Asda price guarantee

Well my Asda delivery came on time today! last week it was 55 minutes late - this week it arrived at 3.30 which was grand.

Substitutes were fine, my metal mixing bowl was out of stock :( (my plastic ones are really too big and I'm too much of a clutz to get a ceramic one).

Went to www.asdapriceguarantee.co.uk and logged in with my on-line account and they compared trolleys with all the major stores - didn't qualify for a voucher but at the moment they are doing some kind of 10% cheaper dealio so am entitled to a grand total of 48p! Oooo what will I spend it on??????

(my driving lesson was cancelled today - he had a sickness bug - he was not lying on the floor in a foetal position rocking back and forth as has been suggested by sceptics of my driving ability - due another one tomorrow - fingers crossed)

Feb housekeeping left - £194.36 left
(£50 goes into holiday fund)
Spent - my allowance - £5.89
Spent - clothes - £14.74
Spent - household - £35.99
Spent - entertainment - £15.85
Spent - Christmas 2011 - £106.25 (saved - £202.45!)

Knitted kindle cover

Sad or what! just using up some scraps from my stash....

Another menu plan

Spent a wee bit yesterday - went for a lovely drive in the country and had a visit with old friends - as its a long time since we did our "coffee and cake" (I'm getting anal about bringing a flask!!) so we had a treat - £15.85. Popped into a charity shop and OH got a thick jumper (£3.75) and a really nice navy wool 3/4 smart coat for £10.99 which he was delighted with (if had to buy new could never have afforded either!)

Went to a car boot sale this morning but it wasn't on :( - depressed so had a MacDonalds breakfast (me and eldest dd) so popped into Tesco to buy a new house phone as ours is playing up something terrible (one handset refuses to work completely) It was in the sale for £29.99 for 2 handsets so not too bad - also bought 2 nice big baking trays for £3 each.

Just finished my on-line Asda shop - spent quite a bit last week so it was only £55.64 this week including delivery.

So starting February's spendies......

Feb housekeeping left - £194.36 left
(£50 goes into holiday fund)
Spent - my allowance - £5.89
Spent - clothes - £14.74
Spent - household - £35.99
Spent - entertainment - £15.85
Spent - Christmas 2011 - £106.25 (saved - £202.45!)

Kindle

I love my Kindle! got it from my mum and dad and am thrilled to bits with it.I'm an avid reader and will happily read anything so have downloaded loads of free books from Amazon and Project Gutenberg. Bought a cover with it at Xmas but have also knitted it a very fetching stripy sock cover in shades of brown and burgundy with some left over wool I had - wish my camera was working as it looks very preppy!

No more spending at the moment - the menu plan is working well - already have a list on my fridge of stuff we need next week so will do another weeks shopping on Monday. Trying to find free codes for shopping but even paying the £3 delivery charge saves me buying stuff willy nilly.


Jan housekeeping left - £10.24
(£50 went into holiday fund)
Spent - my allowance - £50.20
Spent - household - £58.60
Spent - emergency fund - £43.43
Spent - birthday fund - £18.50
Spent - entertainment - £44.40
Spent - clothes - £18.58
Spent - Christmas 2011 - £106.25 (saved - £202.45!)

Baking

Well was in a good mood cos my driving lessons weren't too harrowing (for me anyway - don't know about my driving instructor!) and got my haircut so decided to bake.

Made - Lemon curd muffins (basic muffin with a dollop of lemon curd in the middle)
Vanilla pound cake (a la Martha Stewart)
Carrot cake (again, a la Martha)

Never made the last 2 before - they are still in the oven as I type so will let you know how they turn out. A grand total of 45 minutes in the kitchen including tidying up after myself and brushing the flour....really, when you think about it this baking lark isnt too time consuming at all - and my family love it when I bake.

I am also wearing a full size pinny I bought of Ebay (99p + £1.89 p&p). At Xmas I borrowed my dds pinny to keep my good clothes clean and now love one - I'm a messy cook and as its cotton I can wipe my hands on it too! Its remarkable how domesticated you feel wearing a pinny!

