Time to stop being frivolous!

WatchedByOwls

Evening all. 

Couple of weeks since I updated my diary, whoops.

I've been trying my best to keep spending to a minimum but life has overtaken me at times (as it often does!). I've been disorganised and lazy again and probably spent too much where I shouldn't have done.

We're moving towards exchange on the house which is really positive. The survey threw up a few unexpected issues (fortunately nothing too major or structural) so we went round with a contractor last week to get an idea of costings for repairs and it's more expensive than was expected.

We've done some budget calculations tonight and everything is a bit more tight than we had planned for. We can still afford it but it's meant I've got to get much more sensible about what my money goes on.

I've committed with my partner to cut out as much discretionary spending as possible - takeaways, eating out, unnecessary shopping. I sound like a broken record but we're both very serious, more so than ever before. I've also made the sad decision to cancel my holiday in October as I won't be able to afford it with all the house stuff.

We've still got our holiday in July which has all been paid for except spending when we're there. I've got some money put aside for that, including some cash leftover from my trip last month, so that shouldn't impact the bigger picture too much.

Shouldn't have to spend much this week on non house stuff, except I need to get a belated Father's Day present sorted. We've got enough food in the house to last us for meals until we go on holiday. I'm going to leave all my bank cards at home this week while I'm at work, eith the exception of my Amex in case of emergencies. Hopefully that'll stop me spending as I haven't got contactless set up on my phone! 

WatchedByOwls

Also just a minor moan!

Tesco have stopped doing the cheap bag of "misshapen" kiwi fruits. They were really good value, 5 or 6 for £1.20. Now I have to get the more expensive ones which are 30p each, so nearly £2 for the same amount.

That of course is on top of the general price rise for pretty much everything in the supermarket! 

savingholmes

Good luck with the move and associated savings.

WatchedByOwls

Evening all! 

Long day today. I had an AGM for a charity I volunteer with so only just home from that, having gone straight from work. 

No spend day went to pot but not through my own fault. I had to pay £200 for an electrician for some checks on the house we're buying. As well that the car was running on fumes and I've got to drive to work tomorrow so needed to fill up which cost £58. Council tax also came out of my bank today but that's a standard monthly spend which I account for. 

I've downloaded an app which I'm using to record all my spending. I wanted one which was free and didn't need to connect to my bank account which was quite hard to find! I'm hoping it'll help me better hold myself to account when I'm having to manually enter spends into it.

Tomorrow I'll also aim for no spend though I might need to pick up plantains for a curry I'm making for dinner. Tesco don't offer them on delivery but a local shop near me sells two for £1.20. No idea if that's good value for money but cheaper than driving to another shop to get them at say £1.10!

WatchedByOwls

Hello everyone. 

Today's planned NSD didn't quite work out. I had to collect some dry cleaning I'd dropped off last week which was £12.50 and get the aforementioned plantains too (what an exciting life I lead!).

In our house we previously had a moth infestation. It required a pest controller to get rid of them and they ended up eating all the carpets which had to be replaced. This was a few years ago and it's not been as bad since but to avoid it happening again we have to be really proactive. We saw our first month of 2023 yesterday so today I picked up a moth trap which will hopefully stop it getting really bad and tell us if we need to get more products. £10 well spent to stop a bigger spend!

Dinner was a homemade curry with enough leftovers for dinner tomorrow. Going to prepare tomorrow's work lunch shortly. Got a whole bunch of admin to do before bed 😫

savingholmes

Eek to moth infestations. Never had anything like that.

[Deleted User]

Are you able to name the app as it sounds useful or if not allowed provide some clues 😉?

WatchedByOwls

savingholmes said:

Eek to moth infestations. Never had anything like that.

Oh indeed! We'd seen a lot of moths in the bedroom and they just kept on coming. So I investigated and found a nest under the bed with maggots just eating away at the carpet! 🤮 and then the same under some furniture in another room. Vile. Fortunately dealing with those and getting pest control it solved the problem.

[Deleted User] said:

Are you able to name the app as it sounds useful or if not allowed provide some clues 😉?

Sorry! It's called Koody. It's a bit glitchy but it seems to do the job. All I wanted was something quite simple. 

WatchedByOwls

I wrote a long post about my day but my phone browser crashed and lost it 

Can't be bothered to rewrite it all but I will say that today was my first No Spend Day in a long time! Really pleased with myself. Small wins! 

Tomorrow however won't be no spend. Got to get (among other things) cat medication, currency for holiday, present for my Dad, etc etc. Mostly from allocated pots thankfully.

Hope you've all had a good day! 

savingholmes

Well done on the NSD.