A Budgeteer's Adventure

CharlieKat

Well i didn't sort the gym bag but i did sort 2 other bags out and that will have to do! It has been a long hard week in work with being ill and i'm still not 100%. If i achieve a bit more pottering tonight it's all to the good but i have been floored by being poorly.

A bit more reading and then bed for me

Also found a new recipe for some of the meat i bargainously snagged yesterday - most excellent

CharlieKat

Well it has been a costly morning so far.

Trip to the dentist - thankfully nothing more needed than a check-up :j And it was a new dentist who was as equally as lovely as the last one i saw so, although not my happiest 15 minutes was still not entirely unpleasant

I arrived early in the high winds and rain and the surgery wasn't open (i was on foot) so i took myself into the shop nearby. It was interesting looking at the prices of things - quite a few tins of veg were more expensive than i'd be prepared to pay, even though they weren't a main brand. I pottered around and found some reduced veg - which still has a few days left on the date - 95p well spent and i predict i'll get 8 portions of soup out of that as well as some nibbly snacks :T Guess what i'll be doing later :cool:

Car is in the garage which will be costly still This is why i'm noting things here and working on my annual spends budget.

I may need to pop to another shop later... but its raining heavily, windy, and i'm still not 100% - walk earlier fairly exhausted me. So i might just not bother..

Right, time to have a read and relax a bit whilst waiting of my car being fixed.

CharlieKat

I've had a bit of a read - popping into diaries on here for inspiration and motivation

having done the top of the drawers yesterday i decided to sort out my drawers in the chest of drawers. They are mostly in good order so it was a much faster job than i thought :T

I didn't lift everything out a la Kondo method because i've done this before, i know it'll need doing in future but now now, especially as everything was so easy to see and there really is nothing to get rid of.

It is so much better now :T It was a bit of a mess what with surplus pjs being in there. I was gifted these at Christmas and don't like to waste things. My pjs are perfectly fine - in fact i had a new set a bit before xmas for 50p so i didn't want to get rid of these unnecessarily. To solve this problem i have simply popped the 2 sets of new pjs tidily away waiting until they are called into action

i do so like to open these drawers and see everything in order. I also found 2 small cross stiches i was gifted - not something i do but i will give it a go and now that's in my mind for a pleasant evening sometime soon.

I have a travel bag i will sort out next too - i seem to have a bag infestation at the moment but will get this sorted :rotfl:

CharlieKat

Travel bag was sorted and, whilst there are more to do, in a cunning delaying tactic, the next area to be organised is my bed cabinet.

Car has been repaired mucho £££

Popped into 1 shop out of the 2 i wanted to go to - spent £2.25 on food and sig has been updated, Got 3 tins of veggies for this - 1 already eaten as well as 3 lots of veg. I now have the veg i need to make 2 different meals using meat from the freezer - 1 lot of which is some of the bargain meat from this week. This will do 2 of us 8 meals. I also have veg to go with some cheese which needs to be used.

I bought 3 books for 14p - should've been 15p but i wasn't expecting the little stall and had no cash on me. They very kindly let me off the 1p as i was frantically rummaging 1 reference book and 2 novels.

once home i gathered together the languishing veg from the fridge which i've not been up to prepping. Made 1 lot of soup already and it has done 5 portions so a week of my lunches sorted there. I have another one on the go already and will make at least 1 more tomorrow using veg bought today. May make 2 more, am undecided at the mo.

CharlieKat

Well decision made - sometimes i'm very quick at these and others pondersome and um and ah.. Posting here to remind me and so things get done in the best order in the morning

Bake fresh loaf of bread

Cottage Pie

Cheese and leek and chutney pie

stew

leek and potato soup

broccoli and stilton soup

that'll do for now

CharlieKat

I've enjoyed reading the diaries i've been dipping into. What i really like is when people explain where there 'extra money' comes in eg overtime, selling items, reduced spend on food against budget etc. as i find this really useful for ideas.

Then i realised i'm not sharing my 'extra funds' d'oh!

Mine at the moment is going to the overdraft. The mortgage has a set amount overpaid to it each month which is from wages only. The mortgage overpayments are capped. The debts *have* to go!

So a round up of this week...

I was on target for moneysaving buying cheapest price cat food (that they like, it's not cheap but the best price for their brands) and reducing spend on wine by £1.50 :T

I then, as my sig tells me, blew the budget on the remaining shopping. however, got a lot of reduced price cat food saving money in the coming couple of weeks - with 3 and 'guests' :rotfl: the food never seems to stretch far and i always like them to have enough out. They are very healthy and have always done well on their check ups - they are bigger cats though and, being young, like a run around and play and build up an appetite.

i've cooked 10 lunches / teas so far using 10p veg and things i already had in :T

Tomorrow i'm cooking a no doubt scary amount of food to use up bits we have in the cupboards and fridge and to go with reduced veg. i couldn't help myself - it should be in the region of 22 meals (for 1 person) or 11 if me and Mr CKat eat together :T

this all means no food waste, using what we have and making the most of it as that food budget needs to not grow too much in the coming weeks - i love having it in my sig

I've sold a couple of items on the bay :j waiting for a couple more with bids to end and then i can pay fees, move moneys and work out profits. I'm thinking about £20 at the moment.

I've got back into surveys and should receive a cheque next month from one

There is no overtime *ever* at work and my shifts make another job, unless working from home on a fully flexible basis, difficult.

