Tea's 'Where has it gone' diary

[Deleted User]

I have been doing some thinking, stop groaning everyone!

My terramundi pot is nearly full and my brother gets married on the 1st November; I am aiming that the pot will be full by the middle of October. Being rather different they have requested money or vouchers for a wedding present.

So here’s the thinking, if and only if it can be filled within the next few months I propose to divide the savings as such:

• £50 to each of the kids for their savings accounts
• £100 for our savings account
• £50 for DB for wedding present
• £50 towards an outfit and shoes etc
• £50 for outfits for kids
• £100 for spending at wedding in the bar or towards hotel bill

I was thinking that way we wouldn't need to fret about cash much by the time the wedding arrived and any 'spare' change can then go in the demi-john.

[Deleted User]

Morning all,

Last night I managed to get a fairly decent nights’ sleep despite my hip so feel rather refreshed this morning.

Poor DH has had to go on site again today to sort out more testing, he’s not likely to be back home again until about 6pm, chilli for dinner tonight.

The kids and I were going to go to the park today but judging by the amount of rain that fell last night, the park is going to be saturated! A rethink is needed and I fear that the local soft play centre will be used, it is going to cost us £8 to go but that is for 2 hours play, so perhaps not too bad a deal. Will take some stuff for the kids so that I am not paying over the odds for food and drink there.

My plan for this week is as follows:

• Housework (as much as I am able)
• NSD – Monday & Wednesday
• Get rid of stuff to charity shop and dump
• Cancel swim membership with leisure centre
• Get veg & fruit from market on Thursday morning

Friday is DD’s second birthday and I am aiming for a NSD that day but am not going to be upset if it doesn’t happen as after all it is her day.

We managed to re-cycle some of DD’s baby stuff, a friend of ours is having a baby in a few months so we gave them DD’s old Graco pushchair, Moses basket and stand and baby bath, so much needed space has now been acquired in the attic.

Have a good day everyone.

hypno06

Sounds like a good plan to me.

As for an alternative to going to the park, how about puddle splashing - put on wellies and go splash - hours of fun for free!!!!

[Deleted User]

hypno06 wrote: »

As for an alternative to going to the park, how about puddle splashing - put on wellies and go splash - hours of fun for free!!!!

That sounds like a superb idea, the kids need a bath this evening any way and will also avoid the soft play centre and save £8 :j

Will dig out the wellies when I have washed up and found the kitchen again :rotfl:

firesidemaid

hi there

i too have just found and read this thread from start to finish - it's an interesting read as i can see the journey you have taken. life and its ups and downs eh?

i thought i'd add my 2p worth with a few thoughts from reading through your posts and soa.

first of all are you entitled to any ctc or wtc at all?

do you know that in tescos you can use any money-off coupons - you don't have to buy the items as long as they sell them. you can also use sainsburys etc '£5 off a £50 shop etc'. i save loads in this way - i do smaller shops so i can use more coupons!

re takeaways. use clubcard deals for meals out or takeaways (just started doing pizza hut for a limited time) - also double up your points to spend on wine either. re. indian takeaways - i just get a veg side dish and a plain naan. if it's me and OH we get onion bhaji starter to share, a chicken main, a side dish and 2 naans - this comes to about £10/11 only. if you need rice, boil it at home. i have mango chutney and lime pickle (tescos is nice) at home too.

try and get the things you know you need regularly, cheaply - buy more when they are on offer. meal plan where you can - if you think about it you only need 7 b/fasts, 7 lunches and 7 dinners. this should/could be done very cheap. (when i saw you had spent £30 on steak:eek: - this would have to last my OH for about 10 meals at that price). but if you like it buy it only when on offer and put in freezer - likewise for other meats.

re. alcohol. if i have it in i will drink it, so now i don't buy it or i buy the mini botles ie. one large glass and just have that. or get it but get great deals/offers, try cheaper bottles (that have been awarded/recommended).

think about any 'bargains' you buy - do you really need them? would you buy them if they were full price? i now try and think hard about everything i buy - i still have my rubbish days though, we all do:rolleyes: .

i don't know if you have read martin's books, if not i think you would find them a great read (off ebay or new with cashback - use the site www.find-dvd.co.uk for books also).

i hope you don't mind, but as i read though i had a couple of thoughts that i'll mention. one was 'do you really need a deep fat fryer'? and the other was when you couldn't go to the wedding, 'could you take back the top/shoes you had just bought'?!......

re. the soa - have you used martin's sticky/protocol on this site for cheap home/car insurance and then cashback on top. i see you have life insurance, but what is the other insurance for? have you tried going through a broker for the life insurance?

has your DH approached his own mobile company for a better deal (do some research to show them that other providers have better deals etc). on the phones board there can be lots of great/free deals listed.

the nicotine gum! is that per month? an annual prescription card/certificate is less than that per year!? you can save over £1300 per year, if i have got that right...

you may not realise it, but this thread has been inspiring to others - so please keep (it) going and i really do wish you lots of luck with everything x

[Deleted User]

firesidemaid wrote: »

first of all are you entitled to any ctc or wtc at all?

All though we are entitled to wtc, as DH earns too much we are only entitled to £1.17

firesidemaid wrote: »

do you know that in tescos you can use any money-off coupons - you don't have to buy the items as long as they sell them. you can also use sainsburys etc '£5 off a £50 shop etc'. i save loads in this way - i do smaller shops so i can use more coupons!

