Keeping the wolf from the door.

pennywisepoundstupid

debtfreeoneday said:

Good to see you plodding on Penny. Belated happy birthday and glad you had a nice time away. 

Sun_Addict said:

Happy belated birthday 🎂 

Thankyou ladies xx

pennywisepoundstupid

Goodness i'm tired today, self inflicted as a friend invited me round for a drink which resulted in several drinks, all very frugal as i took wine i had received for my birthday and friend supplied snacks, we had a good natter and some good belly laughs which i truly believe is good for the soul.

Nipped into big town this morning as DH had a cheque to put in the bank and i needed to do a food shop, DH took me to our favourite cafe for breakfast to try and cure my hangover and i must admit after a large strong mug of tea and a sausage bun i did feel lots better  . popped into Primani as i needed some white tshirts and vest tops for holibobs, i usually buy my Tees from M&S but i just find they get ruined on holiday with suntan lotion, so have gone for the cheap option. Have thought about getting a cheap machine dye and dying my not so white tees a darker colour as apart from the marks they are in perfect condition. Did a Mr L shop and a B&M haul, spent £90 out of the grocery budget. Also spent £9 in Half0rds on screen wash and car shampoo.

Weekend of eating up, found various boxes of fishfingers and fish in batter in the freezer and also some frozen mushy peas, so thats tonight tea with HM chips, just me and DH tomorrow night so not cooking a roast will either have lamb hotpot or beef casserole both of which are in the freezer, will ask DH what he wants when he gets back from work later. Monday is again just Myself and DH and i'm at dog training so will keep it easy and have some HM samosa from the freezer and will make up some cous cous and salad.

Payday was yesterday and it's taken me until this afternoon to do money shuffle, £100 OP gone to mortgage, £28 into joint savings, I need to book airport parking but think it may be a job for tomorrow.
Sold an item on vinted which will be £12 for the CC, will get DH to drop it off at the parcel point tomorrow.

Frugal wins -
Cheap night with good friend
Vinted sales
Freezer teas

pennywisepoundstupid

Oh gosh i've not updated in over a week, which actually makes sense as i've been very unorganised and have felt tired and overwhelmed at times, not really sure why..
This last week has been busy at work even though the children were only in 3 days with BH and strike, seemed as though we were catching our tails and trying to cram a 5 day into a 3 day, this coming week doesn't seem to be any better but i can only do what i can do and going to try to be kind to myself.

Enjoyed the weekend and watching bits of the Coronation celebration, today though is a day to catch up on housework and have some organisation.
Grocery spend this weekend was £85 at MrL seemed a huge amount for what we bought and there wasn't any luxury items, no fancy chocolate, wine or sneaky bits from the middle aisle 
Couple of small sales this week and a survey payment received, mortgage has also gone out with regular OP so balances have been updated.
Started a holiday packing list and sorted out what toiletries i have, small list made for bits we need to buy and will pop into Mr T one evening on my way home from work. Picked out a couple of paperbacks to pack but i also have my kindle, DH isn't a huge reader and gets board after a chapter where as i can read a book in a day if left alone, i've packed him 1 book and i've introduced him to podcasts on his iphone hopefully he will find something he will enjoy listening to.

Couple of small spends this morning £10 in total on beeswax polish and some makeup, Makeup is a discontinued item i like and managed to find on £bay so snapped it up.I was hoping for a money neutral day but thought i would get bits ordered whilst i remembered. 
Food is all from stores today, using up bits continues finished a pot of Christmas jam this morning, there is also half a chocolate easter egg winking at me from the kitchen so will finish that this afternoon and then that is something else gone.
So far bathrooms been cleaned and stair/landing hoovered and polished, 1 load of washing put on to wash and yesterdays load that i managed to get dry on the line has been sorted and put away, just need to clean floors downstairs and do a few bits that need ironing. 
DH has gone fishing today so i'm hoping once jobs are done i can sit in peace and watch some things on catch up that i haven't had time to watch.

