but they have emailed to say they will respond by 17th Nov to let me know either way. Would be a lovely bonus if I was owed something!

PeppaCoin

I listed 31 items of clothing on eBay on Sunday (my pre-baby size 8 clothes *sob*!)


One has a bid ... one. Depressing! Hoping a few more get snapped up before they end next Sunday afternoon!


Accidentally bought a couple of things off eBay too, which didn't help my total. Ah well. Payday on Friday!

PeppaCoin

Also have decided that next months challenge is to keep spending on food to £350 for the whole month.


I guess this will work out to around £75/week online, plus a spare tenner (ish) for emergency things that we forget!


Do like a good challenger (loser) so am excited!

PeppaCoin

Still limping slowly towards payday (tomorrow).


Feeling a little deflated as we have ended the month of minus £600 (ish). I also spent £12 this morning in Asda on 3 tops for my son (£6), a present for my friend's little boy (£5) and some sweets (£1). I'm !!!!, basically. Am seriously losing momentum at the minute. I find that as the month tends to near an end sometimes.


On the upside, husband has an interview for a £30k job next week. Considering he earns £17.5k at the minute (hugely underpaid for what he does, we have discovered) this would make a huge difference to our monthly income (around £700 take home) Fingers crossed he gets it. It will mean paying off debts and having another child become much more of a reality.

PeppaCoin

Got to be positive. My aims for November are as follows:


1. Earn more money - I'll have a funny month as I'll end one job and begin another but should still earn around the same amount as usual, so just need to work on other sources of income eg ebay etc


2. Try to have 4 NSDs per week. This should be relatively easy. Husband and I will both be working full time for the vast majority of the month


3. Be organised. I find that if I am organised ie laying out outfits for the next morning etc, ironing in advance, making lunches, mornings are less stressful and I'm less likely to detour to the shops to either grab a quick lunch or feel like I'm entitled to a treat due to stress!


4. Exercise twice per week. I've quit the gym so really need to do something (free!) active a couple of times a week to keep myself fit, or I put on the tub!!


5. Look into how soon I can begin my professional qualifications through my new job and how much funding they will cover. Time to be a group and get an actual career.