£170000 in 10 years

try_harder

Morning LBM,i do shop every day but i use the shop that takes my hermes parcels ,they always have lots of bargains so i buy there for example they had 8 lovely brown rolls reduced to 25 pence and fondant fancies 30 p ,i only buy whats on offer then i go to the post office where i bank every day and next door is a large shop yesterday they had tiny sweet tomatoes 25 p i bought 2 bags and 2 huge little gem lettuces ,i already had burgers in the fridge left over from the day before so we had burgers in rolls with salad beetroot from our friend and corn on the cobs i had bought reduced the previous day followed by cakes so altogether i spent £1.35 out of my £6.42 then i roll it over on to todays money ,but no i only shop on route ,i am the same as you ,trying to save on diesel.By the way i meant to tell you that i got my house insurance with lloyds it was £129 for the year ,buildings and contents payable monthly with no interest and i will receive £50 cashback once its been in effect for 70 days buildings covered up to £400000.

Moneyfordreams

you''re getting it right now though.. it is daunting looking at a ten year time frame... there will be loads of changes along the way, but you've achieve clearing one, now onto the second part... :T :T

try_harder

Thank you so much moneyfordeams,strangely enough i was reading through your diary again yesterday and looking at the airbnb site thinking would this be a good idea for us but after seeing all the beautiful houses bedrooms en suites etc i felt rather worried about our house and whether it would be good enough.We sound like we are on similar paths and time scales ,you are doing brilliantly and sound such a hard worker unlike me sadly,my husband only just earns over the minimum wage but makes up his money with lots of extra hours ,i meanwhile do try ,i sell what i can of our old bits and pieces and do try and earn a little with my vintage bits and pieces.Thank you for your support.

themadvix

The little bits and pieces all add up TH! I too have wondered about Airbnb, but we only have one bathroom, have two very furry cats and live in an ugly new town, I can't see the appeal (although close enough to London I guess!). But you live somewhere much prettier by the sound of it! We stayed in an apartment on Airbnb last winter in Berlin and it was bitterly cold (no heating) and fairly basic (and not particularly clean either). I have to say it put me off! But if you can provide a nice warm, cosy room to come back to, that's clean and reasonably comfortable, then I'm sure you'd get some takers. Earthgirl seems to have a lot of luck with bnbing - it makes a good side income for her I think (among her many other ideas!).

Great savings on the grocery budget!

try_harder

Thank you themadvix ,we too have cats and dogs and only one bathroom and im not sure how well that would work ,we often have our children and grandchildren here and my husband gets ready for work between 7.30 and 8 and hes quite noisy too sometimes ,i will have a look at earthgirls diary,thank you.Yes all the little bits and bobs do add up but sometimes i feel its such hard work for just a pound or two and today i have forgotten yet again to take my pennies in to the machine and my old batteries and ink cartridges but i do have to keep telling myself every penny counts i think i have lost some of my momentum today.Hopefully tomorrow will be better ,i have had an expensive day today, paid out for one of my sons dental treatment and been out for an early lunch with a friend then i feel guilty for spending .which i know i shouldnt i would never have thought twice about it before and even my husband is starting to complain that i am too careful,what has happened to me ,i am the complete opposite to what i was a few months ago.

Busy_Mee1

Hi Try Harder just catching up on a few diaries. Well done on clearing one of your mortgage accounts - that is a great achievement. I am also so impressed at the way you are managing your food budget - I wish I could get mine to £45 a week. We have got ours down to £80 a week (from £150) but I struggle to get it any lower because we still have DS at home and he eats loads and works long shifts and so takes three meals to work. He is moving out in November though, so hopefully we can cut down then. Interesting that you feel guilty about spending on yourself, but not on your son...this is exactly the way I think too, but I am trying to break the habit on spending on the kids ( who are now financially independent) and work on securing our financial future- but it is hard to break the habit of a life time.

try_harder

Morning busymee1 ,i hope you have had a good break and thank you .It was so nice to have paid off one of the accounts but it was very small compared to the others and i feel very anxious at the moment thinking of all the money i am paying into overpayments and how little i shall have in savings when i get to the end of the ten years,will it then be a case of ownining my home but no money to spend ,i must have a good think about that .One of our sons lives at home with us too and i understand what you mean ,i thought it would be a lot more difficult as he is a big eater too but i seem to be filling him up with potatoes and vegetables and big salads and plenty of fruit ,he works shifts sometimes too but mainly evenings so i know how difficult that is especially if we have had our dinner and he wants something different.Ihave learnt such a lot on here from another thread and a lady who feeds herself her husband her son and regularly her daughter and grandchildren for i think it was around 35 pounds a week i will try and find the thread later for you .Its strange isnt it how we think nothing of our children having the money i remember for years buying my girls the most expensive underwear and clothes whilst i went to tescx and bought the cheapest i could find .

Busy_Mee1

You definately put me to shame Try Harder - I didn't realise that you were feeding 3 of you for £45 a week. I have just been shopping and spent £85, but we will make that last for 10 days now. I have got quite good at shopping once so that I don't keep having to pop into the shops for a £17 loaf (i.e. The loaf that you need and then a whole bunch of other stuff that you fancy). I think you do really well shopping daily, but I am not sure that would work for me. You have got me thinking though, my cupboards and freezer are rammed, so I might try to get through to the end of July with just a small top up shop of milk, salad, fruit and yogurts.

try_harder

Oh no,dont say that i have only just started to manage on that amount and i sure do have a lot more time as i dont work ,you are contributing a lot more to the family than me so i try to help in what little ways i can but you are making a huge difference overall with all your hard work.H ave a look on suki1964 she is amazing if you look at her posts she is feeding 3 adults and other children and grandchildren some days and she has some great ideas that can help but even so 80/85 is still very good from 150,i o cheat slightly as some days we might have fish and chips but i dont add that into my food budget but out of other pot so 45 is not completely true,but i am having great fun looking for the bargains. Sorry my laptop is getting old and the letters dont work too well so lots of missing letters ,i am trying to last it out as long as possible.Thank you busymee1.

themadvix

Hey TH, how's things going? I hope you've been enjoying the sunshine!