Bracing for impact - re-mortgage free wannabe

sabsob

Ten listings done, and also dashed around planting 100 tulip bulbs. These were a treat in the autumn, and then, life got super-busy and I never got round to planting them. Fingers crossed at least some of them will still make it. It'll be nice to have a splash of colour in spring.

edinburgher

Just over £20 a week for groceries with a teenager is phenomenal, even with freezer treasure and especially with a teenager I'm trying to get our spend below £500/mth at the moment and we only have a 6 year old!

sabsob

Thanks @edinburgher, it will go up once the freezer runs down, but I am fairly good at the whole "what's in the cupboard, and what can I do with it". This is just food, mind, not loo roll, cleaning/washing stuff, otherwise, it would be higher. I do a lot of baking, and I have a whole online bookmark folder from looking up "what do I do with X" recipes, lol. Right now, neither husband nor child know that the choc chip muffins they are scoffing are hiding the courgettes from the "cheap veg" box - shhh 

edinburgher

I'm with you on the foods hidden within other foods front - black bean brownies are lovely and go down a treat until you tell people what is in them!

sabsob

...now I have to find a recipe for those  

sabsob

Start of a new week - I packed up items to send out, and received a payout for this week's efforts, £55 minus postage, so I'll have about £40 to add to the pot. I'll also pop into the library to pick up some books I ordered, feeding my reading habit for free. Hurray for libraries!

edinburgher

Do you have any tricks for keeping postage down? I made quite a bit at the end of last year clearing out, but courier fees ate into it quite a bit.

sabsob

edinburgher said:

Do you have any tricks for keeping postage down? I made quite a bit at the end of last year clearing out, but courier fees ate into it quite a bit.

I think it's just a case of calculating well in advance, and then adding the postage fee as accurately as possible. Sometimes I mess up, sometimes I end up a few pennies better off

sabsob

We had to go to London yesterday, and I spent nearly as much on food in a single day as I had on groceries so far this year. I'm not too upset, because since the start of 2022, I'd managed to keep food spending to around £20/week, which I think isn't bad for two adults and a teenager, but I blew that out of the water yesterday, spending £38 on the three of us in a single day. I did have a look at ways to reduce outgoings, and I think we can play with our home and contents insurance, as well as our boiler cover, to save a few hundred a year. Still no news on final figures, but it's nearly the week-end, so listing time again. I have one thing to post. It's been a busy week, work-wise, but overall, the house is looking tidier, and it's all good

sabsob

It's the week-end - I did a scout in the supermarkets to see what is reduced on the shelves, and will return in the evening in the hope that there will still be items to buy, but marked much lower. I am getting to be picky...30% off, I'm not interested, 50% off, depends what it is, but by the time it's 75% or 80% off, I'm there with bells on. I've been unlucky all week with a Lidl fruit and veg box, so I might venture for a TGTG box by Monday, if I'm still unlucky tomorrow. 

It's listing time, and I am hoping to list a few bigger items - not price tag bigger, but physical space bigger, to try and make a visible difference in the house. But I also promised myself some time to craft. I'm hoping to finish or use up, or mend etc. at least one thing a month - a small-scale target, but a realistic one with work and family pressures. How is everybody else getting on?