Turning Straw into Gold: Creating Long Term Security & A Solid Home

MillQueen

As I sit on the train on the way to work (because I don’t have the car yet), I am reading a book called “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and questioning my life choices 😂. It’s certainly renewed my motivation to get rid of debts and liabilities and find other ways to earn that aren’t working for others.

MillQueen

Did a bit of yellow sticker shopping at the supermarket and spent £4 on some veg, which included 2 packs of mushrooms, 2 packs of tofu, 2 packs of stew veg (carrot, swede and onion), asparagus, mushroom stir fry, mange tout, and cavalo nero. Then I picked up a TGTG bag from the local bakery for £3.99 which contained a loaf of bread, a pack of rolls, a couple of pies and pasties, a sandwich and some cakes. ]

That's me sorted for the next week for less than a tenner ☺️.

I am already £19 into my overdraft on day 4 of the month, as I am just going to let it build back up gradually over a couple of months. Bills already came out, so now the challenge is to spend as little as possible on food and fuel for the rest of the month to try to bring that back to as close to 0 as possible.

Blackcats

I expect you've thought about this already but would it save costs/interest on your overdraft if you transferred a small amount from emergency savings to keep you out of your overdraft this month whilst aiming to spend as little as possible?

MillQueen

@Blackcats I did consider that, but as my savings are in a bonus account I will lose out on the bonus payment if I take any out of my savings account in the month. Need to check more closely which is higher: the amount I would pay on the overdraft versus the amount I would gain on the bonus.

Probably a few pounds to be gained one way or the other.

MillQueen

I did end up transferring a bit from my savings into my current account, as I have some bills that are still to come out mid-month, for my home insurance, broadband and mobile phone, as well as whatever is needed for petrol and food. I have paid the relevant costs for the new car, such as the new tax and the new insurance deposit, as my insurance was due for renewal at the end of the month anyway. There was a charge to swap my existing insurance to the new car too for this final month of the policy. The bits I can control for the rest of the month are my food spending and not buying anything extra unless absolutely necessary.

I may be able to have a couple of days of working from home this month, which saves on petrol. This new car is really cheap to run too 😊. I need to summon the energy to do some cooking today with the yellow sticker veg I got and I have work to do. The charity shop sofa is being delivered and I need to decide what to do about the more expensive new one. Everyone around me thinks I should get that one too - I do at some point need to have proper things. I'm less thrilled about the investments now, as due to sad world events they have gone down. I only have £350 in there, which possibly would have been better in the emergency savings.

Task: Stay motivated with spending as close to nothing as I can until the end of the month.

MillQueen

The charity shop sofa arrived and I fear it may have been a mistake to get it. I am going to leave it in place for a few months and see how it goes. Can always donate it back to the charity shop if I get into a better financial position. I decided to keep the new one that’s arriving and then maybe when I can afford it I can get a snuggle chair to go with it and replace the second hand seating. It will be good to have somewhere to sit for now.

Dakota_Rose

Oh no 😞 is there something wrong with it or does it just not feel right?

MillQueen

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81913179#Comment_81913179

Doesn’t look right in the room. Everything in the house is white and light, as the windows are room height. In the light of the room it looks very worn and grubby. I can get some throws on it and it’ll do the job for a while.

MillQueen

Today I've made a stew with some yellow sticker items - a pack of stew veg including onion, carrot and swede, and half a pack of cavalo nero. I added a stock cube and some lentils to thicken it then served it with a couple of vegetarian sausages on top which I already had in the freezer. It was actually really nice and very filling, and I have two more portions to use for the next couple of days and a little bit of bread left over.

I did some self employed work and have earned about £100 this weekend (though it will only be half after tax 🙄), I now have some admin tasks to do tonight, as I am prioritising doing tasks that can help earn me an income, so I'll do that for the next couple of hours, then read for a bit and getting an early night. I've had a no spend day, done loads of laundry and house tasks and just generally got myself back to feeling balanced.

MillQueen

I’d really like a slow cooker, an air fryer, an enamelled roasting dish, a microwave, and a large stock pot. I’m just writing this down but not actually buying them, as I can make do with the limited equipment I have until I’m better off, or maybe i can keep saving my ipsos points and get an Asda voucher that might go towards one of them. I think the air fryer would be most useful, as I have existing things that can already do what the others listed are for. I’ve got a TGTG order to collect tomorrow from a bakery and I’ve ordered 2 bags so that I can freeze some stuff for work lunches, for the times when I’m too tired to prepare food from scratch. It only cost me £2.50 as I had a £4 voucher. Someone shared with me a website where you can check where petrol is cheapest, so I’ve used that to get fuel on Friday. The new car is giving 50mpg, according to the little message on the dashboard.