Where have I been?

Sorry, once again, for the lack of posts. I suddenly had to deal with another round of huge changes at work (on a similar scale to a couple of years ago) and I have literally been swamped. It has been a really busy time though things are just about settling down now. We’ve also got the house finished. I know! Miracle of miracles! There are a few bits here and there that need to be done but we are actually ready to go on the market asnd those last few things can be done anytime – they aren’t critical. We’ve had a couple of estate agents up for valuations and we’ve also spoken to a financial advisor. Good news on both fronts. The house value hadn’t dropped quite as much as we thought (though I think we’ll have to take a lot less to actually get a sale) and it turns out we can borrow a lot more (for a lot less) than it seemed initially. Although we are on relatively small incomes we should make enough from selling this place to have a good deposit and the fact that we have no debt, other than the mortgage, has also been a big factor. So all good! Of course we sat here with it on the market for 18 months last time and had no offers so who knows? But the estate agents seemed positive and commented on how well presented it is so that is good. It was definitely worth the expense and hassle in replacing the upstairs windows and the front door.

I’m not going to look (very much!) at what is available until we’ve got an offer but over the last few weeks we’ve had a look online at houses in our area to get an idea of what is about. Now we have a higher budget to play with than we thought we know we can get something we will actually enjoy living in. I had begun to think it was going to be impossible to stay in our town (which we love living in) but we now it seems that we ought to be able to afford somewhere with 3 bedrooms, a bit of a garden and parking. Major, major, major result! The next couple of weeks will be busy with getting the energy survey done, choosing which agent to go with and getting the details and photographs done. But we are so close!

And now I have to calm down and carry on because these things take time. I’m thinking about rearranging my savings plan. I had been trying to get to £3k on my savings fund and am on just over £2k. However, I am now thinking that it might be better to divert my savings for the next few months towards to the house fund so we’ve got as much cash as possible at our disposal. Potentially we’ll have to do work on whatever house we might buy and I’d like to have cash saved for that. Maybe for central heating or a new bathroom or whatever. Ooh, exciting…

New food budget – phew!

The new food budget for the next month was available and I did a big shop! I am so glad – last month was far too tight for my liking! Anyway, we seemed to have run out of everything and I had to stock up on what I consider to be expensive items like coffee, cereal, cornflour, ketchup, clothes wash….you know…the real storecupboard stuff! And wow does it add up when you have to buy it all in one go! I couldn’t resist a few extra treats like some strawberries which my girlie is crazy about and also a pack of 8 chocolate chip brioche for 99p. For once I was actually really pleased with some of the prices on things such as:

• Lemon curd – 22p a jar from the Value range: good on a pice of toast in the evening and more budget/waistline friendly than buying a dessert!
• Yeast extract (ie fake Marmite) – 1.89 for a jar and much cheaper than the branded one. I was sceptical but budget conscious enough to give it a go. It isn’t quite the same but it’s close enough for it to be worth the saving!
• Honey 99p a jar in the value range.
• Cucumbers – 90p each or two for £1. Total no brainer! Plus we’ve been having cucumber and carrot sticks as an evening nibble lately so a winner for us.
• Toothpaste – £1 each. We’d run out both upstairs and downstairs so I picked the two on offer.
• Branflakes – 88p for a mahoosive box. I bought some of these last month (from the Tesco Value range) and was seriously impressed. They taste just as good as anyone else’s and are a fraction of the price. I sprinkle a few sultanas on mine – much cheaper than buying the kind with the fruit added!

I was really ******* off about the price increase on clothes wash. I can’t find a receipt but I’m pretty sure that Tesco’s colour clothes wash is usually £1.80. Has been for ages. I went to buy some yesterday and found that they were on offer at 2 for £4.50. WHAT?! Apparently it is now £2.49 for a single bottle. That’s a massive increase! I ended up having to buy the seriously budget version which was a much bigger bottle at £2.39. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not snobby about labels. It’s just that I’ve found using really cheap washing liquid can really fade your clothes. I only get away with wearing my clothes for years and years and years (as I realised I did when I sold some stuff on eBay) because I look after them well. I’ve tried a few budget brands before and was amazed at the difference (not in a good way). Anyway, this ‘Daisy’ brand claims to be a ‘colour’ friendly liquid so I guess I’ll find out!

