Pinching Pennies

beanielou

I can't grow veg at all 

daintydaisy

beanielou said:

I can't grow veg at all 

I’ll keep you updated on how mine fair! I’m not the best at keeping plants alive but hoping this will be different, I’ll try my best 🤣

savingholmes

Love the start of your veg. I think the top thing to watch out for is slugs and snails.

daintydaisy

Finally payday!!

My spends today are:
£350 - Mortgage
£30 - Food shop
£26.61 - CC1 (this is now fully paid off, I will be looking at closing it down next week as I hate making payments with it not having 0% anymore)
£25 - CC2 (the minimum payment for this - balance is now sitting at £807.52)
£2.50 -Trussel donation
£16.50 - wellness plan
£7 - Moved to savings 
+ £26 from Prolific and CuriousCat

Total: £431.61
That leaves me with £368 and after bills this month (not including food shops) I will be left with £92 pw.
Got my workings out wrong so had to edit this post - I thought I was going to live on £29 pw but it's actually £92 which is a lot more manageable. The only downside is that we have 2x concerts this month and I have 2x birthdays to pay for. Hoping to pick up some overtime once I finish uni next week and even if I can't - prolific has been okay recently so that may tide me over. 

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MSE wins today:

• plants look like they're coming along well, looking a lot less wilted than yesterday.
• didn't have to pay anything for Todd's vaccinations as they're included in the wellness plan. I was apprehensive about paying for this at first but his annual booster is £80 and you get those, flea and worm treatments and free consultations with the wellness plan so think it pays for itself really. 

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Financial plans for June:

• I have 4 weeks until next payday, so I'm aiming for a minimum of 10 NSDs this month. 
• Going forward, I'd like to deposit some or all of my Prolific earnings to CC2. I currently have £12 to withdraw tomorrow and will transfer all of that over. I'm hoping that a few £ a week will make a significant difference to my debt.
• Be more resourceful with food. I have noticed that I tend to make silly trips to the shop for 'top ups' which aren't needed, and whilst I'm there I'll pick up extra snacks etc. I almost went tonight as I didn't want to wait an hour for my jacket potato to cook but managed to stop myself.
• Bring lunches to work - DO NOT BUY ANY MEAL DEALS!!

Feeling confident about this month and looking forward to having a better wage come the end of June I got another grade back from an assignment today and got a 68. Still can't break the 'first' threshold but I can't complain with a high 2:1 - especially when I'm on track for that to be my overall grade this year. Spent the day finishing off one section of my portfolio for my presentation and will hopefully finish that tonight. Going to work on the other section tomorrow which hopefully won't take as long!
I also added some more soil to my plants as I think it was too low. Wondering whether to repot the tomato plant but will see how they get on in a few weeks. 
I also finished the 2nd ACOTAR book last night. I told myself I was only going to read 2 chapters but ended up reading 10! Don't know what Sarah J Maas does to the endings of her books but they always have me hooked. Starting the 3rd book tonight  

Hope you've all had a fab day folks! 

beanielou

A high 2:1 is great 

daintydaisy

beanielou said:

A high 2:1 is great 

Thank you!
I agree, I was a little disheartened with my last assignment as I got a 65, but I think putting it into perspective is important. A few years ago I didn't think I'd even get into uni!
I tend to be more harsh on myself than the markers I think 

beanielou

REmember that once you are out in the world your class of degree won't matter at all.

daintydaisy

Total spent today: £29.81
Bought some extras from Ald! that we forgot (sugar, tuna, peppers) & picked up some gardening extras. I grabbed 2 planter bags as they’ll be better for the potatoes and tomatoes. I also got some copper tape to keep slugs away, bought 3 nice plants and accompanying pots and some bamboo canes for the tomato and possibly pepper plants. Think that’s all I need for now. As mentioned, my OH ordered a mini greenhouse which arrived today and is set up, so we’ve moved the strawberries and peppers into there. The neighbours must think I’m mad as I’m out every hour checking on the plants haha. Something really rewarding about it though, I think it’s a good hobby for the old mental health.


Speaking of mental health, I’ve been struggling a lot today. The stress of this presentation is getting to me. I’ve been working on it all afternoon and still have 3 sections left to complete. I’m hoping I’ll get it done tonight so it gives me time to plan my script tomorrow and Sunday before work. We’ll see. Have to keep reminding myself that it’s not the end of the world if it goes awful (which I always think it will but never does). Deep breaths.

MSE wins: 
- cashed out £15 from Prolific and paid it onto CC2 straight away. 
- cancelled CC1 

Hope you’re all managing to enjoy the sunshine today. 

daintydaisy

NSD today  
My lettuce is slowly starting to peek through, exciting times! Looks like it’ll be another scorcher tomorrow, shame I’ll be working. I’ve managed to score 37 hours in a few weeks time which is nice but I won’t actually get to see the overtime money until the end of July. 

My friend also sent me the £10 she owes for petrol from the concert today which I forgot to account for, so that was a nice added bonus. I’ll pop it into my savings account. 

Been practising for my presentation today as I’ve finally finished everything. I need to fine tune it tomorrow and write my notes. My anxiety was horrendous this morning but I’m feeling a little better about it now. 

katsu

It's not  big saving but last year you mentioned student Amazon. Can you just cancel it? You'll buy less from them if you don't have prime.