Climbing the Mortgage Mountain step by step

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Hope you have all had a good weekend.  We've had a quiet one, we were going to go and see a local band on Saturday night but both felt drained so stayed at home instead.  A bit of sorting done, 3 bags to the charity shop, carpets shampooed and spare room semi prepped for our visitors.

Had a couple of spends on Saturday, £41.05 in Lidl for the weekly shop (shopped to the list), £10.60 on 2 cream teas when I met with my old school friend, had a lovely catch up and 3 hours passed sooo quickly!  Result with the glasses, new frames and lenses for zero outlay.  No spend day yesterday, OH made me breakfast in bed and then we made a lovely roast chicken dinner with all the trimmings followed by homemade plum and apple crumble   Most of the ingredients, including the chicken,  came out of the freezer and stocks.  I am going to make a chicken pie tonight with the leftover meat, veg and stuffing and serve it with the extra roast potatoes, there may well be enough for today and tomorrow, not bad for a chicken reduced to £2.

I still haven't used up any of my toilettries, thought a MUDMASKY mask was finished but cut the tube open and have a couple more days useage in there.

Have a great day

MvTMM

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Another NSD day yesterday, had an early morning meeting in the next town, was tempted to pick up a Maccys breakfast for myself and DD on the way home but resisted and had tea and toast instead! 

Made a lovely chicken pie last night and ate it with some of the leftover roast potatoes and cauliflower cheese, there is definitely enough for tonight too.  We have guests arriving tomorrow for a few days but will try and feed them from stocks, got a few ideas, my Jamie Oliver flan and gnocchi for starters.  Need to clean the bathroom and change the spare bed as DD had a friend stay over unexpectedly last night.

Been doing some more sorting, shredded a load of paperwork yesterday, got about half way through so will do the rest today.

Oh, and finally had my first UU in the toiletries' challenge, finished a Body Stories sleep bath oil, which was lovely, left my skin soft but didn't seem to have much affect on my sleeping!  Nevertheless have now put my first £1 in the pot!

Have a good day

MvTMM

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Had a frugal couple of days, working from home certainly helps!  I did nearly succumb to an email offering six of the medium candles I like for far less than half price, £30, I popped them in my basket but then thought long and hard, yes they could be used as presents but it was a lucky dip scenario so could be weird and wonderful fragrances, I probably wouldn't want to part with any nice ones and I already have enough candles, so I DELETED it, so pleased with my self control!

Did our shopping last night in prep for our visitors and treated ourselves to chips on the way home, £14.50 for the 3 of us so not too extravagant and we have been living off of the £2 chicken for the last 3 days

I am trying to decided when to get my cashback monies transferred.  I use topcashback and airtime rewards and basically save it all for Christmas, I don't want to get it too early so thinking I'll apply mid November, the Airtime Rewards will then cover my December phone bill and the Topcashback monies will come through in time to buy some gifts and groceries.  I've already ordered the Degusto Advent Calendar, we had one last year and it was really good, loads of lovely goodies and DD loved gathering us together each evening to open the window.

Finally UU my MUDMASKY Sleep Repair Mask last night, thought it was finished a few nights ago but cut the tube open and it's done 4 more nights!  So another £1 in the pot.

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Hope you've had a good weekend, we've had family to stay which was lovely, so nice to spend time with DGS.  We were a bit naughty food wise, had a lovely brunch out and a take away one night but the other meals were all from stocks, including making pizzas in our pizza oven   

I need to update my signature as it was payday on Friday so that means another chunk off of the mortgage and credit card.  I am continuing monitoring my spending, have had loads of NSD but did spend £26.01 in Morrisons yesterday on bits and pieces that we can't get in Lidls and £10 in the Factory shop but this included 2 of the Disney Book Advent Calendars reduced from £20 to £4 each, that's the 2 youngest DGC sorted.

I have had 2 more UU's, a VO5 Hair Oil and a small Shay & Blue Blood Orange perfume so £2 popped in the savings tin.  I was nearly lead astray by the M&S Advent calendar but saw sense, I would be buying things I didn't need to make up the £30 spend and then spending £40 on the calendar when I already have loads of toiletries to use up.

Carrying on with walking to work and bringing my coffee with me but get a guilty pang every time I walk past the little independent sandwich shop where I used to get my morning coffee, they always wave and say good morning, I really must pop in at some point and tell them why I'm no longer buying their coffee

Have a great afternoon all

MvTMM

savingholmes

Well done on resisting temptation at M&S. Sounds like good bargains on the book calendars. Glad you got to spend time with family. Not taken for granted any more.

