Our £20,000 Life

Tesco_points_addict

Hello Cinny, long time no see!

Where are all the old 'gang', im trying to recall names: Birdie, Dinah, Gallygirl, clearmydebts, newgirly, taka (the iceskating queen), shrimpy, tallgirl, aboutmetoo, tilly, katsu, Radish, wantabetterlife, ziggy and loads more that my old brain can’t recall at the moment!

Can anyone point me the right direction for current diaries for anyone that I’ve mentioned, or if you remember anyone else from those times.

Its lovely to be back on here, looking forward to hearing everyones news

Cinny91

Hello TPA! Made my day to see your username as the latest post on the thread. How are you?? And you remembered far more names than me, sadly I think everyone’s faded off.

So far so frugal on the Great Wall removal. Discovered perfect floorboards and original Edwardian fireplace tiles under the carpet and minimal damage to the ceiling. Started at 8am and by 12 the room was clean, all the rubble in the garden. By 2:30pm it had all been carted off to the skip, patio swept! We saved part of the skirting board, and coving, so we can make good using those where we need to. LO was very much looking forward to camping in our room but in this heat I’m glad to say he’s in his own room. Only bad news of the day is just as I started work I fell, took a funny turn on my ankle and it’s all puffed up this evening. Not exactly painful and I worked all day without noticing it but I’m going to use it to my advantage tomorrow so I can put my feet up. All in all we’ve spent £0 on the renovations today.

As it’s a funny weekend i’ll update debt totals, taking interest into account so despite my £900 pay off this morning the debt total will go up, on Tuesday.

Cinny91

Debt total.. drum roll please!

£22165.80 _pale_

Spent a little at the hardware shop, but I think we're all set in terms of what we need to finish off the room. DH stripped the wallpaper back to the plaster, and my BIL sorted the electrics. Next week is when we crack on with the decorating while LO is at nursery so.. well.. fingers crossed it turns out well! Also bought curtain rails, and of course curtains, which will be here on Friday.

I was off work yesterday, so had a trip into town with LO. Popped into a few charity shops and got a copy of Nanny McPhee for 10p (second one we bought last week for what now feels like an extortionate £1.50) so we're now covered for LO's favourite films after the great sky switch off on Saturday. Also tried on his nursery uniform and everything still fits, so nothing to buy there.

Out tomorrow for LO to see his aunt and uncle, entry to the place we're going is £13.99 but we're going in the late morning so we can eat at home and not need to worry about either lugging around a picnic or buying food there. I'll pop a couple drinks for LO into my bag and assume all shall be well.

HM pizza for tea tonight, have everything in the fridge so it's a low spend day - just popped to the shops to buy a jar of coffee for £4. I'm currently working through a huge bag of Y tea, but DH is still on coffee.. but at least this means we don't need to buy coffee as often!

The "savings for loan over payment account" (bit of a mouthful) is back up from £0 to £2.77. If we OP by £1000 a month it will mean our DFD is November 2020. I think it's possible, and I know if I put my mind to it we could probably exceed £1000 on some months. Best dust off my thinking cap.

Cinny91

Morning!

A classic TT of £2.45. We’ve also decided to reuse shelves in kiddos room which frees up £35 from the budget. I’ve used £18 of that to buy a framed poster print of the hogwarts express, as LO is currently fascinated by the first Harry Potter movie and let’s all be frank - it is a beautiful engine. But that’s as far as I’m letting Harry Potter spread in this household. He loves trains in general so it’ll stand the test of time. Squirrels up some other odds and ends and now have £21.45 in the OP pot.

Checked through his A/W clothes and a lot from last year still fit, alongside his winter coat. He also has a coat from a few christmasses ago, and one I bought in the sales a a similar time for £3 so he’s got a few options with growing room. All the cord dungarees (his favourite) still fit well. The only thing I think we might need to buy at some stage is long sleeved tops but I’ll keep my eyes peeled for those on sale.

Checked my CC balance and we currently have £24 in rewards towards LO’s bike. Which means we’re 1/3rd if the way there.

Going to the library this morning as I’ve read all the books on my kindle, and we’re still broadbandless so I can’t access any more free ones. I can get through around 3 books a week (not hard hitters, mind) I’ve read Violet’s Children, Flora and Grace and The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio this last week (The latter was paperback so I’ll pass that on to my Grandma.) so tend to keep a steady supply flowing.

Cinny91

Evening!

Had a good day out with LO and family yesterday. Left the gift shop without buying anything, which is amazing considering I have bred a nagging child. Did wind up buying dinner, but only for LO and under £5 with a drink for myself as we were out longer than expected.

