£29,303...Enough is enough!

WelshKitty85

Kitten868 wrote: »

The unicorn stuff is never reduced in my local shops anyway so I wouldn't worry.

Teapots were down to £2 and tealight holders £1. I only know this from what I've seen on fbook and still haven't stepped foot in there. I did an audit of DC3s wardrobe and realised he needed new shoes, so I gave my mum strict instructions and have since transferred to her the £6 it cost for 2 pairs. Got a bargain on something we actually needed and avoided other pointless spends. Result!

WelshKitty85

Pay day today and the budget is looking good. Can't wait for the DDs to go out over the next few days so I can see the debts getting smaller.

This week's shop came to £54 but that included loads of yellow sticker meat to fill the freezer. So I'm going to attempt to keep the next 2 shops around £40 each which will put us in a good position to start next month.

WelshKitty85

Totals now look like:

Hitachi - £8,359.85
Barclaycard - £5,679.55
FD - £7,031.25

Total = £21,070.65

[Deleted User]

If you have unwanted clothes you can take them to h&m to exchange for £5 gift voucher to use in store when ever you need it.

Join up mystery shopping sites to earn additional income, very easy to do for anyone.

Hope this helps.

WelshKitty85

Today has been a spendy day as we discovered a wasp nest in the house :eek: £50 to have them removed, but to be honest I'd have paid twice that just to be rid of them! Paid from the current account but, depending on DHs take home pay this month, I might have to transfer some savings to cover this.

We went for a walk round a local nature trail this afternoon and put 1p each into the wishing falls. It'll be worth it if my wish come true . Stopped at a garden centre on the way home as DS has decided he wants to buy himself some fish. He's feeling flush since his bank statement arrived this week, but I've told him he has to do some research first and understand how to look after them. There was lots of pretty things which caught my eye in the garden centre, but nothing I liked enough to part with any cash. We did visit that cafe though and spent £19 on some scrummy treats.

WelshKitty85

I'm feeling very grateful for the better weather and being able to get out and about with the little ones. Yesterday was a cheap day out. We went to a car show, visited the lifeboat station, then went to a local farm. It was free entry so we only spent £1 all day on a bag of animal feed. DC3 loved feeding the llamas and goats and didn't even mind them nibbling his fingers. He did have a major tantrum when it came to home time though, which wasn't the way I'd hoped to end the day.

By the time we got home I had an awful headache (I think it started from the car fumes and got worse thanks to DC3s screams) and wasn't up to cooking or even instructing DH on what to heat from the freezer. So we ordered a naughty take away. But an hour and a half after ordering it still wasn't here. Contacted through the app and they couldn't tell us where the food was or if it would be delivered at all. They offered to raise an investigation and get back to me within 48 hours. What good is that when I have children waiting to be fed?? Anyway, it finally turned up another half hour later, was cold, and just not very good. I've had an email today though to apologise and say they are sending a full refund. So at least I don't need to feel guilty about wasting £24 on awful food.

Day off today and I've managed to get a fair amount of housework done, including tackling the jungle that now looks much more like a garden. I think I've also found a cheaper solution to the wind damage in the garden. It will cost around £85, but means the rest of the work can wait until next year, once we've managed to save up for it.

WelshKitty85

DH & I were both off today so we decided to make the most of it and have another day out. We used a pass for free entry to a castle and museum. We'd budgeted £4 for car parking, but when we got there the sign said it was £5. DH refused to pay it and managed to find a free on street parking space. We took a picnic of homemade sausage rolls and cake. We also made it through the gift shop and passed 2 ice cream parlours without spending a single penny!

We did a bit more back to school shopping this week. Around £30 spent on shoes, a dictionary and shorts. So we decided to have an "eat from the freezer week" to cut down spends elsewhere. Thankfully, I had a visit from my dad today dropping off carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, milk, cheese and eggs that he and my mum won't use before they go on holiday. So that's boosted our supplies and means I can put off doing a proper shop a bit longer.

DHs employer has offered him the option to reduce his hours. We had a discussion about it today and, although it will obviously affect our finances, we have decided to accept the offer to give us a better work/life balance and for his wellbeing. I've rejigged our spreadsheet to reflect this, have reduced the dd to savings from £200 to £125 per month and have temporarily reduced the overpayment we are making to the BC. It means we need to find an additional £300 to pay off the BC to avoid any interest in December but between surveys, cashback and selling more clutter I'm hoping to get this figure right down.

savingholmes

Hi WelshKitty - sounds like you are doing really well - with fixing things within a budget, avoiding spends, bringing in extra income, still living life and doing over-payments. Fantastic! Lovely to get free food too.

pidge04

You are so inspiring!

WelshKitty85

pidge04 wrote: »

You are so inspiring!

Thank you Pidge. I don't feel it most of the time.

I was naughty yesterday. I spent £15 on a bottle of booze. In my defence it came from my money box (so no damage to the bank balance), supported a local business, and made delicious mint choc chip cocktails to drink in the sun .