saving my future self from debt

pennyforthepot

Getting ready for our event at work this evening. I've even managed to get both DD and her BF working, so a bit of extra cash all round.

DD was a bit cold in the evening, I did think about turning the heating on but as its underfloor heating it takes 24 hours to warm up once it's been turned off and as my cut off for heating is mid April I filled up her hot water bottle instead. To be fair I did offer to bring the little heater in but she said she was fine with her bottle.

I was aiming for a NSD which is a rarity but I need a black skirt for this evening so I will have to scour the charity shops for one.

Daily electricity cost: £1.64 I may succumb to putting heating on in next day or two as the weather is going colder for a bit and DDs room is the coldest. Luckily I can put it on just in her room but it's terribly expensive.

PFTP x

pennyforthepot

As Im working late Im not going in till later today so Im trying to get as much of my to do list sorted before I go. Have managed to find something vaguely presentable from rummaging around in DDs wardrobe so I wont need to spend any money on a skirt. Have also made dinner for DD as although we get fed at the event I dont expect there will be anything she can have. Just finished a quick round with the vacuum and duster and a swift wipe down of the shower, sinks and loos so thats my house work chores done for the day.

I lost my mojo at the beginning of April when I saw the financial issues arising and not being able to run to help clear my mind and give me that endorphin fix but I I'm hoping its starting to come back. Im normally a list addict but I find that if I dont keep them up then I dont want to start them up again as I know they will be endless. So this morning Im going to spend an 30 minutes writing up my lists, one for MS and one for everything else - they kind of overlap. So far in my head my MS list will start off as follows in no particular order:

Check current financial status - how much I have shaved off my budgets so far this month plus additional hours worked. Because I started my diary half way through the month I haven't quite got my spreadsheets aligned up reflect this without checking my bank account.

Use it up Challenge - Ive been attempting to use all those bits of ingredients you buy when you think you're going to be a gourmet chef but only use once, or you buy in bulk and realise they are close to the use by date! I have really simplified my cooking over the last 12 to 18 months and know exactly what ingredients I use and what I dont need anymore. At the moment I am using up a jar of whole nutmegs that im certain are from the last century and am down to my last on! I intend to gather everything together and put them in a box on my kitchen counter in the hope that it will prompt me to use them sooner as I cant abide anything left out to cause clutter.

Broad menu plan - I dont use a menu plan anymore (I used to when there were 5 of us at home) with both myself and DD eating vegan I tend to cook whatever veg we have in which is pretty standard and base her meals around that. I batch cook my dinners on a 10 day basis and eat the same dinner every day whilst at home- dahl, veggies pulses curry with a sweet potato. I also eat the same breakfast -porridge, nuts, seeds and berries and you guessed it the same lunch- salad,nuts, pulses and guacamole. Odd I know but as optimum nutrition is important to me its the best way for me (eating a high plant based diet) to know that I am getting the right amount of nutrition that my body requires . also Im not a foodie. (pudding is a different matter obviously).

Whats on Offer !!!8211; quick scan at the shops to see if anything I need is on offer so I can go and bulk buy

Food shopping list for next month, probably Asda as the petrol there is the cheapest by far and I dont have a local aldi or lidl not that asda is local either.

I need to sort out my penny pots in terms of what I have and do I need some more. I dont have a contingency pot at the moment (only a miscellaneous and thats just £50 for bits and pieces that I cant easily allocate elsewhere over the month). I try hard to think of all the typical spends throughout the year but one always manages to raise its ugly head- Office One Drive this month that I totally forgot about. Also those items that are one offs like the speeding course ive just had to book £91 (first in 15 years I hasten to add). Also need to set up a sub pot in celebrations as its DDs 18th in January next year so I dont want to be caught short.

Sort though my sale box of goodies that I bought in the xmas sales and see what I can allocate to who and wonder why on earth I bought said item!

Desperately need to go through my Celebration budget which currently stands at £3000 for the year.! I have allocated a set amount for every celebration over the year including cards, wrapping paper and anything else related including celebratory meals so its not like im just throwing money into it but I have GOT to get it down.

Sort out my MS spreadsheet so they flow better.

Thats it for the moment enough to keep me going.

So much for a quick post!

Need to sort these bloomin exclamation mark thingies out theyre driving me up the wall need to be able to punctuate my sentences

PFTPx

beanielou

Hope your event goes well.

