Time to stop being frivolous!

WatchedByOwls

Good morning all. I seem to be getting more intermittent with my diary but I'm still trying to implement MSE principles in my daily life.

I'm not in the best financial situation at the moment. I'm still paying both rent for the flat I live in and the mortgage for the property I own. The Student Loan Company have started taking a proportion of my salary each month to repay my postgraduate loan each month as well. While I'm still left with enough money after paying everything to get the necessities and a bit of discretionary spending but not huge amounts and certainly not enough to put aside a sizeable chunk to pay off my debt. So saving has slowed down.

However there's some good news on the horizon hopefully. My flat sale is hopefully moving towards exchange of contracts soon. As soon as it completes then I'll be in a much better position financially and the pressure is off a little bit. I can then start working towards buying a house with my partner.

As you may recall my partner has had some serious health issues this year. Fortunately he is almost back to full fitness and is now back at work so life is almost returned to normal in that regard!

My debt repayments are up to £6739 which is great. Although I'm still some way off full repayment I'm getting there slowly but surely... 

WatchedByOwls

Good morning all!

Not such an MSE week this week. Last weekend my cat collapsed and had to go to the emergency vet - £2200 later and we discover he was dehydrated and has a heart murmur which needs further investigation. Claim has been submitted to insurance so we'll see if they pay out! Fortunately it's all gone on my partner's credit card but if insurance don't pay out, I'll have to pay him back at some point

Other than that I've had a bit of extraneous spending - posting father's day presents, getting my suit dry cleaned, etc. No money has been put aside but next week's a new week I guess. 

In my spare time I have signed up to a cat sitting website and had a few jobs which have helped pay for a few bits. Not exactly huge money but a bit of extra cash in my pocket doesn't go amiss. I've got a job over the Jubilee weekend. Easy money to feed and stroke a cat!

Off to the market shortly, won't be spending too much 

WatchedByOwls

Afternoon all! I've had yesterday and today off work as I'm working over the weekend unfortunately. So I've got on with a few life chores and re-planned out my budget to take into account student loan and the rise in bills which has been helpful.

I've just finished making mixed berry jam for my boyfriend which will save him buying expensive upmarket jam from our local shop. Just under £5 has made 3 large and 1 small jar. Trying it with frozen fruit for the first time so hopefully it sets properly.

I've been having a think about the food shop. We have a weekly(ish) delivery from Tesco which costs us about £50. We have an Aldi up the road - not walking distance but a short drive - and I'm wondering whether we should switch to that instead. Trying to persuade my boyfriend but he doesn't want the hassle of having to go to a supermarket every week! 

Tiredbutdetermined

Just had a good read through your diary. You are doing brilliantly.

Hope you get somewhere with the flat soon.

I am a nightmare in the supermarket but I have used my tesco Clubcard points to buy a 6 month delivery pass so that is essentially free. I can never decide if I would be better online shopping or going in to Aldi/Lidl. If I am being brutally honest with myself it would probably depend how tempting the random stuff in the middle aisles of Aldi/Lidl are!

WatchedByOwls

Tiredbutdetermined said:

Just had a good read through your diary. You are doing brilliantly.

Hope you get somewhere with the flat soon.

I am a nightmare in the supermarket but I have used my tesco Clubcard points to buy a 6 month delivery pass so that is essentially free. I can never decide if I would be better online shopping or going in to Aldi/Lidl. If I am being brutally honest with myself it would probably depend how tempting the random stuff in the middle aisles of Aldi/Lidl are!

Thank you for your kind words! Literally just got off the phone to my conveyancer and things are progressing slowly but surely so keeping my fingers crossed.

I think I agree with you on the Aldi/Lidl situation. I also find they don't stock everything I need so I have to do top up shops elsewhere, eg for cat litter or tofu. I think I'd be more swayed if there was one in walking distance of me. 

WatchedByOwls

Morning all! Not much to report back recently. I had to work on Thursday and Friday which helped keep Jubilee spending to a minimum but I'm going out for lunch with a friend later. I'll try and keep it MSE friendly but not sure where we're going!

My boyfriend is away next weekend for work so I'm not putting a Tesco delivery in. Instead I'm going to go up to Aldi and do our regular food shop there to see how much it costs. I think we'll knock a good £15 off of it and if so I'll probably try and go there more regularly. I put aside £150pcm for food shopping but it always tends to go over that because I do unnecessary top up shops. 

Didn't hear back from the vet about the results of my cat's blood test and whether he'll need to be referred to the specialist for his heart murmur. The insurance claim for the original emergency vet appointment plus his follow up visit has been submitted but we're still waiting to see if they'll pay. Hopefully they will as it's not related to a pre-existing condition and having the £2300 back would be quite nice! He's currently sitting on my lap and looking very cute - just about makes up for the many thousands we've spent on his various health conditions over the last few years! 

Boyfriend and I have been discussing our long term life plans over the last few days. Once my flat is finally sold, we intend to buy a property together - we think we should be in a good enough financial position to do this. We then want to adopt children when we're settled in our own place. I've been doing a lot of reading about adoption recently and have signed myself up to be a reading volunteer in a primary school to get some experience with younger kids. Should be good fun, I used to do it when I was a teenager and working part time at my local library. 

Hope you've all had a wonderful Jubilee!

WatchedByOwls

Hello all! Nothing much to report from my end, except that it's disgustingly hot and I'm not looking forward to getting into bed shortly.

My flat conveyancing is still progressing but there seem to hurdles thrown in the way at every turn. As soon as I get one blocker out of the way another appears! It's so frustrating because as soon as it's sold I'll be in a much better financial position and can move forward. Sigh. Keeping my fingers crossed stuff moves on soon🤞

Got a free dinner tonight at a work event that I went to. Going out for pizza tomorrow evening and maybe a few beers in the sun before. Rest of the weekend will be MSE as I'm helping the charity I volunteer with at a local festival. 

peb

I'm glad your partner seems to be doing well pot hospital trauma.  Id say that if your grocery budget for two is £150 then that's really tight.  I'm struggling for one at £125 with the price rises.  Have a look on the old style board and the grocery challenge if you need ideas.  

WatchedByOwls

Good afternoon all!

So I haven't posted in here for a month or so. My flat sale was dragging and it seemed like every week a new hurdle was thrown in the way. I was feeling quite depressed about it all, having to scrimp and save because I was paying a mortgage and rent at the same time.

However some excellent news came today in that I finally completed the sale of the property! After two collapsed sales, legal action against the freeholder, a succession of difficult tenants and a whole host of other issues, it's finally done.

With the money from the sale I'll now be able to repay what I owe and hopefully have enough left over to start the process of purchasing a new property, this time with my partner. I don't know how long it'll take funds to come through but there's certainly no rush.

We have a bottle of champagne we were gifted some time ago so that's going in the fridge to chill and I've booked a celebration meal locally for this evening. I want to remain conscious of MSE approach even now the sale is done, but I think I can take one night off! 

jusferbrowsing

Congratulations on the flat sale. That must feel such a weight lifted off your shoulders.

You're doing really well in MSE savings too everything considered, life has a habit of throwing spanners into the works and you've coped admirably.