Taking back control

pennywisepoundstupid

Just wanted to say well done, you have got off to a fantastic start, I have subscribed and looking forward to following your journey xx

slowprogress

Morning everyone, thank you so much for popping in and commenting, I've wanted a diary for a while as knew I would be more accountable if someone was reading.

@pollie i've got some fine cotton would that be any good?

I have listed 6 items on marketplace, for slightly cheaper than theyre worth just to get them gone, no interest as yet but its only been 3 hours .

Car repairs came in way under estimate at 427.98 and estimate was 600 so I was very pleased to be able to pay the balance for my sons school trip, a huge weight off knowing that is paid for.

I went to Lidl this morning instead of my usual weekly delivery from asda, I priced up what the list would be from asda before setting off, 79.98, I was pleasantly surprised that Lidl the bill was 58.26, they didnt' have courgettes or cat litter, I can do without the courgettes and cat litter is £3 from the local shop so well under what the shop would have been.

I often used to treat the kids to a mcdonalds breakfast if I shopped at lidl or aldi and the youngest hinted at one this morning, so I bought a carton of milkshake and packet of sausages and made sausage sandwiches for everyone for breakfast, they were delicious, and the kids were more than happy. I dont want them to feel deprived, its not their fault we got into this mess.

The big looming dread is now the tax returns, I'm procrastinating big time (i need to eat the elephant). I've been paid december invoices and my largest client has paid for January so once those amounts clear into my account i'll have the cash waiting to pay my bill.  I still have a couple of months worth of expenses to fill in but without those the tax and national insurance is less than 1300 (thanks covid ) the bill is usually 3 times that so small mercies, if I didn't earn it I can't pay tax on it. My husbands is usually just a bill for national insurance, he pays the full amount rather than the reduced for lower earnings as he worries otherwise that he could lose state pension entitlement.

Grocery budget is 132.42/400

Pollie

Should be OK as long as all water drains through. Some people use J cloths.

slowprogress

Good morning everyone,

I'm aiming for 4/5 no spend days monday-friday this week.

I hope you are keeping well, parmesan chicken and pasta for tea. The children have all taken pack ups today. My frugal shop was devoid of easy snacks so might see if I can make some little cakes after work while the oven is on cooking the chicken. While the oven is on I might pop a few potatoes in for jackets for lunches this week, this cold weather is mkaing me hungry. I was going to make pancakes but have no lemon or nutella for toppings.

My dog is eating the food out of the tins, previously i've been buying pouches as she rejected the tins (shes a msall dog szo i think she prefers the small chunks ( i've been mashing it and its worth the time for the saving., but per g they're less than half of the price. I'm switching my cat over slowly to lidls pouches in jelly, she seems to really like them so that is a good saving too.  I do buy the better quality dry food which won't be changing but I buy this in bulk and a bag lasts 2 months anyway so not a regular expense.

I've managed to sell 2 things on marketplace, only £12 but every little helps.

I've also managed to find some heavyweight interfacing so might try and make some baskets for the passageway storage unit, i'm thinking some pretty patchwork, and they'll be much nicer than the plastic baskets I was eyeing up in home bargains. It may take me a while though as i'll have to dust off the sewing machine. I would like a tension rod so I can make a little blind for the downstairs loo, it'd make such a difference in a bland room, however i'm ahead of myself, one room at a time, donwstairs loo in february.

I spent an hour last night on my tax return, i'm aiming for an hour a day, its making it slightly more palateable. We got vouchers for a local takeaway for Christmas off my sister so were going to use those the last weekend of the month, a reward for surviving January. I've even got a couple of canned cocktails left from a Christmas gift so we will make a night of it. I do love a reward, especially if its free to me haha.

slowprogress

Good morning,

Another day at work for me, pack ups for all, leftovers for me, Chicken Fajitas for tea and there some left over rice in the fridge so will add spices ad sweetcorn to make mexican rice on the side, i'm trying to reist the urge to buy guacemole and sour cream (its things like this that pushed the bill up). I didn't manage to bake last night so the kids had shortbread left from Christmas, I must try and find time today.

My sister has invited us out for tea at the weekend, and hubby said yes before I could come up with an excuse. It would be around £50 for the five of us, I don't think we should go, hubby said we could take it from the food budget but i'm hoping to save whats left of that for a butcher stock up. A decision for another day.

I've found some prints that I bought ages ago that I would like on display and the passageway seems like an ideal place, they're A4 in size and I dont have any suitable frames, maybe poundland or the charity shop have something I could paint?

I can feel the temptation to spend creeping in already, i've added a couple of things to the basket on ebay, and i'm really wishing I had bought a lime and coriander when I shopped as it would be so nice on tonights meal.

Bye for now

slowprogress

Good morning

It's been a busy productive few days.  I went to Lidl again yesterday and spent exactly 75.00 on the food shop, I bought a few extras to accompany meals, garlic bread, guacemole and salad dressing as it was these kinds of purchases I really struggled with.  I also bought the children waffles, biscuits and a bottle of pop ready for next weekend.

Chicken curry tonight with rice and naan, and i'm hoping to buy some gram flour so i can try making onion bhajis in the future for our curry nights, not this time though, we'll make do.

