Freedom and Independence.

BudgetingBelinda

enthusiasticsaver said:

It sounds like you have done very well in January.  Getting rid of that DMP in August would be awesome and yes a big boost to your savings pots once you no longer have the debt to service. 

Thanks @enthusiasticsaver. I hope all months go like this. Feel quite short on cash for Feb but I think I need that feeling to be mindful, all £’s are already accounted for. Hopefully I won’t have to dip into my emergency fund and I’ve calculated correctly! August hurry up! 

BudgetingBelinda

February payment to DMP gone today.

That’s 20/100 steps done.. £1240/6000 paid off.
I can’t wait to colour in my number square up to 20! 

I’m excited for a nice chill weekend, I need to get a little bit productive with the decluttering, not go mad on groceries and mainly just relax, things have been so busy lately with day to day work week/children and logistics. I definitely need some down time. 

Hello fresh coming on Tues (40% off) so just the packed lunch/kids bits/house bits to shop for and I have an online shop coming on Fri. 

Would love to go up to another couple of steps by end of the month and be able to add to my emergency fund, but think it will be very tricky this month, what with half term and my bills, and my house being a pain- think toilet flusher has broken now, the day after my taps are fixed 🫣 need to probably do something about the car noise too? Seems to have settled a little since I pumped up the tyres!!? Or I’m in denial!

Will have to do a better Feb to do checklist and get more of a handle on things! 

BudgetingBelinda

So, I’m overspending on groceries. Need to figure out a way to sort this out. Having a major treat night tonight as I have some me time.

I’m all set for sorting some wardrobes tomorrow and general cleaning and chores. I have £60 in my overpayment pot currently, hoping to add to it by end of the month. Want to get to 23 steps by the end of this month which would be £1380 paid off.. owww it’s gonna be tricky. 

Toilet still needing attention and car.. probably £’s flying out. I think I'm going to find this month tricky. I need some major good willpower now with groceries to stay on plan .. the freezer is full and batch cook tomorrow. Need some frugal thinking and doing. Let’s do this! 

BudgetingBelinda

Batch cooking done. Another wardrobe cleaned out. 2 bags of charity shop & 3 bags of rubbish. No wonder it was bulging and I was putting it off. Lots still to do but decluttering done for today. Now just the floors and I’m going to call it a day. A productive one.

BudgetingBelinda

Cleaned out the car too. And had to stop myself doing another wardrobe.. was on a roll but want to have some chill time. Maybe tomorrow. Seems like so much to do still but feeling like it is possible to get on top of it. Every few weekends I’m doing a large declutter and during the week staying on top of things/mini declutters. 

Really hoping I can get up to 23 steps this month, keep checking finances but they are not stretching very far this month. Going to really try to make the current freezer stock and batch last a good while this month. Have a few more hello fresh boxes at a discount coming. Hopefully that will keep me out of the mini shops.

BudgetingBelinda

Hmmm after my clean up yesterday my hoover has just given in now. It’s been coming for a while. Cant get the filter out it’s stuck in the thingggymagig. It sounds like it’s going to take off but doesn’t actually suck. So I’ve ordered a new *cheap* (though would have been 1 step) cordless vacuum. I very much am looking forward to getting it! The edges of my carpet in the bedroom are so dusty. The other floors are hard so not so tricky. I need to do the car too and this hoover looks very easy to do that. But 2 muddy boys and one dog, living near the beach.. it’s not going to be much of a win in the car, unless I take to hoovering them before they get in the car.. 🤔
Just joined Feb NSD and AFD. Last months targets were not quite met! But I’ll try again it helped me to stay more mindful. 

Got some more batch cooking I can do, nice sausage pasta- creamy mushrooms and tagliatelle, will be nice for dinner and then for lunches.. will see how I feel as have the Thai curry and madras from yesterday to choose from later. Will see what I fancy! Football and dog walk first. Another wardrobe cleared might happen later, and more washing, still haven’t found the bottom of the wash basket yet this weekend! 🧐

debtfreewannabe321

How many are you feeding @BudgetingBelinda ? I have 4 adult portions here and budget £500 a month for food. I made it just under last month and was super happy! Hoping I can do the same again this month as before I was spending up to £800 a month (I can't quite believe it!)
I have gone back to my DFW days of meal planning, pricing up each and every meal in my head...so I try to do 3/7 days super cheap, so Jacket potatoes with beans and salad, pasta surprise (the surprise is whatever veg is left in the fridge is chopped, cooked and put into a sauce with the pasta lol it's good for the day before shopping is due to empty the fridge out), I will make dahls and freeze portions (uber cheap with potatoes and lentils) and we will often have a pizza night, either super cheap sm frozen pizza or naan breads topped with tomato paste and cheese and toppings, the kids enjoy making these and they take minutes to grill or oven cook. I get my pad out now every week and go through what is left in the cupboards and make the plan from that. I was so lapse before it is really helping me to get back into meal planning by being mindful as to what I already have in. When I was omnivore we also used to have three veggie days a week because it was cheaper to make veggie meals (this is when I was on the DMP). Hope some of that helps, I think the most helpful thing though is sharing on here, and reading other people's diaries to motivate and inspire and know you're not alone!

BudgetingBelinda

@debtfreewannabe321 thanks for your advice! I am embarrassed to say I’m feeding 1 adult and two children but they do eat a lot! The youngest is autistic, sensory challenges with food so very specific foods there. Eldest has the most refined tastebuds- asparagus over peas, cherries/strawberries/raspberries over a banana or apple! And I’m the same actually 🫣. Also my lack of many AFD means wine ups by budget. And I am a trying to quit smoker 🫣🫣🫣 was a non smoker for over a decade but a stressful couple of years and I started again. 

I really enjoy cooking. I’ve noticed more than ever now, even though I have things in the freezer, I just like to cook. The freezer is getting quite stocked up though so I am trying to divert the cooking into a de clutter/potter elsewhere! 

debtfreewannabe321

BudgetingBelinda said:

@debtfreewannabe321 thanks for your advice! I am embarrassed to say I’m feeding 1 adult and two children but they do eat a lot! The youngest is autistic, sensory challenges with food so very specific foods there. Eldest has the most refined tastebuds- asparagus over peas, cherries/strawberries/raspberries over a banana or apple! And I’m the same actually 🫣. Also my lack of many AFD means wine ups by budget. And I am a trying to quit smoker 🫣🫣🫣 was a non smoker for over a decade but a stressful couple of years and I started again. 

I really enjoy cooking. I’ve noticed more than ever now, even though I have things in the freezer, I just like to cook. The freezer is getting quite stocked up though so I am trying to divert the cooking into a de clutter/potter elsewhere! 

My DS2 is tall and skinny and I would like to know where he puts all the food he eats, so I understand the dilemma lol. He would eat four portions of everything if I offered it to him. I am slightly over on my food budget this month so I am going to try and challenge myself for the last week of this month to eat only freezer and cupboard foods (as well as a small budget for fresh, and we are a little like you- I will only buy organic haha). I buy my wine when on offer for 25% off and then stock up. That has worked well for a while now and if we run out before another offer we swap to whatever we have in or a nice cup of herbal tea and an early night instead (that really does depend on my stress levels though lol)

BudgetingBelinda

@debtfreewannabe321 I feel your pain with the DS! I feel a freezer few weeks are much needed here. Already overspent on groceries but I am way down on what I was spending 🤩. Good luck to you! I’m finding the diaries and threads so helpful