Spend Nowt, Buy Nowt, Owe Nowt

XSpender

In an attempt to go harder at the debt and savings, pay off more and live on the rest I have done some CC BTs this morning to take advantage of the fee free 25 month 0% offer on my Sains card. This has moved the holiday flights/accommodation to 0% (should have been covered by my bonus but the roof repairs ate that) which were interest bearing and half the MBNA card which was 0% to Sept but is our biggest balance so the fee would have been hundreds if we waited until then. The balance on this will be BTd by DH along with whatever is left on his Virgin card both of which have 0% offers ending Sept. DH Virgin card will get all our OPs and bits and bobs going forward.

This is going a bit harder because I will now be paying it back at 2.25% instead of 1% on over half our debt with all OPs going to DH card. When DH does his BT all the CCs will be paid back at 2.25% plus whatever else we can throw at them.

I am now looking to how I can squeeze another £100/month to go to rebuild the EF.

Picked up 5 RMs for DH lunches in Sains when in Scotland priced between 54p and 74p. I never pick up anything that reasonable at 6.30pm at home. There is only £100 left in the food budget for the month but we do have a lot of food in both fresh and in the freezer. The first week was a low spend, last week was high but this week should be a low spend again. I also picked up some fruit and a bottle of wine with my dinner allowance for the weekend. DH has cut out the beer this week as he is busy at work so that will save a few quid

Not much else to report on the money front. I am in the mid month lull when no debt payments have gone out and there still seems a lot more month than money.

Suffolk_lass

I know what you mean about the mid-month lull. It is Dullsville (in Tennessee ) Bit confused by what you are paying interest at 2.25% on in your second para.

Re shopping - I try to do a big shop once a month, then keep to the minimum of what we need (always tempted by YS meat or fish though) for two other weeks and try to have a leftovers/freezer week and some low cost veg meals.

Current low cost fave is my quick version of melanzane parmigiana - I don't soak or salt the aubergine (2x55p), just roast it while the oven is warming for about 40 minutes with olive oil and s&P. I make my ten-minute tomato sauce (about 60p) and I use whatever strong cheese I have in - currently a 500g block of extra mature cheddar for £3 so maybe 75p. That is approx £2.50 for two of us. I have added leftover lamb to this and added a bit of potato and a white sauce (made with corn starch) with an egg beaten in, topped with cheese and loosely described as Moussaka too . Sort of needs must to keep the costs down and very low in starchy carbs it fits with my diet. It occurs to me it might fit with your gluten free regime?

XSpender

I am paying back 2.2% of the balance back to sains each month so my repayment has increased from £120 to £260. I was only paying back 1% of the balance to MBNA. All our debt is on 0% and the holiday flights were on a card that hasn't accrued interest yet.

For the first week's food budget I used cash in a separate purse and, although I did a few shops for 1 or 2 items during the week, it worked really well. Last week I had to do a bigger shop at aldee and then DH blew that week's budget in Asda. This week I am going back to cash in a separate purse. I find when I do a big shop at the beginning of the month I overspend and then struggle to manage on what's left and end up going over budget. We do have plenty of food in so I will do a meal plan and try to keep this week's spends really low. DH is out all day Friday and I am out Sunday afternoon/evening, both for meals and drinks, so that should help keep costs down.

DH loves that aubergine dish, with or without meat, but I have never made it myself. I would be interested to hear how you make your tomato sauce, mine always tastes like a warm tin of chopped tomatoes.

I have set up a SO to go into my regular saver to rebuild the EF that was used for the roof repairs. It doesn't start until May as in April we have the final £300 to repay DPIL for the roof and the rest of our spending money for our Easter break as well as the increased debt payment. If my MBNA payment isn't taken this month due to the BT I will split this between the EF and DH CC.

Suffolk_lass

My simple tomato sauce -

1. A good slosh of olive oil in a saute pan heated through (but not too hot or it will burn) - add two chopped up cloves or garlic (3 if they are small) they keep colds away (and vampires, if your DS is not keen!) - fry for about a minute - don't let it go brown (or it gets bitter),
2. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes, and stir. Then sprinkle on a pinch of salt, a good 4 twists of black pepper, a sprinkle of sugar (less than a teaspoon) and stir.
3. Add a good sprinkle of herbs - I ready-mix thyme, mint, basil and oregano so that there are no bitter flavours. Stir and simmer for about five minutes.
4. If you want it a bit richer you could add a teaspoon of tomato paste (puree) but you might need a little more sugar to reduce the acid from the tomatoes. I have stopped doing this last step unless we are just having the tomato sauce with pasta.

That is it.

