ZC's Aim for a little independence

zcrat41

Lovely day at home yesterday. Even fitted in a run!

Children are back at school today - woo hoo! Should be a NSD for me as at work.

Have a good day all x

Courgette

All sounds very positive ZC! I like the fact this place keeps us accountable too! When will the harvest be finished? What sort of crops do you have [insert nosey emoticon here]

zcrat41

Hi courgette. We have mainly wheat, oil seed rape and beans. We do have cattle, sheep and hens but they're more for fun than anything! Harvest is all done and we're well into planting next years crop already!!

Fairly low spend here. Interesting now the kids are back at school and I'm surrounded by shops I start thinking "oh, I need a days shopping cos I need a new Gilet". When I'm on the farm for weeks at a time I don't get distracted by consumerism.

On a flip side I had tons of sage in the garden so have made a batch of sage & onion stuffing to test for Xmas! Yum!

zcrat41

Morning all. £10 spent yesterday on a cherry destoner. I want to use it for Damsons as we have a good few bushes that I never make the most of as they're so blooming hard to destone!

Toddler group and toddler gym on the agenda today. We've also got a gardener coming for the first time. Seems like a big luxury but we moved into this houses at Christmas and have just not been able to keep on top of it. The previous owners had it looking fabulous and were loath to grass it down.

Have a good day all.

EagerLearner

Hi zcrat loving your diary, some great savings there and I'm very jealous of your balance :T
How's your weight plan going? I could use losing some weight, need to get back into swimming...

zcrat41

Thanks Eager Learner. Am struggling a bit with the diet. Am on week 5 of C25k and DH is on week 2 so that's going well. It's the Friday night cake pudding that didn't help!


The bad news this morning is that my mortgage interest has been added to the account taking me over 60k. The good news is that for the first time in my nearly 9 years of paying it is under £200!!!


Got a Waitrose order coming today. £75 after a £20 off voucher and should feed us for the week. Plus 5% cashback on my debit card.


Probably a NSD today as pootling around doing house jobs at home. Wish it wasn't going to rain as could really do with a day in the garden! No other plans which is just a lovely feeling.


Have a good weekend all

zcrat41

Morning all. Not a NSD yesterday in the end. Spent £2.50 on a kids film. We have a budget of £50 pm for kids expenses so it came out of that. Other than that a lovely day. Got lots of little house jobs that needed doing since we moved.

More of the same today. Might go for a bike ride but mainly doing more little jobs!

Have started on Christmas as buy a gift have £10 off! Find that a good one for random relatives.

zcrat41

Morning all nSD on Sunday & Monday. £5 on my gym class yesterday.

Could be an expensive day today as going shopping for a climbing frame for child 2's birthday!

zcrat41

Hello all.
So the climbing frame we looked at was just too small. Back to the drawing board with that one.
Spendy day in the cash and carry. Got quite a few bits that I use in bulk. Might make it rather hard to stick to my £300 budget though - that would mean a spend of £46 for the next two weeks. It might be doable. I'm not sure.

Well chuffed with my damson destoner. It works a treat! Am looking forwards to lots of apple and damson crumbles over the winter!

Just £2.88 spent today. £2 on toddler group and .88p on penny sweets.

zcrat41

Hello all.
No show for a few days but it's all been good. I've started a new gym class for £5 a week. Bit of a bargain I think. I do a lot of running but this is a strength class so it should be all my bases covered.


Did a shop for the week at £60 so just over my £46. Means I won't hit my £300 budget but I should come in around £340. How does that compare to you all? We're a family of 4. 2 kids have a hot dinner at school and it includes pack ups for DH and I, cleaning stuff and basic toiletries.


We're thinking of getting DD a dolls house for her birthday. Would be a much cheaper option than a climbing frame. We're coming round to the school of thought that as we live on a farm she's got trees and bales to climb for free! Any opinions would be great.


NSD today as I'm at work. Lots of free fruit from the orchard again! Beginning to get a bit sick of apples and pears.


Went to look at my house this week. I have such a fab tenant. Garden needs a bit of work which will take up a bit of my savings but it's been a good 2 years since I've spent anything.


Have a good day all.