£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

The_Moo

nonnie44 wrote: »

Creeps in.....just to mention Nicky toilet roll, I buy an 18 pack in Farmfoods for £4, (think it might have gone up to £4.50, need to check) I wouldn’t use anything else now. Here is a link to Amazon just for a description of it, it has really good reviews..

Just a note that this loo roll is scented. That's a bout of thrush waiting to happen for me :eek:

MatyMoo

Yes Positve Balance, the Polti s another make of steam cleaner. I have this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Polti-Vaporetto-Steam-Cleaner-3-5/dp/B010HL5AX8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1518900491&sr=8-3&keywords=Polti

Treadingonplaymobil

Thanks for all the ongoing thrifty and eco ideas, it's so nice to pick up new suggestions every time I log on to the computer!

Steam cleaner is an interesting one. It's not something I've ever felt a lack of in my life, but so many people have recommended one that I wonder if I'm missing out!

Long haul holidays don't affect us (I wish! We haven't travelled long haul for over a decade, and I haven't been on a plane at all for four or five years), but I do have lingering guilt about our ageing diesel car. Our mileage is fairly high and we're not in a position to replace it at the moment. I'm hoping it limps on for a couple more years and we can get something more planet-friendly. We were actually just discussing how expensive the service would have to be before it wouldn't be financially viable to keep it on the road. DH won't agree to a specific sum, but I'm thinking that anything over £600 ceases to be worthwhile. We could manage without a car, although it would add other costs - car hire for my work occasionally, and not being able to shop at Aldi/Lidl any more as they are a drive away on bad public transport. DH would also have to slightly shift his working hours as the trains don't get him to work on time for his current start time. Hopefully won't be an issue though.

I feel like I haven't achieved an awful lot today, but I did very much enjoy some downtime while DH took the DC out for half the day. And he made a packed lunch and took hot chocolate so he didn't have to go to a cafe, after we had a quick budget catch up last night. Keeping him involved in the reality of the budget on a regular basis really makes a huge difference in keeping him on track I think.

Unrelated, I made some loose leaf tea today with some tea I got as a gift. Gosh it's so much nicer than teabags, and the ritual of brewing tea was so pleasing. Wonder how the costs measure up. A sum for another day.

Three things to do today
1. Make sourdough loaves. Done, ready to go in the oven tomorrow morning.
2. Pack orders for smaller business. Not done. Tomorrow is going to be busy.
3. Pop into town - need to post orders and browse charity shops for spoons and buttons. Must not spend anything extra though! Done. Couldn't find any charity spoons but did find a pack of perfect buttons for a whopping 50p.

Savings/Spends:
- £0 2nd half of February 'rounding down' overpayment pot.
- £1,215.35/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £0.50 on buttons

ellen_vannin

Well done with converting husband to picnic lunches - kids enjoy them just as much and cafes can be soo expensive.

Charity shop stock is in constant turnover so try looking again in a few days or if you are travelling to another town maybe - for teaspoons.

The charity shop that I volunteer at always has loads of cheap buttons - we remove them from anything not worth selling, stained etc. We also have lots of wool but it sells very quickly.

You can keep spending for too long I think on cars.

A good week for you on balance.

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 53: Day 7

Ha, I have overslept this morning because I was having a dream that I was working with my client, and every time my alarm went off I kept thinking 'ooh, must snooze it so I can finish with this client before I get up.' Only when I properly woke up after 45 minutes of snoozing the alarm did it occur to me that the dream-client probably wouldn't have written to complain if I'd abandoned them halfway through :rotfl: . Oh well, better get moving this morning!

Today I need to do a whole lot of batch cooking. I am doing long days this week so my mum is coming down to help with childcare and she always struggles with cooking dinner while looking after the DC (can't blame her, it's not the most relaxing culinary experience). If I can get a few meals in the freezer it will stop her trashing my menu plan by going for the quickest (most expensive) options each time.

I also need to make sure I am caught up with emails, order packing etc, as I'm going to have so little time to get any admin/back office work done this week.

I'm starting with three things as always, but to be honest I'm hoping to get a whole lot more done than that! I'll pop back on when I've done those three and plan the next ones.

Three things to do today
1. Bake the sourdough.
2. Make leek and potato soup.
3. Make tomato soup.

Savings/Spends:
- £0 2nd half of February 'rounding down' overpayment pot.
- £1,215.35/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.

Treadingonplaymobil

Nailing my list today. Updated version...

