Mortgage free in Forever Home :-)

KajiKita

Caught up my financial transactions and done two TTs to savings (£0.62 and & 0.66) and I am tantalisingly close to reaching £8K in savings (you know savings that are all mine, without any credit cards hanging around in the background! 😊❤️ still enjoying that …. ) just £93.52 off that number …. Should reach it after April’s pay day. 

Very much in the mid month doldrums of nothing much to do atm …. Groceries budget is not looking too good. After two weeks of a 5 week gap between paydays I am already at 53% of budget …. Sigh. I’m not going to manage to be below budget, so I will just have to see how well I can ‘contain’ the damage. Ho hum. 

KK

SandyShores

You're doing much better with your budget than me @KajiKita.  We're only on the 5th April and I have overspent.  At least most of our meals and kitty cats are already purchased, and I do have some very nice plants (and some gardening items)   I'm relying on a BG refund to put me back into credit but who knows when or if that will arrive.  I'm planning more garden centre trips this weekend too, so the funds will be more depleted but I'm looking forward to seeing everything planted up.  Fingers crossed for some warmer weather.

KajiKita

Awww … thank you @SandyShores 😊

I think we both need a bigger gardening budget for next spring! A bit like other people save for Christmas 😉😂

KK

redofromstart

Our house bramble pluckers swear by welders gloves against swear at gardeners gloves. The odd one gets through but no picking out with a needle left handed jobs. I'm really grateful for the £5 or so I invested in Frits and a few tulips in October

KajiKita

redofromstart said:

Our house bramble pluckers swear by welders gloves against swear at gardeners gloves. The odd one gets through but no picking out with a needle left handed jobs. I'm really grateful for the £5 or so I invested in Frits and a few tulips in October

Don’t they make you horribly clumsy though?

KK

redofromstart

KajiKita said:

redofromstart said:

Our house bramble pluckers swear by welders gloves against swear at gardeners gloves. The odd one gets through but no picking out with a needle left handed jobs. I'm really grateful for the £5 or so I invested in Frits and a few tulips in October

Don’t they make you horribly clumsy though?

KK

I already am to be honest, but yes, not good with the secateurs. My last light  sharps gloves trim I ended up with a nasty yellow splinter down the side of my nail infection so I'm a clumsy convert.

Suffolk_lass

I bought some goatskin gauntlets in 2019 from big river that are the best gardening gloves we have ever had but sadly DH's XXL pair have a hole in one finger now and I cannot see anything as good. I have a selection in my basket currently for him to look at. XXL are hellishly hard to find.

I don't know what to suggest re groceries except separating a stores budget that runs across the year from your fresh perishable things. I do this to buy things like branded items on offer, when I buy 4-6. It needs a separate line or some months are a nightmare. You already meal-plan, use everything up and shop smart, but this might reduce what you spend in the long-term. Just watch out for hoarding (me) as it can quickly get out of hand

KajiKita

Thanks for the suggestions @Suffolk_lass. Reading the groceries challenge board I’m wondering if it’s partly because it don’t do 0lio, TGTG, YS etc? A lot of what people say they get from this though is not stuff I want to have around me - doughnuts, lots of meat based products etc. 

I will keep focusing on doing more home cooking I think. I need to find a way to have more energy and be less time-poor ….

KK

redofromstart

I found that those type of things (and approved food in its day) simply meant we had processed junk as a cheap 'treat'. I do better planning round the in season fruit and veg offers, and bulk buying/using the freezer to stock up on loss leaders. I also identified the price per 100g that was a stock up level on things like nuts and seeds. 

KajiKita

redofromstart said:

I found that those type of things (and approved food in its day) simply meant we had processed junk as a cheap 'treat'. I do better planning round the in season fruit and veg offers, and bulk buying/using the freezer to stock up on loss leaders. I also identified the price per 100g that was a stock up level on things like nuts and seeds. 

Thanks Redo. I will cogitate on this. 😊

KK