Went to the market today and snagged the Jurassic Park trilogy for £1. Another set of LO’s favourites.

Swapped to cleaning with carbolic soap. You can use it for pretty much everything, it cleans well smells nice to me and is very economical. I think besides beeswax I won’t need to buy anything else now. I’ve also stopped using my own shampoo and conditioner and use the lovely anti-nit shampoo (classy) we use on LO for nursery but I put some coconut oil on the ends of my hair. Surprisingly my hairs in the best condition it’s been since I was pregnant!

Also spent £1.25 on a test pot of paint to paint the radiator cover in kiddo’s bedroom. DH has patched the ceiling now, as well as the coving. So we’re making good progress. Ignoring the fact it’s been a well and my house looks like a bomb has hit upstairs. But that’s the price for doing the work yourself - slow and steady n’all! Forgot to mention I got £60 scrap money which I used to buy the wallpaper and had enough credit to get 1/3rd off the rest of the supplies we needed - which is why we’ve afforded to do it sooner rather than later in the year.

Decided to set some goals for September:

Finish LO’s room ��
Save £1000 to OP
Have 15 NSD’s
Keep detailed spending diary (itemised)

£145.53 in the OP account ����


ETA: didn’t go to the library yesterday, but as we’re forecast rain all day tomorrow we’re going to go then instead. We’re lucky to have a library that’s still open all day, 6 days a week, so it’s a shame to not use it. Looking forward to getting anew book as I’ve sat down tonight with a Virginia Andrews and well.. bar being laughably bad it’s just not a good place to be.

clearmydebts

Tesco_points_addict wrote: »

Hello Cinny, long time no see!

Where are all the old 'gang', im trying to recall names: Birdie, Dinah, Gallygirl, clearmydebts, newgirly, taka (the iceskating queen), shrimpy, tallgirl, aboutmetoo, tilly, katsu, Radish, wantabetterlife, ziggy and loads more that my old brain can’t recall at the moment!

Can anyone point me the right direction for current diaries for anyone that I’ve mentioned, or if you remember anyone else from those times.

Its lovely to be back on here, looking forward to hearing everyones news

Hiya TPA! I'm back too and my diary is here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6039515

clearmydebts

Well done on the low spend on LO's room! Sounds like it will be fab

Cinny91

Afternoon!

Quiet day with LO. I found all 3 night at the museum movies for a total of 30p in a charity shop so picked them up. I’ve rearranged the book shelves in the living room so we have them all set out now.

I also spent £18.09 on my Grandad’s birthday presents. Socks, new braces, and an old western dvd. Will have LO make his card nearer the day. £2 on strawberry jam for our breakfasts (toast, porridge etc) as it was down from its usual £1.68, and finally some rhubarb (£1) to make a crumble tomorrow. Have a little over £10 in my purse now, and the milk is paid for for the week, so I’m going to see how long that will last us.

Stopped by the library and picked up a new book too so that’ll keep me entertained this weekend. Have a pie from the market to do with mash and peas for our tea tomorrow night (£4.60, bit of a treat and to support local business). Made flapjacks and a loaf of bread while LO coloured in, or watered in? We have a few of those water magic books from my sisters in-laws in the US.

Tiny TT of 10p. Better than nothing!

Cinny91

£175.91 in the OP pot today. Have some DD coming out tomorrow so will round down again but that’ll be it for the week, I think.

Went out early with LO on a bike ride and subsequently, feel a bit shattered now. We went to a local forest so the terrain was well, interesting. £11.70 spend today as DH went on a bike ride with his friends and it was his turn to buy breakfast. But that’s all now as we’re in for the rest of the day.

Pie with mash, carrot and cabbage for tea tonight. Already looking forward to it but need to summon motivation to prep the veg, start the gravy, and a few other house chores. Sitting cosy with a brew is not helping matters. We didn’t have the greatest summer but it feels a bit silly being 1 day into September and it already feeling chilly!

Cinny91

OP pot now stands at £189.86

Cut LO’s hair last night ready for school, all his clothes are washing, ironed and ready to go. Saved us money on the barbers (£6, and also saves us the tears at the barbers) and I’ve got much better at it from watching a few videos!

Was hoping today would be our first NSD of the month, but as the wallpaper is going up we’ve realised our Stanley knife blade is blunt. And with sky is now gone and our aerial fitter deciding to bring the cable in at the other side of the room, we’ve had to rearrange the living room which leaves the TV set by the window. Worried about sun damage so I’m going to be measuring up for net curtains - hoping I can find the right fit in a charity shop to save on buying new.