The Last Leg; 6 years later, debt free in 2021

greensalad

Just did Ocado order for the next 2 weeks, foreseeing that slots are going to disappear fairly quickly with the announcement of second lockdown.

We spent £80 on two weeks of shopping, with the only things excluded a small number of veggies we need at the tail end of the next 2 weeks which would go off by then. Not more than about £5's worth needed. 

Within the £80 we had some splurges such as new hot sauce, a litre of olive oil, and a 12 pack of coronas (because we're having quite a lot of Mexican food we normally get a 4 pack but the 12 pack was a good price and we're eating Mexican three times) so that is the extent of our alcohol. I'm pretty pleased to have got all that for £40 pw.

We have recently started a new schedule for meal planning and I really like it. It helps to keep food varied but also not have to dig out of your brain what you want to eat for every meal. We do:

Monday - Pasta
Tuesday - cheap/freezer/cupboard dive
Wednesday - curry
Thursday - cheap/freezer/cupboard dive
Friday - M&S dine-in for £12 with a bottle of wine included
Saturday - mexican
Sunday - Roast or pie and veg

It works really well to go through and make the meal plan because we can vary so much in each category. E.g pasta in the winter is often the canned tomatoes from the garden (we still have about 8 jars left that I processed in the summer, but next year I want to make more like 20-30), and curry night can be indian (OH's favourite) or thai (my favourite). 

Doing OMAD we are bulking up our meals a little bit but even adding sides/breads/sundries to meals still works out cheaper than eating breakfast and lunches everyday. Plus it feels like an extra cheat to have garlic bread and pasta on a Monday night as usually we'd reserve something like garlic bread as a weekend treat. 

So that's my shopping mostly done and on budget!

greensalad

Ovo are sending me £30 refund as I switched to Bulb. Let's hope it doesn't take too long to arrive. It'll be going straight in the savings pot when it comes. Every little helps.

Also my new phone case arrived and I'm really pleased with it. It was a fancy thing to buy but it's part of my pledge to keep this phone for as long as possible. My contract ends in March 2021 and I'm going to keep going with it until after we've bought a house. I convinced OH to do the same too, he really wanted a new phone but I've told him we have to make sacrifices and he agreed. The next job is for me to call the insurer and get the screen fixed. I've factored the insurance excess into my "Low Buy" between now and the end of the year. I figured getting the screen fixed and a nice case to protect is going forwards will make me much happier about keeping it long term. 

greensalad

Ended up popping out to get some extra bits at Co-op today as we ate all the coleslaw Ocado delivered (oops) last night, plus realised we'd be starving having just a curry tonight which is only about 800 calories. So topped it up with some sides and poppadoms. Still learning exactly what an OMAD meal needs to look like for us. Luckily we only spend £6 more and Co-op stuff is always such nice quality. 

This week is going so quickly. Work is dragging on as ever! But we released something exciting today so that was good. 

Talking about possible Christmas plans with my family. Obviously it's all up in the air this year but it's made us all start talking about Christmas presents again. I tend to spend Christmas with my Mum's side of the family including grandparents, aunts and cousins (and all our partners). A few years ago I suggested that we do Secret Santa instead of getting presents from our auntie etc. After all I'm nearly 30! My youngest cousin was still in uni so the idea was squashed quickly but now she's got a job and we're all working etc I suggested it again and it seems to have gone done well. So only one present to buy for all 14 of us to get something back. I think it'll be really nice even if we can't be together. 

greensalad

Got my Ovo payment! £30 added to the tax bill savings. 

pencakes26

Just stopping by after reading your diary to say hi. Well done on where you've got to so far! 
Wish we could do secret santa as a family but they just won't buy into it. Would make so much more sense. 

greensalad

Try bringing it up again in the future, it got shot down the first time I suggested it too! Definitely takes the stress off.

Speaking of Christmas I just bought my first gift, a t-shirt for OH. We're doing small presents this year. Just one small, one medium. Usually we buy a lot but trying to save money means that's not happening! 

Kakiste

What t-shirt? I am a massive fan of the redbubble ones- usually get them as presents from my in-laws.

greensalad

Just an Adidas long sleeve. He wears the short sleeve one a lot and there was a nice navy longsleeve so I went for it. Might have ordered it too small though!

greensalad

Housework Sunday has not gone that well haha. I managed to do the kitchen. OH is doing the living room now (my new regime is starting to have an affect on him, he does the living room without being asked as he says he can do it while the football is on... no problems with that!) But I haven't done the dining room or anything upstairs. I did shower and wash my hair though haha. I guess that's something?

I'm currently halfway through trying to launch the new site I've been working on for months. Once it's live and done I can submit the invoice for £250. So I'm keen to get it done today!

greensalad

Credit card statement came in... another £384 paid off. Only 3 payments left now and it'll be clear just in time for my 30th birthday!! Though I did realise I calculated it wrong and I actually need to boost the next 3 payments by a little in order to get it paid off by then. Technically I've done it to when the 0% ends in February, but I wanted to have it paid off a month earlier.

Virgin Money CC £1,153.62 left of £8,500 // 86.4% paid

Also just invoiced for the web work finally. They prompted me to invoice them and they paid very quickly last time so here's hoping I see the payment this week.