Missy’s family of 4, paying off debts, saving for a house and just trying to survive!

Toni'sfriend

Thank you, Missy for the lovely welcome and everyone for the bread tips. Maybe better to try it by hand first rather than buy a breadmaker and find it doesn't work for me. I would love to be able to bake. I can cook but not bake. It's my next project. Love the idea of homemade jam but I always thought it was difficult. No?

joedenise

Jam making is pretty easy.  Loads of recipes online or perhaps get a book out of the library.  Our library is doing Click and Collect, I suspect other areas are doing the same.

PurpleFairy26

Hey missy glad you’re having a great time away. Love home made bread and hm jam. Last year I made enough that it lasted all year! Very satisfying and tastes so much better than shop bought. For blackberries look out when you are driving for possible places. You’d be surprised, we have loads of places round here. Oh, and whenever you go out from about mid August always have a plastic bag in your pocket. Nothing worse than finding some ripe and having nothing to put them in! 

I have a bread maker and it’s great for ease and also to set on a timer to wake up to fresh bread. But you get the obligatory hole in the bottom so making by hand and shaping is preferable. 

missymoo81

Hey Toni’s friend. Jam making isn’t too hard And too be honest if it’s a bit runny I don’t mind, still tastes the same! 

Thanks PF, that’s a great tip. Carrier bag wherever I go, in my head I can picture some places Which should have some! So we shall see! Ok I’ve written a post in my notes with regards to my SOA as such. I’m hoping this will help my thought process. I will post it in a minute. 

Had a lovely walk today and have managed to eat up most of the food so that’s good. We’ve washed our walking boots and Our dirty clothes, usually I’d just do it at home, but it’s free to do it here!!!

I’m going to write some money saving things I do and things I should do going forward. Which is quite nice to think about. Will do that in a post in a bit and what I’ve learnt on my relaxing break! 

missymoo81

Ok so I am looking at budgets going forward.

How much I need to earn to break even, and to save up for my tax return etc. How it changes etc. So I have a clear idea how much I need to make from the business. As I’m opening The business a good 6 weeks earlier than my original plan, I can build up a buffer in my emergency fund to deal with any lean months and emergencies.

I haven’t included in that any extra PT sessions I may get. As that money will just go straight into the buffer. 

So mini SOA looks like this, this is just my payments and what I need, OH manages his:

£770 Rent and bills (this is my half)

£10 Children’s swimming

£100 Dancing and after school club

£34 Sofa

£133 Groceries

£15 phone (need to change this to cheaper one)

£16 work insurance 

£50 HMRC pay back

£450 loan payback

£1 Apple storage

£1579

I know this doesn’t include contents insurance RAC, car fuel or car insurance, these are all things OH pays through his business. 

I also realise I haven’t left any money for clothes or birthdays or MOTs etc. I intend to take that out of the buffer account. I have played with the idea of adding £50pm to another account for said extras. But I don’t have a spare account and I know that £50 would get lost in my current account, and I’m a bit loathe to go to another bank to set one up..... I could do it as cash and take that out but I don’t want it burning a hole in my pocket either. I have 3 accounts on my app with Lloyd’s, not sure if I can have any more, just checked and don’t think I can. All of which are used. 

Also the other reason for me not putting the £50 on my SOA is it makes the Totals way scarier and takes them into the next hundred if you see what I mean. Also over the past couple of months I’ve done really well getting clothes etc from eBay paid for by PayPal when I’ve sold something Else. But then I guess things have been different in lockdown, with far less places to go. So before you say it, you’re right, I do need that £50 for extras per month. Need to redo my numbers and am a bit scared business won’t add up to cover it. But best to know now. 

Hmmm reading Cheery’s diary and she’s talking about pensions..... I don’t have one. I should have a smalL Military one but no idea how to look into it.. really need to speak to accountant about saving for one now and how it effects things like how much tax I pay etc.

missymoo81

Ok so things I do that are money saving:
I don’t use a tumble dryer, we don’t even own one.
i now shop every 10 days instead of once a week which has really helped save the pennies.
Only buy the cheapest brands of most things.
Do surveys to try and save up for Xmas pressies, do need to do more of these though.
Sell on eBay if I want to buy new clothes to counteract the cost.
Make the children’s packed lunches.
Buy clothes on eBay And FB Second hand or in sales.
Don’t buy myself v much at all.
Diligent at always getting my Clubcard out so points stacking up nicely!
I don’t use a hair dryer or straighteners or an Iron for that matter 😁
I buy cheap brands of make up maybe twice a year.
I buy cheap shampoo and conditioner.
We don’t smoke, rarely drink.
Don’t socialise much.
Have a Sim only contract on phones. 

Only replace Tech things when they break, don’t upgrade.

I now cut and dye my own hair.
I cut the children’s hAir and buy most of their clothes second hand.

Things I need to change:
Turn the lights and TV off, I’m a !!!!!! for leaving them on.
Sort heating out so it’s not on at random times in the winter.
Take washing straight out of the machine instead of leaving it to go all foisty so I have to re-wash it.
Get back to shopping at Lidl for the cheaper things, could do this once a month.
Eat more porridge, we love it but I’m just too lazy to make it?!
Stop leaving the shower to run for 5 mins before I get in, simply no need!
Stop buying costalot coffee (to be fair haven’t done this much as it’s been shut and haven’t done it too much since it’s been open, but could do with completely stopping).
Cook more from scratch (need to be more organised with this)
Stop wasting food! Things go bad in the fridge as I haven’t eaten them in time so they get chucked! 

Make better use of my freezer, at present it’s full of bananas?!
Stop drinking coffee at home as it’s expensive and I prefer tea anyway. 

Stop drinking squash, never used to just got into a bad habit.
Need to stop using 400 tons of washing powder and conditioner in each wash, a little will do! To be fair I have got better but there is room for improvement. 

Stop buying meal deals for OH’s lunch and start making packed lunches again.


That’s it for now! I’m sure there are tons more good and bad but I’ll add them as I think of them!

missymoo81

Oh and being here has made me realise, I should sit and eat my food at the table and simple food is fine and hearty, to rush less.... to be more organised and to have much less stuff! Also that I would like more outside space to grow things.

joedenise

Have you got a slow cooker @missymoo81?  You can make some really cheap meals in one and then portion up for the freezer then it's just a case of remembering to get it out preferably the night before or even in the morning to defrost.  It's where menu planning comes into its own!  I keep a copy of the menu plan on the fridge and when I'm cooking the evening meal I look to see what I need to get out of the freezer for the next day.  It works well for me.

Soups are also really good for using up veg that have got dodgy in the bottom of the fridge and doesn't take long at all.

I'm sure it'll help you cut the grocery budget further.

Toni'sfriend

I'm another one who votes for a slow cooker. I was given one as a present a couple of years ago and I use it almost  every day. It's great for making soups and stews.

missymoo81

Hey JoeDenise and Tonisfriend, I have a slow cooker, to be honest I only use it for stew..... need to look into using it more. 

Really unhappy, we’re just about to leave and the phone is already ringing off the hook with work problems! OH is not happy, talking about throwing the towel in. ‘Sigh’