Time to clear the remnants of my old life

leftatthetrafficlights

£200 added to the fund so happy with that! 🙌 

Still not spent anything since last Sunday so I'm doing really well with that - we're grocery shopping tomorrow but it's the first time in what feels like a lifetime that we've not been to the shops every couple of days which is a massive improvement! I've got a list and I'm sticking to it- I've already done the meal plan for next week using mainly what I have in already so the bill will be low again. 

I'm on leave now for a week from work- I'm intending to treat it as a bit of a 'spa' week with lots of relaxing in the garden, body treatments, plenty of water, gentle exercise and a few good books! I'm really looking forward to it - I've spent all day today doing nothing basically, it's windy here so sitting in the garden hasn't been an option but it's been really nice just watching the TV and emptying my head! 

Veg in the garden is coming on well- lettuce is ready to cut, I've got a few broadbeans ready, pak choi is not too far off and I've got buds on the courgette plants! The rest of the stuff is all growing really well - if it all keeps going as it is, we'll have a good harvest this year 😁 

Anyway, not much else to report, just need to maintain my lack of spending! 😂

savingholmes

Veg growing sounds fab - and the lack of spending. I need to do more of both of those! I have fruit trees but not got around to the veg this year yet.

leftatthetrafficlights

Shopping today: 
Potatoes- £0.49
Jersey Royals - £1.90
Watermelon - £3.10
Fine beans - £1.00
Fresh milk - £0.69
Radish - £0.55
Toothpaste - £6.00
Soya milk - £2.00
Apples - £0.59
Cucumber- £0.49
Spring onion- £0.40
Strawberries £2.38
Tissues - £0.90
Tomatoes- £0.44 (ys)
Black grapes £2.00
Salad Tomatoes- £0.49
Apricots - £2.00
Blueberries- £0.89
Flowers - £2.50

Total=£28.81 

£58.28/£300

leftatthetrafficlights

Bit of a spendy day yesterday - got a birthday celebration today and hosting family so pressies, food, drink all bought for the daytime (and brekkie tomorrow) and also buying Indian food tonight so the celebration budget is much less healthy now!! 

Went to an ethnic supermarket yesterday - spent £25 which I can't itemise as it wasn't broken down on the receipt but I brought home: 
1 giant papaya; 3 plantains; 2 pks of berebere spice mix; 1 pk tandoori spice mix; 1 pk cornmeal; 2 pks poppadoms; 1 can lychee drink & 1 can passion fruit drink (not needed but dh wanted to try them); 1 pk chicken spice for a work colleague. 

We also went to the normal supermarket and bought: 
Mouthwash £5.00
Bottled water £1.75
Soya milk £1.00
Milk £0.99
Bubble bath £1.20
Cheese £3.00
Pomegranate £1.25
Conditioner £2.98
Garlic £0.50
Loo bloo £1.00
Ibuprofen £0.29
Birthday card £2.00
= £20.96 

Earlier in the week we spent:
Toilet rolls £6.00
Strawberries £2.00

So £53.96 in total. 

£112.24/£300

savingholmes

Hope the celebration went well.

leftatthetrafficlights

It was lovely thanks @savingholmes! 😊 

Haven't been on for a while as lots of stuff going on- plenty of changes in the house of left!! 

I resigned from my job at the beginning of the week! 😳 it's been brewing for a long time but events recently put me in the position where to stay would be untenable. It's a major blow to our financial plans but a great leap forward for my mental health which is a great deal more important to me. Thankfully we are able to live on one salary despite it being a bit tougher to do so - the work we've done previously on our finances allows me to take time to find something else and I'm planning on having at least 6 months of 'me' time before I start actively seeking alternative employment. 

The debt reduction fund will still be added to - we have enough in savings to cover any 'emergencies' and although we won't be adding to our savings, our house and garden are sorted and bills can be covered. 

What it does mean is that I'm on a mission now to really reduce our expenses- the main areas we can reduce expenditure on are our groceries and house fuel (electricity, oil and solid fuels) - we have good stocks still of food along with a productive garden so I'm looking at reducing our grocery expenditure by £100 per month. I want to keep our electricity costs to less than £130 per month and our oil to less than £100 per month. The more I can save on these areas, the more we'll be able to put in the debt reduction fund and I am determined to do the best I can.

It's not an ideal time to be leaving a well paid job but I have very strong principles and going against them would break me as a person - life is too short to be unhappy and although the change will be uncomfortable it will bring me long term peace. In a strange way I'm looking forward to the challenges ahead regardless of the uncertainties! 😉

savingholmes

Wow huge decision. Hope you recover quickly. When do you finish?

leftatthetrafficlights

Thanks @savingholmes - I finish in August so have a while left as yet which is hard work to be honest  I just want to get out now! 🤦‍♀️😂 

I've been looking at budgets etc and have a savings amount that I don't intend to go under, a 'slush' fund that I want to put aside then keep at that level, a 'bulk buy' fund that I want to create and obviously the debt neutral fund which I still want to add to.

The slush fund will depend on my final salary payment as it won't be the full month - I'm hoping it won't be too far off the figure I want but I've made the decision that, if necessary, I will bring it to the level by reducing the debt reduction fund. The savings fund will definitely be at the level I want when I leave and I will do the money juggle and reset the clock on the debt reduction fund once I know where I stand. Although we won't be able to add to the main savings again until I look for and secure another job, we'll still be able to add to the debt reduction fund- even if its only small amounts 😉😁

savingholmes

All sounds exciting though. As long as you have enough savings 

EssexHebridean

Good for you - quality of life is always more important than anything else if you can possibly make it so, but it's still never going to be a straightforward decision to make. Good plan also to have some time out to truly decide on what direction you want to go in next.