NST April - SPRING INTO ACTION

GSRcat

Hello, apologies for not checking in yesterday. We had a bit of a disaster, the car broke down just down the road from our house and I needed to arrange a recovery vehicle to bring him home. The cam belt has gone and we are bracing ourselves for how much it will cost.
In theory we could survive without a car, he can still use the train to work but I need some car access for my work (unsocial hours and I work in the sticks sometimes) so we are in a bit of a quandary. However he is more upset about the fact he put £30 of petrol in it!
Yesterday was also a spend day, just needed to stock up on friut and veg.

thriftylass

misstara sorry about your loss and the unexpected spend.

GRScat hope the car is not too expensive, pain in the b*tt though

Like the idea of an audit. Looked up my energy tariff the other day but it's still the cheapest. Will wait closer to June when the deal ends and shop around again. Don't have a tumble drier but am guilty of still having the heating on. Kids wouldn't mind but hubby is always cold. Cooked today's (lasagne) and yesterday's dinner (morrocan fish thingy) at the same time in the oven. I don't shower at home as I go to the gym at work I do it there. Money saved :j. The kids only get a twice weekly bath together (don't like showers). They're still young enough to go in together and are not of the smelly age yet (5 and 2) so that is enough .

Will need to change the winter tyres this weekend, way to warm for them now. Got them for when we went to Germany and the Czech Rep. Will store them for next winter and make the summer ones last longer.

I'm the one counting pennies, OH makes sure we still live well and have a good time.

No SFD today as I will pop to the shop after work, might leave the gang in the car though, cheaper

Will go swimming again and will try to do the distance I need for the triathlon (1500 m = 60 lengths) :eek:

Happy Friday

juliejim

Morning All

Woohoo - I managed my first NSD yesterday! That's what happens when you go on holiday!

Calling14 wrote: »

Now we all can see properly, a picture of health with glowing radiant skin, fluffy feet and oh so fit, we are ready for a tough weekly challenge.

Week 2 challenge – Audit time

Being a geek I added up very roughly that between us turtles we have 106 years experience on this site, having approximately total debt 56k outstanding and looks like 15 of us are debt free. Haven’t included mortgages in these figures and can only go by information given in your signatures.

This week audit your finances and your lifestyle.

Finances

Make sure for get the best value for everything we buy.

Check energy deals, read meter make sure not overpaying/ underpaying Just switched using the MSE switch
Dry washing outside, avoid tumble driers, use heating sparingly, extra layers, jumpers. Showers timed. Batch cook save gas/electric. I've had to use the TD to dry the towels from the caravan as M & D will want them back tonight as they are going down the caravan and it has poured down for the last 2 days!
Can we buy food anywhere cheaper, switch to own brands I do a lot of shopping at L*dl other than that tends to be Mr As with as much YS as possible
Petrol – check out online prices before buying in your local area. Check tyre pressures, drive economically as possible. Avoid short journeys WALK. Tyres checked last Friday before I went to Wales. I'm currently using Sainsbugs for petrol as the supermarkets tend to be the cheapest and I get the vouchers for my Scout group.
Look at every outgoing you have, any contracts near the end? Mobile has just been changed to sim only. I need to ring V*gin to put unlimited calls back on as I took it off last year to save money as we all have mobiles with countless minutes on. DH has never cottoned on to this idea though no matter how many times I tell him so after checking last month's bill which cost me £28 in calls:mad: it's cheaper to just put it back on. I did look whether it was worth paying the line rental up front which saves £33 but I don't think it's worth it at the moment.
Are you setting money aside for house maint, car repairs, dentist....Not specifically although it is accounted for with how much we put in the joint account supposedly.
Do you need to spend at all?
Cancel and cut up any old credit cards


Lifestyle

Our behaviour/ focus on what’s important in our life, changes over the years.

Personally I don’t need expensive holidays, lots of nights out, flash cars, keep up with the Jones’s – not sure made me really happy anyway. Holidays did for the 2 weeks until I got home and credit card bill arrived. I'm going on holiday at the end of May for a week which has cost quite a bit because we had some clauses put in for my niece and nephews to be able to go! There are 12 of us going all inclusive so hopefully we won't spend too much while we're there but it is over 5 years since we last went abroad so ]we've had to get new passports for the kids on top of everything else. Also now the friend who was going to house sit and dog sit for me has realised that she is booked to go away for 2 days in the middle of the week so can no longer do it so I need to sort the dog out too. Normally he either comes with us or stay with my M & D but they are coming on holiday with us.

