Eagerlearners journey to Terminate the mortgage

EagerLearner

Hi everyone,

Hope you are having a fab weekend.

I spent just over £40 yesterday on Leedl shopping, so not bad. This included Halloween bits and cat food, so would have been £36ish like last week. In that we bulk bought some chocolate spread which was at £0.79p so won't need to get that for a while.

Found a bulk buy site Star Bargains, and bought lots of items we'd normally buy at Leedl but for less. Examples are snack bars that hubby has £0.75p for 6 (as we don't bake, this is a good deal I think given we'd have bought them anyway), packs of biscuits, sweet chilli sauce, pretzels, crisps, sweep peppers (the tiny spicy ones that you can fill with ricotta, thought they'd be handy for the Christmas season). Some claim to expire soon in Oct and Nov, others May 19, so we'd def eat those kinds of things over that period. This was £40.60 I think, as min order £40 for free shipping.

I will need to invest £20 or so for the extra shelf I need for our pantry to be able to store some of this.

Sold £20 worth of items on FB today, some of which will go to after school lessons for Mini EL and the rest for generic spend this month.

NSD otherwise, as made my own coffee to take to a birthday party (saves £2ish) which miniEL enjoyed alot, hubby stayed home to do a few essential things. I then investigated pet insurance renewal and think I can save around £2 per month on our policy, Tesco wanted £12 a month (from £8.50 something) which is crazy. So we should be able to get £6.50.

Batch made a large soup with some leftover veggies, potatoes, black eyed beans and lentils and chicken stock that needed using up with the last of some bacon. Has made us one dinner and several lunches for me :T

In reviewing the food plan for the month, next week we do not likely need much protein again as using up some frozen chicken, so will see if we can reinvest in any way. No alcohol and being careful with cash are freeing up a few pounds to bulk buy things we use regularly, hopefully we can continue but I know Nov & Dec will likely be spendy.

How much do you spend on Christmas and what are you planning on doing to ensure you don't overspend?

We've got a full on week coming up, last week of term and lots to sort in readiness. Need to sell some more on FB to get some more spending money for both half term and also a trip to London, so must have a think of what could be 'released'

beanielou

I have cut my Christmas list down to 3.
Close family only this year :j :j

EagerLearner

Thanks Beanie, we average £400-£500 and most of this is nice food but really need to cut down. I have vouchers for Argoose for MiniEL again from my Consumer Pulse surveys, so something from there will be nice for him. I need to talk to friends and agree a limit for the kids or agree something edible for example.

Want to find MrEL some nice wool slippers as every year we get another pair of cheap slippers and they always die within a few months of use. So I feel this would be an investment.

Main thing to focus on is food really as to us that is what matters, not the stuff, just enjoying food ;-)

EagerLearner

Sold another £4 on FB, so half went to MiniEL half term pocket money, and half to Christmas pot.

Spotted that Leedl have a weekend deal on washing powder, will send hubby shopping this weekend as MiniEl and I are shopping for Halloween

NSD aside from after school activity, will likely need milk tomorrow though but that's all.

Waiting on a £19.99 refund for an item, will pop that to offset YNAB category as won't miss it.

Dishwasher emptied and floors hoovered and mopped, tomorrow need to tackle bathroom. Any tips on if your toilet has really bad limescale patches? I have tried vinegar & bicarb and loads of products but nothing shifts the side bits

To do list:


- Renew pet insurance and set reminder to cancel Tesco DD
- Check Quidco for any available cash - DONE (nowt, £27.16 tracked but unlikely I will see any until Jan 19 ) )
- Cash out CP voucher as have reached limit today :T hoping I could get 1 more before Christmas but unlikely
- Research either an android tablet (I hate hate his Kindle Fire) or a scooter for MiniEL main Christmas pressie, check Argoose as have vouchers accumulating for there


Have a great night all :T

wishingthemortgaheaway

Is the limescalr below the water line? If it is would an alka seltzer work? I don't tomorrow, just a thought.

Wish.

EagerLearner

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the long delay, truth is I am not sure if anyone is reading my witterings and if it's of any interest so lost confidence a bit! I know it's for my own motivation though so just wanted to add an update of the latest.

- Have applied for HSBC account, and hoping that the £150 will arrive in 2-3 weeks just in time for Christmas.
- Got £20 for an Amazon cc, now canceled, used towards coffee mug for hubby, it's an expensive one but lasts ages
- Have been spendy and bought a Shark Cordless vacuum for £188 :eek: - in my defence, I checked all prices and when Amazon had it on deal of the day yesterday I snapped it up. It''s back to over £300 today, which I would never pay anyway.
- Have been spendy and bought Clarks Orinoco boots from Amazon also, they are supposedly a quasi-buy it for life product, and usual price £60, so at £38.50 special offer on Amazon I feel I got a good deal, last pair cost me £31 and are on their way out after 3 years.
- Must reheel my long winter boots, expect this to be £8ish, good for Sep-Oct and Feb/March, combined with my new short ones.
- We have finished main decorating, made a kitchen feature bar for £80 and lots of sweat equity, had been quoted £200-£300 for someone to do it :T It has a lovely waney edge, and is polished walnut type finish. We loves it
- 65% of Dec is paid for, work has quietened down a bit, hoping it will pick up though. New client meeting today so fingers crossed for a boost.


As the festive season removes almost all desire to achieve anything, I need to get a few things tucked in in the next few weeks.
Action list:

- Want to reduce pension from 3 funds to 1, simplifies and streamlines cost, should be able to do this today.
- Ensure HSBC payout the £150
- Cashout anything on Quidco
- Accumulate more points on Consumer Pulse - need another £5 I think which might be doable
- Chase £30 voucher from a survey I did about working from home
- Research tablet costs ready for Black Friday and also scooter for little man

So there should be £180-£190 to bring in from deals still :T

Re the annoying toilet bowl, yes it's under the watermark. I have tried vinegar and bicarb several times, overnight etc, also Coke, Bloo, etc to no avail. Scrubbing doesn't seem to shift anything... I think eventually we will replace the toilet anyway but it's frustrating.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

the_cross_rabbit

hi eagerlearner I've been reading but not left a comment , so your witterings (i think thats what you put) are not to the ether. Looks like you've been busy since you were last on. I know what you mean about the festival season and spending, it kind of over rides my need to Money save , but come to the conclusion life is for living and I don't want to scrimp on Christamas. Not that I go mad on presents but I love all things chrimassy especially food:rotfl:.
CRx

beanielou

Also reading

wishingthemortgaheaway

I'm reading too,

greent

I'm also here