Getting back on the MFW Wagon

Needhelpsaving · 19 November 2016 at 4:19PM

Thanks for dropping by Beanielou!

Spent the day at home today - cleaning, sorting and decluttering. Still more to do, but it has amazed me how much rubbish has accumulated behind the cupboard doors.

I have a bag of clothes for the charity shop, a small bag of clothes that need to be recycled and possibly some ebay worthy items (I need to go through the bags more thoroughly). Have some paperwork to shred this evening once LO is in bed.

Not quite a no spend day, LO needed some replacement dance shoes (£8) as she had outgrown the last pair, but much less spending than a ‘normal’ weekend.

I have dusted off the mortgage piggy bank and have added any spare change I found lurking around.

The local cinema is showing Finding Dory tomorrow at a discounted rate - £6 for the 3 of us to see the film, I have booked this as a treat for LO. It will be her first cinema trip and at a fraction of the cost of the usual ticket prices. With snacks from home it should be a frugal trip.

Needhelpsaving · 20 November 2016 at 6:24PM

Frugal Fail
- Forgot to take snacks with us to cinema (left them in the kitchen by accident), ended up buying some popcorn and drinks there. - £13:mad:

Frugal wins
- Had our car parking ticket validated by cinema so did not have to pay for car parking in town centre. Saved £2.50
- Found and re-purposed some left-over fabric to make a cushion cover for LO room, instead of buying new.
- Needed some new cushion pads for the 3 cushions on our sofa as the old ones had gone a bit flat. Priced the right size up and they were coming in around £3-4 a piece (45x45cm cushions). I attempted an experiment to pad out the current ones and it worked!

Needhelpsaving · 22 November 2016 at 9:58PM

Spendy day yesterday with having to purchase petrol and food shop total spend £85.92. I have meal planned to stretch the food over two weeks and that included a couple of xmas related items to put by until nearer the time.

The planned heating reductions seem to be working so far. Meter readings submitted for both gas and electricity to ensure account is up to date. I have put washing machine on so that it is finished by the time I get in from work, ready to put onto the radiators to make the heating usage more effective. Also purchased a huge family sized blanket yesterday (£15) it stopped us using the gas fire last night and the same again tonight

Jobs for tomorrow;
- [STRIKE]Check whether last mobile phone bill from old provider has gone out and then cancel the DD.[/STRIKE] Done and joint account balanced with £19.44 moved to savings
- Sort out the cancellation of my contact lens contract and cancel DD.
- [STRIKE]Go through bags of suspected ebayable items to see what is saleable, then get any items ready to be listed. [/STRIKE] 4 lots identified and put through washing machine to freshen up before listing.
- [STRIKE]Planned NSD tomorrow as planning to stay in with LO [/STRIKE] NSD achieved :j

Last weeks clear out also had a positive knock on effect as now family members are asking about xmas gift ideas I have been able to give practical ideas for xmas gifts (pj’s/handbag etc)

Needhelpsaving · 23 November 2016 at 9:16PM

Three out of four targets achieved today, planning NSD's tomorrow and Friday to keep me on target.

Kittenkirst · 24 November 2016 at 8:10AM

Good progress so far Needhelpsaving

I love snuggling up in a lovely blanket on colder evenings, so much cozier :heartpuls:

I have a large bag for EBay for washing, ironing & then listing- it's all staring at me guiltily in the spare room. Good work on getting yours in the washer!

Needhelpsaving · 24 November 2016 at 9:22AM

Thanks for dropping by Kittenkirst - do you have a diary?

The accountability of this diary has meant that I am starting to question my decisions a little more, whereas before I would have had no qualms just purchasing things without thinking much of it.

I have just sat down to do the budget for next month and I have racked up money on joint CC, which with lots of smaller purchases didn't seem that much until I logged in to check the account - soooo annoyed with myself.

Anyway, I have given him his CC back (i cut mine up previously for this reason) and will be using cash for purchases this month - I need something that has more visibility I think.

Will be able to move about £40 to savings on payday, which will be topped up when I receive some money owed to me and under-spending on budget categories.

ETA- received some owed money this morning - moved straight to savings.

Needhelpsaving · 25 November 2016 at 9:38PM

Two more NSD's achieved :j

Pay day today, money shuffles complete - Credit card paid off and savings rounded up to £110.

Tomorrow will require some spends as we need bread, potatoes and eggs. Might also see if there is anything suitable for the works secret santa (budgeted).

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday - aiming for more NSD's

Needhelpsaving · 27 November 2016 at 8:21PM

Chilled family weekend, a total of £12 spent on a small grocery shop and part of secret Santa gift. We have really enjoyed the change of our pace and have taken the opportunity to continue decluttering the house.

Hope everyone has had a great weekend.

Maximum_Saving · 27 November 2016 at 9:55PM

Hello Needhelpsaving you seem to be making excellent progress. I am warm and cosy wrapped up in a blanket on this cold evening. I took my two kids shopping and didn't have much money. We thought the toilet rolls were expensive in Sainsbury. So we went off to Proper Job to buy a more affordable toilet roll. My children like to eat grapes and these are quite pricey. We bought a pack of grapes in Lidl. I am trying to pay off my mortgage. I do this with overpayments and have a Regular Saving Account to help me.

Kittenkirst · 27 November 2016 at 10:28PM

Hiya Needhelpsaving! Yes I've got a diary- completed on my house on 30th September and just made my first very very small overpayment- I'm a little bit addicted already I must say

Getting back on the MFW Wagon

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