From Blobby to Gobby

supersaver1000 · 15 February 2018 at 9:11AM

Cherryfudge wrote: »

That's pretty amazing! Well done

Thank you Cherryfudge

. Really nice of you to pop by :wave:

I did have a little bit of a bonus and there was no rates direct debit this month, so that was used. Next month there's no rates or water rates and I will pay both amounts off.

I need to do a bit of selling, check out PPI and I'm planning to do a bank swap to HSBC for the bonus. Debt-free day seems unbelievably close. :T:j:T:j:T

fatrab · 15 February 2018 at 11:05AM

Hi SS,

Just caught up on your diary.

I'm also combining weight loss with money saving as too much eating out played a part in getting me into my mess and up to the size I was.

It's definitely good to have a plan, and I agree focussing on the barcs card would be better if you're sure you can clear it. Having said that, paying off the loan would save you money in interest in the long run, but then you'd be looking at balance transfers later in the year.

I was doing balance transfer after balance transfer for a while and eventually realised that one day the debt needs to be paid so I'm down from £18000 three years ago to just over £4000 now.

Best of luck

supersaver1000 · 16 February 2018 at 7:55PM

fatrab wrote: »

Hi SS,

Best of luck

Thank you fatrab and thank you for popping by and giving me some ideas to work on.

SS :wave:

supersaver1000 · 17 February 2018 at 7:32PM

It is so hard balancing healthy eating with making savings.

I've looked at my azda delivery today and yes, there are veg and ingredients for a couple of home cooked things but also some fast food items. I know if I try and home cook every evening we will end up resorting to take-aways and throwing away some veg.

It hasn't helped that this week I've felt pretty rough with a bad cold. Makes it very hard to plan ahead for menus when your taste buds are suffering and your energy levels are waning.

I've got some really lovely recipes that aren't too difficult to make and which can use store cupboard items, and I've actually got a list of them stuck on the fridge. I think I need to get myself a folder together to use when I'm doing the Asda order. Right, that's a job for the morning then.

I spent a couple of hours today looking at my accounts and thinking about whether I should take on a new 0% credit card. Eventually decided against it as I am really certain that both credit cards will be biting the dust very very soon. Thanks for the advice fatrab, I'm glad I looked into it thoroughly (and btw congrats on the weight loss and the debt loss - very inspiring!). The interest is 4.2% on my loan, and I think I could save around £100 from my current plan (taking into account fees) but I'm really nervous about opening up anymore cards considering what I've just done with my sainsbugs account. I've got a couple of cards that I do only use for minimal spends and pay off every month - they both had over £7500 limits and I've reduced those to £1k, might even reduce them more later down the line (or close them). The exercise has prompted me to open up a new Sainsbugs Extra Saving account for my buffer fund. Its only 0.70% but I will put all the extra I save for credit card repayments in there until the 0% period is up. It won't be loads of money but nice to earn a bit of interest on it and it will be separate from my spending accounts. And I will definitely do the cur a/c transfer to HSBeeCee next month. I will lose the £36 annual cash back from hallifax but should gain £200, plus I will get the 5% monthly saver and put in the maximum towards the ccards. I think there's even a 6 month fee free overdraft so I could put that into the saver for 6 months

I need to get on with selling stuff and looking into PPI as that would be a good boost to the repayments. I've also got a couple of interviews lined up which would mean another couple of hundred for the pot each month, so I'm going to try my hardest.

Right have a good evening everyone, I will probably pop back soon and have a look at what everyone else has been up to for some inspiration.

supersaver1000 · 18 February 2018 at 9:33AM

Have started the folder of recipes/meal plans. I think I might need to purchase something that stands out a bit more so that I remember to refer to it. More work needed on it but its going to be stuck on the fridge for now.

Going to have a look at the PPI thing this afternoon, plus a bit of revision for the two interviews coming up. Both would involve travel, not at my expense, but would also give me around a £2k pay rise. Although I would like to stay working locally, I sat and worked out the financial benefits over the next 10 years and I really need to take a chance - nothing to lose.

fatrab · 20 February 2018 at 12:39PM

A few recipe ideas - https://thesavvyshopperscookbook.com/

Simple and cheap, I bought the book (used) for £4 on @mazon

Good luck with the interviews!

Cherryfudge · 20 February 2018 at 1:26PM

Just caught up with your diary - you are very organised!

Regarding all the veg, if you like soup it's worth adding a few soup ideas to your recipe file: most veggie soups seem to be fairly forgiving and you can add oddments of veg rather than let them go to waste, then freeze portions for when you're in a hurry or need something easy and quick. I went to the trouble of collecting my tried and tested soup recipes, printing them to A5, laminating them and having a small file of them in the kitchen where it's easy to reach. (That's how much I make vegetarian soups!) No need to do all that if it doesn't work for your lifestyle: it's just useful for me.

I was interested to see your projected bank swap as it's exactly what I was contemplating. It's ages since I swapped accounts and I could do better than I am. Wish I wasn't scared of doing it, lol!

I don't know why, either.

Have you looked at the Old Style board or TreadingonPlaymobile's diary for recipes? There are lots of things you could bulk cook on a quiet day and save yourself some pennies. Also there are plenty of low sugar, low fat ones which are super-good for you and save a few calories.

supersaver1000 · 21 February 2018 at 11:15PM

Thanks for all the recipe ideas Fatrab and Cherryfudge. Laminating the recipes is a good idea, its having them handy when you need them but also ideas for a week's recipes I need - so both really useful. I'll look at the threads again as well as looking out my soup recipes.

So a NSD today. Its really nice to see the bank balances static. But its reminded me that I need to do that A$da order - except for that garlic bread (yuk)!

supersaver1000 · 22 February 2018 at 7:52PM

Teeheehee another NSD. Have lots of eggs and cheese in the fridge, so looks like cheesey omelettes this evening.

Ooh and the water rates bill arrived today and it is lower than last year by nearly £14 a month. Nice little NSD treat.

Feel like I'm getting my saving mojo back

supersaver1000 · 25 February 2018 at 2:10PM

February payment to the sainsbugs card made so, totals are now: £7827.06 less £500 saved in the newly opened Sainsbugs Extra account (0.7% interest). I've just transferred another £1010 from our emergency fund so the cards, less the amount saved towards payments at end of 0% period is: £6317.06.

Aim is to get this down to £2000 maximum by November although it would be nice to be able to pay the whole lot off by then. Big ask but exciting :j

Had an Asd@ delivery over the weekend and a trip to @ldee. The cupboards are stuffed but still need a small spend today - probably at the c0-0p to take advantage of my 10% discount and there is 5% cash back on my H@lifax card if I spend over £5, plus the c0-0p cash back.

Good feeling to get the cupboards full for so much less.

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