Spend Nowt, Buy Nowt, Owe Nowt

XSpender

I have been doing some naval gazing and reviewing of what we have achieved, or not as may be the case, during the first quarter of the year. I have thought about what I want to achieve in the next 6 months too.

Here goes, it's a mammoth post so will split in to 2 baby mammoth posts!

Savings and Debt

Debt at 28/12/18 - £19,914.15, savings £1,000
Debt at 28/03/19 - £22,014.95, savings £0

We are £3,100.80 worse off but have paid for:

1) £3000 of essential roof repairs which will has also had a positive impact on value on house as it was mentioned in our last mortgage valuation as an issue (looks cosmetically better too)

2) £2500 on flights and accommodation for summer holiday

3) £1100 accommodation and spending money for Easter holiday

We have agreed that time away as a family is very important to us and that I am happier in a caravan in Devon than I am in an all inclusive resort anywhere. I don't know why it has taken so long for us to acknowledge this:o This expenditure needs to be better budgeted for going forward and made a priority.

Next 6 months - save the spending money for our summer holiday and rebuild the £1K emergency savings fund. We could get away with £500 but I would prefer this to be £1000. Maintain monthly payments and don’t add to the debt which is all currently on 0%. BT 2 CC balances when expire in September. I would like to secure a new job with a substantial increase in salary however this may require the purchase of a car and result in additional childcare costs.

Budgeting

I have been all over YNAB like a rash this year and am pleased that our pots are building slowly but surely. We haven’t gone over budget and I have not had to shift money around by raiding the pots to cover overspending. It feels good to have money in the pot to pay for planned spending like family days out, clothes and other bits and pieces. DH has also been better at managing his personal spending so hasn’t had to dip into the main budget and mess it all up.

Also see comment above regarding budgeting for family holidays going forward.

Next 6 months – Continue to build pots including those for next year’s annual bills and Christmas and for future family holidays.

Groceries

Last year we spent over £500/month on average. In January we spent £461.51. For the 28 days of Feb we spent £393.36 and the 28 days of March we have spent £328.10. I can’t tell you how chuffed I am with that, I feel like we have had a £200/month pay rise! We have had a couple of organic veg boxes each month and I am now buying organic dairy as I shift more into clean eating. I had a think about what I have done differently, and the main things are:

• Downshifted from Tesco/Asda to Aldi
• Went food shopping on my own most of the time or with DS who doesn’t really ask for anything
• Haven’t had any takeaways since an awful Chinese in Jan although DH has had a couple of kebabs each month
• Bought less – I have only bought what we need and have waited to replace items until we have run out or just about run out. I could have bought more toilet roll 2 weeks ago but there were enough rolls about the house (we have 3 loos) to last until this week
• I have dragged myself out of bed to make DH lunch and he has bought lunch at work less or used his own money for this.
• I have used my dinner allowance to buy a bottle of wine for the weekend instead of buying crap that makes me fat and have drunk less overall
• YS – I have done well for YS GF bread from the local co-op and have got some bargain ready meals for DH (even picked some up in Scotland when travelling with work)

• Thought long and hard about what I would rather spend my money on

Next 6 months – I want to move to cleaner eating to improve health and energy and lose excess weight. I would like to be able to afford an organic veg box every week, maintain organic dairy and buy organic meat where I can. This will mean eating less meat and more plant based which I prefer. DH is starting a new plan at the gym late April which will complement this. We could improve on the amount of food we waste through better storage and planning. I would like to be closer to a £250/month spend.

apple_muncher

A wonderful bit of reflection. It really shows how far you have all come. Well done to one and all.

XSpender

Thanks Apple x

This half of the update isn't really financial......

Family and Home

So far this year we have completed the roof repairs, a small amount of work in the front garden and almost turned the front bedroom back from a dumping ground to a bedroom.

We haven’t planned for any further work on the house this year, but the back garden does need a serious tidy which may require a skip, some turf and a lot of hard graft.

I have purchased a 2nd hand wardrobe (£20) which will be painted and go in the guest room. I would like to put some shelves in it and turn it in to an amoire. This room needs some pictures on the bare walls too and then it will be finished. There are plenty of small jobs that we can complete around the house for little or no money if we get the DIY urge. If my up-cycling of the wardrobe is a success I have a small sideboard that I will paint to match the dining room furniture.

If funds allow we may get the utility room done but this is not essential, and I plan to spray paint the downstairs loo cistern (done by previous owners and now yellow) and decorate it as a little project.

DH and I finally have a vision of how we want the living room and dining room to look but not the funds to make this happen as it will involve a lot of work and expense.

We have enjoyed some good times this year as a family and a couple and this will continue. I have had nights out with my girlfriends and even a night out with DH and some other friends which is more than I have had in the last 6 months! We also have several events/theatre trips booked in for the next few months including a family wedding.

I am managing to keep the house tidier if not necessarily cleaner and this is keeping my stress levels down.

Next 6 months home – up-cycle wardrobe and side board, source pictures for guest room, tidy and turf garden, decorate downstairs loo. Possibly refurbish utility room.

Next 6 months family – attend pre-booked events with family and friends, attend family wedding, regular visits to parents, family time every weekend, use NT membership.

Fitness

My weight is still creeping up, I am the heaviest I have ever been in my life and have just tipped into overweight on those weight/height charts, and I have not done any more running. I had a good long think about how I want to eat and what my current eating is really like. I have even considered hypnotherapy to break my bad habits, but this month have decided instead to focus on clean eating and am feeling motivated to make a change. This is giving me more flexibility when I am away, and I feel less deprived.

We have a long-distance walking challenge in July and I have a place in the GNR in September.

