Pay off mortgage and start having even more fun 😁

newgirly

Well after bickering, dh and I wasted a day basically sulking. It’s all his fault of course 😆

Aside from that I visited mum this afternoon to drop her keys back after feeding the cat her lunch everyday this week  (little brother was staying with her but at work) she’s turned from a vicious beast before they went to an affectionate angel while they were away, letting me pick her up and purring, back to a crazy biting machine again when they came back. I could not live a with such a handful I have to say and I’m pretty laid back with my crazy house, she’s the XL bully of the cat world 😱

I saved on food today as I bought a nice bloomer loaf as a treat from the bakers and had toast for lunch and dinner as I wasn’t in the mood to cook for me or anyone else, will need to buy something tomorrow though really, coffee yesterday was cancelled so I never went out and bought food. I need to time my Lidl discount voucher too, I’ve about £17 odd to spend before I hit the target to get a 10% off voucher which is valid a week - but I can’t afford to use it until 2nd feb when I can use the card again. Will do a meal plan and be a lot more organised this month, although I have been doing better the only waste has been my homemade soup the other day and that was accidental. 

Another item sold on vinted today £4 , that’s a total of £44 now I think I’m going to try and leave it sitting in there and let it build up in the hope I can do something very thrilling with it 😬

newgirly

Fairly lazy day, dh myself and ds2 went to see “All of us strangers” yesterday with our passes, which was good. Got another film tonight with ds2 and dil - really getting my moneys worth with the pass which is £19.40 a month, tickets on saver days are £5.99 but the rest of the time are up to £17.99 for a normal screening not 3/4D or imax. I think this month I will have seen at least 6 films I think? With zero spending on drinks as we always take tea with us 🙂 

Taking mum out today to the shops, I don’t really need much but need to get something for dinner in Lidl, I’ve spent to my limit exactly this month and can’t use the cc until the 2nd Feb, so any more food bought will come from my personal spending budget 😱 that’s the push I need to get creative with what I have 😆 maybe spag bol (meat and veggie)  one day and homemade pizza another, not sure what else yet but ds1 and girlfriend are mostly cooking their own food now with a few exceptions so that helps. Perhaps it’s time to rummage the cupboard for stuff I can bake, we have a shortage of any snacks or sweet things here and it’s very needed in January! 

newgirly

💙💙💙💙💙💙MONTH 16 OF THE 33 MONTH CHALLENGE💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

Start balance October 2022: £61,452.11

Balance at 29 Jan 2024: £36,686.12

Total reduction since month one: £24,765.99

Total reduction for January: £1586.42

Dh has still not been paid this month yet, but if he is then this is what our figures are 😆 It’s less than it should be and it took me a while to work out what went wrong but we did actually give ds2 £200 for his driving test (un budgeted for) and are giving ds2 the same when he moves out which I’ve set aside this month (dd had a weekend away after graduation in us so it’s levelled out, these things bother me 😂) so I guess that’s why. 

Due to the extra income from reduced NIC as of this month I’ve upped the payments the rest of the 33 month challenge so we are still on track for June 2025, so we are lucky that came through! 

Bargainhunter30

Can you hint that maybe they'd like to cook for you for a night or 2 too NG?!? 😉

newgirly

😆 no I’m far to awkward being veggie, they always do meat or fish sadly! 

Made veggie tikka curry in the slow cooker in the end as I bought a Lidl veg leftover box for £1.50 today, not much in it for curry though so I used up an old bag of frozen mixed veg with it and it was lovely 😬 I usually make curry sauce with a tomato base from scratch and only ever make the others chicken tikka but this was so quick and easy using a jar I’m going to make it more often. 

Following on from my earlier monthly update - I was in a rush to go to the cinema, I have also in January : 
  

• £67 in vinted sales made - extra 
• £81.73 paid out from topcashback - extra 
  
• £150 saved for 50th birthday cruise in 2025 - budgeted for from wages 
• £29 (so far) in pound a day savings - extra 
• £236.39 added to the cruise 2024 pot (total now £352.82)  -extra 
• £400  to both sons, £200 each - not actually sure where this came from , partially wages I guess , must track better 😆
• Joined new vista and am 45% towards a £50 voucher - extra 

Ok that’s quite a lot extra which may explain why I was a bit short on the planned op this month 🙄

I’ve hammered the personal spending pot already this month buying a bit more food the last couple,of days, so I might add a few personal bits to the grocery cc if I get caught short this month, frugal meal plan for the month ahead in order too I think, time to get back to my lockdown cooking ways where almost everything was made from scratch. 

newgirly

Well im not sure what I’ve done but I’ve got a surplus in the current account 😆 as I spent ages balancing out what payments we need to make and going through everything for the next 17 months, I’m not starting again, so I’ve put a further £208.80 in the April cruise spending pot so that’s now at £560 which will be enough, and £200 in the Northumberland caravan pot for may (that’s all we have). Looking at petrol costs, entry to Alnwick castle and a boat trip to see the seals from Seahouses I estimate we need £400 for may, this covers petrol there via York £100, trips £100 2/3 nights in York eating out a bit and food/eating out (cheaply) in Northumberland once or twice £200. We will take food with us too as it’s a week. 

After that we have 3/4 nights in York in June -just petrol and food, and the thing I’m trying very hard to achieve through vinted sales which is 2 nights in December to Ljubljana in Slovenia for the Xmas market 😬
It sounds a bit much but I do love a challenge 😆

Not sure why we didn’t make life easier and just ditch the holidays while things are so tight really, it’s not sensible 😆 however it’s the only way to get dh to stop working, on the upside I sold another 2 items on vinted for £34 so it all helps. 

Homemade pizzas last night were AMAZING! I’ve forgotten how much better they are and so much cheaper when there’s lots of us, just a bit of a faff if you are lazy and hate cooking which I am, no pain no gain though! 

Bargainhunter30

If you're heading to Slovenia NG, I'd recommend a trip to Lake Bled. It's stunning.

skint_spice

You need to live during the challenge - keep the holidays! You are making memories.

South_coast

Definitely! It also gives you more to challenge yourself over - because where would NG be without a challenge 🤷‍♀️?

newgirly

Thanks guys, it’s great to get some thumbs up instead of a telling off 😆 

Bargain hunter, I saw it on a tv show last year and that’s one of the reasons I want to go, I’ve just looked it up and it’s half an hour away from the city? I’m unsure yet if we will go with best friend and her hubby at Xmas or just us earlier on, will have to try and squeeze it in if we go- if we can afford it that is of course. 

I’ve just been out for a really lovely curry with the girls for the first time in probably eight months, £25 incl tip which is so good for such nice food, it seems like a lot at the moment to be spending but was all the more enjoyable for not doing it so often.