Getting & staying debt free, whatever happens!

Bluegreen143 · 8 May 2018 at 11:12PM

Had a reasonably frugal day

went to a park with DS, a friend and her toddler (the kind with streams and trees and mossy logs and tangled undergrowth, not the kind with swings and see-saws) and we had a lovely hour and a half rambling about, with DS enjoying getting muddy in puddles, playing with sticks and chasing ducks.

In the afternoon I went to Lidl and Tesco, predominantly sticking to my list except getting a cat toy and new cat bowls in Tesco. To be fair the cat is quite neglected since my son came along and doesn't get much so I felt the toy was a justifiable expense.

Here's what I got:

Lidl

Food - £38.38

Potatoes 2.5kg
Frozen sweetcorn
Cauliflower
Bananas 2kg
Butternut squash
Satsumas
Onions
Leeks
Nectarines
Mixed peppers 3pk
Courgette
Cucumber
Gala apple bag
Aubergine
Garlic
Ginger
Cherry tomatoes
Lemons

Bacon
Chicken legs 1kg
Chicken sandwich meat 12slices

Mature cheddar 350g
Whole milk 4pints x2
Unsalted butter
Salted butter

Sliced loaf x2

Pasta 500g
Basmati rice 1kg
Dried apricots
Oatcakes
Tinned chickpeas x2
Chopped tomatoes x3
Cream of tomato soup
Raspberry jam
Peanut choco bars 6pk ** these and the next two items are for my husband's work van
30pk own brand crisps
Cola x3

Husband's spending pot - £13.58

Beer x12

Household spends - £5.33

Pullups for DS at night
Dishwasher tabs 60pk

Tesco - £15.15

Pets - £11.65

Cat litter
Dry cat food 3kg
Wet cat food 12pk
Cat treats
Cat bowls x2
Cat toy

Medical

Vitamin D supplements

All in all I'm pretty pleased, especially with the food spend as it's the first time it's been under the target £40 in a while. I hopefully won't need a top-up shop at all as I got two milks and two breads (half the bread will be frozen tonight).

beanielou · 9 May 2018 at 10:55AM

Well done

Bluegreen143 · 9 May 2018 at 2:04PM

Had to nip to Lidl again today - realised I had forgotten (own brand) Weetabix yesterday (cost £1.89). So much for no top up shops! That should be us though. I also bought a new tin opener because our current one, which is two weeks old (it replaced an ancient one which literally fell apart) doesnt actually work at all, I discovered today when trying to open a tin of tomatoes :mad: had to use a knife in the end! Moved the £2.99 from our entertainment budget to home & garden to cover it.

Meeting some friends & toddlers this afternoon. Its in a park but as its pouring I think the meet up will happen in the coffee shop. This is why I budget a small amount each month in my LO/SAHM budget - it covers things like this or going to soft play or playgroup. Will update tonight once I know what we have spent.

Bluegreen143 · 10 May 2018 at 7:54AM

Spent £6 from our SAHM/toddler budget on hot chocolate & a pastry on our play date yesterday.

YNAB categories

Spending - needs

Petrol & parking - £10.05/£50
Food - £44.67/£120
Household - £5.33/£18.51
Pets - £11.84/£20
Medical/dental - £6.49/£6.49
Clothes - £35/£40

Spending - wants

Husband spends - £13.58/£75
My spends - £0/£0
SAHM/toddler - £7.50/£34
Entertainment - £41.24/£47.01
Home & garden - £2.99/£2.99
Charity - £0/£0

Cant remember if I said yesterday that I returned those flip flops to Tesco so thats £5 back in the clothing budget

Today likely to be a quiet day - meant to be going a walk with a friend but she cancelled. Will probably take to toddler to local park and/or library so likely to be no or minimal spends. If I have the ingredients I will make some play dough - otherwise we can do painting if he needs entertaining.

beanielou · 10 May 2018 at 9:34AM

I used to like making play dough with my DS

Bluegreen143 · 10 May 2018 at 4:19PM

It is fun isn’t it Beanielou? I didn’t get round to making any today but will tomorrow afternoon after playgroup I think.