Another yoga fan here, especially chair yoga.

pennyforthepot

beanielou wrote: »

Hope your event goes well.

Another yoga fan here, especially chair yoga.

Thanks Beanielou - exhausting but fun

pennyforthepot

Long day yesterday , particularly given I'm normally in bed by 9.30 and didn't get back till midnight. Another few £s to squirrel away

Good MS day yesterday: NSD!!

Daily electricity spend £2.21 - so it cost around 60p to heat DDs room a little.

Managed to allocate all of my presents in my gift box, mainly stocking fillers and a few main gifts for friends but I think there's a good £150 worth to cut off my budget.

Went through my finances and it looks like, assuming there are no major spends over the next 5 days that I will have saved around £200 off my cash budgets this month but I won't count my chickens - I did however have 3 unexpected spends which came in at around £150, 2 were covered from my cash pots and the other I took out my birthday money of which I had some left though wasn't expecting to use it for a speeding course . Looking forwards to doing my end of month tally with the extra hours I've worked

Sorted out my additional pots. Added a contingency and DD 18th pot. Thank goodness I hadn't taken any money out of my celebration pot since the beginning of the year. Put £600 into a contingency account (would like to see that topped up to £1000. £300 for DDs 18th - sorted. (Hoping to have some change out of that)!

Off to grate some nutmeg on my porridge

PFTP x

beanielou

Have a good day.

pennyforthepot

beanielou wrote: »

Have a good day.

Long and slow with plenty of sugar to keep me awake

pennyforthepot

Today's MS went well though mainly because I was too tired to walk to the shops!

• NSD - an unheard of 2 in a row for me
• Daily Available spend at £46.13 for tomorrow, an increase of £9.23
• Got some free leftovers from last night which have been frozen for meals next month
• Cooked up a large batch of kidney beans as I'd slipped back into buying tins
• DD didn't have the meal I made for her last night so she can have it today
• Started on my last nutmeg and will soon be on to finishing the tahini

Diary catch up and an early night for me.

PFTP x

pennyforthepot

Feeling a less tired this morning,

Electricity usage yesterday still at £2.20. Looking at the forecast it's likely to remain like that into early next week

On the MS front today I'm going to:

• Buy the ingredients to batch cook next weeks dinners. I'm going to cost it up per meal
• Write up shopping list for next month and do a price comparison
• Buy some dried chick peas to cook up. Not sure what else to use my tahini for. Will have a look into that
• Write up a list of to use up ingredients and stick it on the fridge
• Take a look at my pots and see if I can trim the fat ready for next month
• Sort out my spreadsheets so they run more smoothly

Not working today so once I've done my chores and written my to do list, which I've still not done I'm off for a walk. I've not done any form of exercise since Easter and I'm starting to feel the effects, mentally as well as physically. I may not be running any more but I still seem to be eating like I'm running and fear I've put on a pound or two :eek:

PFTP X

pennyforthepot

House work done -little and often works well for me

Bins emptied - I challange myself to a bread bags worth of non-recyclables per week (and a good way to use my bread bags up) Epic fail this week, ended up with a carrier bag full of rubbish - think DD must have cleared out her room again!

Washing washed - refuse to do any more than 3 loads a week - 1 dark, 1 lights and one beddings/towels. Shame it's raining out. Not that I'm meant to put it out, have had warning letter posted through my door and a good talking to about the unsightliness of it. I still sneak it out when I can. It should be compulsory given the state of the environment, to hang your washing out.

Coffee break time before I think about my to do list. I'm such a frugalista. I use a cafetière and have marked a line on it so I know exactly how much water to pur in for my one cup and I leave in the dregs for the day so I can use less fresh coffee next time I have a drink

I was thinking about my pots as I was doing the vacuuming earlier. For me pots are a great psychological tool. I don't think I save any more money by having all these pots (they are mostly virtual pots rather than physical ones, just a line on a spreadsheet really) but they give me that reassurance that all my bases are covered and that I have accounted for all my potential spends (with a contingency for those one offs). With that in mind I have decided that I need a new glasses pot and a new laptop pot (mine is so knackered that I can't close the screen and I have to prop it up against the wall to prevent it snapping off :eek: - no longer what you'd call portable. So I'm going to use the OPs that I make from my cash pot to CC pot and transfer them to these two new pots.

Coffee break over - to do list awaits
PFTP X