Quids in for a Limited Time

Maiden_Mum

I'm feeling grumpy & miserable tonight with tooth ache. I had a dentist appointment Monday where I thought I would need root canal treatment for which was going to cost £233. Anyway dentist then said she didn't think I did need it and instead just gave me a large filling at a cost of £53. Since then however, I have been in a lot of pain and the nerve definitely feels exposed so I have another appointment booked for Friday at 9am. Really not looking forward to it as I guess they will have to get rid of the new, big filling to be able to get to the root. That makes me feel really anxious and also cost wise I guess I am now going to have to pay the £233 on top of what I have already paid. My cheeky DS said he doesn't know why I don't just have the tooth out "as it is not as though it matters at my age"!

Maiden_Mum

Still no news about OH's car so still using the courtesy car & still no letter from Npower with a cheque for a refund on the large credit that the account closed on!
I find that although OH & I have both been paid, I cannot do a budget by deducting all expenses as they all come out in dribs and drabs throughout the month as does the money that goes into the account to a certain extent.

Maiden_Mum

Still nothing from Npower so I spoke to someone on line to enquire where my refund was only to be told it can take 30-45 to be sent! What a joke! I raised a complaint but I bet it doesn't make any difference. I need that money returned so that we can pay the CC which we paid for OH's clutch on.

I wanted to update my freezer list as some things have been used and some things have been added & I'll loose track if I don't update it. So..

11 raw chicken breasts (2,2,2 & 3)
Raw mince - enough for 2 people x 2
Large bag of prawns
50 mini sausage rolls
3 packets of bacon
1/2 bag of oven chips
Full bag of potato wedges
12 chipolata sausages
7 small salmon fillets
2 bags of cooked beef (2 portions in a bag)
2 bags of cooked chicken (2 portions in a bag)
2 bags of cooked lamb (2 portions in a bag)
6 bags of cooked gammon (2 portions in a bag)
2 bags of cooked turkey (2 portions in a bag)
A bag of garlic mushrooms
4 breaded haddock fillets
3/4 box of normal fish-fingers
1 box of g/free fried mi chicken fillets
Garlic dough balls
2 g/free burger buns
4 normal burger buns
G.free wraps
G/free pains au chocolate
Vegetable casserole / curry - 1 lot of at least 2 portions each
3 unidentified bags!
1/2 bag of quorn chicken pieces
2 & 1/2 bags of peas
1 box of hot chill - 2 portions
4 Aberdeen steak burgers
20 meat balls
1 G/free cod haddock

Got to keep on persevering with using up what we have!

Maiden_Mum

Still nothing from Npower, still nothing about OH's insurance claim & still have tooth ache!

Had a fairly cheap weekend, that's two on the trot but just paid out £80 for new glasses for my DD. Just need to get some for myself some day soon!

I've been pondering about paying £150- £200 off my mortgage balance this month but think I will wait a week or so in case any nasty surprises happen!

(20 meat balls used up.)

Maiden_Mum

Well still no progress on the car front so OH still using the courtesy car! I am beginning to think the other party want actually insured but his insurance company seem happy for him to continue using the courtesy car so not a real issue I guess!
Transfer to Scottish Power has gone through and refund received from Npower so all good there! Tooth ache has also gone and never actually needed the root canal treatment in the end - I just had an ulcer and lots of bruising.
Never paid anything off the mortgage in the end which is just as well as had forgotten that we needed to pay annual cricket subs, plus our dog has had kennel cough so we had vets fees as well and Sunday we have a big family meal to pay for as part of Mother's day celebration.
It has seemed like a long month however and I will be glad when pay day next Friday finally comes round. OH & I haven't been out much although I did have a nice pizza last Friday night with DD in a local pub which was nice although not particularly cheap.
Oh just remembered also why money is a bit tight this month - we have paid for a couple nights away in a cottage in Whitby at Easter. Sooo looking forward to that!

Maiden_Mum

Well March ended with being about £100 overdrawn which was not great. £569 spent on food from 28 Feb to 31st March or £536 just for March. Still way too much I know & I will try to do better this month. Eating out costs came to £102 which wasnt actually too bad as this included a rather rare spend by OH with his two sons and also a big family meal for Mother's day. Spends on clothes were £95, £60 of which was on DS & £35 for me. Petrol for me was £96 and I'm not sure about OH, probably £100 or so.

I have put £300 away into savings already for this month but will have to see whether that is even possible or maybe I will be able to add to it. Depends partly on how much we spend when we go away for a couple of nights. But starting the month £100 overdrawn, plus a couple of annual things to pay for this month leaves me unsure really!

OH's car has just been sorted out so he has to return the courtesy car this weekend and is now in the process of buying a little Citroen.

DD is just about to start a part-time job which is great as it will give her some money although it will also affect me in terms of petrol and also my sleep as I will have to pick her up really late some nights.

Never paid anything off the mortgage last month after all. Still want a holiday and so still undecided about the holiday / new kitchen / reducing the mortgage debate! Just wish I had the money to do all three at once!

