Future Proofing my life: Deposit saving then MFW journey in under 13 years

LadyWithAPlan · 31 August at 3:01PM

So I emptied my fridge and freezer before I went away and turned them off, so came home to no food. There were cupboard basics like oil, beans, canned beans/tomatoes/puree, tuna , oil, etc still in but no Home made pre-cooked stuff or GF bread, portions of coconut milk frozen in muffin cases etc.
I am now needing to restock - I also emptied a lot of the open sauces, my fridge freezer really looks like the cupboard is bare!
however I am off again to side hustle (which I am officially renaming as my mission / lucrative career ) in Europe on Wed til Monday so will limit my purchase to fresh spinach etc and maybe frozen veggies

I also was able to buy groceries abroad on my trip as part of the cost of doing business - so tax deductible and cheaper as not in ££. So I am in shock on my groceries bills in the last few days back home. I will be tracking that next month here
I tracked my food out and grocery spend on my abroad trip and it came to :
(Over 2 months)
£625.01 inc restaurants, all food & snacks bought, groceries for so £78.13 per week ...
Entertainment - drinks etc £113.6 so £14.20 per week!!! -
(i bought 2 glasses red wine Friday with a pack of crisps for £21 in London)

I did buy a FR chicken from Al**, which I have yesterday turned into stock. I made a chicken bean soup with spinach from the leftovers and now I have with 60% of the stock and some chana dal beans I soaked yesterday a dal on the go in the pressure cooker - have loads spices in which probably all need replacing asap) and need some things in like onions etc..

Also bought some snacks with competitions on and of course I ate them, so ... had some junk food on my return.

I am also catching up with friends this week so... ate at a Thai restaurant last night to see friend and his parents plus couple other gf's so that was £25.50 for a pad Thai - with water
Still its part of the me reacting to only spending $14.20 a week on going out in the last 2 months..

South_coast said:

My last tea towels were about £7 for a pack of 10 😳 BUT, I will say that I was looking for something functional and practical, rather than fabulous!

!! Think primar& are £5 for 3? Mine are truly fabulous

I have realised my teatowel are at least a third bigger if not quite 50% bigger than the size of a normal teatowel - you could wear them as a short skirt !
I ordered them from a uk manufacturer as well not china etc

Queen_of_the_Hive said:

Love all the mystery LaPlan! But love hearing of your successes. It is inspiriing.

£10 would be my max for a tea towel.

Tx _ I am realising with this feedback that I need to be pricing it as merchandise / Kylie sells books for £250 so I will reframe my teatowel as part of my mission merchandise and being part of that universe rather than just a teatowel - it also has a hidden fun game on it

I will see how I sell them in Europe after my events and that price point in euros

happy Sunday all - seeing a friend for a walk this afternoon

savingholmes · 6 September at 12:11AM

Good luck with the reframe on the tea towel. It all sounds exciting for you. Sounds like you managed your costs well while away too.

LadyWithAPlan · 13 September at 11:45AM

Tx @savingholmes I actually sold 2 teatowels whilst I was away in Europe last weekend working ! So excited when I sold the first one .. £13 each
plus got some ‘tips’ for my badges etc - I made some merch of badges and stickers for the summer and have quite a few left but have covered my costs on those already
I need to work out how to make a sales funnel for the teatowels - so a payment link etc so I can announce on insta they are here - got friends saying they want to buy one but need to do an official announcement and way of buying plus I guess p&p costs need sorting - I used Stripe for the teatowel and ‘tips’ so I am sure they offer a web based platform link to buy as well

I am back home now and finally getting a reset - not planning any trips as yet for work but have started building a plan and then will put into action, lots of to dos on my whiteboards but then also
i have been largely travelling or abroad for the last 3 months. My home and my life feels like it needs a review and Sept reset

Planning also to do a vision board with pics on it as well as some phrases - to keep focused

it’s chilly here in London - feels like I had no summer as when I was away it was sometimes warm and sometimes had gardens to sit in (& in the last place fruit and veg to pick freely) but I was constantly working often on Sundays

I have come back super fit and lost about 3kg from being more active and lugging large suitcases so just thinking about joining a gym. I paused and now cancelled my ems training - it was great but it is 45 min walk each way and I feel it kickstarted me to now and I want to shock my body by training differently
I am either going to join local gym (need to sign up for another years course on something for my brain and the student discount) or eyeing up a pole dancing class - a friend is saying how it has changed her body (obviously its strength training ) so currently looking for a local class - it’s for fitness only

I am reminded how expensive London is - saw friends both Thursday and Friday night - ouch to my bar bill in a club - 3 tequila tonics £52 ! Luckily I am back to my sports and casino Mb and had won on a £3 bonus £540 that day so .. still I was ‘let me put this into my SIPP!’
However I have not seen my friends in months & my entire entertainment spend for 2 months away was £98!! So it’s ok

MSE-era be warned I am planning to start dating again - so expect some disaster stories

Long term readers may remember the guy who lost his phone so i had to pay his £100 uber home - I refused to let him stay at mine and of course the 56year old ‘man’ who 3 weeks after telling me he had fallen in love with me dumped me by text 👀

However I have been single for a year and I am being motivated by my friends I saw Thursday are serious online daters & said don’t waste time by chatting for weeks - just organise to see them and check if there is chemistry, what they are looking for and always ask if they are really single !

So I am meeting someone for a coffee /drink this evening and going for a walk tomorrow with someone else -

beanielou · 13 September at 12:26PM

Ooh exciting. On meeting someone later.

beanielou · 13 September at 12:38PM

Oh & can you let me know about the tea towels when the times right.

KajiKita · 13 September at 1:47PM

< straps on seat belt and braces for the ride of LWAP’s dating escapades > 😉

In all seriousness, I hope you find some kind, funny, sensible people out there, who even if they aren’t ‘the one’ are good company, civilised and maybe become friends 😊

KK