Showing posts with label BUDGET. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BUDGET. Show all posts
Monday, 27 February 2012
Drum roll please…
... we have made our 1st mortgage overpayment. In true frugal style rounding down the balance we have overpaid £106.00. The first of many I hope.
Monday, 5 December 2011
Money Round Up
As mentioned briefly in yesterday’s post I had a meeting with the bank. It was one of those where they call you in and try and sell you some sort of insurance/new bank account etc. I do find these things useful though, as they often ask questions that I can’t answer which sometimes makes me worry as I like to think I am fairly on the ball where money is concerned.
We looked at my accounts and she question why one was at zero balance. I explained that once I get paid into that account the money gets moved around for bills and savings. I also like to see that the accounts where “rounded up”. I have moved some money around to make use of this years ISA allowance. The bank suggests that you have 3 months or £3k as an emergency fund and we are a long way from having that. Still it gives us something to aim for next year.
This week will be a fairly low spend week. Food wise all we need is mushy peas, baked beans and butter, along with cat food and washing powder. I tried Aldi’s own brand powder last month and it does the job. The only other spend will be to fill up with petrol.
And to finish I found 10p while tidying the bedroom which went straight into the sealed pot to start the challenge.
SFT - I have no idea where the sixpence came from, I must have got it in change from somewhere. It's sat on the side in the kitchen as I don't know what to do with it!
We looked at my accounts and she question why one was at zero balance. I explained that once I get paid into that account the money gets moved around for bills and savings. I also like to see that the accounts where “rounded up”. I have moved some money around to make use of this years ISA allowance. The bank suggests that you have 3 months or £3k as an emergency fund and we are a long way from having that. Still it gives us something to aim for next year.
This week will be a fairly low spend week. Food wise all we need is mushy peas, baked beans and butter, along with cat food and washing powder. I tried Aldi’s own brand powder last month and it does the job. The only other spend will be to fill up with petrol.
And to finish I found 10p while tidying the bedroom which went straight into the sealed pot to start the challenge.
SFT - I have no idea where the sixpence came from, I must have got it in change from somewhere. It's sat on the side in the kitchen as I don't know what to do with it!
Saturday, 1 October 2011
OCTOBER TARGETS
FINANCES
I really want to cut back on spending this month. I don’t think that we make too many unnecessary purchases, however our down fall are takeaways. We have a freezer full of food and I’m determined to use it this month. I am going to try and only have £10 each week to spend on groceries. To be honest I have no idea if this will be possible but am up for the challenge. All we should need is fresh veg, bread and milk.
We are having a loft hatch and ladder fitted this month which is £235. I have saved this up but would love to try and replace some of this by the end of the month from cutting back.
I have yet to venture onto ebay but hope to give selling ago this month. And also have an old mobile that I’d like to sell.
Hopefully we can claim attendance allowance for mum, which will help with paying for the careers. I have a 44 page form that needs filling in!
I also want to have some sort of plan for the next 12 months. We have managed on one salary for over a year and its just now that we have a little bit more money coming in. It would be very tempting to “waste” this but we both would like to have an overseas holiday next year so we need to sort out what we want/need to save for that and if we can save any for our emergency fund – which has been dramatically reduced over the last year.
HEALTH
I want feel healthier. I have felt so tried and have had a few migraines which I think have partly been due to stress but also think that if I was healthier might be able to deal with the stress better. I know that when I eat better, I feel better. Also I haven’t been swimming for a while due to looking after mum but I have missed it so will make a real effort to go this month.
HOME
The house is a complete mess, each room needs de-cluttering and then decorating. As mentioned we are having a loft hatch fitted which will enable us to get into the loft (we can’t at the moment due to its current location). I need to make a list of what to do and decide what to do first – there just seems to be sooo much to do.
FUN
This month I want to spend time with friends I haven't seen in a while if possible. I have already arranged to call to see a friend tomorrow to give her some strawberry plants I got from Freecycle and catch up. I also hope to go out for a curry (using a Groupon voucher) with another friend. She is in the process of moving house so we might not manage it this month.
At the end of the month another friend and me have booked on a Glass Creations course. It is a free half day course the council is running. We are also doing a rug making one in November. So all in all even though I will be out and about it isn't costing alot.
I think thats all for now - wish me luck!
FINANCES
I really want to cut back on spending this month. I don’t think that we make too many unnecessary purchases, however our down fall are takeaways. We have a freezer full of food and I’m determined to use it this month. I am going to try and only have £10 each week to spend on groceries. To be honest I have no idea if this will be possible but am up for the challenge. All we should need is fresh veg, bread and milk.
We are having a loft hatch and ladder fitted this month which is £235. I have saved this up but would love to try and replace some of this by the end of the month from cutting back.
I have yet to venture onto ebay but hope to give selling ago this month. And also have an old mobile that I’d like to sell.
Hopefully we can claim attendance allowance for mum, which will help with paying for the careers. I have a 44 page form that needs filling in!
I also want to have some sort of plan for the next 12 months. We have managed on one salary for over a year and its just now that we have a little bit more money coming in. It would be very tempting to “waste” this but we both would like to have an overseas holiday next year so we need to sort out what we want/need to save for that and if we can save any for our emergency fund – which has been dramatically reduced over the last year.