My budget for the month is £200 and the big shop came to £62.78. This leave me with £137.22 to get to the end of April. However, this ought to be doable now that I’ve bought just about all of the storecupboard/washing type items that we’ll need for the month. Also we’ve started eating a fair bit of pasta. I went off pasta for a long time (only having any when I made a batch of lasagne) but I can’t deny that a) it’s quick and easy, b) it’s cheap and c) kids really do love it! The other day I concocted a sauce using half a tub of soft cheese, a chopped courgette, frozen peas and frozen sweetcorn – huge hit in the shoestring house! I’ll be making that one again…

Jan-March goal round-up and looking ahead for March-May

Back in January I decided that it would be a good idea to set myself some goals for the first ‘quarter’ rather than setting anything monthly. This has proved to be a good tactic. A month is too short and too many things can happen that are hard to change in such a short period of time. A quarter is a decent chunck of time in which to make real progress. So, how did I do?

1. Save £600 into my own ISA – done! Considering that January is one of the most expensive months of the year for us and that I had to spend over £400 on my car in the end I really don’t know how I achieved this! As in, I don’t technically earn enough money for this to have been possible with what my outgoings have been. I put some real effort into earning a bit extra last month/earlier this month and that just tipped it over and I made my target. I won’t always have the opportunity to earn a bit more so I took the chance while I could.

2. For Husband and I to save £500 into our House fund – done! We actually went over because of a tax refund. Without it we wouldn’t have made it as quite a few household expenses have come up over the last couple of months. But the good news is that we managed to pay for everything and also managed to save anyway.

3. Lose a stone – er, no. But I did manage to lose half a stone! Yay! Ok, so I put 3 pounds on and then lost 7 but still. Half a stone! I’m happy with that. Particularly considering how much cake I’ve eaten.

I’m really pleased with my progress. I read an article (which annoyingly I cannot now find) that said you should make a big effort to work towards your goals during the first 12 weeks of the year. The theory is that if you get off to a good start then the rest of the year follows suit. If not, the rest of the year will be an uphill struggle. I really took this to heart and am hoping that I’m officially on a roll! So, here are my goals for the next ‘quarter’ April-June.

1. Save £750 into my ISA. This is going to be a killer. Since I’ve been back from maternity leave (nearly a year now!) I’ve struggled to save £150 a month which I then pushed to £200. I’m now trying to push that to £250 a month. I don’t know if I can really manage it. It should be possible with real slashing of personal spending and depending on what expenses crop up that I cna’t forsee (there is bound to be something over 3 months – it just depends what it is and how much it costs). So. £750. Let’s give it a go! (BTW this is a fund I have a target on. If I manage to put back the whole £750 then I’ll only have £450 to go which is a real incentive as I want to get on with putting more £ into the House fund).

2. House fund – save £500. As I said before, we only ‘beat’ this target last quarter because of a refund. We’ve also had a hit through our child/working tax credits being completely cut which is a loss of around £70 a month (cheers David). This means our joint spending/saving is even tougher but no pain, no bigger home! I’d actually like to go over the £500 target if possible…

3. Weight loss: lose another half stone. Yes, the other half of the stone I was hoping to lose by the end of the first ‘quarter’. Slow and steady winning the race is fine with me – as long as I actually make it to that damn finish line!

I am actually massively encouraged by what I/we’ve managed to achieve in the first quarter. It has really given me a boost and some confidence about what is possible. Here’s hoping to another good report at the end of June!

Making money!

I’ve just finished my 3rd round of auctions on eBay. It is horribly addictive! I already posted about getting myself a dress and jacket after the first lot. After the second round I also bought a bundle of clothing for my girlie (which has yet to arrive so I have no idea what it will be like. Anything I don’t like will be re-listed straight away) and a small gift for someone. I then cleared out the remaining balance as some unexpected bills have cropped up this month (we had to have a plumber out and it cost £70). I was a bit gutted to lose my proceeds but also grateful that I had them there!

No fear though…I’ve made over £30 tonight! I haven’t decided what I’m going to use it for yet so it is just going to stay put for now. Tomorrow I’ll be rummaging and photographing to get ready for round 4!

