Giving every £ a job

Franalamadingdong

Sounds like you've got a plan of action! My boyfriend laughs at me because I'm always turning lights off, whereas he'd just leave everything on.

Willing2Learn

I have made the switch to LED lightbulbs (wherever possible) as they are waaaay more efficient than either a standard bulb or one of those energy saving bulbs. Saves a few more pennies lol

Blackcats

Yes, I've been learning about LED bulbs. Most of mine are LED but I have a couple of fittings which take 3 bulbs each which have ye olde worlde lightbulbs in so I must make sure to use them sensibly.
Confession of a tea bag hoarder ......
I woke up a bit snuffly and fancied a lemon and ginger tea. I made an assumption that I didn't have any of these tea bags and would just pop out and buy a packet. Then I remembered my declaration a week ago that I didn't need to buy any non standard tea bags this month.
After exploring my tea bag cupboard (yes they have their own cupboard) I discovered 3 x lemon, ginger and honey, 4 x ginger and lemongrass, 10 x green tea with lemon that I can add some fresh ginger to, plus I can of course I can use fresh lemon, honey and ginger to make a lovely drink.
Shopping from home (as patented by Foxgloves).

Blackcats

Nice, easy day today. Bought the gifts for January and February birthdays today. I think I chose well and stayed in budget.
Pizza for tea and a glass of wine. What could be nicer

Franalamadingdong

Well done. We had pizza too I've got to do my friend in February but did my parents'. Did you pick up anything nice up?

Blackcats

Hi Fran, I got a pretty necklace and earrings for my grown up daughter and a really nice brooch for an elderly friend and a dinosaur themed gift for a 6 year old boy. I've got cards already in my stock at home plus I've got the cards for the other birthdays that don't have presents.
Mine was a shop bought pizza - quick and easy but not overwhelmingly scrummy but the glass of wine helped.
I've started next weeks meal plan. I'm away with work one night and won't get home til late the next day. I love soup and toast after a long journey and I can source both of those from my freezer so it will be a cheap shop. I started to type it MIGHT be a cheap shop but of course it's up to me to make it a cheap shop.

Franalamadingdong

Ooh those gifts sound perfect!

We only really did homemade because it's a bit of bonding fun with the boy, sadly his friend called round and that was more appealing than being with mum.

Beware of the cheap shop: I always think "ooh, I can get this extra and that extra, because it's just a cheap shop" and obviously it then ends up a pricey one! Hope you're better than I am. Sounds interesting that you're going away with work.

Blackcats

This week I've started a focus on health, wellbeing and sparkle. A few simple things to do - take vitamins each day, drink more water and at least 1 cup of green tea a day. No alcohol on work nights (however much I try to convince myself that I deserve a glass of wine). Eat plenty of fruit and veg and exercise some self control over chocolate. For the sparkle, I'm going to sort through jewellery and wear some every day, use perfume (which always gives an instant mood boost) and remember to use hand cream.

In other "news" it's time for some money moving into savings and therefore some colouring in of squares in the savings grid.

But back to work now!

Franalamadingdong

Those all sound great!

My boyfriend bought me lots of jewellery for my birthday and I've not worn any at all for ages - just being lazy. I might have to join you in the sparkling

How many squares are coloured in now?

Blackcats

:Hi Fran, I realise that I've got lots of "stuff" accumulated from years of overspending so it's good to enjoy it. As another poster, Foxgloves, says shopping from home can be fun and frugal.
So let's sparkle together! It will brighten up January days.
Pouring with rain and windy here - very happy to be home and cosy for the evening.
I have some home admin to do - filing and shredding and paying a bill.

In savings news, I will be putting £100 into my "1 month fund" this is aiming to accumulate the equivalent of 1 months expenditure for the month immediately after I take my early retirement in case pension money is held up in an admin tangle. I pay £100 a month in and it's now at £400. It feels very strange to talk about receiving a pension (I don't feel old enough ha ha) but then early retirement is the motivation for this diary.

I'm then adding £100 across various pots including Xmas 2020.

Then finally £220 to the £1000 target savings grid bringing that total to £450. This is 450 pounds that didn't have a job before and must have wandered off somewhere on their own over the months.

I will be able to add at least £150 to that before the end of the month and another £200 when my expenses are paid, taking the total to £800 which has been achieved without feeling that I'm missing out on anything. The grid should be fully coloured in by February. How exciting :T