No spends from me today, yay! Just a lazy day, spent most of the morning pottering, doing housework etc then I took DS to the library this afternoon for some new reading. Also got myself an interesting-looking new budget cooking book called “Home Economics” - the lady has a blog I think. I read about her online so reserved the book to try out. If I love it I may buy it further on down the line but you can’t beat free from the library!

DH was home early today so he is playing in the garden with DS while I am having a rest. Feeling very sick indeed today

as I’m worse in the afternoons, I made a wee fish pie for DS and I this morning so I can just bung it in the oven. Lots of extra veg in it and sweet potato mixed in the mash on the top

DH wont eat fish pie so I defrosted an extra salmon fillet and cut him up some chips so that’ll be easy to all bung in the oven together (or he can deep fry them himself if he wants).

Just checked DHs bank account and theres a couple of spends I need to check with him before putting in YNAB. Annoyingly two Lidl spends :mad: we need to work on him nipping to the shop. Not sure whether they were food or beer which impacts what budget they come from. I think the shops must have happened before I did my YNAB fresh start the other day but annoyingly hadnt come off yet.

Should be a cheap day tomorrow - £2 entry to playgroup. Its my turn to open up and do snack but you claim the cost back. Theres usually leftovers to take home but I take less cash back to account for this (Im also temporarily the treasurer and I know the figures are not good, we are at risk of closing) so may have a small spend to go on our food account.

beanielou · 10 May 2018 at 8:28PM

Libraries are great for trying books out

Bluegreen143 · 10 May 2018 at 10:15PM

Bluegreen143 wrote: »

- cancel Spotify
[STRIKE]- sit down with DH to apply for 0% balance transfer card in his name to move balances too (worried I won't get accepted now as a SAHM though they're both currently in my name, he's more than happy to move them to his name as it's both our debt. Our finances are totally shared)[/STRIKE] DONE tonight and accepted for 25 month interest free Barclaycard with transfer fee to be credited back. Transferred the Halifax balance initially as wasn't sure how much I could get. But his credit limit is enough for both cards so I will transfer the Tesco one too. I plan on closing the Tesco card, I'm keeping Halifax open as it's my oldest credit card/will be my only one when I close Tesco, but plan to just keep it in my drawer and use for one transaction a month or so to keep it open
- shop around for a new internet package as our initial introductory offer has ended
- return unwanted flipflops from earlier to get £5 back
[STRIKE]- pay Tesco card - done before I saved this post[/STRIKE]

Just to note that I did the broadband switch tonight - will be dropping from £43.99 to £20 a month and twice as fast

I forgot to say before I also returned the flipflops in question the other day. Also just cancelled my Spotify premium account saving £9.99 a month - I will really miss this one but will do without for now. I've cancelled it before and it's no problem going back to it and cancelling as it's all a flexible contract anyway.

Had to move some money about in YNAB to account for the spends from before my fresh start that popped up from Lidl (one was a mini food shop I'd mentioned on here, the other was beer for DH) and because I'd forgotten we haven't paid yet for our private scan on Saturday (£40). Means every category is SUPER tight but I'm determined to get to payday without adding to the credit card or stealing from our savings pots. It will help when I get my pay for this month from my side job - hoping I get it sooner rather than later as the payment date can vary. Here's an update on our categories:

Spending - needs
Petrol & parking .................... £10.05/£35
Groceries (food) .................... £51.24/£120
Groceries (household)........... £5.33/£18.51
Groceries (pets) .....................£12.22/ £20
Medical/dental ....................... £6.49/£46.49
Clothes .................................. £35/£35

Spending - wants
Husband ............................... £35.13/£70
Me ........................................ £0
DS/SAHM budget ................. £7.50/£23.85
Entertainment & socialising .. £42.39/£42.39
Home & garden .................... £2.99/£2.99
Charity .................................. £0

Bluegreen143 · 10 May 2018 at 10:31PM

ARGH! So frustrating! I thought my gas & electric payment had come out before I did my fresh start but it hadn't. Had to move a bit around including taking a good bit of it from our Christmas fund :mad: this has taught me to be very careful with accounting particularly when starting mid-month! How frustrating. Once this first couple of weeks has passed and DH has been paid we should be able to cover everything and make extra payments on the debts too.

beanielou · 10 May 2018 at 10:40PM

So annoying.
At least you have it sorted out.

Getting & staying debt free, whatever happens!

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