I also bought a nice fleecy jacket and a top for work from ebay - £12.38

Jan housekeeping left - £10.24
(£50 went into holiday fund)
Spent - my allowance - £50.20
Spent - household - £58.60
Spent - emergency fund - £43.43
Spent - birthday fund - £18.50
Spent - entertainment - £44.40
Spent - clothes - £18.58
Spent - Christmas 2011 - £106.25 (saved - £202.45!)

Money out....

In my attempt to learn to drive I am just on my way out to my first lesson of 2 this week - got a cheque to give to him for £200 (faint) and that was left from my birthday money last year - so in 5 weeks that will bring me up to 20 lessons - surely after 20 lessons I might have a clue!!
Apart from that - didnt spend a penny yesterday as never left the house but have been looking at caravan parks for our summer holiday - not sure where to go yet but have a few ideas and we need a family discussion to see what everyone would like.

Off to wreak havoc on the roads!

Jan housekeeping left - £10.24
(£50 went into holiday fund)
Spent - my allowance - £27.20
Spent - household - £58.60
Spent - emergency fund - £43.43
Spent - birthday fund - £18.50
Spent - entertainment - £44.40
Spent - clothes - £6.20
Spent - Christmas 2011 - £106.25 (saved - £202.45!)

Starting new houskeeping trial

In the past I have usually stuck to my monthly budget for houskeeping by doing an Asda on-line shop and then weekly top-ups - trying something different and keep out of the shops....

From now on I will be doing a weekly on-line shop delivered on a Mon (cheapest delivery) - this week was a really dear one as I was running out of everything (loo roll, toiletries, soap powder,rice, etc) so I spent a massive £75.28

Weekly menu

Roast Lamb
Shepherds pie
Macaroni cheese
Pork casserole
Sausage and mash
Chicken curry
Hot dog rolls & pud
Brisket
Cold meat, bubble and squeak

Was oh's dgd first birthday yesterday - already bought present in the sales so only had to get a card (£1.50) - had lunch out as a nice treat (haven't been out for lunch with oh for quite a while!) - £10

Jan housekeeping left - £10.24
(£50 went into holiday fund)
Spent - my allowance - £27.20
Spent - household - £58.60
Spent - emergency fund - £43.43
Spent - birthday fund - £18.50
Spent - entertainment - £44.40
Spent - clothes - £6.20
Spent - Christmas 2011 - £106.25 (saved - £202.45!)

2 no spend days

In a row! just work (packed lunches) but did have to spend on bus fare to get home as my lift share wasn't coming back - doesn't count as spending as I allow for it in my budget.
Bunny is off to the vet tomorrow so hopefully that wont be too much....

Jan housekeeping left - £85.52
(£50 went into holiday fund)
Spent - my allowance - £27.20
Spent - household - £58.60
Spent - emergency fund - £43.43
Spent - birthday fund - £17
Spent - entertainment - £34.40
Spent - clothes - £6.20
Spent - Christmas 2011 - £106.25 (saved - £202.45!)

Accepting stuff

I had to bite the bullet and go to Asda for stuff (damn those animals) - was very good indeed and spent £28.63 on stuff I really needed.

Been sorting out my dds mountains and mountains of stuff - and I have been very good about not accepting stuff from her (goes against the grain to get something for nothing but I really don't have room for it) so the charity shops are doing really well from her at the moment!

Popped into Boots to get my youngests prescription and had a mooch round. I love the Sanctuary stuff and got lots for Xmas but was going to buy some more body wash with my Boots points. Its £5.10 (horrific price!) but in the 1/2 price sale they had a lovely washbag with a full size body wash, full size body butter, small hand cream, small body scrub and a sachet of salt scrub for £7.50 so used my points for that instead. And bought myself some Sanctuary body spray with my points too.

I also had to splash out on new bamboo knitting needles - really like them much better than steel but this is now 2 pairs I have snapped cos I keep sitting on them! Must be more careful in future as they are dear! (£4.19) Got a huge ball of Aran cream fleck wool reduced to £3.75 so very pleased with that.

