Looking after the pennies

Lookafterthepennies2020

Another NSD for me today I woke up and stuck a sweet and sour chicken curry in the slow cooker so tea will be cooked when I get in.  Also received £40 from ebay today which means I've made £118.39 throughout July so far  

Lookafterthepennies2020

Morning all, 
The S&S curry was gross but we still ate it lol.  Got quite a few things to do today, its my day off work and I'm dropping my mum off for some bloods then taking ds4 to school for a Teddy bears picnic.  It's the first time he will be back in school since March as I decided against sending him back in June, the picnic will be in next year's class groups so I'm hoping there's a few faces he is happy to see.  After that picking mum up and we're going for a coffee and cake so will be spendy but I'm planning it.  Then borrowing mum's sewing machine to attempt some face masks as the beautiful ones on etsy are just short of £40 😩

 I've done quite a bit of washing over the last two days and need to do a bit more, my downfall is putting it away however so will tackle that this aft.  I have a few ebay items ending so will get them all packed up and off to the post office as soon as there paid, I like to do it straight away or I seem to lose motivation to get it done. Then I've a few more items to pop on as I've been staggering them.  

Hope everyone has a great day, stay safe! Xx

[Deleted User]

Hope your face masks go well! xx

Lookafterthepennies2020

The face masks were a success, apart from my pleats which dropped out very quickly but can still use them.
I have had a bit of a rubbish week this week food-wise, despite me meal planning and seasoning all the meat for tea's etc I have been rather pathetic at taking it out of the freezer to de-frost.  I usually do this the night before and have failed to on two occasions this week We have then opted for takeaway which has cost £40 this week !
The plus side is the meat is still in the freezer, so will plan for next week which should bring tomorrows shop down and I have paid with eBay sales.  This has then prompted me to check my Ynab and I've spent £178 on " takeaways " in a month, this includes anything when we have eaten out so also includes things like ice creams/milkshakes etc so not just takeaway foods but I'm really disappointed! I had no idea I was spending this much!  Kicking myself now as its £150+ that could have gone on a CC.
I managed to get a load of washing on this morning before work and will be popping home on my lunch to peg out, so will grab some dinner at home and opt out of fat-food Friday at work to save the pennies! x

joedenise

I suspect the reason the pleats dropped out quickly is that your fabric is a bit soft.  It really doesn't matter as the pleats are just to make sure that the face covering is long enough to cover your nose, mouth and chin.  They spread out when you're wearing it anyway so I wouldn't worry about it.  If you're planning on making more the pleats might be more successful with a firmer fabric.

I've made a couple with softish fabric and the pleats don't hold but they work.  The ones I've made with firmer material definitely hold the pleats in better but as I said they are there to spread out when you're wearing it.

YNAB is really good for picking up where you are wasting money, isn't it?  I now budget for "eating out" which includes anything we buy while we're out and about - coffees, teas, meals, drinks etc.  I've been putting money in the budget throughout lockdown so it's built up quite nicely!  We were away in our caravan last week and ate out one day so there was enough to have a nice meal and a drink and still have money left in the budget.  We don't eat out often but I'm glad we have the "pot" on YNAB for when we do.

Lookafterthepennies2020

joedenise said:

I suspect the reason the pleats dropped out quickly is that your fabric is a bit soft.  It really doesn't matter as the pleats are just to make sure that the face covering is long enough to cover your nose, mouth and chin.  They spread out when you're wearing it anyway so I wouldn't worry about it.  If you're planning on making more the pleats might be more successful with a firmer fabric.

I've made a couple with softish fabric and the pleats don't hold but they work.  The ones I've made with firmer material definitely hold the pleats in better but as I said they are there to spread out when you're wearing it.

YNAB is really good for picking up where you are wasting money, isn't it?  I now budget for "eating out" which includes anything we buy while we're out and about - coffees, teas, meals, drinks etc.  I've been putting money in the budget throughout lockdown so it's built up quite nicely!  We were away in our caravan last week and ate out one day so there was enough to have a nice meal and a drink and still have money left in the budget.  We don't eat out often but I'm glad we have the "pot" on YNAB for when we do.

Yes it was definitely too soft! ( feels very nice on the face though  ) I am going to double up tonight and see if that makes a difference at all.  As you said they are still fit for use if not

I am a YNAB Convert for sure, it's really frustrating as we managed to spend £6 in a whole day at the seaside last week as I had planned it, then I come home from work one night and !!!!!! £40 down the drain!  Really need to make sure I'm planning ahead each evening as mornings are manic getting the boys ready and getting to work etc! 

Oooh lovely, I love going off to the caravan, we don't own one but regularly went once a year growing up and I have booked to take the boys away this September for my birthday treat, I can't wait!
It's deffo worth having guilt free treat pots for whilst your away  

DancingInTheRain

Hi just paying a return visit 😊 I don't know how I've missed your diary but have just had a read through and you've had a really good start to your debt free diary.

As annoyed as you feel about the spends on eating out, at least you've identified this as an area to focus on moving forward so take the positives from that.

Good luck on your debt free journey x

Lookafterthepennies2020

Hi @DancingInTheRain thanks for popping in & Yes when you look at it that way I have realised my midweek meals deffo need to be a focus for next week!

Despite my rubbish planning I have managed to stick to my shopping budget with £34.60 left to spare, so made a small OP on the CC..There's just £22.85 left on this one so I plan on getting that to £0 with surveys/eBay for the end of the month hopefully.  This will then leave me with a £20 OP to put towards a different one which makes me feel quite positive.  

In other Money updates, Still haven't got anywhere with this refund form or letter I was apparently sent ref the life assurance so no further with this.  Made another £120 payment to bank of M&D and I am now down to £2105!  

I also received my notice of receipt for my RTB application, I am trying not to get too excited as I think it will be more likely next year before I can get approved but no harm getting the ball rolling with finding out the value etc if not x 

Lookafterthepennies2020

Hi all, 
Saturday was a rainy day here managed to get the food shop done, 67£ so 8£ under budget.  I also bought a grow your own garden kit and a handwriting book for ds2 so was a good spend.  Did buy a half price kettle for 12.50 in the sale. 
Today has been great weather did lots of cleaning this morning then took the kids on a nice walk at a local resovoir today and have got plenty of washing done
I made a picnic for our walk which was all covered in my Saturday grocery shop so today's been a NSD
Popped tea in the slow cooker this morning so ready whenever I can be bothered to dish up just binge watching down to earth on netflix atm. Has anyone seen it? X

Lookafterthepennies2020

Not much spendy news today, I woke in a really low mood which seems to be a recurring theme atm and had quite a long chat wth Oh as I think it’s us that has been getting me down. I’ve also put over a stone on in weight so need to give my head a shake, came across the SW thread on here so hoping that will keep me on track

Haven’t Done much today other than get a load of washing done and on the line, little bit of cooking and cleaning and completed the paint your own garden dinosaur set with ds2 (was deffo worth the fiver).  We’re having chicken and leek bake for tea which is like comfort food for me so can’t wait
No PA studies in a few days now but have about £3 waiting to approve and I sold a high value item on eBay on Friday (£136) which the seller hasn’t paid for yet so could be quite annoyed about that one lol x