Time to stop being Dreamy!

dreamywings1

Had to buy milk today which cost £2 but made £4 in tips so in theory it cost me nothing AND I got to put £2 in the savings pot

dreamywings1

Ive been reading other debt free diaries and have heard about topcashback........so tonight ive joined as my car insurance is too high and so looking for a cheaper quote. Hopefully by Christmas next year I may have saved up enough to get a gift card or 2

dreamywings1

Nothing really to report as it isnt payday till Friday...........Oh got £9 in tips today so more in the jar. Day off on Friday for Christmas shopping. Hoping to do some online and pray that it will be delivered before the big day.

moneyonmymindsam

Hello:j


What a great diary - Very Honest


You are doing so well :beer:


You have made some fantastic changes so far .


Try to get other's in the house on board with all things moneysaving


Just wanted to wish you best of luck .


I'm a bit like you I guestimate what I spend ... So maybe when we start afresh month in January I will start to track my spends more accurately




:money: Keep up the good work!!:A

dreamywings1

Thank you Moneyonmymind.......Been a bit lapse with the diary the last few days, work has been hectic but managed to get yesterday off work so I could do some xmas shopping. Managed to get everything on my list and come in under budget. Even got myself a money tin for 49p! The remainder of the budget has been transferred into the emergency fund.
Not doing too bad tips wise. Averaging out at about £10 a day which all goes into my money tin so hopefully by Xmas 2016 I should have a nice little sum.

dreamywings1

Woop woop silly season is almost over! Today I peeled the last sprout of the season and tomorrow I shall be cooking the last 3 turkeys! YAY! Im sick of the sight of turkey and sprouts!

Down to the last 3 Christmas Parties......Thank Goodness............Roll on Christmas Eve for an early finish then a whole day off! Lucky me!

£13 in tips today so they have gone into my sealed tin.

Still not put the Christmas Tree up but then saying that I havent got one! Usually have a real tree but im sick and tired of still finding pine needles 10 months later...........Think I wont bother with a tree this yeah! Bah humbug!:xmastree:

getmore4less

I think the key to your next step is getting the food under control.

This does seem to be the big black hole that just sucks away the money.

I would split the catagory into at least 3 seperate ones to track better where the money is going.

Groceries, stuff you buy for the house to and any packups.
(ifthere are a lot of ready type meals maybe separate them out as well)
Other food, all the takeaways eating out etc.
Booze, if you buy this.

Next I would look at the takeaway list for the last few months, what sort of things are getting bought?

Can you do them better?
eg.
Pizza, you can make better ones, they take the same time to cook from frozen as a delivery.
We buy OK ones when reduced and pimp them with extra toppings, even with a few to feed you can get 3 in the oven and you can make square ones that are bigger.
Out of the packaging they are freezer friendly take up little room.
(I just cut off the cooking instructions and slip in the wrapper, throwing away any boxes).

You can work out the other take aways and how to make them house friendly.

Snacks and eating away from house is all about planning, there are loads of ideas on pages here, eating well at home is a great start to eating less out.

Another trick with trying to remove high cost items like takeaways is to spend some of the money on good stuff for the house that tastes good and is easy to make. ie £100 of takeaway money split £50 buys loads of good food and £50 towards the savings.

ON the council tax if you can nail the backlog before April, I would do next year(15/16) over 10months and just pay monthly, the Feb March free months then come as a bit of a reserve.
( I know a lot like the spread it over 12)


Next I would do an analysis of the TV viewing and see what you really need?

Would just phone and BB with other TV options work out.

We are using Now TV boxes, 6month entertainment was £20 and 4 month movie £20 with a box each, gives access to loads of Sky stuff and you can run 2 devices of each account if you have more than one TV going at a time(with 3kids I guess upto 4).
If you just want catchup there is no need for passes and the TV is free.
Other free tv options available.

Mobiles is next, depends on usage but a review at renewal there are low cost options that are cheap if you can fit the use patterns of 4 phones.

I would get the kids on that, set them a budget and see what they can find as the best deal, maybe sweeten the deal with them getting some of the savings.

dreamywings1

getmore4less wrote: »

I think the key to your next step is getting the food under control.

