From £6000 ----> £9000 in 2023.

NinjaSavingKat

You're so sweet thank you! Today I made it home and realised my Dad needed some help in the garden. I skipped the gym for the first time in a VERY long time.  We shovelled stones for an hour and then harvested the last of the broad beans. Realised they aren't as disgusting if you double pod them.

I also started work on the out-house. Bagged 11 bags of empty bags - yes really - that had built up over many many years and my Dad said he will take them to the skip for me. Still lots more to clear as the pallet we had down has rotted and all sorts of mess has been left in there to get soaked and get disguting.

Yes that annual leave list is getting longer and bl**dy longer! 

The guy we get our sticks from for the open fire has upped his prices - one load used to be £60 and its now £75. I want to get prepped for the winter and not be in a rush or stuck when it gets very cold so we need to do some calculations and make some decisions very soon. Until then I want to make the coal shed/out-house clean and dry and easily accessible. 

Funtimes..lol!

savingwannabe

Gosh that is a lot of hard work after work and you did physical work so are excused from the gym I am sure! Yikes, all the prices are going up.

NinjaSavingKat

Good grief I am tired.

Cycled for 5 days to work last week. Skipped Friday (work overtime) and today. With the gym on top of that I am pooped. More overtime booked this coming Friday. 

Petrol tank still over half full and that was from 26th August. 

Work travel tomorrow - being paid for - so will hopefully return with same amount of petrol. 3 days of not travelling to work due to a conference and hopefully a goody bag at the end of it (probably toiletries) - made me justify todays drive..;-)

Savings up to a whopping £2800. Massive spreadsheet planned out with potential of £5700 by the end of the year. 

Planning Christmas. We have never taken it seriously. Last year I decorated the house so have most of what I need but would like our first Christmas without any Grandparents to be special for MY parents. So planning a few gifts now. Just not sure how to go about this and what to buy people in their 70's...

Vinted sale yesterday for £6.99.  Might need to reduce my prices I think as much as it pains me. Would like to get rid of all unnecessary and unworn clothing items before the beginning of 2023. 

I want a more streamlined and minimalist life in general. No more fast fashion despite keeping items for YEARS. No more owning anything for the sake of having it - hence the unworn clothes are going to new owners. 

Cleaned my bedroom through last week. Smashed my bedframe up with my beautiful bush craft axe (as you do!). I now sleep on the floor like the Japanese. However tatami mats are expensive so I have a wool blanket under my mattress, a quilt / mattress protector and sheet on top, with multiple pillows and blankets on top. I shall be investing in a winter quilt as well or a weighted blanket. Much more streamline with a rearranged room in general. I also transported all my brothers books from a bookcase in my room to his that he doesn't use anymore so all my cookbooks are in one place. Phew!

The cat sleeps on a pillow beside me now. Makes me happy. 

Mother and father return tomorrow. I want to blitz the house today - all washing done and vacuuming but want to do little things to make the house more streamline because mother is a messy pup and in my three days away the place will be ruined. I am going round in circles with the cleaning. 

Food shop on Friday for the first time in a very long time. Without a list. And while hungry. Big mistake. £20 over budget needs to come out of the "bills" account. However, I am set up for a while and want to avoid the shops for another 6-8 weeks. Basics for me are yoghurts, bananas and avocados. Everything else is in the house and coming out of the garden.

Made tofu and soya milk last night so that is working well now. Next project is learning how to make udon noodles. Don't believe it would be too hard and they can be frozen. Done by hand too - no special equipment needed. Learned how to make pasta last year (vegan) so might invest in a pasta machine (Imperia are the best by the way) so I can just make it when I need it. That will have to come from Vinted sales. 

Anyway - will end this essay here. £555 due to go on the ISA by the end of September. Fingers crossed. 

NinjaSavingKat

Oh - coal shed produced 11 bags of bags. Yup - no one has thought to clean that in YEARS. This is old coal bags, old wood/block nets and such like.

There is an old pallet that has rotted so I need to scrape and all the other s**t  out today as my Dad will take everything to the dump while I am away.

This means I can clean it out properly with the powerhouse and use the new pallets we have to make sure any sticks we get are off the ground. Pa has promised to fix the roof of the shed as well. 

The man that brought us sticks/blocks last year has upped his prices from £60 to £75 a load. This makes me sad. Might have to price other options. Winter will get cold for us and I like a fire at least twice a week when I can truly enjoy it. Local coal man (do you have one of these, my friend laughed but its a thing here in Ireland) sells bags of wood blocks for £3.75. 20 bags then for £75. Makes a fantastic fire and heats the house. 

Might start looking to get one bag of coal a week now as well and build up a stockpile! #Genius

Skint_yet_Again

You have been so busy I’m not surprised you are tired! Well done on the savings. We used to have a local coal man when I lived in Yorkshire but I don’t know anyone who has coal here in the south. Good old dad taking stuff to the tip 😊

MovingForwards

I'm not surprised you're tired, no gym attendance needed when doing physical work at home.

