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

BettyBoof

Sharing my toilet brush guilt - I bought three lovely (can a bog brush be lovely?) toilet brushes with holders from Habitat for £20 each. They have ceramic holders and wooden tops and they look great but yeah... I spent £60 on toilet brushes.:eek: (In my defence, we do have three toilets, I'm not just a collector of weird stuff )

Should your DFD say 2025? I wasn't sure when you said it had come forward from July 2026 if you meant it would happen earlier (so 2025) or it has been moved back (2026). Fingers crossed it's the former!

Treadingonplaymobil

Nah, the DFD should say 2026. I meant it has come closer, but it has only come closer by a few months, so still 2026.

I have a question, Oh Knowledgeable Ones. Is a greengrocer likely to compete on price in any way with a supermarket? I'm assuming not, and will go in to compare, but thought I'd ask if anyone had any experience. Yesterday I came across a massive greengrocer in our (relatively small) town that I haven't noticed in four years of living here, which is a little ridiculous. I wondered whether they might be competitive on seasonal produce?

joeyjimbles

Just to add vaguely to the toilet brush debate - I've ordered from Trouva and the things are despatched from the individual shops it seems to me as I ordered three different things and they came at different times, from different places. It was very efficient though.

PS. None of them were bathroom or toilet related.

[Deleted User]

I think some are and some arent, at my old house I used to shop at an incredible veg shop that was really cheap and perfect as I could just pick up very small amounts as I was just cooking for me. The one in my village now is far more expensive then supermarket prices, and i dont think the quality was any better.
We now get a veg box delievered - all organic, seasonal and we get loads in it. Not the most MSE thing but the veg tastes so much better and as veggies we dont spend much elsewhere - we do a monthly shop at an indian supermarket for pulses/spices/tins and then only need to get milk/eggs etc from a normal supermarket.

Cherryfudge

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

I have a question, Oh Knowledgeable Ones. Is a greengrocer likely to compete on price in any way with a supermarket? I'm assuming not, and will go in to compare, but thought I'd ask if anyone had any experience. Yesterday I came across a massive greengrocer in our (relatively small) town that I haven't noticed in four years of living here, which is a little ridiculous. I wondered whether they might be competitive on seasonal produce?

Our local greengrocer has a discount corner (actually tucked down an alley behind their outdoor display, not inside the shop!) which is a fabulous source of bargains. Indoors often works out a bit more expensive than the supermarket and there isn't a choice of fairtrade/organic.

It's certainly worth exploring: things like carrots also last longer as they aren't over-washed as supermarket ones are.

Treadingonplaymobil

Oooh, it's the end of the month! That snuck up on me.

It's been a pretty OK month, all things considered. I'm pleased that we handled the car nightmare, even if I'm not pleased with spending that much on the car. I've earned moderately well, and I think I'll be able to top my business account savings pots back up to three months expenses/salary once my invoices get paid in the next week or so.

Wins
Food shopping - I suppose it's mostly a win because it's only a four week month, but even so I'm pleased with our success. A total spend of only £309.87 for the month on food, which is a fair way away from the £500-600+ we were spending even 9 months ago. It actually would have been even less if I had planned better for a lunch on the weekend as we topped up from the pricey corner shop for a tenner, and it would have been about £3 in Aldi. Partly we have also really worked at emptying the cupboards, so next month couldn't begin to be as cheap.
Debt repayment - we overpaid this month by £204 on top of the minimum payment of £282 (which was unusually low because the balance transfer meant no payment due for the smaller card balance), which I am super happy with. Mainly by rounding down, plus being able to add the odd fiver from my business account. Obviously that's an artificially high overpayment as it used the £85 or so that would normally go on the minimum payment for the smaller CC balance, but whatever, I'm claiming it. I didn't spend it on shoes, toilet brushes or washing up bowls, right? Therefore it's a win. Also, that last overpayment has just squeaked us over the 25% line for my 2018 debt repayment goal of £5k.
Savings pots - for the FIRST TIME EVER we have made it to the end of the month with savings pots. They aren't all completely intact, but they have only been spent on the things they are intended for (ie presents from the birthday pot, passport renewal from the holiday pot etc). The emergency fund has a whole £40, and the extension fund £328, as well as holidays, birthdays, national trust membership, dentist, music lessons etc etc all still having the appropriate amount of money in. A shame there isn't more in the birthday pot as we have two relatives' birthdays in March, and DC2 and 3 at the end of the month, so that will be my top up challenge for the coming month, but I've done the best I can in the face of the car bill from hell.