(and spent £3.70 on bus fare and bought me and dd 2 steak bakes at £2)

Jan housekeeping left - £85.52
(£50 went into holiday fund)
Spent - my allowance - £27.20
Spent - household - £58.60
Spent - emergency fund - £43.43
Spent - birthday fund - £17
Spent - entertainment - £34.40
Spent - clothes - £6.20
Spent - Christmas 2011 - £106.25 (saved - £202.45!)

Nice walk

Saw an old friend today and it was such a lovely day we went for a nice cliff walk (which turned out too wet and windy) so ended up having a beach walk - followed by a baguette and a cuppa which she generously paid for.

Went home and managed to get washing dried outside - watched Larkrise to Candleford and about to have bath with all my Sanctuary stuff I got for Christmas - could life get any better?

Jan housekeeping left - £114.15
(£50 went into holiday fund)
Spent - my allowance - £21.50
Spent - household - £50.66
Spent - emergency fund - £43.43
Spent - birthday fund - £17
Spent - entertainment - £34.40
Spent - clothes - £6.20
Spent - Christmas 2011 - £106.25 (saved - £202.45!)

Shopping trip to Dunfermline

My eldest dd promised my youngest dd a shopping trip to Dunfermline (has a big Primark) - takes around an hour. Youngest dd went mental in Primark (her own money!) and altogether, including lunch we were there nearly 5 hours as there are lots of shops. Found a really good second hand shop (Salvation Army) and eldest dd got a lovely brown Evans coat for £2!

I spent the following.....

Primark - bracelet - £2.50
New Look - top for work - £5.20 (dd bought it for me and used her student card)
Salvation army - 4 baby clothes for £1 for dgs
Lunch and snacks - £17
Parking - £3.40
Poundshop - mostly stationary for school - £6

Got home and oh moans he has "Man" flu so popped into Asda to get his Beechams Flu tablets (man cost me a fortune - the Asda ones are only £1 but the Beechams are £3! Then his Rennies (he is going for an op on his stomach) which were nearly a fiver! Got some stuff for lunches next week and veg etc - really restrained myself! But did buy 4 cereal holders at £2 each - we were using Asda smartprice ones but the lids all cracked - this will come out of my household budget (£8)So spent £24 as housekeeping.




Jan housekeeping left - £114.15
(£50 went into holiday fund)
Spent - my allowance - £21.50
Spent - household - £50.66
Spent - emergency fund - £43.43
Spent - birthday fund - £17
Spent - entertainment - £34.40
Spent - clothes - £6.20
Spent - Christmas 2011 - £106.25 (saved - £202.45!)

Another no spend!

Quite chuffed! took my lunch into work...
Gave away a lampshade on freecycle - have been quite lucky recently on it - managed to get a microwave after ours died and a nice small bookshelf which was perfect for my dds room.
Hopefully the only thing I will have to fork out for tomorrow is to pay my car share (saves me £5.20 a day in bus fares!)

Jan housekeeping left - £138.15
(£50 went into holiday fund)
Spent - my allowance - £19
Spent - household - £50.66
Spent - emergency fund - £43.43
Spent - birthday fund - £17
Spent - entertainment - £14
Spent - Christmas 2011 - £106.25 (saved - £202.45!)

No spends....

Monday - no spend
Tuesday - no spend

Mondays driving lesson was pants - a month since I last got in a car and it wasn't good. Decided to try 2 lessons as from next week - have enough money left over from birthday for another 10 lessons - will re-group after that to see how I am getting on (learning anything when your older is soooo hard)
Yesterday did my dds housework and we attacked her big cupboard - full to the the rafters with stuff (allegedly a big walk-in cupboard it didn't even have a floor!) It took 6 hours! Got rid of a full wheely bin of stuff and will fill at least another one when it gets emptied - we were ruthless! Freecycled loads and took bags to the charity shop.
She now has everything corralled on shelves on one side and is putting a rail up at the back to make a wardrobe (she lives in a tiny disabled bungalow and does not have room in her bedroom for one so has been using the airing cupboard!) Result - both sore but happy we did it.
Today was work :( but an evening at the knitting club cheered me up - it wasn't my turn to buy cokes so no money spent today either as I took my lunch to work and got a lift there and back.

