Spend Nowt, Buy Nowt, Owe Nowt

enthusiasticsaver

Remind your DH that the sooner the debt is gone or at least reduced the more money you will have to spend and it will be yours and not borrowed. Does he leave all the budgeting etc to you or does he get on board with it? It is much easier to tackle uncontrolled debt if you are both on the same page.

apple_muncher

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

Well personally I think the charitable thing to do would be to share your DH’s bonuses out with your lovely MSE friends :rotfl:

And then TOPM can get the washing up bowl that she covets...:D

XSpender

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Remind your DH that the sooner the debt is gone or at least reduced the more money you will have to spend and it will be yours and not borrowed. Does he leave all the budgeting etc to you or does he get on board with it? It is much easier to tackle uncontrolled debt if you are both on the same page.

He does leave the budgeting to me but is getting better at understanding when we can't afford something. It may be that I am getting better at saying we can't afford something

apple_muncher wrote: »

And then TOPM can get the washing up bowl that she covets...:D

:rotfl: I might even splash out and get her the matching washing up brush

Treadingonplaymobil

XSpender wrote: »

:rotfl: I might even splash out and get her the matching washing up brush

You're laughing now, you won't be when I present you with a bill for a £30 washing up brush.

Oooh, that reminds me, I thought of you lot when I was in a frighteningly trendy hipster shop the other day and saw a really nicely designed loo brush with a really minimalist wooden handle, in a really nicely made polished concrete holder. It was £55. I didn't buy it.

XSpender

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

You're laughing now, you won't be when I present you with a bill for a £30 washing up brush.

:eek:

Oooh, that reminds me, I thought of you lot when I was in a frighteningly trendy hipster shop the other day and saw a really nicely designed loo brush with a really minimalist wooden handle, in a really nicely made polished concrete holder. It was £55. I didn't buy it.

Glad to hear it

XSpender

After completely failing to post my goals for January I am getting organised for February

Finance

1) Reduce debt total by £1000 after interest added (Current Balance £53,997.55, aiming for £52ks)
2) Come in under food budget - £407 for 5 weeks
3) No credit card spending even if we see the bargain of the century
4) Sell dining suite, TV, sewing machine, 2 broken phones and unwanted DVDS, books and CDs - I hate selling stuff but needs must
5) List contents of freezers and cupboards, meal plan and drink the wine/gin we have in the house before buying anymore booze to assist with no. 2 and no.6
6) Recipe research, create meal plans etc. for a super low food spend challenge I am planning for March
7) Do at least 3 money saving/money making things every day this month with a hope of establishing frugal habits
8) Find £150 for deposit for summer camping trip

House

1) Complete 12 small jobs in the house that we have materials for and don’t involve spending any further money
a. Oil kitchen worktops
b. Touch up kitchen walls and gloss on big door
c. Paint skirting area in alcove in our room to disguise lack of skirting
d. Put up smoke alarms (already bought may need 1 battery)
e. Stain mat well trim and glue down
f. Touch up small areas in hall and landing
g. Clean the inside of all windows without replacing broker Karcher
h. Strip wallpaper in guest room
i. Remove ugly shelves from guest room and box up or sell DVDs/books and CDs that ere on them
j. Clean interior of oven, fridge, dishwasher and washing machine
k. Sort out clothes (mainly DH) and box for storage in loft
l. Fit DS wardrobe door knobs if DH already has some longer screws
2) Use proceeds of sales to purchase a mirror for our bedroom (£55)

Me and Family

1) Do my first park run with DH and DS - FREE
2) Go swimming with DH and DS - £10 and budgeted for
3) Go to 2 gym classes with friend – FREE, already paid for with annual membership
4) Go for a run on my own - FREE
5) Spend some time on career development – FREE, colleague is supporting with some resources
6) Read 3 books for pleasure and 1 linked to career development – FREE, have more than this on my kindle, the handmaid’s tale in paperback and an NLP book to read I’ve had for sometime
7) Visit favourite NT place for a walk – FREE if we keep out of the cafe:o
8) Re-start my bullet journal when I find the diary I bought
9) 2 meals out with 2 different sets of friends – from my personal spends
10) Don’t stress about losing any weight this month (I need to shift a stone). If keeping the £s in the bank means keeping the lbs on my bod this month so be it

enthusiasticsaver

Great February goals.

XSpender

I haven't had quite the super frugal and NSD I was expecting. I didn't even get a full days work in as I had to pick DS up from school at lunchtime due to a really bad eczema flare up that the school had diagnosed as a contagious lurgy. Whisked him off to the doctors and he now has a bag full of lotions and potions and a 7 day course of antibiotics. He will be going back to school tomorrow. Because my afternoon was a write off I did the food shop today instead of tomorrow, bought cards and a cake for DH birthday and the duvet, sheet and mattress protector as planned for the new guest room.

I have about £2 in the food budget left for this week but DH will want more beer over the weekend. I may do a trial run of my super-frugal-spend-nowt-on-food challenge week after next to keep within this month's food. We certainly won't starve with what's in the cupboards and freezers. I started listing it yesterday and was surprised what there was. I was going to do the challenge for 4 weeks starting 2nd March but might start next Friday instead and do it for 6 weeks.

DH has taken tomorrow off as it is his birthday on Monday and one of his employee benefits is that he is given his birthday as an extra days holiday so he can have a long weekend I have a list of jobs for him already written out

3 Frugal Things for Today (scraping the barrel here )

1) Bought DH birthday cards in Mr T (above the Doctors) to get a code for the car park to avoid the £1 parking charge
2) Ate YS pizza for tea (80% off does make it taste so much nicer;))
3) Bought ingredients to make 4 GF loaves for the price I would pay for 1 shop bought loaf (with plenty of yeast and xanthum gum left to make more). Hope the recipe works out!
4) Persuaded DH that I would, genuinely, much rather spend 2 weeks in a tent in Cornwall (at £450) than a) a week in a mobile home in Cornwall (£800) on a site where we wouldn't use the most of the facilities or b) 2 weeks in a tent/mobile home in France (£1800) for my summer holidays

WannabeFree

I'm still trying to catch back up but I'm so glad you've come to a compromise on the house things etc.

Hope DS skin clears up soon and school are understanding.

x

try_harder

Great targets for February and lots of fun things too.

I am the same with the cafes at the NT i cannot resist the cakes