HEALTH
I want feel healthier. I have felt so tried and have had a few migraines which I think have partly been due to stress but also think that if I was healthier might be able to deal with the stress better. I know that when I eat better, I feel better. Also I haven’t been swimming for a while due to looking after mum but I have missed it so will make a real effort to go this month.
HOME
The house is a complete mess, each room needs de-cluttering and then decorating. As mentioned we are having a loft hatch fitted which will enable us to get into the loft (we can’t at the moment due to its current location). I need to make a list of what to do and decide what to do first – there just seems to be sooo much to do.
FUN
This month I want to spend time with friends I haven't seen in a while if possible. I have already arranged to call to see a friend tomorrow to give her some strawberry plants I got from Freecycle and catch up. I also hope to go out for a curry (using a Groupon voucher) with another friend. She is in the process of moving house so we might not manage it this month.
At the end of the month another friend and me have booked on a Glass Creations course. It is a free half day course the council is running. We are also doing a rug making one in November. So all in all even though I will be out and about it isn't costing alot.
I think thats all for now - wish me luck!
Friday, 26 November 2010
Days Off
I have got a long weekend with Friday and Monday off - yay :).
There are lots of things I want to achive on these four days. They are:
Decorate the Kitchen - Strip wallpaper off, prep walls (fill in holes), paint ceiling, paint wall
Do ALL ironing
Clean oven
Start sorting out spare room - At the moment you can't even set foot in it. I want to try and sort out what needs to be binned, freecycled, stuff to sell on ebay/car boot and charity shop
Put books on Amazon/Green Met
Batch cooking - Meat man delivering today so going to make shepherds pie, bolognese (for spag bol & lasagne) and curry to freeze
Tidy main bedroom
Type DH CV
Drop duvet off at laundrette (depends on weather)
Finalise budget for next year
Catch up on recorded tv
Hopefully will get it all done.
There are lots of things I want to achive on these four days. They are:
Decorate the Kitchen - Strip wallpaper off, prep walls (fill in holes), paint ceiling, paint wall
Do ALL ironing
Clean oven
Start sorting out spare room - At the moment you can't even set foot in it. I want to try and sort out what needs to be binned, freecycled, stuff to sell on ebay/car boot and charity shop
Put books on Amazon/Green Met
Batch cooking - Meat man delivering today so going to make shepherds pie, bolognese (for spag bol & lasagne) and curry to freeze
Tidy main bedroom
Type DH CV
Drop duvet off at laundrette (depends on weather)
Finalise budget for next year
Catch up on recorded tv
Hopefully will get it all done.
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Update
New list is now up (once I figure out how to put it down the side of my blog!) still need one more challenge so have got my thinking cap on. Just to remind you that I had to change some of the items on the list due to money or lack of it.
I have set a monthly budget of £200 to include food, cleaning and laundry products, cat food and litter and toiletries. Things like eating out and takeaways come from a different pot. I have no idea if we will keep to this but have to start somewhere. I am cooking meals from scratch and even made bread which was very heavy and reminded me of the scene in the film “About a Boy” where he throws the bread to the ducks and it kills one. OH begged for some shop brought bread and have managed to get it all from the whoopiesd shelf so far.
I’m also trying to waste less too and use left overs. I got lots of meals from one medium chicken
It did: Roast chicken dinner x 3 portions
Chicken and leek pie x 4 portions
Chicken sandwich x 1
Chicken soup x 4 portions
I did a large online shop at the beginning of January with just buying fresh veg, fruit and milk plus any whoopies I come across, that I know we will use. I was thinking of getting an online shop each month but think I might try and go 6-8 weeks. The main things I get from online is cat food and litter and tinned food, as we don’t own a car these things can be heavy to carry.
I am also recording what we spend out money on to see if there is any pattern. When I did this a few years ago I found when we just popped to the local shops for one item such as milk we always came back with a few other things that we didn’t need. So hopefully doing this again may help us to make further cutbacks.
I have set a monthly budget of £200 to include food, cleaning and laundry products, cat food and litter and toiletries. Things like eating out and takeaways come from a different pot. I have no idea if we will keep to this but have to start somewhere. I am cooking meals from scratch and even made bread which was very heavy and reminded me of the scene in the film “About a Boy” where he throws the bread to the ducks and it kills one. OH begged for some shop brought bread and have managed to get it all from the whoopiesd shelf so far.
I’m also trying to waste less too and use left overs. I got lots of meals from one medium chicken
It did: Roast chicken dinner x 3 portions
Chicken and leek pie x 4 portions
Chicken sandwich x 1
Chicken soup x 4 portions
I did a large online shop at the beginning of January with just buying fresh veg, fruit and milk plus any whoopies I come across, that I know we will use. I was thinking of getting an online shop each month but think I might try and go 6-8 weeks. The main things I get from online is cat food and litter and tinned food, as we don’t own a car these things can be heavy to carry.
I am also recording what we spend out money on to see if there is any pattern. When I did this a few years ago I found when we just popped to the local shops for one item such as milk we always came back with a few other things that we didn’t need. So hopefully doing this again may help us to make further cutbacks.
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