I also have an axe 🤭 

Well done finding the coal and planning to buy supplies each week, it helps spread the cost and reduces the financial pain.

Good luck making the noodles, let us know how you get on.

Perhaps your parents would enjoy a nice meal and film, as a family if not just them. Tangible gifts mean less than being with family as we age.

savingwannabe

I love minimalism, it keeps you focussed. The coal will save you so much this winter. The cycling and over time are brilliant. Well done every little helps.

NinjaSavingKat

Good Evening one and all. 

I am sat in front of a gory alien film with my Dad ( called Life) that I have already seen a few times so thought I would jump on here and update everyone. 

I have spent the best part of the last few days updating an epic spreadsheet that I have made.  Tabs for wages, bills, car, food , and savings. Its a work in progress but allows me to see in glorious black and white where all my money has gone. Isn't it fun seeing it all in front of your face! Not!

The aim is to have a MUCH better grasp on the budget for next year, better prep for unexpected anomalies and have a better grasp on where and how to spend. 

I have, more importantly, updated my long-term goal and may update the title to this page. 

£20,000 in 595 days. As of yesterday 16th September 2022. This will take me to 3rd May 2024.  .... thats £200 a week. YIKES!

I have been given an unexpected pay rise to the tune of 30p... that works out to be £7.51 a week or £390.52 a year. This is going straight to the savings plan. 

So Monday - Wednesday I was at a work conference. I drove and my car was topped up with petrol by my managers. £41. Was too much so will be offering her some money if work doesn't cover the whole thing. Fingers crossed.

I spent £27 on food on the first evening as I was starving and £7.48 on snacks on the way home - £40.72. Paid for by this weeks wage as I did overtime. 

We spent time in the Spa attached to our hotel - I am worried we will have to pay for this. I was not told one of the treatments was not covered so I am a little annoyed at that. However my manager said she would pay for everything which again leaves me a little uneasy. She is barely getting the wage she deserves so I don't like her paying for me. Full total £170. Half of which I may have to payback. But everything else was covered and I came home with a very very generous goody bag. 

Do you know, I have so far spent £3156.08 on food this year. I have added calculations and all sorts on to my spreadsheet. ......This does include protein powder and supplements though.  That's £65.75 a week in food- way way way too much. I may try and break it down further but it will be hard as I made 4 bulk orders to varying companies. 
 
I have barely bought any food for the last 8-10 weeks though and will be doing a full stock inventory this week as I have my annual leave to soak up with CHORES...lol!!!  I think come January I will withdraw the entire years food budget (£35 a week / £1820 for the year) and envelope it. So no tappy tappy with the card "because I can transfer money from the car budget later". Naughty NSK. This is a thought process in progress though.... 

My full total for everything is yet to be sorted. It's getting late and I need to sleep - but I will have a better idea of what the total figure is this week. Obviously when you don't put every spend down (those 60p spends in the work canteen vending machine) you won't mop up everything but it will be a close second. 

So... I shall be making a list of chores for myself for this week. Minimalism a go-go!


NSK x

NinjaSavingKat

savingwannabe said:

I love minimalism, it keeps you focussed. The coal will save you so much this winter. The cycling and over time are brilliant. Well done every little helps.

You're telling me. So many more items to sell. Just want rid before the end of the year.. as much as possible at least..

Can't believe the petrol has last this long. I will keep it going with the cycling though even though I am wrecked by the end of the week. I will also start buying one bag of coal every week so I will have a wee stash instead of worrying about it coming out of the food budget when I am desperate. 

Where theres a will theres a way right?

NinjaSavingKat

MovingForwards said:

I'm not surprised you're tired, no gym attendance needed when doing physical work at home.

I also have an axe 🤭 

Well done finding the coal and planning to buy supplies each week, it helps spread the cost and reduces the financial pain.

Good luck making the noodles, let us know how you get on.

Perhaps your parents would enjoy a nice meal and film, as a family if not just them. Tangible gifts mean less than being with family as we age.

Well, trust me to get the bike going the same week I pay for my gym programme for the year.. .. however they are both massively important for my fitness levels so I shall push on and stop whinging right..

I have a Gransfors Bruks... what do you have?.. It was a birthday present to myself a few years ago. I will also be taking a savings hiatus for my next birthday as I will be 40 and intend on buying something nice for myself. 

We are planning the same approach with the wood man.. everything to have an open fire! 

The parents never go out. Never have. Although they like a wee cafe now and then so that might be an idea. My Dad likes getting out for a week meal and means my mother doesn't have to think of something to cook. Again. 

Good idea!

Hoping for al family members to depart back to the other house to attempt noodles. I will be too vexed otherwise.