Single mum - sink or swim!

MeandO

That's a great overpyment sellotape, I hope the banks are back up now - so frustrating when they're down and you want to do something!

Hope you're having a good week x

selloptape

Thanks MeandO Not sure if the banks have sorted everything yet as it took me an hour longer than normal to drive home from work and the call centre was closed when I tried to ring... If I can!!!8217;t OP for a third time in a row i!!!8217;ll start to wonder if the universe is trying to tell me something :rotfl:

Now feeling very tired and sorry for myself. Not sure why sitting in my car and singing badly is so tiring !!!55357;!!!56834;!!!55357;!!!56834;

Positives are that today was a NSD, I!!!8217;ve found two jobs to apply for, I have some tofu marinating for dinner and a glass of wine and Netflix on the go.

selloptape

Made my March OP finally - phew. Was starting to worry that it would never happen! :rotfl:

I!!!8217;m funding my April OP from saved £5 notes - last year I saved all my new fivers in a jar - £440. It!!!8217;s too much hassle to get to a branch of my bank to pay these in so instead I!!!8217;ve been popping a few in my purse before each grocery shop and using them to pay. At the end of the month my grocery money will (hopefully ) be sitting in my bank and I can use this for my next OP.

Have written a meal plan and just off to Mr T for a shop - hoping that it will be quiet as people will be busy doing Mothers Day things instead of weekly shops

Have a lovely Sunday everyone x

selloptape

I!!!8217;ve had a fairly frugal week, stuck to my menu plan and stayed away from spendy temptations and shiny things. Feeling quite pleased with myself

Meal plan has been made for next week, including lunches to take to work. Im getting better at sticking to the plan, just need to improve on being able to work out what the cheaper options are and include those on the plan.

Been vaguely wondering if I can avoid buying any new clothes until next year. I think it could be possible - unless I manage to change job and have to start dressing smartly. I normally spend a fair amount on clothes so could be a significant saving. Might have a peep on DFW and see if there!!!8217;s a challenge.

Hope everyone!!!8217;s not snowed in? Have had it all weekend but should be melted enough to drive to work tomorrow

hiddenshadow

We're trying to do minimal clothes shopping as well...I was going for none for a year, but it turns out we had quite a few lightweight tops and not that many long-sleeve/cold weather tops, and our house is quite chilly! So we've picked up a few extra things here and there, but I think we've stuck with < £100, so I'm pleased. Would be nice if that could be our last round of buying clothes for 2018.

Well done with the meal plan - I find the temptation a struggle sometimes, even though I like everything that's in our meal plan. Sometimes we go off piste a bit and "rebel" by not making whatever we planned to make and just invent a recipe...that can be a bit exciting.

selloptape

Wow under £100 in a year is amazing hiddenshadow! I!!!8217;m lucky in that I don!!!8217;t like clothes shopping in shops too much but do get caught out by internet splurging.

selloptape

Been a bit all over the place since I've last posted.

Have a massive list of house jobs but haven't done any of them. Need to.

Have started to get on top of grocery spend but diet has totally gone out the window. Am a little worried about health and fitness generally. Need to find cheap eats that aren't unhealthy and time to work out.

Have been thinking about retirement... Ok so state pension age is 31 years away but that's only a couple of years after I've paid off my mortgage (without OPing ) and I don't know if I'll be able to cope with working that long. Plus I have a very stressful job, so need an escape plan, probably involving retraining, investments and pension...

Luckily it's bank hol next weekend so I'll be able to plan everything out, and break it down into goals that are smaller than "sort out whole life" :rotfl:

selloptape

Late to the party as always... I've set some April goals :rotfl:

April

• OP £300 done 12th April
• Grocery challenge
• Meal plan all month
• Follow SW and stick with syn limits
• Maintain daily steps average 5k a day
• 2x fitness class
• 2x yoga coass
• Get hair cut
• Order son's new furniture done 12th April
• Order son's carpet
• Take up laminate in son's room
• Paint skirting in son's room
• Get quotes from Gardeners
• Decorator quotes
• Plumber quotes

shangaijimmy

selloptape wrote: »

B
Have been thinking about retirement... Ok so state pension age is 31 years away but that's only a couple of years after I've paid off my mortgage (without OPing ) and I don't know if I'll be able to cope with working that long. Plus I have a very stressful job, so need an escape plan, probably involving retraining, investments and pension...

Totally with you on this one. My attention to retirement thoughts over the last few weeks. I'm 29 years away but know i'd be a wreck by 68 if i have to keep doing what im doing now, so I'll be an interested reader of your plans and thoughts.

selloptape

Thanks shanghaijimmy... it's good to know that others are in the same place.

I'm still trying to get my head around what seems like a lot of complex options pensionwise.

On the mortgage front I've OP'd £300 today. And Spanish bank have told me that I'll be able to OP through the app soon without having to call them each time. This will make things so much easier! I might even start to get motivated by a tidy balance (it just isn't worth the 15 min phone call to OP small amounts atm).

Meal planning and grocery challenge is ticking on - am struggling to keep to healthy options without spending though, hard to get the right balance.

Reviewed all my direct debits - have saved some money on gas but electric usage is up (joys of having a teen who loves gaming!) so nothing extra there to OP.