Next 6 months – Continue to work on clean eating. Build up walking distance and include hills in preparation for walk. Run a comfortable 10K by the beginning of June and complete the GNR in September having trained sufficiently. Attend the running club again when able to run a 30-minute 5K, progress to 10K and train with them for the GNR.

XSpender

Eeek! I applied for a couple of jobs over the last 2 weeks and have got an interview for one of them!!

apple_muncher

Yay! Enjoy the processes - the running one, the eating one and the interviewing one!

brizzlegirl

Fab news about the interview :j :j

Honeysucklelou2

Wow, well done on getting to the interview stage. Really useful review, what a good idea!

Suffolk_lass

Well done on getting an interview - when I used to coach people on competency-based interviews we used the mantra of 10% what (your task or objective was) 40-50% how (you did it using examples) and 40-50% 0n outcome - what difference did it make (the so-what moment).

I always fell into explaining too much of the technical detail rather than my evidence of the competency being tested. Good luck!

Regarding your other updates - re garden - there is strong evidence that it has only a short-term benefit putting in turf - you might consider doing the work in the autumn and seeding the replacement so it gets going ahead of winter and then grows on next year - so much cheaper and I am guessing you don't sit out in the garden so much in the winter(!)

I can recommend the 8-week blood sugar diet - it has changed my life. It is brilliant and gluten free. We did it again in September with DH joining me and after 4-5 days of withdrawal from sugar, I was starting to feel inspired by the lack of aches and pains and the rapid loss so it became easier to follow. By the time I was getting a bit fed up with some of the restrictions, I only had 3 weeks to go so my mindset was that anyone can do 8 weeks. It really changed my outlook and is very healthy (clean). We did not religiously count calories - just cut out the starchy foods and any sugar (except in wine and fruit that grows here). DH lost 1.5 stones, I lost another 11lbs (on top of the two and half stone that I had lost since doing it the first time.

He has a web-site now - here and it would definitely fit with your plans for the sake of a few small changes.

brizzlegirl

Hope alls good XS x

XSpender

I am nervous about the interview and struggling with impostor syndrome. I have to keep reminding myself that they have looked at my CV and linked in and nothing has been exaggerated so I must look OK on paper. It's only an hour's interview and I am dreading that I turn up and they ask me to create a presentation from scratch :eek: My friend is sending me some competency based questions around my subject so I can practice my answers. I need to focus more on the results and not on the how. I also should do a bit of research on the company even though they are a household name.

I've had a quick look at the blood sugar diet and it does fit in with how I want to eat so will do some more research.

Pay day has been and gone and the budget is tighter than a tight thing. We have repaid all of the money lent to us by DPIL for the roof and have put away the spending money for our holiday in 2 weeks time. We have the final payment on an event to pay this week (£112) which we will need to cash flow. I've scrapped a bit out of a few of the pots and have set a low budget for food. DH thinks we won't need as much as I have set aside for spending money and I would be thrilled to come home with £100

I did a food shop on Friday and bought quite a bit, enough to easily make main meals for 2 weeks. We also had our fortnightly veg box. I was out on Saturday and DH and DS went to the local c00p and picked up the £5 meal deal and some YS bread for me. I have £116 to cover us until the 27th April and we are away for a week of this. Food spends on holiday come out of our spending money. I have taken the food money out in cash and stuck it in another purse.

I have lost 1.5lbs since I started clean eating, I haven't eaten 100% clean but have definitely cut down on the amount of rubbish I have eaten and have had a lot more fruit and veg.

Meal Plan this week

M- Chicken (leftover from roast) and veg stir fry with a ginger, honey and tamarind sauce and rice noodles
T - Leek and bacon risotto with salad
W- Lentil Bake, carrots, cabbage and gravy
Th - Chicken and broccoli pasta bake (might just be broccoli if not enough chicken from roast left) with salad
F - Vegan chilli with spicy wedges and cheddar (not vegan;))
S - Pizza out
S - Chicken and goats cheese wrapped in palma ham, roast sweet potatoes, carrots and green beans (DS will have chicken goujons as will turn his nose up at goats cheese probably)

Breakfasts - toast, porridge, cereal, fruit and yogurt, smoothie
Lunches - cheese and salad pittas, soup, eggs on toast
Snacks - fruit, nuts and raisins, cheese and oatcakes, nak'd bars

Hmm... there is a lot of chicken and cheese in there! I am aiming for 2 veggie meals per week with a view to increasing this over time as I increase my repertoire.

DH starts his new plan when we get back from holiday and they have updated it since last time and it has proper meals and recipes so I will be eating the evening meals with him to make life easier.

I have everything in for the meal plan except peppers which were on the list but I forgot to pick up. :mad:

I had a lovely Mothers Day yesterday although it started on Saturday when DS insisted on making me a cup of tea and some cereal for breakfast :happyhear My gifts were well within budget due to my main gift going though the till at £5.50 less than the marked price so don't feel so bad for going out for breakfast.:o

I am at home all week this week :T so will focus on cleaning the house, prepping for our holiday and getting on top of work-work. We are out at the Theatre on Saturday evening (5pm show) and I have budgeted for a 3 course happy hour meal (£5.99 each) and parking. I will take some drinks from home.

I had a text message from MBNA to advise that my deal ends this month :eek: I had it down as August! Luckily i BTd half of it last month to my Sains card fee free and will ask DH to apply for one too. He also has £1900 on a Virg1n card where the deal ends in the summer so may do both depending on what he is offered as it is a long fee free offer. There is a santander one too which is an even better offer. If he doesn't get a new card he can BT to his Virgin as this has a high limit but a fee.

I'm restarting C25K tomorrow while DS is at Tae Kwando.:eek: