One step at a time

beanielou

Hope the new job goes well.

Ms_Potato_Head

Congrats on your new job 👏

sunshineli

Thank you both!

I have started my new job, and I am learning lots. I'm definitely not in my comfort zone but I'm enjoying the new challenge.

I haven't received a full wage yet, so I don't feel like I can properly plan my finances until I know what I will be receiving each month. I feel like I really need to get back on track with tracking my spending though.

I can't believe we are getting to half way through the year! How time flies. In June I'm going to track every penny I spend, and post on here more consistently to keep myself accountable.

This weekend has been peaceful just pottering around at home, sitting in the garden and relaxing. I've got a bit of a full on week ahead of me so I am just enjoying the last few hours of the weekend before I am back to it!

Have a good week everyone.

sunshineli

The last few days have been busy! Here are my recent spends-

Monday - £8.50 on the commute to work

Tuesday - £6 on the bus to the hospital for an appointment. 

£68.25 on groceries. This includes food for the week and some treats (fizzy pop, sweets, chocolate) to take on our upcoming holiday. It also included a few essentials for the holiday such as bagels, hummus etc. I’ve still got quite a few more bits to buy for the holiday.

Wednesday - £8.50 on the commute to work.

£183.70 on home insurance renewal (£3 cheaper than last year).

Very much looking forward to some time off work soon. 

sunshineli

More spends to report today!

£30 on petrol for the holiday

£10 on toiletries

£38 spent on more food for the holiday. This includes 3 meals we will be having in the lodge, some alcohol, and we decided to splash out on some nice food like granola, fancy fresh pasta and olives. We are grateful that we have no accommodation costs for this trip as we are going with DH parents. We will probably go for fish and chips once or twice but I don’t think we will be spending too much whilst away.

beanielou

Enjoy your break.

sunshineli

Thanks @beanielou

We are back from our holiday! It was a lovely relaxing break despite the weather not being the best.

As I mentioned previously we had no accommodation costs but we spent the following -

• £5 on a museum
• Approx £60 on groceries for the week (we also brought quite a bit home with us that we didn’t eat)
• £70 on fuel
• £60 on dinner and drinks out with friends
• £28 on a Chinese takeaway
• £25 on fish and chips and drinks at the pub
• £9 on cake at a local bakery

Total approx. £257

Overall our spends weren’t too bad for a 6 day holiday. We could have spent less such as when going out for dinner with friends, but it was a really nice independent restaurant so I didn’t mind spending more for a one off. Now we are back home I need to get back into normal life routine and money saving!

sunshineli

I’m trying to work on eating healthier at the moment whilst staying in budget. We recently increased our food budget from £300 per month to £350. I’m not doing anything drastic, just trying to eat more portions of fruit and vegetables which I am tracking. I thought it might be helpful to post my meals to show what I’m eating whilst staying in budget. DH does most of the cooking as I don’t always have the energy due to fatigue.

This week we have spent £85.90 which is more than usual, but factors in the extra fruit and veg.

Friday -

Brunch - mushroom, avocado and hummus on toast (2 portions)

Dinner - Tomato pasta with quorn chicken, olives, mushrooms and Tenderstem broccoli (2 portions)

Snacks - a few crackers and a biscuit

Saturday -

Breakfast - smoothie with mango, pineapple, papaya, banana and pumpkin seeds (4 portions)

Lunch- Party food at my nieces birthday party. This included lettuce, tomato, avocado, couscous salad, hummus and veggie spring rolls (going to call this 1 portion)

Dinner- leftover chickpea and sweet potato curry with naan bread (1 portion)

Snack - biscuit

Sunday -

Brunch - a few spoons of leftover curry, half an avocado and hummus on a slice of toast (2 portions)

Dinner tonight - veggie sausages, mashed potato, carrots, broccoli (2 portions)

Snack - bowl of strawberries (1 portion)

rtandon27

Love seeing your eating well on a budget plan!

sunshineli

Thanks @rtandon27 !

Back to work today and I’m feeling tired! I didn’t sleep great last night.

I have managed a NSD though as I’ve been working from home.

I’ve continued with the relatively healthy eating (ignoring the biscuits I ate) and my meals today have been as follows-

Breakfast - banana, mango, pineapple and papaya smoothie with pumpkin seeds (4 portions)

Lunch - mushrooms and hummus on a bagel (1 portion)

Dinner - DH had fish and I had ‘fake’ fish with chips, loads of salad, cucumber and leftover carrots and broccoli from last night (4 portions).

Snacks - A coffee and too many digestive biscuits 

One thing I really wanted to do today was get out of the house, but I didn’t manage it. I just felt too tired and wanted to rest on my lunch break. Tomorrow I have a doctor’s appointment that I’m a bit worried about but fingers crossed it all goes well and puts my mind at rest.