I am going to focus on our home for now. I have started to go through items again - not with the same vigour as when i had debt before, or even as much as when i first decluttered properly. Reasons? i don't have as much stuff now, i really enjoy items that i have and i may not always wear a piece of jewellery but i like having the option as well as the items. And, i'm truly not in the right mind set to just start casting things away - this would be the wrong time to start.

Anyway, i'm enjoying going through what i have and making choices - when i'm 100% again i will start on the wardrobe - things do *have* to go from there

CharlieKat

I had a lovely morning cooking and baking yesterday - so much so there is more in the offing

Currently have another loaf on the go - saving a spend at the shop :T

And i'll also be putting something together for Mr CKats lunches this week - he doesn't always have the opportunity to microwave so i'll be cooking some reduced meat (from a few weeks ago) and some reduced pasta (i bought a vast amount at 20p a pack with a very long date on and a branded product at that) and some reduced price sauce.

The focus going forwards is using what we have

it seems i buy lots of reduced things... but then i only do that when i'm lucky enough to see it. i often read of people shopping in the supermarkets at the 'right time' for discounts etc. i don't know these times, they seem to change and i'm not always there / available to do this type of shopping.

However, we have a lot of food in.. and i'd like us to have a lot less.. i'd like to strip it down to store cupboard essentials which for me would be stock, flour and maybe just that before starting again and then focusing on buying just what we'll need and use imminently

So, to this end, i've taken stock of a cupboard and will start to use up the packets and tins and jars in there which are coming to their best before date

In fairness, i've not bought any of these things for a while but do know some sauces were bought on a very good offer to go with said pasta and a smattering of yellow stickers tells me i bought a few very long date items on a good offer too.

This is a long term challenge - i don't always feel like eating what we have in, i often think we've worked hard and should have a nice tea together on Sunday and other times i think, i deserve a treat i'll buy a meal deal including the wine as 'it's a good offer' and saves me cooking...

Times, they are a-changing...

CharlieKat

i've just sorted out a part of my wardrobe which has yielded one dress to the weigh-in pile.

to be fair, i went through this wardrobe before xmas getting rid of 12 items - dresses / jeans / skirts and after christmas i bought a new dress #madeforme - well it wasn't but was my style, size cut - just everything me and operated the 1 in 1 out policy and got rid of another dress to stop a build up of items and also to redress (:rotfl:) the cost

I will also venture into another section of my wardrobe today - i don't know how everyone organises theirs? With mine i have long items, on the long rail obviously so long cardigans, jeans, coats, dresses, skirts, trousers all together but in their own sections. I then have, the short rail for jackets, tops, skirts, shorts. It is skirts and shorts i'll visit next.

i can't get rid of too much at the moment as i have weight to lose and don't want to have to buy a new wardrobe when i achieve this :cool:

But for now a nice little read..

CharlieKat

I love love love the motivation posting on here gives :T

Skirts have been sorted - and it turned out to be skirts, skorts and shorts I have some lovely skirts there when i budge this extra few pounds - loathe to get rid of them just now whilst i'm more podgy than usual - i'm sure the weight will go and the lovely skirts will look lovelier for being worn

identified 1 skirt to part with so that one has headed off to the bay of e :T

i also recalled my commitment to clearing bedside cabinet - 2nd drawer done. I have a gazillion nail polishes - using what i have means i'll be regularly looking after my toe nails again - they are just so much happier looking after being treated to a cheery coat of paint All nail polishes purchased were new but bought second hand mostly 20p each and the dearest being £1 - which i researched when i got home as it was a well known make - £16 was full price and it was still boxed - and i'm very happy to see that i have it but it's more of a summer colour so will get used then

I have enough make-up to last at least this year (and possibly next year too!) except for foundation, i also have enough cream, make-up remover and cleanser. Maybe next birthday and Christmas i should drop hints for *something else* :rotfl: oh well, it will all come in handy and be used

I also ventured into the freezer after freezing more soup than planned but lifted out pasta for my tea tomorrow. i spotted a packet of frozen veg things which were free but which we didn't love. they are cook from frozen so i'll do a few of those tomorrow then crumble them down to be mixed in with my pasta for teas as well as Mr's lunches, it'll pad out what we have, use up food and they are very healthy too

CharlieKat

I really do...

I think it may be a combination of things...

i tend not to sleep at all well on Sundays, for various reasons - not just work, but work is a part of it and that will need to be addressed..

I don't get all my jobs done most weekends - i think that's because i don't want to be doing jobs all weekend either - so i've usually something to do when i get in, that really can't wait any longer, like doing the washing as my work clothes are mostly held hostage in the machine at the moment...

I'd rather not work on Mondays... so it's important i get home and reclaim some of the day back just for me and what i want to do rather than what i have to do

I often get an hour or so to myself - and the cats of course and i love it

But things will need to change... i'm thinking of going to an exercise class - it's only on Mondays...

If i continue to focus on clearing clutter and using what we have, jobs may be done before the weekend... so i've no jobs left waiting for me...

And i'd still get an hour or so to myself... but with the knowledge I'd have to get up and go out again later.

I *think* i was good today... i came home because i wanted to, i was torn as i also wanted to go and possibly pick something up from the shops, using a voucher. the possibly is what decided it. It would have taken at least as hour through busy city centre traffic and the shop doesn't always have the item in... even when you phone first and they say yes they definitely have it come now... so, as much as i wanted the item i came home.

I was tying this in with a mindfulness about spending. I'm trying not to use the car unnecessarily this would have involved an over 12 mile journey for potentially nothing.

Money update

I've checked the bank. it's not good. But i have checked it. Other than deciding on more things to sell potentially? and cutting back on the food shop i am struggling for ideas at the mo.