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Busy day today, had a meeting with the Council in Big Town but parked at one of our properties and walked to save on car parking, I also grabbed a free takeaway coffee from them as well rather than the coffee shop or vending machine at the Council offices. 

I also took the opportunity to pop in to Lidls whilst I had the car, picked up one of their £1.50 veg boxes, my box was about twice the size of the others and full of lovely goodies, should keep us going for a week. I'm looking forward to going home and seeing what is in there and planning what to do with it all.  Driving back I had been sooo tempted to get a Maccys but satisfied my hunger with a goats cheese flatbread from Lidls bakery for 69p, a small treat!  Spent a total of £7.26 in Lidls.

I still need to sort through the Xmas stash and sort out what presents are needed, think I'll do that on Saturday morning whist DP and DD are both out of the house, I can then make a list of what is needed.  

Must go, have a great evening all

MvTMM

savingholmes

Well done on the free coffee and then the cheap veg box it all helps 😊 Have fun sorting Christmas ☃️🎄 presents

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

@savingholmes, my veg box was great, bananas, satsumas, pomegranates, courgettes, cauliflower, cabbage about a ton and a half of carrots and loads of other stuff.  Last night we had sausages, mash, onion gravy, carrots and broccoli, the sausages were Lincolnshire ones from Lidl and were reduced to 70p so the whole meal for the 3 of us cost about £1 and we had a huge plate full each.  I used this as a bit of a learning point for DD who is heading off to Uni in September, I also showed her some carrots I had previously bought that were reduced to 10p, the BB date on the packaging was 19/09 but there is still absolutely nothing wrong with them, its shocking how much good food gets thrown because its 'past its date'! I have no idea what to cook tonight, veggie curry or a pasta bake?  Any suggestions welcome!

I had a Christmas present arrive for DGS yesterday, set of dinosaur books, we are giving him money for his main present, just wanted to have something for him to open.  He has just had loads of gifts for his birthday so mum and dad are being really sensible and asked that for Christmas he has for money towards season tickets and experiences rather than more toys.

No toiletry UUs in the last couple of days but my radox and facial cleanser are both looking really low so they could well be tonight's victims!  Plenty more items to replace them with.

Budgeting wise all looking good as long as I resist temptation, I am really feeling strong on this at present, keep adding things to virtual baskets and then deleting, I really need to stop looking at all and I am working on that.  Paying by cash definitely works for me too, if it's not in my purse I can't have it plus I look at the dwindling amount I have and think that I need to make that last longer so do I REALLY need this item, usually I don't!  I am waiting until 11th when my O2 bill goes out and then I will cash in my Airtime rewards and Topcashback so that all hits my accounts before December and pads out the Christmas budget.

savingholmes

So did you book your cheap veg  box or was it just there available for anyone? I do get YS stuff at Mr As and others sometimes but not seen whole boxes...

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

@savingholmes, no I didn't book the veg box, they just have them on the side by the self service tills in our local Lidl.  I occasionally get the Too Good to Go boxes from Morrisons but this was much better to be honest.

We've had a bit of a traumatic weekend, power cuts and relationship issues (not me, DS) so the budgeting has gone a little bit to the wayside, food wise and on a few toys for DGD as she ended up staying with us.  The power cuts were a bit frustrating, we had a trolley full of shopping and had actually managed to get everything we wanted, including a great deal on wine, but had to leave it all as they couldn't take payment and the next day when we went back there was none of the wine left   Plus as we walked into our house the power then went out there so DGD was bemused by the candles for lighting and the fact she couldn't watch tv, thank goodness we have a gas fire so could keep nice and warm.

I had intended to sort out my Christmas stash over the weekend but it's in the spare room and DS and DGD ended up staying in there so I couldn't get to it, if he is going to be with us long term I will need to empty the room anyway so that he can put his stuff in there but everything is up in the air at the moment.

I made a lovely big roast for the 5 of us yesterday, using more of my veggies and will make a chicken and veg pie with the leftovers tonight.  I'm thinking Sausage and spinach gnocchi tomorrow night and maybe a stew later in the week.

I have had a couple of UUs over the weekend, my Clinique, Take off the Day cleansing balm which was lovely, not too greasy as some can be but definitely effective and used up a Radox bubble bath, these are a standard and can always be found in my bathroom but I pick them up for £1.  My current night time moisturiser has been cut open and I'm using up the dregs in there and I need to sort out another facial cleanser.  More £1s to the savings pot and it is certainly helping me to focus.