Getting it together...one £ at a time!

Homegrown0

Ooh, also registered £5.89 cashback for our TV purchase last night. My husband would never think about these things so I'm glad I caught him before he checked out. He humphed about having to send the links to me (oh, what a hassle!) and £5.89 doesn't seem like a lot but when I look at my lifetime total on TCB it all adds up. 

And it's FREE MONEY. Must remind him of that. 

doingitanyway

Needs must indeed. I've decided to be easier on myself where the grocery budget is concerned. Not going overboard just accepting lockdown will lead to bigger grocery spends but on the other hand no coffees or snacking out of the home so swings and roundabouts really.

The flooring and blinds must have made a big difference

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Hey.  Great to see how much you've achieved during your hiatus from here... extensions are pricey things, speaking from experience.  So to finish up having not touched your contingency is fab... sounds like you've got a good plan for paying down the hangover too..
We're the same, I'm sure there are places to streamline, but with all this madness going on it's hard to be too strict.

Homegrown0

@doingitanyway - it really has made a huge difference. It feels one step closer to being finished but when are these things really finished anyway? There's always something to do, isn't there? 

@ohdearhowdidthathappen - Yes, great to have not dipped into contingency for the build but we've ransacked it for finishings like the floor, blinds, furniture etc. Glad to have had it there for sure. I see you're saving for renovations - i'll need to catch up on your diary too

You're both right, no point in beating ourselves up over a higher grocery bill as long as it's not excessive. Tomorrow is meal plan day, so i'll see how things look on that front. See if there's a way to make some savings. Chicken instead of fish/ beef is always a cheaper way to eat (we like thigh meat, instead of breast) but we do like a variety. Might try to do some swaps and see how the total looks. I've also started having one veggie dinner per week, but it's not necessarily a cheaper option as we often need more ingredients. Ah, we'll keep on trying to be mindful at least but also stop beating ourselves up. 

House stuff
Yesterday, we purchased a tv unit and sideboard (coming in March and June respectively... supply chain is really stalled these days) and I think that'll be it for a while, probably aside from cushions when the couch comes next week. I want to make sure we build up a buffer again in the savings. These purchases haven't drained the savings, but I'd feel much more comfortable building them up again a bit before making the next investment (table and chairs) which won't be cheap. It helps that I haven't found one that i like that's in stock so I have to wait anyway.

Short month - opportunity?
As February is a short month, I've been thinking it's a good opportunity to siphon out some money from the spending account as savings at the end of the month. So far, the balance looks healthy enough - I have two more weekly grocery shops before pay day and we may need some fuel in the car (say £30) so I'm setting myself a challenge of having £100 left at the end of the month to put away into savings. I think it's doable as long as we avoid unnecessary spending (like the £30 blanket I had in my online basket last night but managed to talk myself out of). It's my birthday in a coupe of months, if I still want it then, I'll drop some hints  

After school club
Our after school club has confirmed that when the younger kids go back to school (hopefully on 22nd), the re-open doesn't apply to them unless emergency provision for key workers so we won't be using it for the next month. That helps me to look at March's bills and remove those costs from our March budget. That's £291 extra towards savings next month (unless anything changes dramatically, which I don't foresee). This combined with it being a council tax-free month means potential savings should be really good in March. Fingers crossed it all plays out the way I hope! 

Happy Friday all!!