Get a grip !

Skint_yet_Again · 6 February 2017 at 10:12PM

I managed to get up and go into work today. Porridge for brekkie. Called off for some petrol on the way in as I've been running on fumes since last week :eek: but thankfully despite the orange light I did make it to the garage. I put £20 in so that should hopefully last 2 weeks. I resisted the smell of the on-site bakery and just got some cough sweets. They didn't have any sugar free ones so I tried not to eat too many

When I left work at lunch time the smell of mcD's was so enticing but I managed to resist ! I had bought some liver in aldi on Friday £1.11 for 507g so I pan fried about a third with onions and made some gravy granules and a jacket potato nuked in the microwave. Was lovely and probably cost less than £1. Also meant I didn't need to cook a meal tonight as DS can have a batch cooked freezer meal. My DP's get me oxo gravy granules in bulk with their book card

Heating has been off all day, just on this evening for 15 minutes to take the chill off whilst DS has a shower & gets ready for work. Thankfully I got free insulation whilst DS was at college and I was on tax credits so the house retains its heat quite well.

Car tax is due at the end of this month and will be about £140. I usually save over the year and pay off in one so I have the funds but I may look at direct debit - not sure if its more expensive.

Also need to get my hair done as I'm starting to look like a grey stripe badger ! I still have some Christmas money left from DP's so may use that - I usually pay £40 for a cut & colour.

Fairly pleased with my spends today. Managed to save a little too.

savingwannabe · 7 February 2017 at 10:30AM

Hello Well done on saving money. Gosh you will hate posting as we will all stalk you with money saving ways for savings.

OMG I have never paid £40 for a hair cut. What do you get done? my hair cut is a bob. My hairdresser visits my house and she is lovely. Ask all your friends who cuts their hair. Someone is bound to have a lovely cut from a reasonable priced hairdresser it is far better than going to a posh salon. Can you dye it yourself?

Sugar free Strepsils were on offer in asd* a few weeks ago? Do you know you can do a search on moneysupermarket for best prices in all supermarkets and stock up on them.

Have a good day.

Skint_yet_Again · 7 February 2017 at 10:27PM

Thanks for the tip about cough sweets savingwannabe. Where I get petrol it is only a small Tesco express so they didn't have any sugar free but I will get some for my "medicine" cupboard

£40 is cheap for a hair cut here unless you go to the college as a guinea pig.

I go to someone who works from home and that price includes cut, base colour, foils and blow dry. I usually manage to last 6-8 weeks between visits so £20 a month. I tried doing it at home myself but despite trying lots of colours I didn't really like the results. A posh salon here is £70+

All the rain we've had has washed my car. I can't physically manage to do it myself any more and I don't take it to the car wash

... It gets a wash and valet as part of the mot and service all included in my service plan. My last car was black and looked dirty all the time so this time I went for a metallic grey one - and they gave me paint protection treatment free as part of the deal so I don't buy any fancy car wash/polish treatments

Very tired today but managed to cook a roast earlier. Leftovers sliced up and put in the freezer. DS off to work in a minute then I think I will iron some trousers for work tomorrow and off to bed.

I have 6 pairs of work trousers, 4 black & 2 navy bought in Asda last year at £5 a pair. Usually one pair a day and then all bunged in a quick wash at the end of the week and a quick blast on the washing line they don't take long to dry. Most of my work tops are non-iron thankfully as I try not to do any ironing

Skint_yet_Again · 8 February 2017 at 5:04PM

Car tax reminder arrived today and its only £110 not £140 so that's a bonus ! Its £115.50 - a 5% surcharge to pay by monthly direct debit so no incentive to do that, so I think I'll stick to paying annually and gain the interest and keep the extra £5.50.

Had some morrisons curry noodles for lunch (cost 3 for 50p not 3 for £1 that I said before - so even cheaper!) with leftover pork and veg and some soy sauce.

savingwannabe · 8 February 2017 at 8:12PM

Well done. I cooked a chicken curry it's the only one I can cook. It was really nice and will do me for another couple of days.

Skint_yet_Again · 9 February 2017 at 11:31PM

Day off work today and a visit to the Doc resulted in 4 lots of pills

The only good thing about being diabetic is free prescriptions.

Spent most of the day sleeping, hopefully the antibiotics will kick in by tomorrow

Tried some chicken thighs tonight in a curry as have seen people raving about how cheap and yummy they are. They were ok but I prefer chicken breast and as the price is the same I think I'll stick with them.

aldi 700g frozen chicken breasts = £3.49 or 0.49p per 100g
500g chicken thighs fresh = £2.49 or 0.49p per 100g

Sometimes we get chicken from muscle foods when they are doing meat offers but I think the meat in aldi is good for the money.

savingwannabe · 10 February 2017 at 10:26AM

Have good rest you have earned it. I hope the pills work.

I eat chicken legs as they are cheaper.

The weather is quite chilly today. At least the days are getting brighter and summer is just round the corner.

Skint_yet_Again · 10 February 2017 at 6:29PM

Another day at home. At least its been a NSP/NPD.

The sun made an appearance first thing so I put some towels in the wash. By the time they had finished it had clouded over but I still put them out to blow on the line for a few hours. The heating came on at 4pm for 15 minutes so I finished them off on the radiators.

Found a cod fillet lurking in the freezer and had that with oven chips for lunch.

Had an email from the bank and I have earned £2.33 in rewards woo hoo .... its a start !

Skint_yet_Again · 11 February 2017 at 1:20PM

Blimey its cold this morning. DS stayed out at a friends last night so I'm still in bed with duvet and laptop keeping me warm. Will need to put the heating on when I get up.

Had a bacon roll for breakfast - it smelt lovely but I couldn't taste it :(hope antibiotics work soon. Will make some veg soup for lunch & we are having a roast chicken later which should have enough leftovers to last for a few meals / lunches

Aiming for another NSD/NPD today.

Have had to do some juggling with my finances this month as I forgot about my credit card bill £71.51 this month

and the extra gas / electric as I switched provider so have a smallish bill from eon of £14.34 plus new amount at co-op of £65 a month.

I have realised its not only a council tax free month this month (money put in holidays account) but also water rates (waste water) free so will use the credit of £31.33, bills money of £100 and credit left in my account end of last month £49.53 = £180.86 to cover car tax £110 and credit card £71.51 = £181.51 = 0.65p to pay

The gas & elec total £77.51 & 0.65p from above = £78.16 which will be covered by the direct debit previous amount budgeted in SOA of £58 and the rent increase DS is now paying of £20 a month = £78 plus 0.16p from the £5 buffer left in the SOA.

I will have to update my SOA to increase the "board" money from DS and take into account the gas & elec now £65 a month from March.

At least I shouldn't need to dip into savings to pay off the bills this month

Petrol spent £20/40 money left £20
Spending money left £27.56 roll on pay day !

Maiden_Mum · 11 February 2017 at 2:50PM

Hi Skint Again. You do sound very aware and organised with your incomings and outgoings which is good. I am trying to become more like that! I am also going to make use of the fact that it is a council tax and also water rates free month to pay for my car tax at the end of this month although unfortunately that is £285 for the year as it a 16l Mondeo. I am really trying to save at the moment and wish that my own diary was on this forum instead of Mortgage Free wannabe where I put it but do not know how to change it over.

Get a grip !

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