LJ's Mortgage free road to early retirement

LouiseJ

Budget Actual Variance
Food 250.00 273.11 23.11

Work 25.00 32.20 7.20

Petrol 200.00 210.41 10.41

Bingo 0.00 35.00 35.00

Takeaways 20.00 34.00 14.00

Nights out/drinks in house 100.00 118.50 18.50

Lottery 8.00 8.00 0.00

Pocket money 24.00 12.00 -12.00

Bottled gas 68.00 68.00 0.00

Other 50.00 47.50 -2.50

TOTALS 745.00 838.72 93.72


I don’t think that is too bad to be honest although I was not best pleased with the online bingo by OH! After some serious talking he has decided to stick to the free Gala bingo on Thursdays.

I am a bit over on the food but have loads left in the freezer and plan to do a big monthly shop today and bulk buy on all the meat, which is the biggest cost for us.

Pocket money is down as the boys got cash for Easter from relatives so let me off, bless them.

Not too good on the electricity meter again, used 781 units at cost of £67.91 it has got to be those electric heaters which are still being used too much. I walked in the boys playroom the other day and it was like the Bahamas!

Think I will keep to the same budget for April.

Sorry about the format but the table I imported went totally crazy when I imported it from spreadsheet, so looks a total mess.

Little_Mama

Keep up the good work LJ.

Re the food budget, have you tried online groceries? We've just started with Tesco and have slashed our bill by £200pm and have got room for more too.....

It also helps that there is a discount vouchers thread on here and I've managed to trim a bit off using those, also got £5.00 through topcashback for signing up for new grocery deliveries too.....might be worth a try.

LM

setmefree2

Well done LJ:T:T:T If you feel down just pop over to DFW board - they are a great bunch of people though!

LouiseJ

Little_Mama wrote: »

Keep up the good work LJ.

Re the food budget, have you tried online groceries? We've just started with Tesco and have slashed our bill by £200pm and have got room for more too.....

It also helps that there is a discount vouchers thread on here and I've managed to trim a bit off using those, also got £5.00 through topcashback for signing up for new grocery deliveries too.....might be worth a try.

LM

Thanks for that LM xxx

I do a monthly menu plan and split it between Asda online (always use free delivery codes), Lidl and farm foods. The trouble is that OH and boys are really bad at snacking and I fear that its the snacks that are the culprit of the food shopping being the size it is. Sometimes I just dont have the time to bake so shop bought biscuits and crisps are expensive.

I am also guilty of buying the boys a packet of sweets everyday as my Mother did for us and have a sweetie cupboard which they head straight for when they come home from school. Bad habits are hard to break sometimes and I am a right softie with the boys.:o

LouiseJ

setmefree2 wrote: »

Well done LJ:T:T:T If you feel down just pop over to DFW board - they are a great bunch of people though!

I am there quite a bit SMF2 and have been known to hang around on the daily chat threads, whichI agree are a breath of fresh air and great for keeping the blues away. Some right characters tho:rotfl:

Little_Mama

LouiseJ wrote: »

I am also guilty of buying the boys a packet of sweets everyday as my Mother did for us and have a sweetie cupboard which they head straight for when they come home from school. Bad habits are hard to break sometimes and I am a right softie with the boys.:o

If you can't be soft with your own boys then who can you be soft with....plus it'll be nice wee touches like that they'll remember and may well do it with their own kiddies....when the time comes :eek:

Boys do have bottomless pits for stomachs and mine are at the "helping myself" stage! :eek: :eek: So I can sympathise with you there. :rotfl: That's why I'm not sure if my grocery bill will ever get much lower than what it is.

LM

setmefree2

LouiseJ wrote: »

and have a sweetie cupboard which they head straight for when they come home from school. Bad habits are hard to break sometimes and I am a right softie with the boys.:o

I do this too:D and I'm a softie with my boys too;):p....no regrets on that score for me:p

boredofbeingathome

Hi louise, just having a late night mooch and wanted to wish you well on your mortgage free journey. I too have been overpaying on the mortgage, however am putting efforts into clearing Mr.B's debt at moment. Can sympathise on teaching hours as mine are similar-up and down constantly since i went on supply. Good luck with it all. Bob xx

LouiseJ

I have an interview for the IT tutor job at the college on the 15th of April. I have had no word about a permanent contract for my current job so if I get offered the new job I am going to take it.

Just found out today that I have had a right to join the teachers pension scheme since I joined in 2000 even though I was only on temporary contracts. I am furious as the rate is 6% employee 12% employer contributions. Off to the pension board now to see if entitlement can be backdated!! Its worth a try isnt it!

Little_Mama

Nothing ventured, nothing gained....go for it girl!

LM