Mrs S.....life after debt

debtaghh

I really admire you, you have done great!

MrsSave

debtaghh wrote: »

I really admire you, you have done great!

Thank you so much, they're really kind words. It's not all plain sailing, but being in control feels absolutely fantastic, even if I don't have loads in the bank

MrsSave

Yesterday was food shopping day, but was otherwise a nsd (I think I'm going to count food shopping as a 'bill' so I can still count food shopping day as a nsd (I have a feeling I've discussed this before). Though, saying that, I spent 50p on parking so that's yesterday's nsd out of the window :rotfl: Today has been one, though!! That brings me to 9/12 for July. I've got a week to squeeze in another 3. Not sure it's going to be possible. I'm not giving up yet, though!!

I contacted the water company over the weekend to see what was happening about the leakage allowance. The lady I spoke with told me it had been granted, but there was no further information on her screen. The 'back office' have up to 14 working days to get a letter out with all the info on, so I'm hoping that will be with me by the end of this week/beginning of next week.

Pay day is exactly 7 days away (probably 6 by the time I get around to posting this :rotfl: ). I'm aiming for this month's credit card bill (only credit card, gets paid in full each month) to be the lowest this year. It's currently at £600. I have a small food shop, and a top up to do before next Tuesday but that's about it.

Right, bedtime. I seem to be going to bed later and later at the moment, and that's always a bad idea for me!!

MrsSave

I've just paid July's credit card bill. It was £620. I think that's the lowest it has ever been :j :j I'm super happy about that. That included all grocery shopping, a haircut for the boys, teacher gifts, a couple of birthday gifts, a big bag of clothes on sale for the boys, money to top up the Tesco vouchers for tickets to Legoland for ds1's birthday, petrol, the deposit for next month's camping trip, a couple of camping bits, a little spent on a new business idea I'm trying to get set up and a cheeky KFC for me :rotfl:

This is the cheapest month this year so far. March is the next cheapest at £731. Super happy with this month's efforts. The trick now is to continue with it!! It's ds1's birthday in a few days and we have 2 mini trips away in August. Mix that in with the school holidays, I don't think for a moment I'll beat July, but still need to keep a close eye.

I mentioned a new business venture. I'm not going into too much detail here, but it's something I almost did a couple of years ago as it's something I'm pretty passionate about and do for myself anyway. To be able to make money on it, I need to spend a little more time to make it that little bit better, but the initial outgoings will be quite small so I'm hoping to get it all set and ready to go by the first of September. It may not work, and if it doesn't I haven't lost much. If it does, it could mean a lovely extra bit of money and that I can reduce the amount of tax credits I receive. No extra childcare would need to be paid for so in theory it's a win-win situation.

debtaghh

Well done, that's great!

Good luck with your new business venture.

Honeysucklelou2

Sounds exciting...anything that can fit in without the need for childcare is great.

MrsSave

2 days left of July. I'm so happy to say that we've stuck to our food and entertainment budgets. I've got one extra food shop to do tomorrow (5 Monday month) but it should be a super cheap one as I only need food for a couple of days (we're away at the end of the week). Mr S will be cooking for the boys tomorrow night here, so I gave them the choice of what they wanted for dinner........their decision was spaghetti hoops on toast :rotfl: It will definitely be a cheap meal!!

I'm not 100% sure where I reached with my nsds. Today has been one so think it might be 10/12 but I might be wrong. It doesn't look like I'll reach 12 but that's fine after a good month.

August Goals

• Stick to budget on both little trips away,
• £80 petrol budget,
• £200 food shop budget,
• Eat up a lot of the food in the freezer,
• 12 NSDs,
• Complete first stage of new business venture,
• Stick to £90 entertainment budget.

MrsSave

I didn't realise it had been almost a week! Where has time gone??!! Last week's food shop ended up being just under budget, but that was mainly because I added a few camping foods to it which are now in a box ready for our camping trip in a couple of week's time. We are away for 3 nights, and I already have enough food for 2 night's meals from the usual grocery budget.

We've been away for our son's birthday and came back under budget :j I don't think I've had a single nsd yet, but all spends have been budgeted for!

I'll be taking some money out for August's entertainment spends on Monday. I'm thinking of taking £60 out in cash and leaving £30 in the account. The £30 will then act as a buffer, and I found in July that having to spend cash meant I was a lot more aware of what I was spending. I think I'll need to put some petrol in the car as well. I'm aiming to put £40 in (or £40.01 as is always the case as I never stop in time!) and I plan for that to last 2 weeks.

MrsSave

Today has been my third nsd in a row (I've decided not to count groceries or petrol if they're within budget) :j

Ds1 hasn't been 100% this week so we've had very quiet days at home watching films, reading and not much else. That's definitely been the reason for my NSDs!! We did go grocery shopping on Monday and came in under budget. I spent around £42. I decided to take £40 out of the account for spends instead of £60. I thought it would be easier to spend if it was looking at me every time I opened my purse!! Haven't touched the £40 yet though :j

I put £35 of petrol in the car instead of £40. If I'm keeping an eye on usage, it may encourage me to spend a little less - of course it will probably mean me filling up an extra time this month :rotfl:

There's not much else gone on this week. I've made far too much for every dinner which means work lunches are sorted as are a few extra meals for the freezer (so much for me working through what's there already :rotfl: ). Right, bed for me - work in the morning.

MrsSave

I'm checking this site most days, but don't seem to update my diary very often at the moment. As long as it's because everything is settled in my head, and not that I'm on the verge of a spending meltdown then all is ok!!

August seems to be going ok. We've had a few spendy days, but all budgeted for and all needed. New trainers for ds1, a new school bag for him (he'd had his almost 2 years and is now very grown up at 5 so it did need updating. He is so chuffed with his new bag he keeps showing us all the pockets :rotfl: ) and new slippers for both boys (they started wearing them now the weather has taken a turn and ds1's were 2 sizes too small, ds2's were 1 size too small. I did manage to get both pair for £5.98 so pretty chuffed there!).

We had an unexpected, last minute planned, meal out with family Friday night. We had the money for it, but it does mean re evaluating what we spend for the rest of August so that it doesn't become too tight.

We're going away for a few nights next weekend and have set a budget of £100 for everything. That's going to be super tight, but I'll feel super chuffed if we stick to it. I have some Tesco vouchers so might look at somewhere to eat with them for 1 lunch. We'll be camping so will eat dinners at the campsite every night (and I've managed to buy most dinner bits already when I've been coming in slightly under with my food shop over the past few weeks) and will take a few extra bits for packed lunches. We've decided 1 lunchtime out as a treat. Need to look into options today.

I bought myself some clothes and shoes for work. My black flats were getting totally wrecked at the front so desperately needed changing. I picked up everything from Asda, so the shoes were only £6 (and I may have got some nice dusky pink ones too at £6). I had the money for it, and it all fit when it arrived so I'm happy

We've still got 3 weeks left of August though, so do need to be careful!