We didn't go out for a meal with my sister but as it was for her partners birthday I made him a cake instead which cost just under £6 in ingredients, we took the cake around in the afternoon and had coffee and cake so still went out but it cost much less than the original plan.

I keep thinking of small purchases that would make the house update easier so when I set the budgets in February after paying tax bills I'm going to allocate a tiny budget for items such as this.  I've got a tension rod and 3 x photo frames on the list.  I'm thinking £15-£20 a month.

It has been a huge bonus saving money as I havent bought as many treats and as aresult i've lost 6lb since New years day, I refuse to call it a diet as that doesn't work, i've been eating when hungry and buying less junk food.  A complete absense of takeaways has probably helped  

I've found a £30 Next gift card and a £25 M and S one so i'm going to use these for Mothers Day and my sisters birthday in April.

I nanaged the 4/5 no spend days monday to friday last week so i'm aiming for the same again this weel.  Spend day will be thursday as its craft group which costs £3, although this is a planned spend so does it count as a spend day?

Thank you for reading, and lets hope its another good week.

slowprogress

Good morning everyone, i've eaten the elephant, my tax return is complete and I now know how much my bill is, I'm finishing husbands this week and will pay them both on friday (i've got an unexpected day off so going to focus on finishing taxes, paperwork and see if there's any bills I# can get lower). After they have been submitted and paid i'll know if i've anything spare to throw at the credit card this month, i'm hoping for 300.

Plan for next week is to start completing a statement of affairs, I should have a realisitc idea of what I spend, although January has been unusually frugal so this may need tweaking for a while. 

Does everyone work off a zero based budget and allocate personal spends etc?

I got up at 6 this morning and prepped stew in the slow cooker, i've had leftovers for lunches, kids have all got packed lunches althought they are missing the odd hot meal from school canteen so I was thinking of topping up £15  a month for each of them, they can then use this for hot drinks, the odd hot meal or how they see fit? Its all these little things that I know are treats but I feel like i'm depriving the children if they don't have them.

No spends at all so far this week, I have got a piece of white linen in my ebay basket as have come to a stand still with a project i've been working on.  I can't bring myself to pay the £6.20. I might see if I can sell something to earn the money.

I got excited when i went through an old handbag, I found 4 euros and thought they were £1 coins.

Bye for now.

pennywisepoundstupid

Well done on getting tax return done.
I keep euros in the car as they work in shopping trolleys instead of pound coins, Pound coins would always disappear from the car (DS would pinch them for sweets).

slowprogress

Good morning everyone

A few confessions and expenses to add, last weekend the shop at lidl was slightly higher at £87.40 but I did qualify for £10 off the next shop, i also relented and bought some fabric to finish the project I'm working on, it was slightly less than I thought and spent £4.20. I also bought a morrisons meal deal on monday as was on a course for work and forgot the lunch i'd made sunday night, £3.00 spent.

Tax returns all submitted and paid, I went back on to check it had all gone through last night and I had over paid by £242.00.  I think this is because I completed husbands after mine and I transferred some of his tax free allowance.  So i've claimed that back but it can take 4 weeks to clear.

I've updated tax credits with the exact amounts, however on the app where you can check payments it appears that we will no longer receive child tax credits in April.  This can't be right as our income is slightly lower than it was pre covid so i'm not sure whether to leave it for a few weeks to see if it changes or to phone the helpline. I also used the tax calculator and that says we should still be entitled also.

My daughter has received 2 offers for Uni but still holding out for the others as her favourites are yet to get back to her, waiting is so hard!

I found a small joint of brisket in the freezer last night and i really fancied chilli so have thrown that in the slow cooker with tinned tomatoes and beans, lots of ends of vegetables out of the fridge and some frozen sweetcorn, i'm hoping ill be able to shred the brisket so its like a steak chilli. I've also got half a bottle of lidl guacemole left from mondays fajitas so it feels like we're going to have a real treat tonight if it works.

I'll be back later to see what i've achieved off my list for this month.

Thanks for reading

slowprogress

• Plan for JanuaryTrack spends -
• My tax return
• Hubbies tax return
• Meal plan
• Join grocery challenge on old style 303.82/400.00 this includes what I spent on cake ingredients and the meal deal, its unrealistic though as we had so much left from Christmas there is plenty left for this weekends shop so i'm confident it will come in under £400
• Pay for car repairs without using credit
• Car insurance (pay in full)
• Plant chilli and pepper seeds (these havent shown themselves yet so will sow more at the weekend, just incase)
• Find recipe for pasta sauce suitable for water bath canning recipe  (have got jars for this somewhere) aim to grow everything for this with minimal layout.
•  Room for January - Passageway. My house is stressing me out at the moment so declutter a room a month, and spruce up with what i've got laying aorund, (have got leftover paint, fabric etc so should be doable) - All i've done is half paint a shelving unit, time has got away from me and it's been such a busy month, with tax returns, work paperwork, courses and i've had a few assignments due for college - rolling over for next month
• I was tempted to add weight loss to the list but the list is overwhelming at the minute, so for now I aim to eat five a day. - I've lost 6lb, i think its probably because we havent eaten any takeaways and i've given up fizzy drinks for january.

I'm happy with how this has worked out, I was seriously panicking at the beginning of the month that we wouldnt be able to manage car repairs or the insurance.