Our £20,000 Life

Drawingaline

The furlough scheme seems to have caused confusion for all size companies. I know our directors have said I will still get 100%, I only work 10hours so not too much of an issue for them, and tbh I am happy to not get paid as long as I can start again once things pick up (as long as the company survives, which isn't guaranteed atm due to the area of business they are in). S I have only worked for them since Jan. 

Cinny91

Hope your job stay safe, Drawingaline. I've got to say, I think some companies are being very cheeky with furlough. DH's company seem to have made it their mission to furlough the whole workforce while, according to the few still working, sales etc are way up on last month.. hey ho! Still working hard on saving and if DH is made redundant following all this we should be okay.
Had our first payday since furlough, moved £800 into savings (rounded up mortgage payment) obviously have the insurances etc to repay on the CC so that's where a rather large chunk of things has gone off to!

Still had a few things -
Cancelled NT membership
Cancelled £39.99 kettle order and braved town for a £25 one

Our current savings total £8,500 so we're doing okay. I just want to add as much to this as we can, we're £500 behind on our target of £20,000 saved by my 30th. Means saving £125 a week which I'm sure we can do. With our only outgoing being food, and I did a bigger than normal shop this weekend spending £70.80 (had to line up for 25 minutes to get in so thought I'd get a little more and hopefully stretch the food out to a few weeks)

Had a few spends over the weekend as we did a clear out of O's clothes and discovered he needs new shorts and trousers so placed a quick order that'll come when it comes I suppose. But all his current trousers are way past their best and slowly resembling pedal pushers. At least we're at home but I think at some point in the far future we might be expected to return to society. So he'll be ready! 

clearmydebts

Hi Cinny,

Glad you're doing well and well done on your amazing savings!
I had a bit of a break from here too. I hate the new format and then Corona came along. I'm glad to be back now though. I need this forum to keep accountable!

Cinny91

Not sold on the new format either, CMD! I miss having another tab open to reply with while I had a second tab on the thread, and I miss the proper emojis 

Think I might give up on goals after this weekend! Our oven has been on the blink for a while, it was here when we moved in so doesn't owe us anything, but we were taking it out to measure the space behind - purely so we could pick out and budget for a new one (plan was in time for Christmas!) - and somehow the door came clean off in the process?! The other issues were workable, not ideal but we could wing it guessing a temp etc. But as it goes, a door is pretty essential to a complete oven process. So £350 out of savings for a new oven. Plus side, we had the money to pay for it, downside is £850 to find to play catch up is impossible. Still saving, just saving that much can't happen!

Used the touchnote offer to send my Grandparents and Grandma-in-law a postcard each, and then did some prompt housekeeping on preapproved payments so won't be charged. 

59p YS packet on mince out of the freezer to make mince crumble for tea. Uses loads of frozen veggies and O actually enjoys it, which is still pretty novel that he's eating his veggies. I've also had some dried fruit soaking in sugared tea over night to make some scones or a tealoaf today. New oven is pretty brilliant so been enjoying baking a bit more than I already do (and I can actually see through the oven door to check, as the light bulb works and doesn't keep blowing!)

Using things around the house to decorate for VE day too. Printed some photos we're going to laminate for jigsaws (union jack, Churchill, spitfire) and found a pinwheel template too. We made paper bunting over the weekend and O is very excited for a little party on Friday. We have some things we kept from peace day celebrations last year so flags etc are covered. Also making him a WW2 costume so he can enter an online competition that a local museum is holding. 

Hope everyone has a good week and stays safe

Cinny91

Hi!
Hope you're all doing well. 

Sadly my Grandad has passed away a few weeks back, very peacefully in his sleep, and of course I'm missing him terribly. However it's made me more determined to grit my teeth and get through this rough patch of finances. My Grandad was and is a huge inspiration to me, so I'm taking a leaf out of his book and really cracking on. Got to make the old man proud. We're down £700 a month with furlough, and this is our last month of our mortgage holiday so we really need to make it count and throw whatever we can into savings. 

DH is also facing redundancy, I feel like we're a stuck record with this one, however 6 days and we'll know where we stand. He's being very proactive and applying for jobs, sending out feelers to people he knows so we're feeling a little confident we can turn this into a positive move for us. But I don't think its too wild to assume the market is about to be flooded with people looking for work, so that part is a little worrying.
Still, we're home and healthy with food in the cupboards. We're luckier than some.

Speaking of I've pulled some beef from the freezer and it's meat and potato pie for tea with some honey glazed roast parsnips on the side (bought them reduced in A for 50p so can't complain!) and I'll make a treacle pudding for afters with custard/ice cream depending on if it warms up today or not! Really mastered our quick pastry in lockdown so it's a decent meal to make, if not a little lengthy. 

We've also not had my Grandads funeral yet. I have a black dress in my wardrobe, but I didn't have any shoes. In a move I think my Grandad will be very approving of I bought some £7 black dye and I've dyed a red pair of shoes I never wore black. Seems silly to buy new for one wear and I know my Grandad would not be happy at the idea of waste. That man was wearing shirts 30+ years old when I last saw him (not that you'd know for looking, he was always pristine!) And have enough dye left to use again in future.

The rain has cleared off so we can head out for a walk this morning. Become quite the old hand at local walks and quick sanitised picnics (just for O, never take ourselves anything) 

Know everyone is excited for restaurants to be reopening but we're waiting on the libraries and museums to unlock their doors. Have a long list of books I'd like to read, but until I can borrow them I'll just have to wait. Buying books is not a high priority on the budget!

bigsteve85

Sorry for your loss, I hope you get to say your goodbyes. As for your DH proactively searching is a good trait, and he’s starting early so already has a drop on people, 🤞🏻🤞🏻 For him

clearmydebts

Ah Cinny I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. I know how close you were to your Grandad. Thinking of you at this very sad time. 

missymoo81

Oh I’m so sorry about your grandad Cinny. You’re doing such an amazing job, keep up the great work. I love hearing what you’re eating as you always seem to manage to make something tasty out of very little. X

Cinny91

Thanks everyone ♥️ funeral date was set yesterday which put me off my tea, so its attempt two at the pie this evening! 

Food shop today, aiming to spend under £30. We dont need a lot, just a few essentials and a couple store cupboard items. But it's been difficult keeping it under £60 this month so good luck to me 😬

Also changed our TV package from £20 to £5pm. Looked at Netflix but we're on the lowest so that will just have to be a firm cancel one day if we need to. DH is cancelling some of his subscriptions and hopefully we'll be getting a refund on his season ticket from last season. All small things but they add up! 

Cinny91

Hi! Had my Grandad's funeral yesterday and feel that brain fog has lifted now.

£91.23 into savings this week which I'm obviously very happy with!

Made my Dad's Fathers Day present this morning, just need to get cards and something from O to DH when I'm in town for our groceries tomorrow. Hoping I'll be returning back to the office to work within the fortnight as with everything going on family wise I'm finding it difficult to concentrate working from home. Such as now! But DH has been applying for a few jobs and getting some interviews. It's just difficult as not only are there the high number of people applying for each position but a few jobs have been pulled as companies are getting uncertain as to what their own future holds.

So not a great deal to report. Obviously we aren't going many places, trying to spend £0 and save as much as we can. Each week is feeling very rinse and repeat! But at least we're not having beans on toast every Tuesday atm.. mostly because we've lost concept of the days of the week