My journey to a debt free life

Sun_Addict

Sorry to read about the awful neighbours Sounds like the parents are at fault there, the boys probably misbehave to get their attention.

We used to grow a lot of our own veg but stopped when Mr SA got ill. I'm thinking about starting it up again, just a few things. I do love the smell of tomato plants

Onebrokelady

Sun_Addict wrote: »

Sorry to read about the awful neighbours Sounds like the parents are at fault there, the boys probably misbehave to get their attention.

We used to grow a lot of our own veg but stopped when Mr SA got ill. I'm thinking about starting it up again, just a few things. I do love the smell of tomato plants

The more I see of them the more I see it's the parents that are causing the problem

I haven't grown any veg for a few years now,but I'm hoping to have some good results soon,Mr Sa would have something to take his mind off buying wallets:rotfl: he can buy veg seeds instead

Onebrokelady

God it's cold here today,I can't seem to warm up my hands at all
I woke up early today so got a good start on the day,my first job was walking the dog, then I went off into town to get my food shopping which only took me an hour I came home and had a coffee then went back out to see if there were still any veg plants at The Range ,I bought two pepper plants and two tomato plants plus a packet of spinach seeds,I wanted to get compost as well but they only had massive bags and they won't fit in my trolley
I also bought a small notebook to record my spends in,i didn't have one at home in the end

I've checked my bank account and I've set my budget for this month,I have developed a habit of putting any savings away as soon as I get paid as I'm less likely to spend money if it's already in my savings account,I used to just see what I had left and then save that but there would never be anything left,doing it at the beginning of the month makes me feel good and I know if I have a real problem I can always take the money from my savings,it's got to be a real emergency though

I have put £50 in my Xmas savings pot,so now have £400 for Xmas and birthdays,I realised this morning that I paid out for a birthday last month from my day to day budget but didn't take the money from the savings fund,that is why I was so short over the month,I'm not going to take it now because I made it to the end of the month without anything drastic happening
I also contacted my building society to ask if I can cancel my overdraft as it's not needed and I keep having to make sure I deduct £50 from my balance every time I check it so I dont think I've got more money than I actually have and end up spending it,I await their reply with interest

I'm not feeling great today so haven't really done anything else,I'm just trying to decide what to have for tea because I don't feel like cooking,cheese on toast is feeling like an option at the moment

My annoying next door neighbours have got a new tv and must be watching a film or something because I can hear it through the wall,god knows what it is but it's must be really loud in their house

I've made a note of today's spends in my notebook and I'm going to post them here too
Today's spends are
Food shop = £28.73
Lipstick= £4.00
Veg plants= £7.00
Notebook =£1.00
Seeds = £2.35
Wash Powder=£4.50
Total = £47.58
The lispstick was a bit naughty but my favourite one broke the other day and this one was on offer so I treated myself

Oops just found the receipt for the wash liquid I buy in Wilkos,so I've edited the post and added it in

I used to buy my wash liquid in Mr S but it's £3 for 980 mls,I swapped to the Wilkos one because you get 3 litres for £4.50 and it's really good too

Onebrokelady

Had a rude awakening this morning because DD1 turned up unexpectedly with DGS to see if I wanted to go into town with her,I had overslept so was still in bed,I was supposed to be going on a walk with DD2 and the dog to a local nature reserve but the weather is a bit wild here today so she didn't want to go so I got ready super quick and went into town instead

I took a book back to the library for DD2 while I was in town but didn't really need anything for me.DD1 was looking for some cheapish clothes she can wear while she is pregnant,she didn't want to spend too much because she won't be able to wear them after,she did find a couple of bits in Primarni to keep her going but there wasn't much around that was suitable for a pregnant woman

I am now at home and contemplating cleaning the house,I want to get out in the garden really but I think I might get blown away,it's a shame because it's really sunny one minute then raining the next
I am hoping the weather will be better tomorrow and we will maybe be able to do our walk then but im not holding out much hope