Losses
Diesel - I didn't budget extra for driving up to my dad's, and it was a mistake, I had to rob from another pot to top this up. We spent £307.35 over the month. I actually need to ask DH about this, as I'm slightly wondering if he's buying the odd lunch or something when he pays for diesel. Although feasibly the car has been running less efficiently too.
Car maintenance - less said about that the better. Unavoidable but immensely tedious.
Birthdays - an overspend from DH, plus a couple of other gifts, have eaten into this pot - it's down to £30 having started at £60. but at least it's not all gone.

Looking forward to March, it's all about the birthdays. DC2 and 3 at the end of the month, plus two other presents to buy. This is going to be a huge challenge not to overspend on (long time readers will be familiar with my love of birthdays and Christmas, and general tendency to hideously overspend on them). My aim is to top the pots up rather than make any pretence that I'm going to get two of my children's presents and parties done for <£100. March is also going to be about keeping a close eye on fuel and food budgets, as they are still such weak areas and can fluctuate massively.

Back to today...

Three things to do today
1. Confirm schedule for contract work.
2. Update next batch of product listings for smaller business.
3. Hem shorts for DC1's world book day costume. I haven't done this as I think school is going to be closed tomorrow, and I was going to hem a pair of slightly-too-small trousers. I will keep the trousers for DC2 if they aren't needed for a costume, but I have hemming tape and the iron on standby in case school is open!

Debt repayment:
- £8.96 last few days of February 'rounding down' pot (paid off the barclaycard today).
- £1,250.93/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.

dangers

Long time lurker here - just be warned that schools around here are planning to open in the morning but close at around lunchtime when the snow is due to hit, and I think that you may be in the same area of the country as me. So you may well need that costume yet.

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 55: Day 4

Not sure yet whether school is opening - it's snowing at the moment but only lightly, although due to get much heavier later on today. World Book Day dressing up has been postponed for practicality reasons - someone has clearly had a fit of common sense and realised that dozens of small children wearing thin nylon costumes and insufficient base layers when the temperature isn't due to get much above freezing probably isn't a fantastic idea.

Hoping the school is open for a while as I'd quite like to nip into town to get some food bits so I don't need to go out again if the weather totally disintegrates - our forecast is much worse for tonight and tomorrow, and even Saturday, than it is for today. Although I suppose it isn't totally beyond me to wrap the children up and take them into town if school is shut!

Three things to do today
1. Top up food shop.
2. Send invoices for Feb work.
3. Phone client enquiry back.

Debt repayment:
- £8.96 last few days of February 'rounding down' pot (paid off the barclaycard today).
- £1,250.93/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.

Treadingonplaymobil

February's lists - update

End of month (a day late) check in with my BIG LIST... Completed items in teal. I didn't get everything done, but nothing leftover was crucial, apart from a total failure to focus on my website with work.

Home/Family
1. Play around with designs in preparation for the architect's visit in early March.
2. Eat the contents of the freezer and defrost it.
3. Declutter and organise the utility room.
4. Sort through all the stuff I've decluttered from various rooms and store the children's stuff that needs to be kept for a month or two to see if they ask for it. Charity shop the rest.
5. Keep on top of packed lunches and make sure we have sufficient for a few days at any time, especially as the freezer gets lower.
6. Repaint the bathroom tiles - the tile paint is peeling off (we are avoiding doing any proper work in this bathroom until we know whether it is being moved in the course of the extension). I HATE the bathroom, find it utterly depressing.
7. Spend an hour tidying up outside the front of the house. I need to do some proper gardening once the weather warms up, but it needs a bit of TLC before then.
8. DH finish the fencing at the front of the house.
9. Sew buttons and loops on DC1's new coat to hold the inner fleece onto the cuffs (DC1 loves the coat apart from this).
10. Plan veg planting.
11. Put the word out about needing a little trailer for camping.
12. Mend DC3's dressing up costume (Elsa's plait is coming loose...).
13. Buy cheaper spoons for packed lunches - the DC have been taking in our proper cutlery and I'm fairly sure we've lost one or two of our nice (not cheap) spoons.