Decide what is important to you.

Can you clear your debts/mortgage quickly and still have a life? Currently just have MBNA which is the solar panels which I've just transferred from a loan to save money and the mortgage. I don't know what the minimum payment is yet for the CC as the first statement isn't due for a couple of weeks. I have TT'd a bit to that and the mortgage this morning though.

Are you just sat at home counting every penny afraid to live a little?


“The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it’s all that matters.” ― Audrey Hepburn


Ninja turtles have to emerge from their sewers, still staying off the pizza and live life to the max on a tight budget.

List 2 things a day (within reason;)) that made your day happier and more fun.

Great start gang, I can't believe what a fit bunch we have here and special mention to Crazy Cat lady for going way beyond random act of kindness.:T

I've forgotten what else I was going to say now.

Have a good day all

Jue

Calling14

Clippy girl - probably missed you now but have a fab holiday.

ChicaBonita - welcome our cheerleader, glad you like lycra :T.

Mothernerd go you great weight loss. My walking buddy got some nice blue cheap trainers in asda at pricely sum of 4 pounds, she reckons they are comfy.:)

Mistara - sorry to hear your sad news, hugs. You deserve cinema tonight, let us know what you see.:grouphug:

Thrifty you do match your name:rotfl:Good luck with the energy suppliers I did the collective switch on here. To be honest I didn't think I could get any cheaper but I did. I was guilty of having the heating on last night - struggling with earache so just wanted to be toastie. Hoodie up tonight:cool: Good luck with the triathlon, I could only manage the swimming.

GSR cat - hope you get the car sorted cheaply poor you.

juliejim - hope you find someone to look after your doggy to avoid any kennel cost. Would offer if lived nearby, miss having a dog around.

Calling14

Today I am having a spending day.

Took out Plumbing/drainage ins - 6 pounds for the yr and no excess !!!!!!!!! How can I go wrong with that. Ok doesn't cover showers but seeing as I have an unknown leak -Roofer exploring the roof again this weekend to rule that out. If not claim on this after first 14 days. I also have everyone's drain covers in my drive(7 of them) so that could cost me if they get blocked.
Also bought some patio cleaner and new watering can 7.50. Can't put pressure washer on it as old type of block pavers, surface comes off.
Will do some fruit shopping after work as well.

Making me happy today( 3 actually)
Meeting friend for chill out coffee and walk along sea front. (cheaper than our usual Friday night outs)
Boss brought me ear drops to ease my earache
Hearing from my daughter - still traveling doing Padi advance course tomorrow and swimming with sharks(blind ones). Not sure happy about the Sharks!

greent

WEEK 1 challenge-Your health - RESULTS

In this section we get to grips with all those regular check ups we have been avoiding. - I need to rebook a dentist apt which I cancelled - STILL TO DO. Also need to get new specs with changed 'script

Eating habits can you do better? ? - Generally been good overall

Exercise . - Averaged 10K steps per day and managed min 30 mins exercise (walking/ cross trainer) 5 days out the 7

Have a pamper session at home pay attention to those feet, exfoliate use all the xmas pressies up. Skin will be on show soon. - Feet not done at all, although have still been body polishing/ moisturising

Keep your mind active, . - I try to read most days and am Treasurer for a local charity

Calling14 wrote: »

Week 2 challenge – Audit time

This week audit your finances and your lifestyle.

Finances
Make sure for get the best value for everything we buy.

