Getting back on the MFW Wagon

Needhelpsaving

Wow - where has the week gone?

Yesterday we had the weekly grocery shop delivered, it came in at around £55 for 10 days of meals/snacks etc. Forgot to buy some more eggs, washing up liquid and under-estimated our milk usage, so I will need to pick these 3 things up over the weekend whilst I grab the two bits of meat I need from the butcher.

Today has been an NSD and I have started to look at alternative income streams that I can use to boost my income now I have dropped to SMP. I have applied for some transcribing work today and completed the grammar tests earlier too; just need to wait to hear back now.

3-4 items put by to be listed on ebay this weekend. Mainly DD1 clothes that have barely been used due to growth spurt.

A job that still keeps being recycled is OH shares - if i'm honest that will be a job for next weekend (I need to hunt down the paperwork first).

Needhelpsaving

Good Afternoon.

Things have been ticking along nicely here, all of which are helping us get to our MFW aim.

The decluttering has continued and the house is feeling much better. It was just that general day to day stuff that if you aren't mindful of, just seems to multiply and set up camp in cupboards and corners :eek:

I have another bag to go to the charity shop and some more bits for ebay (plus all of the [STRIKE]carp[/STRIKE] gems that were sent to the bin/recycling :rotfl:).

I terms of money activity, we have continued to eat from the meal plan (with the exception of a cheeky Greggs at the weekend).

I have spent approx £20 since my last update (£9.25 of this was on DD2 birth certs). I have also added another £5 amazon voucher to my account courtesy of SB.

£2.50 has been claimed today from Clicksnap and I have been accepted for the transcription work I applied for. I am just working my way through some e-training to get myself familiarized with the system before taking on work.

Jobs for today;

1. Complete and send off Child Benefit form for DD2.
2. Continue with Transcription training.
3. Check Surveys/SB etc to keep accounts ticking along.
4. List new items on ebay.
5. Look at savings accounts for DD2.

earthgirl

Hope you are all well and I can't belive how focused you are, put me to shame!

Needhelpsaving

earthgirl wrote: »

Hope you are all well and I can't belive how focused you are, put me to shame!

I don't think that's entirely true when you have worked your bum off to get your dream home :T:T:T

Love this forum as your all so supportive

Needhelpsaving

Needhelpsaving wrote: »

Jobs for today;

1. [STRIKE]Complete and send off Child Benefit form for DD2[/STRIKE] - Form posted yesterday.
2. Continue with Transcription training.
3. Check Surveys/SB etc to keep accounts ticking along.
4. List new items on ebay - about 50% have been drafted, I MUST do that today and order some postage bags too.
5. [STRIKE]Look at savings accounts for DD2[/STRIKE] - Going to go with the same on as DD1, just need to book an appointment to open it in branch. Will try calling today to get an appointment booked.

The last couple of days we have had a couple of big spends (about £200 total), which i'm a bit uneasy about after trying to be frugal.

£120 was spent on groceries (including 3 gifts, a stock of 240 nappies, and a bulk buy of tea bags that were on offer). These things made up around 50% of the bill :eek: Plus I still have to go to the butchers

DH and I also received 50% off vouchers for new trainers via his work vitality health plan. These were things that we identified as needing to be replaced during the recent wardrobe declutter. We both chose a pair of Nike trainers and the came out at £40 each instead of £80 each. DH wardrobe is looking quite good as he had bought some new clothes with his birthday money.

We tend to buy mid-range pieces and then wear them until they need replacing (i.e. I don't have an overflowing wardrobe )- at the minute, the vast majority of my wardrobe needs to be replaced. I will keep my eye out for some new jeans (these are desperate) and the rest will have to be replaced bit by bit.

shangaijimmy

Great scheme for the new trainers.

Needhelpsaving

Well, frugality went out of the window over the weekend - 2 pairs of new jeans were purchased, £16 spent at butchers, £40 in boots, £22 in next for the couple of bits DD1 needed to complete her wardrobe and £10 for OH suit to be dry cleaned.

Looking back, I am disappointed at how quickly I slipped back into old habits. The only consolation was that the items were needed.

We are back on the wagon - meal plan has been followed since Friday, 6 items listed on Ebay and an NSD today. Found another 3 ebayable items today that will be uploaded during nap time tomorrow morning.

Needhelpsaving

Happy Bank Holiday Weekend!

Not a great deal to report, as we're back on the frugal wagon :T Credit card balance has been cleared and we're back in credit on all of our accounts

Meal plan has been done, purchased and is being followed :money:

The only spends planned this week are a pair of sandals for DD1 and lunch with a friend (booked at a venue that has offers on).

We will be travelling down south for my sisters wedding on Friday, so will be eating out Friday evening - the car journey will be sorted with a packed lunch.

This month will be spent getting back into good money habits.

Enjoy the weekend :cool:

Needhelpsaving

We're back from the wedding and are all exhausted, so i'm just catching up on diaries with a cup of tea while everyone else is napping.

We had a very un-MSE weekend, I reckon that with hotels, clothing, petrol, gift, food etc, we probably spent £600 all in :eek: Thankfully, both my Seraphine Dress (bought in Jan sales) and DD1 dress will be ebayed. OH suit can be used for work and DD2 dress will be ebayed once she has outgrown her first size clothes as part of a bundle.

We did minimise spends by taking a packed lunch for the journey there and we managed to time DD2 nap and postpone DD1's protests of 'i'm thirsty/hungry' until we got home (she was bored and wanted to eat as opposed to actually being hungry - she had a huge breakfast just before we hit the road). Lunch was made at home as we got back at the time we usually have lunch.

We had pre-saved the vast majority of this and used money from our monthly budgets to cover the rest, which is good. This was a one time event; we got loads out of seeing family (some we haven't seen for years) and celebrating

Meal plan has been done for this week - most of this has been bought and delivered before we left. I need to pick up the perishable items (fruit and milk), fathers day cards and do a run to the butchers for the meat - £25 left in the budget this week, so that should be plenty.

I have an ebay parcel to send tomorrow and have two listings still going. Two have already been sent and the money was absorbed into the overspends last month .

To keep us on track, I am aiming for 5 NSD's this week. I have just received another £5 Amazon voucher from SB and have added this to my account.

Tasks for today;

[STRIKE]Upload receipts to RecieptHog (almost at £3 Amazon Voucher payout). [/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Get Ironing up to date[/STRIKE].
[STRIKE]1 Load of washing[/STRIKE].
Check for surveys
[STRIKE]Check mortgage balance[/STRIKE].

Needhelpsaving

The week has started on a positive note;

1. The top-up grocery shop came is at £22 (£3 under budget) - this included a trip to the butchers.

2. Ebay parcel posted.

3. The two dresses to be listed on ebay have been washed and will be listed today.

4. Receipts from the weekend have been uploaded to Receipt Hog.


Today will be an NSD - I have planned no further spending until Friday.

DD1 will be going to look at the school book fair today, but has agreed to use the pocket money she has saved in her piggy bank if she sees a book she would like to buy. We have agreed a budget of £5 - I hope that this will be the start of DD1 monetary education (lesson one, stay within your budget).