This does seem to be the big black hole that just sucks away the money.

I would split the catagory into at least 3 seperate ones to track better where the money is going.

Groceries, stuff you buy for the house to and any packups.
(ifthere are a lot of ready type meals maybe separate them out as well)
Other food, all the takeaways eating out etc.
Booze, if you buy this.

Next I would look at the takeaway list for the last few months, what sort of things are getting bought?

Can you do them better?
eg.
Pizza, you can make better ones, they take the same time to cook from frozen as a delivery.
We buy OK ones when reduced and pimp them with extra toppings, even with a few to feed you can get 3 in the oven and you can make square ones that are bigger.
Out of the packaging they are freezer friendly take up little room.
(I just cut off the cooking instructions and slip in the wrapper, throwing away any boxes).

You can work out the other take aways and how to make them house friendly.

Snacks and eating away from house is all about planning, there are loads of ideas on pages here, eating well at home is a great start to eating less out.

Another trick with trying to remove high cost items like takeaways is to spend some of the money on good stuff for the house that tastes good and is easy to make. ie £100 of takeaway money split £50 buys loads of good food and £50 towards the savings.

ON the council tax if you can nail the backlog before April, I would do next year(15/16) over 10months and just pay monthly, the Feb March free months then come as a bit of a reserve.
( I know a lot like the spread it over 12)


Next I would do an analysis of the TV viewing and see what you really need?

Would just phone and BB with other TV options work out.

We are using Now TV boxes, 6month entertainment was £20 and 4 month movie £20 with a box each, gives access to loads of Sky stuff and you can run 2 devices of each account if you have more than one TV going at a time(with 3kids I guess upto 4).
If you just want catchup there is no need for passes and the TV is free.
Other free tv options available.

Mobiles is next, depends on usage but a review at renewal there are low cost options that are cheap if you can fit the use patterns of 4 phones.

I would get the kids on that, set them a budget and see what they can find as the best deal, maybe sweeten the deal with them getting some of the savings.

Thank you Getmoreforless.......
Mobile phone contracts are up in Jan so will be shopping around as we dont use all the minutes or the data as we connect to the home wifi.

Take outs and grocery shopping is on my hit list. I have done myself a meal plan for January and have allocated £300 and as the freezer is rammed full of stuff I will have to be organised. Im determined to pay off the complete balance of the Council Tax in January then Feb and March I will put the money into a savings account and and will start the new financial year with a large payment towards the council tax bill and pay the remainder over 9 months.

BT I have cancelled Sky sports package and will look at either changing or reducing the tv package as noone ever watches normal TV (I tend to record lots of things but never get round to watching any of it).

DWP have had their first payment of £35.17 so that brings my total down to £468.51 :T

dreamywings1

Signing off for Christmas........1 more shift at work then 2 days off. Hope you all hae a fabulous Christmas xx

dreamywings1

Well Christmas is over for another year. Back to work tomorrow boohoo but its a short shift so I dont mind. I still have money in the bank and cash in my wallet so all in all not a bad way to end Christmas. I got some money for Christmas and I dont need anything BUT want lots so ive decided that the only way I will benefit from it so it isnt wasted on things that arent necessary is to put it in my savings account.
I also managed to get to a very empty co op 20 mins before closing time on Christmas Eve, Managed to get some mince beef for 75p each so I got 6, a side of smoked salmon for £3, a huge gammon for £7 and a large joint of beef for £3.75. Going to cook these all off tomorrow afternoon then freeze into portions which should last us a couple of weeks (with careful meal planning).

So as 2015 is rapidly drawing to a close its time to look forward to 2016.
Hopefully 2016 will see me being debt free for the first time in years (well since I left home 27 years ago) and hopefully an increasing emergency fund.

2015 has taught me that I shouldnt of buried my head in the sand where my finances were involved. Its also taught me the tough lesson as to who my friends actually were and who were just tagging along for the ride. It's also taught me that you dont need to keep up with the Jones's and that the best things really are free!