Check energy deals, read meter make sure not overpaying/ underpaying - changed last month using MSE
Dry washing outside, avoid tumble driers, use heating sparingly, extra layers, jumpers. Showers timed. Batch cook save gas/electric. - heating now off. Washing being dried outside when weather allows (like today) Showers are not timed in this house - and one teen loves to have both a daily shower and bath!
Can we buy food anywhere cheaper, switch to own brands - Do mos of weekly shop at A!di. Offer and YS shop at Tesc0 and A5da (all local)
Petrol – check out online prices before buying in your local area. Check tyre pressures, drive economically as possible. Avoid short journeys WALK. - Walking more to improve health/fitness. Fuel bought at Smkt for price and reward points
Look at every outgoing you have, any contracts near the end?
Are you setting money aside for house maint, car repairs, dentist....- We have a general EF, a House Imp fund and a car maintenance fund. Mobiles are paid for by business account. Have recently (within last 2 months) gone onto cheaper V1rgin tv/ broadband/ phone deal


Lifestyle

Our behaviour/ focus on what’s important in our life, changes over the years.
We paid off our mtge last year. We have an expensive holiday this year but eldest is taking A levels and No 2 taking GCSEs and 3&4 now old enough to appreciate Florida. Figure it will be last time we have a big family holiday as all 6 of us and just the 6 of us. Back to camping in Devon next year!
We're not big on regularly changing phones etc, even for the teenagers. Not big on labelled clothes.
Priorities are making memories, rather than gaining possessions. This year's hol is very expensive, but it is a one off.

Decide what is important to you.
Can you clear your debts/mortgage quickly and still have a life?
Are you just sat at home counting every penny afraid to live a little?
“The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it’s all that matters.” ― Audrey Hepburn
We have always managed holidays of some sort, even if wet camping for a week, or a few days in London, using [EMAIL="Clubc@rd"]Clubc@rd[/EMAIL] vouchers for days out and budget hotels on the outskirts. Whilst I wanted to pay off our mtge early I never wanted to do this at an extreme level - we still wanted to live, have holidays, an occasional meal out. And we did this.
Next challenge (after the holiday is over) is to tackle OH's car loan and then the BTL mtge.

List 2 things a day (within reason;)) that made your day happier and more fun. - looking forward to this

.

Week 1 results and week 2 personalised above. Will report back in later and catch up with everyone


x


PS: Calling - loving the challenges. Thank you. :TAnd a big thank you to mothernerd for last month :T

erin_transport

Big apologies. Didn't check in yesterday.
Feeling like I've a touch of the flu coming.

Am going to bed early. Hoping to sleep it off. Can't believe that the kids are back at school and now I've no energy to do the things I've planned!

Not a NSD. Bought beechams and various max strength items. Hoping to kick this asap.

greent

erin_transport wrote: »

Big apologies. Didn't check in yesterday.
Feeling like I've a touch of the flu coming.

Am going to bed early. Hoping to sleep it off. Can't believe that the kids are back at school and now I've no energy to do the things I've planned!

Not a NSD. Bought beechams and various max strength items. Hoping to kick this asap.

Hope you feel better soon x


I had a feeling (am sure someone can correct me if I'm wrong) that needed medicinal purchases don't stop NSDs?
x

XSpender

Spend day today on the weekly shop, beer and wine for the weekend. Forgot my list and forgot value sparkling water and some RM for DH next week. I may try and get away without the meals by batch cooking something this weekend and using tuna, ham and cheese for sarnies in the bread I bought today. Will mean more work for me but if I don't do it he will just spend on fast food. Also bought a few bits for DS to have as a pack up tomorrow on a day trip with DMIL. Only spent about £45 on food this months which is very low for us a week into the month.

I earn a lot of n3ctar points as I drive a lot for work so used £10 of these off the shopping.

Transferred the savings/deposit about and sent some documents off to the mortgage company. DH has a haircut in town tomorrow so will go in early and close our ISA and withdraw the cash ready for the house move. We are planning to walk in to town which will rack up a serious amount of steps Logged back into B0unts and earned a few points.

I didn't book DS dentist appointment, paint my toes or do as much healthy eating or exercise last week but have eaten more regular meals and have exercised a lot more. Will carry over the toes and dentist.

Things that made me happy today;

#lovely, friendly and efficient service in the bank this morning
#making popcorn with DS and watching one of his old DVDs

juliejim

greent wrote: »

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Keep your mind active, . - I try to read most days and am Treasurer for a local charity

Wish you lived near me, I need a treasurer.

Just been to take the dog for an extra walk to make sure I get my 7000 steps as DH took him for his second walk today. Been to M & D's for tea and brought some lobby and cake home for tomorrow.

Another NSD for me so that's 2 in a row!

Hope you're all having a good day

Jue

Oh and I forgot to say earlier on, I've put 1.5 lbs on this week due to being on holiday so not a good start.