Wasn’t aware of that thanks, will keep it in mind next time I get any coupons

firesidemaid wrote: »

re takeaways. use clubcard deals for meals out or takeaways (just started doing pizza hut for a limited time) - also double up your points to spend on wine either. re. indian takeaways - i just get a veg side dish and a plain naan. if it's me and OH we get onion bhaji starter to share, a chicken main, a side dish and 2 naans - this comes to about £10/11 only. if you need rice, boil it at home. i have mango chutney and lime pickle (tescos is nice) at home too.

We tend buy a curry mix and some poppadums now as a cheap alternative rather than take aways. I must admit it is taking some getting used to.

firesidemaid wrote: »

try and get the things you know you need regularly, cheaply - buy more when they are on offer. meal plan where you can - if you think about it you only need 7 b/fasts, 7 lunches and 7 dinners. this should/could be done very cheap. (when i saw you had spent £30 on steak - this would have to last my OH for about 10 meals at that price). but if you like it buy it only when on offer and put in freezer - likewise for other meats.

I usually get the regular stuff as cheaply as possible and buy enough to last the month, the steak is not something that we buy regularly.

firesidemaid wrote: »

re. alcohol. if i have it in i will drink it, so now i don't buy it or i buy the mini botles ie. one large glass and just have that. or get it but get great deals/offers, try cheaper bottles (that have been awarded/recommended).

Thanks, something worth keeping in mind.

firesidemaid wrote: »

think about any 'bargains' you buy - do you really need them? would you buy them if they were full price? i now try and think hard about everything i buy - i still have my rubbish days though, we all do .

This is something that I can say I do, I only try and buy if I know that it is going to be used more than once and not stuffed in a cupboard some where for all eternity.

firesidemaid wrote: »

i don't know if you have read martin's books, if not i think you would find them a great read (off ebay or new with cashback - use the site www.find-dvd.co.uk for books also).

I have got the Thrity Ways book, which I didn’t spend a penny on as I got it for my birthday

firesidemaid wrote: »

i hope you don't mind, but as i read though i had a couple of thoughts that i'll mention. one was 'do you really need a deep fat fryer'? and the other was when you couldn't go to the wedding, 'could you take back the top/shoes you had just bought'?!......

The deep fat fryer we did need in all honesty and does get used, same with the things I bought for the wedding that I didn’t attend.

firesidemaid wrote: »

re. the soa - have you used martin's sticky/protocol on this site for cheap home/car insurance and then cashback on top. i see you have life insurance, but what is the other insurance for? have you tried going through a broker for the life insurance?

I have found out that the other insurance is Critical Illness insurance. Both insurances are as cheap as we can find them, last year we were paying nearly £500 a month for the insurances.

firesidemaid wrote: »

has your DH approached his own mobile company for a better deal (do some research to show them that other providers have better deals etc). on the phones board there can be lots of great/free deals listed.

The deal we have with Vodafone at the moment gave us £50 cash back and a 12 month contract, however we have not signed the said contract as it is still in the kitchen.

firesidemaid wrote: »

the nicotine gum! is that per month? an annual prescription card/certificate is less than that per year!? you can save over £1300 per year, if i have got that right...

Yup it is. DH can’t stand the Nicorette gum as it makes him ill and therefore we buy the NicAssist gum from Boots. I get the points and this in turn gets used for nappies for DD and toiletries etc.

firesidemaid wrote: »

you may not realise it, but this thread has been inspiring to others - so please keep (it) going and i really do wish you lots of luck with everything x

Thanks I didn’t think that anyone read my ramblings so it’s nice to know that there is the help about.

[Deleted User]

Morning all,

A new day and a new week. DD is not in the best of moods this morning, I do hope that she hasn’t discovered that as she will be two on Friday she can start with the terribleness.

Today, DS is at pre-school and I have housework to do in between resting my hip.

So I am aiming for today being a NSD as much as possible.

hypno06

Ah, the terrible twos.......they don't last long. Only about 20 years or so :eek:

[Deleted User]

Lol@Hypno...20 years indeed! :rotfl:

I forgot to mention earlier that I managed to snaffle a £2 coin off DH last night and this has been put in the pot

As I am joining Hypno and the rest of the gang in the housework challenge thingy, I thought that I’d better devise some sort of list so that I know where I am up to; so for today I am aiming to complete the following:

• [strike]Clean bathroom totally[/strike]
• Hoover house totally
• Clean all glass, e.g patio doors, dining room table etc
• Polish everywhere downstairs
• Clean kitchen
• [strike]Order shopping online for Friday - in hand[/strike]

Extra’s that I plan to do are:

• Drink tea
• Eat biccies
• [strike]Ring DS’s primary school regarding his school uniform for September[/strike]
• Make dinner for tonight…creamy peppercorn chicken from a jar in the cupboard

Will be back to update later.

PercyPig

Morning everyone

I've just started to collect £2 coins as I got one in some change last week. Then I received 4 in some change for something small I had bought with a £10 on Saturday so already have £10 :j I was in a bit of a dilemma whether to save all 4 or not as I was hoping to use the change from the tenner for something else but thought I would save them all as I have only just started! I was anticipating only get 1 or 2 at a time

Have a good day everyone.

Percy