Mrs S.....life after debt

MrsSave

Yesterday wasn’t quite a nsd. We spent £1.70 on picking up some prawn crackers to go with the orange chicken. 

Today is payday so I’ve transferred our wages to the correct pots for August and reconciled the bills account to make sure the balance is what it should be (I have quite a few sinking funds in my bills account so reconcile at least once a month).

We won’t have a nsd today. The boys are having their haircuts. That should be the only spend though and it is budgeted for. I need to make sure today I’ve got everything ready for ds1’s birthday party at the weekend and I need to pick up a prescription. We’ll take a walk to the chemist. I have to do a little work today before I start my annual leave but should only be about a couple of hours worth. Ds1 has asked if we can play board games today, so board games it is!

MrsSave

Yesterday’s only spend was the boys’ haircut as planned. 

I am now on annual leave for 2 weeks. Yay! We’ve got ds1’s birthday and his party this weekend so we’ll have to pay for that. It has all been budgeted for though. 

Myself and dh are off out for food tonight. Pil gave us money and a babysitting offer for Christmas so that we could go out for a meal so tonight’s the night. We’re going somewhere we haven’t been before so really looking forward to that. 

The next couple of weeks will be more spendy than usual due to the Summer holidays, my annual leave and we have a couple of nights away but it’s all been budgeted for and I have monzo pots for each part. The goal is just to stick to the budgets!

Four_Seasons

Have a lovely time tonight x

MrsSave

We’re currently away for a couple of days (which means I’m awake at 3am…I never sleep well when I’m away!). I’ve got a spreadsheet on the go where I’m putting in all our spends whilst away so I can see how much we’re spending and how much we’ve got left from our budget. So far, so good. Tomorrow will be the biggest spend day though.

We’ve kept costs lower by bringing breakfast and snacks to our hotel (Travelodge) rather than paying each morning. We use the porridge pots that just need hot water, and have some fruit as well. We often do this when we’re away and find it works well. I also packed quite a few snacks so that we don’t get tempted to spend lots when out and about. 

I’ve got a T3sco click and collect booked for Thursday this week which is currently just under £50 though we usually add a few more bits the day or so before. I will need to go and pick up fruit and veg as well on Thursday morning but hoping I can spend no more than £70 on everything. I used to easily spend around £50 a week on the full shop but that definitely doesn’t happen these days!

MrsSave

Happy Thursday. We’re home from our trip away and came in under budget. I split the money we had left between filling the car up with petrol, a small mortgage overpayment and our holiday pot. We have a big holiday booked for next year (if we can go….we’re currently not allowed into that country. If we can’t go we’ll just push it forward 12 months as amendments are free).

I’m picking up our food shop today. I’m currently waiting for the bank notification that payment has gone through for it so I know how much of our food budget we’re using. It should be around £50. I’m also going to pick up some fruit and veg but we don’t need loads this week so should be coming in under the £70 target for everything.

The rest of the week is going to be relatively quiet and spend free. We do have a day out booked for Sunday but it is free entry with just having to pay for the car park. We’ll be taking a picnic so won’t be a spendy day out.

MrsSave

After having a proper look in the kitchen and realising I only wanted enough fruit/veg to last until next Tuesday I ended up spending £50.30 on the click and collect and £5.10 on fruit and veg bringing this week’s food spends to £55.40. If every week was like this it would make like far easier 😂 That brings August’s spends (up to the 25th) to £102.01/£300. I am determined to stick to budget this month!

Other that the food shop today has been a nsd which has been nice on the purse!! 

I noticed whilst putting food away earlier that my freezer is far too full so I think I’m going to try and base my meal plans around what we already have in. This should also make the food shop far cheaper! I’m aiming to meal plan over the next day or two.

MrsSave

I went through the freezer today to see what needed using up and was surprised at how little there was as the freezer seems full! There was some ‘bbq meat’ that I bought in bulk from the butcher and has already done a couple of barbecues for us. There was enough of that for one more bbq and we’re supposed to be having another heat wave apparently (yuck!) so that will be used then. I bought too much ham recently so have a couple of packets in the freezer but that will go in sandwiches. I have bacon in there (I always do), but other than that the only meat that I could use for meal planning was some chicken drumsticks. I’ve included that in next week’s meal plan.

Our freezer is an upright one so it can seem full but there not be all that much in there. There are a few processed bits that need to be eaten but we’ll work through them on our freezer Fridays!

I did pop to the supermarket quickly today to pick up something for someone. I also chucked in a couple of items that would be great for lunches as they’re filling but lower calorie (I’m on a mission to lose a stone). The whole shop came to £4.49 so I’ll update my signature with that bringing August to £106.50.

FootyFanDan

There are some amazing goals in there. Great win on the cinema boxes, the cost of cinema now can be crazy but our little girl loves the cinema. She’s coeliac so we have been prepping her little treats boxes for a while and she loves them the fact it saves money is an added bonus haha


I’m with you on the shopping challenge, our food spends seem to be creeping up too

MrsSave

We’re off out for the day today but are going somewhere you only have to pay to park. The entry is free. The parking was £6 which was paid a few days ago when we booked. We’re taking a picnic with us and have pizzas in the freezer for food tonight so that we don’t get tempted by any kind of takeaway on the way home! It should be a budget friendly day out. 

Both boys are still asleep though so first step is waiting for them to wake! 

MrsSave

We had a lovely (and quite a pocket friendly) day out yesterday. We did buy some sweets and some cheese (maybe a little random, but it was on my shopping list to pick up some nice chilli cheese when I saw some and found a nice local one yesterday). They were our only spends though. I’ve updated my signature to show the cheese spend (sweets came from another pot!).

We were all shattered last night (lots of steps walked) so having the pizzas in the freezer was a great plan. We ate them in the living room floor (we used picnic blankets) and watched a film so it was a real treat to finish the day.

Today is going to be a low spend day. We’re having a quiet morning (a few chores need doing) and then going over to a friends’ after lunch for the kiddies to play and for us to have a catch up. My husband is popping to Tesco to pick up some peppers for tomorrow’s fajitas. I was going to do a fruit and veg run tomorrow and get them then, but as we’ve not been home much over the last few days we still have enough to keep us going for a few days. Will end up going later in the week.

We’re having a simple dinner of pasta and sauce tonight (the Aldi specially selected tomato and mascarpone one is delicious…….a favourite here) with some salad bits. Not sure what to make for lunch yet, possibly simple quesadillas and fruit/veg for the boys. We’ll see!