Oops I Did It Again

CRANKY40

Thank you both for your kind thoughts. I've made a couple of extra payments based on what I think I will have left at the end of March but there's still room for a possible extra payment to the loan. I paid £25 off the loan on Friday which the bank informed me then saved me £12.36 in interest. The week starting tomorrow is the last week of my month and I have left myself £50 for food shopping. That should be OK as it's the week when I visit the supermarket myself (heavy stuff is delivered every other week) and I use self scan which is also self limiting as the cost is added up on the way round. The minimum overpayment to the loan is £10. Watch this space 

Blackcats

Well done!  It's so satisfying making an overpayment and then seeing how much interest you have saved.  Shocking how much interest our loans and credit cards cost though.  

I agree that scanning as you shop is really good for keeping track of the cost of the shopping trolley.  In the past when I filled my trolley without any list or logic I genuinely had no idea what the final total would be at the checkout.  Sometimes it was up to £30 more than I expected it to be - yikes 😱

CRANKY40

Thanks @Blackcats. a little bit of positive feedback goes a long way.

I've finished March now. Probably not as much paid off as I would have liked but a good balance achieved I think. The figures look like this 

                  End Dec 2020 / Now
Tesco card    £3338.44    /  £2823.68
TSB card       £3478.25   /  £2912.89
Loan              £2158.54  /  £1858.36
Bed                £    70.09  /  £      0.10
Rings              £ 132.00  /  £      0.00

Total               £9177.32  /  £7595.03    Total reduction this month   £491.89   Reduction since light bulb £1582.29

I need to do some food shopping tomorrow ready for the Easter weekend and 2 hungry teens. I've made a list and unless I've forgotten anything major there shouldn't be too much spending. After that I will count the NSD's in April and keep better track than I did this month (it all went to pot when my dad died).  Today I had to buy migraine tablets as we'd almost run out and both of us have migraines so £6.89 spent. I picked up a tiger baguette in the supermarket but I was with my bubble friend and he paid for it. I've made his lunch  two days running so he's still ahead there.               

CRANKY40

Yesterday was a spendy day. I didn't spend any money on the garden at all last year so I bought a pressure washer and a new hosepipe as well as doing food shopping for the weekend. I've also arranged for someone to come the week after next and cut next door's conifers down to the level of the 6ft fence as they are hanging over my side and keeping my garden in the shade (next door said I could and they can't reach them from their side). The good news is that the money for this has been carefully saved over the winter as it was always part of the plan (hosepipe and washer too). 

I'm not great at meal planning (that's why the freezer is so full) so the idea going forward for that is to go food shopping twice a week and get just fruit/veg and anything that I need to make two or three meals out of the stuff in the freezer - that reminds me I need to go and liberate stuff from the bottom of one of the drawers for this evening. 

I seem to need to have a stupid amount of food in the house to feel safe. I've noticed that a lot of other people with debt problems also have food or weight problems. It seems to me that it's part of the malfunctioning "dealing with life" thing that a lot of us have. Coping with stress or anxiety by squirelling things away either food or just "things" bought on credit. 

Take care all of you (if anyone bothers to read this). I'd like to send anyone who is struggling to cope today a great big hug 😊💕

rugbymadfamily

So sorry to hear about your dad, thoughts are with you.

Your son and his partner seem like lovely young men and he is a credit to you. Great work on the debt busting so far, keep it up!

Blackcats

Great debt reduction Cranky and well done for saving up for the garden spends.
im another one with lots and lots of food in stock - partly from not sticking to a list and partly "just in case".  I was also a person who bought lots of toiletries, washing powder and conditioner and cleaning products because the packaging looked nice and they promised to smell wonderful!  Exactly what the marketing tactics wanted me to do.  I tend to stick to lid* now although I buy washing capsules and dishwasher capsules from smol - they are environmentally better and as they are delivered to the house I don't get tempted in the supermarket aisles.  

beanielou

Another one who feels safe with lots of food in the house.Sigh.

Legs21

Me too. Lots and lots of food especially the freezer. It’s always full to the brim. I remember once going food shopping, came home and had nowhere to put it as the fridge, freezer and cupboards were already full! I can’t wait for tomorrow to drop everyone’s Easter eggs off as the amount of times I’ve had to replace the ones I’ve eaten is nobody’s business 😱

badmemory

Well I went into the first covid lockdown & found the shelves (of things that I use regularly) pretty bare.  Bread flour anyone?  I ran out in early May.  Fortunately I had stocked up for Brexit.  It didn't help with the flour situation as it doesn't keep all that long but since then I have actually increased what I keep.  This isn't about money, its about being able to make what I want to because I have the makings in stock.  Although I do like a bargain.  But a couple of weeks recently I couldn't get NAD vimto, luckily I top up to 6,  and it isn't the only thing.  Also anyone who tells you inflation is only 0.7% isn't living in my world!  Thank goodness the price of whisky is staying down!  Probably because no-one can afford to buy it!

But stocks as long as you are sure to use them before the BBE are a good thing.  The only thing I will be dumping is the Heinz tomato soup which is now out of date that my son used to love (I hate it, I can taste the tin) & now doesn't, so 10 tins will hit the bin or go in something I won't tell him about.  Stocks these days are a necessity not an aberration or even a luxury.

CRANKY40

So far this month I have 3 NSDs out of 6. Two planned small food shops and one unplanned on the way home from work for cookies and fresh bread for the teens and some cider and chocolate for me. It was worth it and a friend gave me £20 today that they owed me from last month which almost cancelled out Saturday's spend. Friend isn't short of cash by the way, it was for things that I'd bought and dropped off to one of his family so it's not risky when he owes me money. A few more NSDs would be good....