Escape to the country & living off savings

Skint_yet_Again

Had a nice morning out and brunch in spoons with my friend. Small fry up £2.99 and refillable hot drink £1.70 she insisted on paying. My turn to pay next time. Cash withdrawal from annual bills pot for haircut and diy pot for carpet fitter. Birthday cards 2 for £1.40 from birthday pot.

Popped in asd@ and got reduced chicken Thai green curry £1.73 down from £3.84, pack of liver £1.27 and cubed beef & milk. The beef will go in the slow cooker in the morning with onions, half swede & couple of carrots that need using up in the fridge. I will have the Thai curry tonight with broccoli from the freezer and cook liver and onions on Wednesday to have with swede & carrot mash & broccoli and cauli from the freezer & gravy. 

I still have 2 tins tuna, salad, cheese, plus 2 x tandoori chicken and homemade soup in the freezer so I should have enough to last until Friday. I will do a proper shop next week when I get back from my sisters. 

Tresinia511

Your menus sound 😋 😋 I adore liver and onions although it seems to be out of favour with many.  A great shame as its tasty,  healthy and cheap!

badmemory

I have to say I absolutely hate liver & onions.  When I was in my teens they decided I was anaemic, well I was, but back then the pill didn't exist, so it was liver & onions.  6 years later, saved by the pill, no longer at least 2 days a month off work or school, no coming home from school with my skirt pinned down the back to hide the blood stains.  Thank goodness it was a girls school.

Skint_yet_Again

I hated liver as a child but now I really enjoy it well cooked with onions in gravy. Will look forward to that tomorrow. 

Lovely sunny morning, home from aqua, lunch then chilled out on sofa watching tv. It’s just starting to cloud over so I will fetch my washing in. House is smelling lovely of beef stew in the slow cooker 😋 

SuzeQStan

There were many tears and truculent glares across the table of my childhood over liver and onions 

Skint_yet_Again

Lol imagining a defiant Suze sat at the dinner table 😂

Lovely sunny morning ☀️ Washing about to go on. Off to my friends for a cuppa later, then hair cut.

I used the asd@ reward app after shopping on Monday and won £6 off my next shop 🥳 So I will use that to get a hot roast chicken next week. 

Have been reviewing my annual bills

Dentist £26.80 (?) due June 2025

Glasses £90 

haircuts £28 x 6 = £168 

Boiler service £90 due June 2025

Car insurance £262.30 next due Dec 2025

house insurance £176.02 next due Jan 2026

breakdown cover £63.84 next due Jan 2026

Car tax £160 next due march 2026

clothes £150, spends so far Feb = jeans/shoes £29.60, May = 2 pairs shoes £10. I need a new belt as mine has split and I need it for 2 pairs cut off jeans that are now a bit big but not worn enough to need replacing. My black handbag is looking shabby but not chic 😆 so I will keep an eye out for a replacement.

Total £1186.96

total incoming 12 x £100 = £1200

So I am going to increase my monthly payment to my annual bills pot. As I have a surplus leftover in my budget I will increase to £120 a month from 1 June. The glasses will not be an annual expense, maybe every 2 years but I will feel more comfortable with a bigger surplus in the pot. 

Car Pot = £785. This is £50 a month and covers mot & service, next due Nov 2025, last one was £334.40 including some additional work. This pot will also hopefully cover any repairs, tyres, new wipers etc (eg. 2 tyres replaced feb 2024 £149.47). No plans to increase this monthly amount. 

SuzeQStan

Good plans for annual bills pot SYA - would a black sh@rpie pen eke out a longer service from your black handbag? I

i use it on all my black shoes and anything black that is fraying at the edges somewhat.  Shame I can’t use it on my hair 🤣🤣🤣

Tresinia511

I absolutely love the forensic level of details you apply to your finances.  I'm not even joking when I say you could write a book about your journey

Skint_yet_Again

Thanks Suze and Tresinia 😁 

I like the sharpie idea. May try that if I don’t find a decent priced replacement. 

Had a phone call from the carpet fitters at 8am saying they would be here in 10mins so I had to get dressed quick. New underlay and new carpet fitted, £137.52 plus fitting £65. Am really pleased with it. It looks much more expensive than £5.99 a square meter. (Sale price, reduced from £10.99).

Then I nipped into small town nearby and collected my new sunglasses. 😎 Treated myself to a hot sausage roll from greg 😋 

I am going to spoons for tea tonight with DF to celebrate finishing this stage of the diy ☺️ DF said it’s his turn to pay. 

Garden / fence is next job on the list. 

SuzeQStan

Ooh Greg’s sausage roll my belly rumbled in appreciation.

that is a serious bargain on that carpet - so glad you are pleased with it.

enjoy your DIY celebration - you deserve it x🥰