Sass' 2008 DFW ramble thread

Keeping_Positive

Youve done really well to come in pretty much on budget snd the extra bits were such a bargain.

Sassamac

Oh so close to the end of the month. Ive just about managed not to rob the savings so far this week, which is a miracle given all we have spent. Tomorrow we get the TC weekly allowance which will cover the leccy bill due out this week. And then its payday the day after which will cover the last minpay DD on the 31st.
Im expecting the pay packet to be 2 hours less this week as it was a 4 day week, luckily he managed to do 6 hours OT to compensate. But the holiday pay is expected this Friday as well which will help. That can go straight off a CC when it comes through.

I started the end of month totals about half way through the month by estimating / calculating the final figures for each savings account and debt. Its looking quite accurate now and shows that we will be £150 less in debt than ast month, which is the same total we achieved last month. So its slow but steady progress. Its been an expensive month and we havent really overpaid much. Of course if we do get the holiday pay through, it will be more like £500.

Sassamac

Just worked out my big grocery shop for Friday. It comes to £51 of which about £40 is coming from the grocery budget (the rest being for the cats) and covers most of what we need to eat for the next 2 - 4 weeks. Lets hope it all goes to plan.
Ive made a mistake with dinners for this week. I took steak (reduced of course) out of the freezer last night, then when it was half defrosted I changed my mind and decided to save it for tonight. Then I realised DH wont be home for dinner for the next two nights. The kids wont eat a great chunk of meat like that, and anyway theres leftovers from what DH had last night, for them tonight. Its really complicated at the mo everyone is eating different things as a lot of whats left in the freezer is the small portions of stuff. But then sometimes it stretches further than I thought. So it looks like I might have to freeze last nights leftovers of what I had and have steak two nights running. Oh well, better to have too much food left than not enough to eat.

Sassamac

Well we have £60 to last us the day til payday tomorrow and we have managed to get through a week without robbing the savings (good job too as its almost empty, just one weeks allocation of CB in there). That in itself is an achievement.

Just one problem - the t.v. is bust. I turned it off last night to put the kids to bed at about 7.15pm and then turned it on to watch IPTW at 7.30pm. After about 30 secs the screen went black, but the voices were still there. It was the same on all channels. So I turned it off, then back on again, same problem. Then I noticed a funny smell (not sure how long it had been there as I was cooking at the time which may have disguised it) so I whipped the plug out and left it well alone!
We've had the t.v. just on 3 years and the screen has been wonky for about 2 yrs, so I think this its way of finally telling us enough is enough. I swear everything is beraking in this house at the mo, it must all have a 3 year lifespan.
What worries me is the fact that a t.v. is nigh on a necessity, but we keep buying cheap tat and it keeps breaking, I think its time to buy something quality that will actually last. But obviously thats expensive and Im really aversed to the idea of getting into more debt. But if we were to go out this w/e and buy a cheap t.v. again, even a £150 spend would negate all the debt we have paid off this month. Im wondering whether its fixable / part replaceable. Seems like a petty thing to worry about, but life with no t.v. isnt going to be much fun and life in more debt is going to be hard work.

gallygirl

Try freecycle hon, amazing things on there! If you do have to buy dont beat yourself up too much, you're in a better position than a few weeks ago.

Keeping_Positive

TVs come up fairly regularly on ours so worth a shot.

Sassamac

Might giove that a go thanks. My only concern with electrical stuff is that people might be giving away stuff that doesnt work, just to save themselves the effort of scrapping it. Saying that though DH got a good p.c. monitor from there just a few months ago, so maybe we'll have a look together. Just thought when I was a student we bought a t.v. from one of those cash converters places for £80 supposedly brand new.

Sassamac

ok just switched it on and it works. Didnt dare do it this morning with the kids around but with one at school and one asleep I thought Id try. Im going to go and watch it for half an hour to make sure its ok.

Sassamac

Well the t.v. stopped working again after 45 mins, and having now tried it again, its still not working.
Ive just been and spent the remaining £1.02 on 2 loaves of bread and 2 packs of bread rolls. It all added up very nicely so I have spent every last penny of my £125 budget.
Just got some vouchers through from the Tesco healthy living club, which I signed up for recently. Its just extra points but as its stuff I buy anyway (one for fresh f&v, one for breakfast cereal) its a welcome bonus.

denise_h_2

Sassamac wrote: »

Might giove that a go thanks. My only concern with electrical stuff is that people might be giving away stuff that doesnt work, just to save themselves the effort of scrapping it. Saying that though DH got a good p.c. monitor from there just a few months ago, so maybe we'll have a look together. Just thought when I was a student we bought a t.v. from one of those cash converters places for £80 supposedly brand new.

Not necessarily so - last September we freecycled 2 portable televisions, solely because we were moving to a much smaller property and didn't need them. Also our new home is in such a poor reception area we can only get TV thro a satellite dish (no freeview or terrestrial TV or DAB radio). They were both in very good working order (had been in use until we put them up for freecycling). Give it a try, you may be pleasantly surprised