Maiden_Mum

Well it's been a while! April did turn out to be a very expensive month and I don't think any saving got done. A shocking amount of £692 got spent on food, plus a whopping £270 on eating and drinking out, £65 on clothes, all for me and £135 on petrol for me (don't know about OH). I can't quite believe the horrible amounts on food & drink, in and out - a total of £962!!! This is partly due to going away for two nights so buying food and drink for lunch and dinner for four people for three days, a couple of work events and an unexpected family lunch with my DB and his wife. My petrol also went up due to the 2 days away plus taking and picking up DD from her job. Also, from now until mid September are always manically busy months for us all and I guess more convenience food gets eaten. I have also eaten a few home made meals from the freezer which were so lovely to be able to do on busy nights but they have all gone now so I need to try and find the time to make some more.
May so far is not going any better I feel but I will update once I have added up my receipts.
I haven't actually put anything away into savings so far this month. I know you are supposed to do this at the beginning of the month and then live to your means on what's left for the rest of the month but I forgot at the beginning of the month and as we are now half way through I'm tempted to just carry on for the rest of it and see what is actually left. We haven't eaten out at all this month I don't think apart from a £3.50 spend on a McDonalds so hopefully there will be a few hundred left!
Got to supply our new energy supplier with a reading which I feel a bit nervous about in case it turns out that in reality they aren't actually any cheaper than our previous supplier!
Right off to add up my spends so far for this month and also to catch up on some other posts as I haven't been on here for a while.

Maiden_Mum

OK so just added up food spends for May so far & they come to £333.29 & clothes (for me, well shoes actually) are £28. Not sure about petrol yet.

Karmacat

Hi Maiden Mum, I've just been scanning through your thread, and I can see that you're really hurting with the grocery spends. I'm "quoting" this list from page 1, its the first time you put your Use Up freezer list onto the thread, and what I notice is how many branded foods are in there, rather than supermarket own. Even herbs! And oats really don't need to be from the Free From section - you can just buy ordinary oats.

I've seen a rec. for you to go to Old Style on here to do some research? I'd really recommend that. And the other posters are right in that snacks are always going to be way more expensive than meals; batch cooking?

Good luck!

Maiden_Mum wrote: »

Sweet Mandarin G/Free Sweet N Sour sauce BB 04/17
Tikka Free From Curry Paste BB 04/19
Free From Porridge Oats BB 22/3/17
Tin of Coconut Milk BB 19/1/17
Paremesan type Cheese BB 19/01/97
Sharwoods Egg Noodles BB 03/03/17
1/4 Box of Free From Lasagne sheets BB 8/18
Poppadoms BB 14/01/17
1 Gluten free Bread Sauce BB 10/17
2 Normal bread sauces BB 4/17 & 6/18
1 Schwartz Paprika Chicken BB 4/18- G/free?
! Schwartz Meatballs in Tomato sauce mix BB 3/18 G/Free?
11/2 Fajita Seasoning mix BB 6/18
1 Schwartz Balti mix BB 3/18
5 Sweet Chilli & Garlic sauces G/free BB 11/18
1 Schwartz Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork BB 4/18 Yes G/free
1 Gluten free Dumpling mix BB Jan 17


1 Dark Brown Soft Sugar BB 3/17
2 Bags of Caster Sugar
2 icing sugar
2 Free From Self Raising flours BB 3/17 & 5/17
1 Free From Plain flour BB 4/17
1 Betty Crocker G/Free Choc Icing BB 7/17
1 Lime juice BB 12/16
2 Milk Chocolates & 2 dark chocolates BB 7/17
1 Chocolate Free From cake Mix BB 4/17

Maiden_Mum

Hi Karmacat, thanks for posting. Yes there are some branded goods in there, partly due to taste preference and partly due to the need for gluten-free. My son's dietician has always told him he does need gluten-free oats due to the risk of cross contamination from ordinary oats plus its only for flapjacks that I make him occasionally. Thanks for reminding about that list of food I had though as there are still some things on there that need to be used!

The month isn't quite over yet but I don't envisage that things will change much between now & then.
Food costs were £546, eating out & takeaways were £88.50 (I McDonalds, 1 meal out for 2 and 1 takeaway for 4) and clothes / shoes remained at £28. I've been thinking about setting a budget for food next month, nothing to drastic but maybe £500 or £450 if I am feeling really brave. The huge spends are probably partly because I don't actually set a budget I just spend as & when I need to which to be honest is quite frequently partly because of using a variety of different supermarkets so its when I happen to be near them.

On a happier note we have now booked a holiday abroad but not until October half term. I paid a £300 deposit on it this month and still had £150 left at the end of the month for savings. £350 savings for June has already been put away. Just need to book the airport parking and remember to get the visas. Yesterday I sorted out the insurance and remembered to go via topcashback.

I also need to sort out a new house and content insurance which I will also go via topcashback for, make a trip to Makro for some chicken and mince, make some meals for the freezer, see if I can work out my petrol spends from my bank statements, book my DDs driving lessons and try to post a few items for sale on ebay which I haven't used for a while.