Frugal wins -
Toiletries from stash for holiday.
Eating from stores.
surveys

Hope all is well with everyone xx

jwil

I've heard a few comments that MrL isn't as cheap as it used to be.  I know when I went in there a while back, there didn't seem a lot of difference between it and Mr T.

debtfreeoneday

Hope all is well Penny with you. 

pennywisepoundstupid

Good morning and so sorry for being absent. The last few months have been hectic and i really need to get back to my diary.

So a quick update -

MAY - Both myself and DH were flat out at work but we did get away for  a week in the sun at the end of the month, was very much needed and we had a wonderful time. We also managed to stay in budget even though we went on a couple of unplanned excursions.
DS moved out although he is only a couple of miles away and keeps popping home to visit, funnily enough these tend to be around teatime .

JUNE - We have come into some money, don't want to go into the details on here but it will make a huge difference to our MF date, after some playing around with calculators we worked out when our mortgage deal comes to an end in 2026 we will have approx £35000 left to pay, this is taking into consideration an OP of £200 a month. We have a very low mortgage interest rate and early payment fees would be applied so we have put the money into a high interest savings account and will forget about it, then when our deal ends we can pay the mortgage off. CC was also paid off.

JULY - has been a month of illness and injury,DH has seriously hurt his knee and although he has stopped all sports it doesn't seem to be getting any better, I have had glandular fever and had to have some time off work, did go back for the last 3 days which i think was a mistake as i have been totally wiped out all weekend,but i would have missed those last few days with the children at work and they are moving to a new class so i would have regretted that. 

So the first week of the holidays is here and i have decided it will be a quiet one, i just going to potter and try to recharge. I cancelled a night out as i know i'm too tired to enjoy anything this week.
So the sun is shining today so it is going to be a washing and drying day as it is going to be wet later in the week, I'm also planning on sitting out with a book and relaxing.

Frugality continues and I have done this weeks meal plan and have set myself the challenge to eat out of stores this week, DH did a small top up shop on saturday at MrA and spent £30. I may need to get some milk and fruit towards the end of the week,I have a £10 note and a couple of pounds in change so if i do go to the shop i'm going to leave my card at home. I have ordered little doggos food sachets off amaz0n and used vouchers,so hasn't cost me anything.
So todays tea out of the stores are lamb chops,potatoes dug up from the garden and salad, DH will cook chops on the outside grill, we have a pile of seasoned oak which is perfect for cooking over and makes everything taste so good,even better is that it is free wood so doesn't cost anything to cook.

Frugal wins -
Eating for stores/garden
free cooking 
Dog food paid for with survey vouchers.

jwil

Lovely to hear from you again.  Congratulations on the windfall!  What a great result for the mortgage, and the chance to earn some decent interest in the meantime.

Hope you have a restful week and feel better soon.

debtfreeoneday

Great that you’ve come  into some money and are able to benefit from it. Sorry for the injuries and poorly time though. All sounding super positive with you. Hope you have a restful summer 

Sun_Addict

Welcome back. Great news about the money but sorry to hear about the illness and injury. Hopefully you can both take some time to recover now. 

pennywisepoundstupid

Good morning and thanks for all your kind comments,we have kept quiet about the money in the real world as i know so many people are struggling and i kind of feel guilty which i know is silly.

Up early as i could hear DD getting ready for work, does mean the first load of washing of the day is on and the dogs have been walked. Having a cuppa and then going to clean the kitchen units and sweep/mop floor,which will probably wipe me out as i'm still so tired.

Sold an item overnight on £bay only £4 but that has been split between savings and holiday pot. I will post parcel tomorrow and do a small top up shop whilst in small town so far it looks like i'm going to need milk, bread, fruit and toilet roll, I do have £20 in nectar points if the list gets any longer.

Tonight we are having BBQ pork steaks (will be cooked on outside grill) that i found in the freezer with sweet pot wedges and i will throw some sort of coleslaw together, i think there might also be some onion rings lurking in the freezer as well. Also eating threw the huge pile of lovely things the children gave me on Friday, so i'm sure there will be chocolate for pud.

Frugal wins -
Sunny weather for outside drying and cooking.
£bay sale