Three things to do today
1. Bake the sourdough. Done, four loaves.
2. Make leek and potato soup. Done, enough for two meals I think.
3. Make tomato soup. Done, enough for one meal plus a few lunches.
4. Make leek risotto. Done, enough for two meals.
5. Make flapjacks. Done, snacks for school this week.
6. Make pasta sauce. Done, enough for one meal for my mother to do.
7. Make mujadara (always a win in this lentil loving household).
8. Make Columbian black bean stew.
9. Go for a walk.

Savings/Spends:
- £0 2nd half of February 'rounding down' overpayment pot.
- £1,215.35/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.

PositiveBalance

MatyMoo wrote: »

Yes Positve Balance, the Polti s another make of steam cleaner. I have this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Polti-Vaporetto-Steam-Cleaner-3-5/dp/B010HL5AX8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1518900491&sr=8-3&keywords=Polti

Ooh, I like the look of this! Do you use it often? Can you do clothes with it?

Many moons ago I used to work in a posh clothes shop where all the clothes were dry clean only. We had a steamer in the back for steaming the wrinkles out of the clothes.

It will be a wish to my dying day to own one of those contraptions for the same reason.

ToPM: in all sincerity, if you would actually USE it (not just buy it and admire it) a steam cleaner could be the answer to many of your environmental worries. Admittedly, they ain't cheap, but if you got lots and lots of use out it if, possibly financially justifiable if you could buy one with points of vouchers or offset the money some other way e.g. savings on cleaning products etc.

Especially if you could use it on posh clothes that need de-wrinkling. :T

Think about it for a bit and ask if you have any friends who have one; how much use do they get out of it/what do they use it for etc.

Honeybug

Just wanted to say that I do admire your environmental efforts. Aside from making sure I recycle everything I can I have honestly not given it that much thought. I think that may be about to change - Thank you.

As an aside, I tried Twinks hobnob recipe - went down a storm. What a result!!

Treadingonplaymobil

Blimey, I'm a bit done in. Have to pack the car for tomorrow still, and paint my nails, then I can finally give up for the day. I have also had a low level ear infection and, as often happens to me after ear infections, I have a very mild labyrinthitis type thing going on this afternoon, giving me a constant feeling like I've just spun round quickly several times and I might fall over. I hope it's gone by the morning, as I have to work either way - I've already been paid and it's £400 I definitely don't want to give back!

Speaking of being paid, I just got another booking, and have managed to drop a tiny sum into June's business expenses to get further ahead and, crucially, add another £70 to the car maintenance pot which means it now sits at £158. Between that and the £52 in the emergency fund I'm hoping we've got most of the cost of Friday's service/investigation into the cutting out (which hasn't happened again) covered. If I could get that pot up to £300 without the emergency fund I'd be feeling more relaxed, but £158 is a lot closer than I was a week ago.

I doubt I'll be on at all tomorrow, it's going to be a slightly hectic day, so I'll probably catch up with you lovely folk on Tuesday.

Three things to do today
1. Bake the sourdough. Done, four loaves.
2. Make leek and potato soup. Done, enough for two meals I think.
3. Make tomato soup. Done, enough for one meal plus a few lunches.
4. Make leek risotto. Done, enough for two meals.
5. Make flapjacks. Done, snacks for school this week.
6. Make pasta sauce. Done, enough for one meal for my mother to do.
7. Make mujadara (always a win in this lentil loving household). Not done, our walk took longer than expected - we were investigating nearby streets looking for similar extensions!
8. Make Columbian black bean stew. Done.
9. Go for a walk. Done.

Savings/Spends:
- £0 2nd half of February 'rounding down' overpayment pot.
- £1,215.35/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.

db2016

interesting reading lately,

a couple of points that may not be popular but hey ho.

i get the eco / organic thing, (tbh not that i bother much with it, ill refill water bottles for gym and sports but thats it, cost wins for me). BUT, as you say, with the organic thing, that your happy to spend out on it to be comfortable with things, but at the expense of pushing your DFD further away. you have already done this with other things, compromised with yourself for a level of comfort, and pushed the DFD away.


imo, and it is just that, an opinion... bash the debt down then think of the extra luxuries. and personally i think being too organic and eco, and mega clean, does more harm than good on an individual level. i have friends in healthcare and teaching that the amount of kids / young adults they encounter with allergies has rapidly increased, and the healthcare friends do seem to blame the indoors life of kids these days and also the non exposure to dirt and certain chemicals etc, the body has its own ways to cleanse imo, sure its nice to say your doing your bit, but for me, unless it becomes a choice only on that, or very close in cost to justify, then cost will win. i also do think its a "uk divide" issue, industrial town here, and there isnt much eco warrioring going on. priorities differ i guess. all the best.