Living within my means-the challenge

beckseven

The Alliance and Leicester bank account doesnt appear to be fully set up yet so ho hum. I had my second scan today and all was well-we didn't ask to know the sex as I want the surprise! i get paid today but have my MOT, service and tax due this month-with the additional tax and some standby I should have £100 towards this but the rest will have to come from me. My plan for this month is to spend as little as possible and to earn extra money to pay for it. The plan is 1. Ebay Karen Millen top ( need to get this dry cleaned which is a bit of a pain) 2. See if I can get any mystery shops 3. cash in some 2ps. 4. See what else I can ebay perhaps Amazon for extra cash. First step first-am going to put Karen Millen top in for dry cleaning tomorrow. I bought a maternity tankini top from ebay yesterday for £1.99-bargain-will wear it with some black bikini bottoms i already have as the bottom half of me hasn't really grown-but the top part has and I really couldn't get away with wearing my normal swimming costume anymore. Had a walk of shame from the changing rooms to the swimming pool when we were on hols last week!! Through sheer gluttony I managed to put on 4 pounds in a week and a half-I've decided to have a complete overhaul of my diet and stop eating chocolate and crisps and such rubbish. I've got into really bad eating habits and really don't want to end up a right heifer after I've had the baby so am going shopping today for healthy food.

beckseven

Ok-have looked at my finances and worked out I have £257 to live on for the month. This is actually better than it sounds as I just have to get my tax (6months at £79.75) and my mot and service and some bits off my credit card and then the rest is just for bits and bobs I need. This month is my no spend unless absolutely necessary month and I'll be keeping a strict eye on myself.

lucielle

Hope the plan works.
L

beckseven

Thanks Lucielle. So far so good-I've still got £257 left for the month but about to pay my Mbna card so will be a bit less. I've also found a voucher that I got when I bought my card last year for free mot and £20 off service at Ford so I'll definitely be using that! bad news on Karen Millen top though. I checked it in the wardrobe and the bottom of the top has tiny pulls in in-almost like tiny holes. I daren't put it on ebay as I know I will get a lot of grief if I sell it. ho hum-the next plan of action is to check mystery shops so will do that now. Did my shop tonight and spent £75-wasn't too bad seeing as I bulk bought toilet rolls and dishwasher tablets, moisturiser and pregnancy vitamins and lots of meat. I was lucky and got loads of whoopsies-joint of beef for £4, lots of salmon for £2.50, 2 pizzas at 59p each. After reading the OS board I was inspired to buy some different cuts of meat so got some pork belly slices which I am going to do spare rib style with honey and five spices with some egg fried rice and also got some casserole beef to make a casserole/stew. I'll get some ideas from the clever OS people. I made an 'interesting' lunch-well if you can call eating at 3am lunchtime!- out of leftovers that I know previously I would have chucked away that I found in the fridge. Tonight I am eating cold new potatoes and broccoli mixed with a tin of pilchards in tomato sauce and some sesame seeds-doesn't that sound revolting! Oh well waste not want not and my guinea pigs got the broccoli stalk!

lucielle

Lunch sounds.........interesting. I must admit I do like left over roast veg with lefover white sauce if I have been making a vegetarian lasagne.
L

beckseven

Tonight is my last night for well over a year-hurrah! I am so pleased as I find it very hard to sleep during the day. Mind you i'm sure I'll be up a few times in the night come January! I paid off £25 from my MBNA card which ate into 5.68 of my budget leaving me 252.16 for the month. tomorrow I have to go into town to get a maternity bra-there is no getting away from it that I need to get one now and don't want to end up with boobs down to my ankles so will have to spend the money. Also need to get some stretch mark cream. I'm buying my DS some new shoes tomorrow as well but my uncle kindly gave me £40 to spend on DS as a present so will buy shoes and the remainder of the money will go towards his football lessons. He's not keen to be out of crocs though-i bought him a pair from ebay that were good as new for £10 and he has worn them all summer come rain or shine! I said to him that we were going to buy shoes tomorrow and he said 'Yes, new Crocs' and I said 'No shoes because it'll be too cold for Crocs soon' and this caused a mini paddy. I'm hoping that actually taking him to choose a new pair will help or else I am in for an embarassing time in Clarks! Will look on retail eyes for a mystery shopping job in the town i am going to to earn a couple of extra quid. we had reduced price pizzas tonight(59p0 and I was going to pop out and buy some salad when i suddenly remembered how I was going to be OS from now on so I used my julienne peeler to make a carrot salad with the carrots I already had in the fridge. Tomorrow I'm going to make a stew so I'll see how that goes.

beckseven

Have spent all weekend making numerous crumbles etc using my apples and am going to make a sausage and apple pie using Lucielle's recipe this week also. Had to fork out £20 on maternity bras and 8.99 on stretchmark cream on Thursday so left with £213.17 and will have to get tax and mot and service with this so very tight month. Have been a good girl and turned down going out for a meal-was just really honest and said I had no money due to car outgoings! Will check for mystery shops and will cash in my 2ps and 1ps to get some more available cash. I hate being so bloody skint and my husband is not being very supportive to be honest. He just tells me that i should earn more money and that it's not his problem-he thinks he is so flipping superior to me now that he earns more than me-we used to earn the same and I used to be the one paying for things to help him out-I don't remember telling him that he should earn more money-I get a bit sick of his selfish attitude tbh-sometimes it doesn't feel much like a partnership and i HATE talking about money with him. To be fair he gave me quite a lot of money towards my car so not as bad as I'm making out (feeling very hormonal due to pregancy at the moment!) but money has always been a point over what we argue. It annoyed me this weekend because he said this weekend that he wants to get a new telly (costing about £700!) when there is nothing wrong with our current one (knock wood!). When I said that we can't afford it he got a bit nasty and said 'It's my money I can do what I want with it' when really it isn't and it is our family's money. He reckons that I am a scrooge with money and never want to buy anything but i think that I am just realistic and that I am going to be the one scrabbling around for pennies in the sofa when I am on maternity leave. I'm dreading it tbh-he keeps asking me if i am saving but saving with what?? I'm doing all the shifts i can to earn extra so hopefully I will have a bit more saved. I'm in despair really as i know he will not be pleased if i haven't got more savings.

lucielle

Hi Beckseven, hope the pie turns out great. Sending a virtual hug as I get the feeling you are a bit down. You are working really hard and try not to let OH get to you. Your debt totals are moving in the right direction so you should be proud of what you achieved.
L

beckseven

Thanks Lucielle-I think I am feeling a bit down today-had a bit of a bad weekend with quite a few rows-Dh thinks I am miserable all the time and said 'If we didn't have kids i would leave you'. He often says horrible things like that in the heat of the moment but at the moment because I feel like a blimp it makes me feel awful. think I am feeling hormonal and unattractive because I am pregnant and sick of being skint and I think that my mot and service is weighing heavy on me. not all doom and gloom though-will be ok tomoroow and am looking forward to starting a veggie patch with carrots to stick two fingers up to DH and show him that i can do something on my own!

lucielle

Not wanting to put a dampner on your veggie patch but you are a bit late in the season. Perhaps try growing your own garlic, or if you have room get some raspberry canes as these are dead easy to grow. You can get autumn sown onion set but they have never worked for me. HTH
L