Suffolk_lass

I think it is the cheap week that has nailed it for me with the grocery budget. I've been doing GC for about nine years now so the storage systems are well established. Apart from running out of w/up liquid on NYE I have everything in store now (satisfies my hoarding inclination!) and I add it to my list when I open the last one (or but-one for shower gel) and look for offers on mysupermarket.com

XSpender

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

I think it is the cheap week that has nailed it for me with the grocery budget. I've been doing GC for about nine years now so the storage systems are well established. Apart from running out of w/up liquid on NYE I have everything in store now (satisfies my hoarding inclination!) and I add it to my list when I open the last one (or but-one for shower gel) and look for offers on mysupermarket.com

Thanks for the sauce recipe. I don't think I ever hit my target in all the years I did the GC :rotfl: It's a great part of the forum though

Grocery funds now down to £95 as DH had a couple of beers last night after saying he wasn't. I am having a use-it-up-day and have so far used up dodgy bananas and left over egg whites in pancakes, will have left over beans with the extra pastie I made for dinner last night and am making pea and baby spinach risotto to use the spinach before it goes slimy. Will chuck in some white wine as we have a bottle in the rack no-one will drink.

I've done a meal plan and shopping list for tomorrow but no doubt will edit it and remove somethings. I could have done without needing soap powder, fabric conditioner and DW tablets. I can't even snap the DW tabs in 2 as they are powder contained in a dissolveable film rather than a hard tablet

I had an email from MBNA saying they will still take the DD which is OK as it was budgeted for and I was going to use most of it for debt repayment if they didn't take it anyway. No payments due to go out for aaaaagggggeeeessss.

Work is ramping up as a project I have been waiting to get the go ahead is starting. There does not seem to be enough days in April what with Easter and annual leave :eek:

XSpender

We have had awful weather over the last 2 days; sun, wind, snow and torrential rain :eek: I slept in the other room last night as DH went to bed early and was hogging the bed after his day out for Cheltenham. It is at the back of the house and really quiet and I slept in until 8.30am which is very rare for me.

DH is nursing a bit of a hangover and the day is filled with rugby matches so I don't think we will be going far. The laundry needs doing, DS has homework and upstairs could do with a clean.

I did manage to forget tissues and fabric conditioner at Aldee yesterday, even though they were on the list, and I picked up the wrong colour of touche !clat so a return visit is required. I bought some hot cloth cleanser to try as, after having good skin all my life, I am getting a bit red and feel it could do with a bit more care. I am going to save up for the primer from my make-up range as well but may have to wait until May as I have a night out at the end of the month and need funds for that.

We picked up a good c0-op meal deal containing items on my list and some bargain YS bread and rolls that were also on the list. Food spends now at £246.67/£300 which is squeaky but not impossible as my month runs until the 27th.

Co-op gave me a £1 off £5 voucher which will go towards a fruit top up and a few YS bits mid week.

I also have a meal allowance next week to spend which will cover my weekend wine and a couple of other items. There is a lot of food in but I do need to focus on the fresh food not getting wasted. DH has suggested a stir fry for tonight to use up some of the veg and even DS has said he will try it.:)

YNAB says that I spent over £600 last March on groceries, booze, laundry, toiletries and dog food :eek:

DS has 2 sports events representing school in the next 2 weeks and has managed to lose all but the shorts of his PE kit since the start of term including a brand new pair of trainers :mad: I've ordered a new T-shirt (he needs a bigger size anyway and it will do for next year) or he won't be able to complete in either inter school event and I will scour school for his trainers and sweatshirt.

XSpender

Another CC payment DD has come out The BT I did last week has meant no payment needed to the smallest CC so I have used the money put aside to pay the final tiny balance on our summer holiday caravan. The 2 last payments don't come out until right before pay day.

At the weekend we went to our friends charity shop to pick up a vintage item he had set aside for DH and drop off some donations.
I spotted a small, old, dark wood wardrobe with a mirrored door and a carved trim, perfect to be up-cycled. It cost £20 and fits perfectly in the guest room and we have donated the old kids unit that we were using in there for storage.

Less than £40 left of the food budget :eek: and we will need some meat, milk, salad and fruit at the weekend. I have a dinner allowance to use tomorrow so will pick up a few bits then as will take soup in my flask to eat in the hotel room.

brizzlegirl

All sounding very purposeful XS ..good to hear. Finding time to upcycle furniture too! Blimey. Am glad you’re working to a strict plan on groceries, lunches , recording everything on YNAB etc. It’s certainly working for us at the moment. I am in two minds whether to release the shackles a bit in the summer or just drive on through to get to the end. I’m tempted by the latter but I’ll think on it and keep you posted!

Have a great weekend x

apple_muncher

Well done on paying for the caravan - something to look forward to.