I've also had an idea to make some veg bags to use when I go shopping,I've been listening to my podcast and yesterday it was abkut going plastic free,this is a subject that is close to my heart as I hate plastic,anyway I was on FB and there was an advert for net veg bags you take to the shop to put your veg in instead of using their plastic ones,they are washable and completely reusable,I love this idea and promptly went onto amazon to order some....then it occurred to me that I could make my own from the material I use to do my cross stitch,so later on I'm going to investigate my stash to see if I have any left over that I can use to make my own,it's really light weight too so shouldn't really register on the scales either
We stopped using cling film months ago now so that's another plastic item I don't have to dispose of,instead I use the many containers I have to store food in the fridge or if it's in a dish I just put a plate over it,the only thingsI haven't been able to change yet is cheese and loo roll,both come wrapped in plastic which annoys the hell out of me,cheese could be wrapped in grease proof paper and loo rolls could also be packaged in paper too
It does make me laugh when I go to the supermarket and they have recycled loo roll but it's wrapped in plastic

I seriously want to reduce the amount of waste that leaves my house,our black bin is never full because I am a recycling ninja but recycling is not the answer really,lots of our recycling doesn't end up being recycled and ends up being shipped abroad to be dumped in third world countries where children are being used to pick through it all,I think that is disgusting and sooo sad, so I'm going to have a good go at cutting down on waste from my house to see how empty I can get my recycling bin,it was emptied on Thursday and was nearly full,that's a lot of packaging that mostly wasn't needed
So far I've come up with these strategies
Only buy unwrapped fruit and veg
Use my own veg bags
Don't buy items with too much packaging if it can be at all avoided
Compost veg waste such as peelings, or cook them for the chickens
I bought a couple of sandwhich boxes a couple of years ago,they are the exact shape and size of the average sandwhich so you don't need clingfilm,they are plastic but will last for years and years ,I use these all the time if I take a sandwich anywhere

I can't think of anything else at the moment,if anyone reading has any ideas they will be gratefully received

Spends today
Food Shop= £4.21
Costa = £8.00

Willowtree222

Following your ideas on reducing plastic as I really don't like it either. I can't think of any to add, but might be able to soon xx

Edit: just thought of one we do. We get milk delivered. It's only something small, but the glass bottle goes back. x

arsenalbarnie

Who gives a cr*p is worth a look if you could save up and buy the loo roll in bulk. It is wrapped in paper. I buy the luxury version but the normal stuff is fine too. I find now that it costs me £5 a week for a delivery of 40 rolls every 8 weeks. There is between 5 to 7 people in my house at any one time, so would last you a lot longer I presume. The normal range is made from recycled paper and the premium from bamboo. I would buy normal range at £3 per week for 8 weeks but the men in my house are fussy b*ggers. Before they would insist on *ndrex, but no complaints on the premium brand and I think I could get away with the normal stuff now rather than the premium. You can order it as and when, but I now have a subscription that is very flexible.

Drawingaline

Like Nicnak I get my milk from the milkman. So glass bottles and we get apples too which come in cardboard trays with a compostable net over it. Shame I don't have a compost bin though. We also get bread and I always get stuff at Xmas too. It's definitely more expensive, but it means I avoid top up shops as often and the milk is delivered at 4am,so three days a week it's there ready for breakfast.

Onebrokelady

Nicnak wrote: »

Following your ideas on reducing plastic as I really don't like it either. I can't think of any to add, but might be able to soon xx

Edit: just thought of one we do. We get milk delivered. It's only something small, but the glass bottle goes back. x

We used to get our milk delivered but then the milk round stoppec for some reason,I will have to investigate,I drink Alpro soya milk though so I'm not sure there is an alternative to that:)

Spends today
Food shop= £7.88
Compost =£2.00
Surface cleaner=£1.00
Book for DGS = £3.00......reduced from £12.99

Onebrokelady

arsenalbarnie wrote: »

Who gives a cr*p is worth a look if you could save up and buy the loo roll in bulk. It is wrapped in paper. I buy the luxury version but the normal stuff is fine too. I find now that it costs me £5 a week for a delivery of 40 rolls every 8 weeks. There is between 5 to 7 people in my house at any one time, so would last you a lot longer I presume. The normal range is made from recycled paper and the premium from bamboo. I would buy normal range at £3 per week for 8 weeks but the men in my house are fussy b*ggers. Before they would insist on *ndrex, but no complaints on the premium brand and I think I could get away with the normal stuff now rather than the premium. You can order it as and when, but I now have a subscription that is very flexible.

Thanks for this,I will have a look,there is only two of us so it would probable last quite a while

HairyHandofDartmoor

Sorry you didn't get your walk in OBL.

Your musings on packaging is making me think that I should try and use less. It would also save money not to buy cling film, so I must speak to DH about finding alternatives to it. What about alternatives to bin liners though as they tend to be plastic?