Time to get my house in order!

MovingForwards

It's all about thinking, planning and stretching money, finding free things to fill your day and working out what your priorities are in the future.

There will be good weeks, bad days but it's learning to overcome, conquer the new life and model it to how you want things to be.

You're already finding ways to make money, who knows you may embrace it and become a full-time reseller. Life is a game of chess, you just need to work out your next move 🤗

Ellie78

Sorry to hear about your redundancies.   I hope in a few months/years you'll both look back on it as the best thing that could have happened.   Sometimes it's best to be thrown in at the deep end (speaking from experience of taking a huge gamble and leaving an unhappy job to be self employed several years ago).   Good luck! 

Thick_n_Thin

Ellie78 said:

Sorry to hear about your redundancies.   I hope in a few months/years you'll both look back on it as the best thing that could have happened.   Sometimes it's best to be thrown in at the deep end (speaking from experience of taking a huge gamble and leaving an unhappy job to be self employed several years ago).   Good luck! 

MovingForwards said:

It's all about thinking, planning and stretching money, finding free things to fill your day and working out what your priorities are in the future.

There will be good weeks, bad days but it's learning to overcome, conquer the new life and model it to how you want things to be.

You're already finding ways to make money, who knows you may embrace it and become a full-time reseller. Life is a game of chess, you just need to work out your next move 🤗

Yep definitely good days and bad days but like you say it’s time to figure out what I want the future to look like! Being a full time reseller would be my dream! Working for myself and marching to the beat of my own drum! We will see how it goes... I am already thinking that the redundancy will be the best thing that has happened I just need to join the dots up if that makes sense!

Yesterday I did my weekly shop, I have decided that now I have more time on my hands I have no excuse not to cook from scratch so my trolly was filled with meat and vegetables rather than oven chips and frozen chicken burgers ect. Surprise surprise I got so much more for my money, so this weeks meal plan is looking like this
Today - chicken stir fry 
Thursday - beef casserole ( will freeze a portion as well)
Friday- spag Bol ( will freeze portions as well)
saturday - pasta bake
last night I made mashed potato from scratch! I’m ashamed to say I normally by this ready made but at over £1 for a pack this is definitely now a luxury! I didn’t even realise I owned a potato masher, I also made Yorkshire puddings from scratch, again I normally buy ready made.  Didn’t clean windows yesterday instead decided to make the most of a nice day and decided to mow the lawn, repotted some geraniums into a different pot and planted out my spring bulbs. I even thought about getting a small greenhouse next year🤣.

MovingForwards

When people have been in a job for several years, they become almost scared of change. Redundancies forces that change to happen, it's sink or swim after getting over the initial shock and opens doors which have been hidden. 

You're already seeing the benefits of not working full-time and how to cut back outgoings, hopefully your next move will give you the income / life balance.

South_coast

Well done on ditching the convenience food. So much better for you as well, as you know (and can pronounce the names of) everything that's going in your meals 😀

Grogged

It does taste so much better and satisfying cooking from scratch.
I'm very lucky because MrsG cooks daily.
(She swears by her potato ricer for mashed potatoes.)
ATB,
G.

Thick_n_Thin

I definitely don’t own a potato ricer 🤣.
Ive just totted up this months grocery spend, I budgeted £250 and have spent £262 and will probably spend another £10 on milk/bread before I pay myself again next Friday. Next month I’m going to aim for £240 and try and work down from there. 

Things I want to work on within the grocery budget.
generating a proper meal plan and shopping list, I’m not consistent in this area and I know I can definitely save more cash this way, an example is this week I bought a 3 pk of peppers when they don’t fit into any of the meals I have planned this week, I’m sure I do this with several items that I just routinely buy each week.
Portion controll needs tightening up, OH has started asking for me to put less on his plate as he says he dosnt have as much of an appetite now he is not as active during the day, this will help me loose some weight as well so I’m going to consciously consider this when making our evening meals.
less alcohol- I’m aiming to be alcohol free at least 5 nights per week and on the nights I do allow myself a drink I think I will steer clear of the wine and just have a beer with OH or a g&t. Apart from being expensive, I have really noticed that when I drink wine it really affects me the following day. 

Today I am planning on listing a few more bits on eBay, I am averaging 1 sale per day but I’m hoping when people get paid at the end of the month this will pick up a little.

MovingForwards

First thing you need to do is a freezer and cupboard audit, until you know exactly what you have you don't know what you need.
Do that before meal planning / shopping and you will only buy what's required.

When shopping, add in a few 'own brand' items, if they are 'filler' items like toms, pasta, lentils, herbs etc you can save quite a bit. 

Smaller plates help with portion control, I've got 3 different sized dinner plates depending on what's being served.

Leave the wine, if you don't feel too good the next day, it's not agreeing with you. G&T is a lot cheaper and the lowest calories; provided you have slimline / diet tonic (don't buy the fancy stuff, just the 45p 1L bottle works).

Good luck with your sales 😁

Thick_n_Thin

So yesterday I did a task that I have been putting off for weeks and in the end it only took me 15 mins and will result in me getting £79.99 refund, sounds silly but it’s one of those jobs where you keep thinking to yourself I’ll definitely do it tomorrow but can never quite summon up the energy. Today I have made a beef casserole for dinner, hoping OH won’t turn his nose up at it as he is not really a fan of stews or casseroles but I will serve with some nice veg and put a Yorkshire pudding on his plate to confuse him. I’m currently cleaning all my windows inside with a white vinegar solution instead of going out and buying a window cleaning spray, takes a bit longer to shine up but has saved me going out. Exciting times! 🤣

MovingForwards

When it comes to money, never put off what you can do today!
Living the highlife TnT, at least they are clean for a while.
One thing you may like to try OH on is a filled Yorkshire pud, if you have a tin to make a bigger one. You could do the meat / stock in one pan, boil the veg in another then it doesn't look like a stew when it's in the Yorkie.