Me
1. Stick to three things on my daily list at any one time.
2. Keep it SLOW. A steady half term without too much over-commitment and then taking lots of care of myself the following week, which is very busy with work.
3. Keep up a fuller yoga practice - it has been a real challenge to get back into this after neglecting it horribly at the end of last year, but I feel I'm settling back into more of a routine. Doing better over the past week than I did at the beginning of the month.
4. Finish handmade presents for friend's imminent baby.
5. Plan handmade presents for DC2 and 3 birthdays in March and ensure I have any supplies needed.
6. Try to plan in a night away from the DC with DH. We haven't had an evening out or a night away from them for over 18 months and I think we should try to make it happen. Maybe they could go to my mum's in the Easter holidays for a couple of days, although I'd like to do something a bit more 'special' than just loiter at home without them. But needs to be on budget :cool: .

Work
1. Go through who I'm following on social media for work and make sure they're relevant to my business so I'm not wasting time when on social media.
2. 10% growth on my main social media platform (293 followers).
3. A new blog post for my website.
4. Declutter my work cupboard and clear out any un-needed junk.
5. Confirm childcare for March and April so I can make dates available for clients.

MSE
1. £28 minimum overpayment from rounding down YNAB pots.
2. Sort out the Partnership/Virgin balance transfer and change name of Partnership card if necessary.
3. List wooden marble run on eBay (as you all know, I loathe the hassle of selling things, but this might actually get some sensible money).
4. Don't raid the savings pots!
5. Move my rounding down savings pots over from my business account in the middle of the month and again at the end (I operate the same system there, with rounding down split between a debt overpayment and an extensions savings pot).
6. When doing March's budget at the end of the month try to put some money by for train ticket to London for my dad's birthday meal. I have the price of the meal covered.

Treadingonplaymobil

March's lists

I'm seeing March as a time to instill some new habits - I've succeeded in slowing down and doing less, and now I need to work out which habits/routines I want to re-incorporate into our lives. At the end of the day, cleaning, work, exercise etc all need to happen, so I need to make sure they appear somewhere in my routine. I still don't feel I've sorted out the balance between looking after myself and actually achieving everything that needs to be done. My yoga practise is always a symptom of this - when I am relaxed, eating well and managing to both get things done and have some downtime, I practise well. When everything else isn't quite right I can't face practising at all. At the moment I am leaning more towards the latter than the former.

Home/Family
1. Defrost the freezer.
2. Repaint bathroom tiles
3. Tidy up the front garden.
4. DH finish front fence.
5. Plan/start veg planting.
6. Put the word out about needing a little trailer for camping.
7. Mend DC3's dressing up costume (Elsa's plait is coming loose...).
8. Buy cheaper spoons for packed lunches - the DC have been taking in our proper cutlery and I'm fairly sure we've lost one or two of our nice (not cheap) spoons.
9. Try to get back into a daily laundry/ironing rhythm.
10. Try some new budget recipes.
11. Experiment with greater food planning - snacks and lunches as well as dinners (we usually rely on there being leftovers or cheese/crackers/veg, which is OK, but I wonder if we could do better by cooking more soup and stew batches or something, especially for weekends when we are all here).

Me
1. Stick to three things on my daily list at any one time.
2. Eat proper meals and snacks, instead of grazing more or less continuously.
3. Self care - downtime, nice baths, morning and evening rituals.
4. Daily yoga.
5. Finish handmade presents for friend's imminent baby.
6. Make any handmade presents for DC2 and 3 birthdays.

Work
1. 10% growth on my main social media platform (296)
2. A new blog post for my website.
3. Get well ahead with contract work.
4. Focus on my key aim - of developing some passive income that allows me to move away from my current (not hugely enjoyable) main income source.

MSE
1. £31 minimum overpayment from rounding down YNAB pots.
2. List wooden marble run on ebay.
3. Fund birthdays somehow!
4. Keep the food and diesel bills down.
5. Experiment with smaller food shops, more often. We don't have masses of waste but I do feel we could improve a bit, and also up our veg intake - I often don't buy much veg because of the risk of it going off. We have plenty in the freezer, but it can get a bit samey.