Eating rubbish food is…rubbish!

The lack of food budget is beginning to get a bit tiresome now. I’m eating up all of the stuff I don’t really want or like. I bought a bag of frozen salmon fillets a while back and I’m not keen. Whenever I’ve bought fresh salmon in the past it has been lovely. This stuff is verging on tough and smells really fishy (yeah, yeah, I know salmon is a fish but you know what I mean!). Still, it’s already there and it is a good source of protein. I suppose. And then there’s the soup I made that went wrong and is really thin and horrible. I’ve still got 3 blinkin’ portions in the freezer! Still, that’s 3 lunches next week that I don’t really have to bother about. I find eating food that I’m really not enjoying quite depressing though. Still, the way I’ve got to think of it is that I’m getting rid of a load of useless stuff and making room for some nicer food while spending hardly anything.

That said I think I’m going to crack and top the food fund up. I’ve got a week off next week as my parents/childminding team are away! I’m not in the holiday zone whatsoever and keep subconsciously making plans for next week that revolve around when I would be working. I’m actually going to do a bit of overtime so I can save even more next month. Anyway, when I do remember I’ve got the week off I keep thinking about all of the batch cooking that I could be doing or how I could try out one or two new recipes. And then, of course, I remember there is no room in the budget for anything extra. So I think I might move an extra £10 or so in from the slush fund. It’s not as if we’re going to be doing any eating out or anything holidayish like that!

My plans for this week off are very low key but I’m really looking forward to it. Mostly I’m looking forward to spending every single day with my girlie. I’m also planning on doing some finishing touches on the house, having a go at replacing the sealant around the bath and kitchen sink, cooking some (hopefully) good food, hanging out with my other ‘Mum’ friends, going to visit my Gran, walking on the beach and generally being domestic. And it will be very cheap! Thankfully I get paid next week so I’ll have petrol in the car (the digital display says I have less than 20 miles before I run out) and maybe a few pennies in my pocket!

Stretching the pennies and making a few more!

The other day I bought these gorgeous little letterpress cards from Paperchase:

The photo really doesn’t do them justice. A box of 8 costs £4.75 so about 59p per card (much cheaper than buying cards individually). I think they will be perfect for birthdays or thank-you’s or whatever occasion might come up!

I’ve been busy ebaying for the last week and have sold quite a few items of clothing. My ‘profits’ have now gone over £50 and I have quite a few things still listed with bids on and people watching. Good times! I’ve used some of the proceeds to get myself a couple of things also from eBay including a casual, lightweight jacket (something I don’t own) and a wrap dress (an optimistic purchase since dresses and I don’t generally mix well but I live in hope!). It is nice to see yet more space emerging as my clothes storage space is very limited. I’m in the frame of mind to get rid of yet more stuff. I have so many items of clothing that I just don’t wear so I’m going to keep at it!

What I’m reading

While I had my unplanned blogging break I also had an unplanned reading break. Last year I averaged two books a week so to have nearly two months where I only ready one book…well… I must have a total brain shut down! Anyway, my inability to get into a book ended when I finally picked up A Discovery of Witches which I got for Christmas. I’m so glad I did – it is absoloutely brilliant and so far up my street I’m surprised it didn’t come and knock on my front door. I am now anxiously awaiting the next book in the trilogy which is due to be published later this year.

Husband bought me a couple of books for Valentines Day. When he told me I thought ‘uh-oh’. And yet the boy did good. One of the books he got me was the latest biography on Queen Elizabeth. I wasn’t sure if I’d like it at first even though I love books (fiction and non-fiction) about the monarchy through the ages. Anyway, I am utterly gripped. I’ve read 430 pages so far and I am having real trouble putting it down. I keep finding excuses to read ‘one more page’ which rapidly turns into 10 or 20 pages.

Lastly, I’ve decided to try and pick one slightly more challenging read each month and have kicked off with Sylvia Plath’s Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams. I’ve long been facinated by Plath and a friend in the States sent me this American edition a few years ago. It is a collection of short stories, essays and journal extracts with a riveting introduction by none other than Ted Hughes.

It’s good to have my reading mojo back! What are you reading at the moment?