Giving every £ a job

Blackcats

Thanks @PennysIntoPounds - not sure about a saintly budget this month.  It's only half way through the month so I've got spending time yet.  Actually I am much better than I used to be - previously if I still had money in the bank on 16th of the month that would have been nothing short of a miracle.  It used to be that on payday I edged out of my overdraft and on 1st of the month when all my direct debits went out I was straight back into the overdraft.  Paying that off was probably the hardest debt to deal with as it was a moving target.

I withdrew money from Prolific and £co so have been able to pay just under £70 into the AMG pot.  Feels good to get that extra money.  I'll wait until 2nd week of November to cash out prolific as that's when the account is quite dormant and paying money in is motivating.

PennysIntoPounds

What's the AMG pot? Sorry if I'm being dense once again!

Blackcats

AMG pot is not me saving for a fancy Mercedes AMG performance sports car which is just as well as I'm not the type of driver who would benefit from a mega expensive sporty car 🙃.  It's my abbreviation for Accumulation of Marginal Gains pot.  Basically I throw all my odds and s*ds of money into there and I'm aiming to get to £1000.  

PennysIntoPounds

Ah yes, I have heard the phrase, thanks for explaining. So basically the equivalent of my 'definitely going to be able to buy a property in London via occasional two pounds, definitely' pot 😂 Do you have the £1000 earmarked for something?

EssexHebridean

Blackcats said:

Thanks @Sun_Addict @ladyholly and @savingholmes - my mum was pedantic about speaking and writing "properly" and my English teacher at secondary school was a very strict Nun who had a mission to uphold the rules of grammar.  I do have to think about where apostrophes go, particularly when it's a plural and if I'm not sure I resort to the French approach of la plume de ma tante and re-arrange my sentence to something like the Dreamies for my cats instead of trying to decide if it's my cats' dreamies or my cat's dreamies.  It's definitely not my cats'es dreamies 🤦‍♀️.  The thought of Sister Michael still makes me a bit nervous.

we made a Friday night curry last night using a spice kit from my stash.  Chicken Murgh Kari with rice and MrBC made some fab onion bhajis.  I made a yoghurt/cucumber dip and a tomato and onion salad.  There was some left for tonight which we bulked out with some Dahl from the freezer.  It was a real winner, particularly as we have been out visiting family all afternoon and could easily have opted for a takeaway if we hadn't had a meal ready and waiting for us.

I believe it depends on the number of cats involved!

You have helpfully reminded me that I still have various curry paste sachets lurking somewhere which I may be able to make use of - having said that I can't for the life of me recall which cupboard they might have been deployed to when we moved in. Hmmm. Might have to try to remember to track them down as there is some chicken in the freezer which would make a very tasty Friday night curry and a sachet would make life way easier, as well as also using something up. 

savingholmes

Good luck finding the spices

Blackcats

We still look forward to a Friday night curry even though I'm not working anymore (in case I'd neglected to mention that I'm free of the 9 to 5 - oh yes I've been wittering on about it for ages) 🤣

what beautiful weather we had today and we took advantage of it by using our free NT pass to visit a fairly local property with the most fantastic grounds.  We spent £12 on a bacon sandwich and cuppa each from a little tea hut near to the NT place,  parking was £4.  Sitting in the Long Walk overlooking rolling countryside in glorious sunshine we agreed that we had got plenty of value from our £16 expenditure.  

We chatted to a young couple with a baby who live in a flat so they were delighted with their free pass and were contemplating buying membership.  I guess that's what NT are hoping for as well as their free pass visitors spending in the cafe and shop.

Sarahwithlove

I think they are a good idea if you live locally enough to places you could visit regularly and have either kids or dogs you can take. 

Cheery_Daff

Glad you had a lovely day out. We had a free pass too, and me and my mum spent almost £60 between us, between the cafe, gift shop (Christmas presents!) and garden centre 😱 Definitely a good move by the national trust I reckon 😊

joedenise

We've been members this year but I gave notice (had to give 3 months to cancel!) as not really used it mainly because most things fairly local are gardens and DH has now got dodgy knees and walking with a stick so gardens are too difficult to walk around and if there are any houses can only do the ground floor.  Obviously will save a bit of month each month but not much, less than a tenner but every little helps at the moment.