The curse of IKEA strikes again!

Aaargh - its my one weakness!

Was sorting out space to do my OU course on - I had turned my tiny desk into a sewing table and put my machine up (not that I used it very much but it was handy having it there up all the time) I put it away and realised that by the time I put the laptop and printer on it there wasn't any room for books or anywhere to write notes etc...so off to IKEA to see if I could get a wee side cabinet to give me a bit more room. Found one for just over £50 and was quite shocked at what you get for the money! Anyway, I settled for a table top type desk and 4 legs - it fits perfectly next to my smaller desk and gives me loads of room to spread out. Of course...couldn't just buy that.....

Desk top and legs - £16.32
New chopping boards (my old ones were past it) - £4.06
New cheap waste bin for my nice new office corner -£1.62
Surge protector plug for the laptop/printer - £7.14
Laptop stand (hate typing on a flat laptop - so much easier on a stand)- £3.05
Mousemat - 40p
16 peg hanging thing (for drying undies!) - £4.09 (worth their weight in gold)
Lights for under kitchen worktop (out of my kitchen fund) - £10.20

So spent a total of £46.86 but £10.20 came out of my kitchen savings - so that £36.66 to come out of my household account

Had lunch (another weakness but working on reducing this a lot this year!) - £11

Then popped over to Sainsburys and was extremely good and just bought potatoes and celery from my housekeeping (£2.85) but did my youngest dd Mrs Doubtfire on DVD as she loves that film (£3 - entertainment account)

Also - I thought I would have to buy Microsoft Office to do my course but found that you can save documents in Star Office as Word 97-2003 -will check with my tutor but if its ok at least I don't have to fork out for that too.

So that's my spending for a while - driving lesson tomorrow and going up to my eldest dds on Tuesday to help sort out her big cupboard (full to the ceiling with craft stuff, books and knitting stuff - she wants to turn it into a wardrobe)I am not going near any shops!

Jan housekeeping left - £138.15
(£50 went into holiday fund)
Spent - my allowance - £19
Spent - household - £50.66
Spent - emergency fund - £43.43
Spent - birthday fund - £17
Spent - entertainment - £14
Spent - Christmas 2011 - £106.25 (saved - £202.45!)

More meals added to the menu

Well I braved the cold to delve into my big freezer in the shed and have added another 8 meals to my list

1 – Gammon, bubble and squeak - NOW EATEN
2 – Chicken curry - NOW EATEN
3 – Mince tatie pot - NOW EATEN
4 – Vegetable cobbler
5 – Egg and chips
6 – Bacon & cheese lasagne
7 – Beef olives - NOW EATEN
8 – Roast turkey, sausagemeat stuffing (yes, leftovers!)
9 – Pasta with cheese
10 – Lentil soup and pud - NOW EATEN
11 – Roast lamb
12 – Left over Lamb Shepherds pie
13 – Frey bentos pies (haven't had these in years!)
14 - Lasagne
15 - Fish in breadcrumbs
16 - Pizza and chips
17 - Lamb mince (perhaps a meatloaf?)
18 - Haggis
20 - Lamb casserole
21 - Braising steak
22 - Steak pie (with left overs from above)
23 - Salmon

I can make at least 2 possibly 3 meals left with bits (ie 1 chicken breast, 2 beef olives, 2 small ready meals bought for 10p each)
Have enough bread and milk but will have to buy veg, potatoes and flour. Am going to take in soup or wraps for work to stop me spending there.
So it just might take me to the end of the month and I will have a clear freezer to start all over again!

Jan housekeeping left - £141
(£50 into holiday fund)
Spent - my allowance - £19
Spent - household - £14
Spent - emergency fund - £43.43
Spent - birthday fund - £17
Spent - Christmas 2011 - £106.25 (saved - £202.45!)

Wrapped Crimbo pressies for next year!

I really am sooo sad - I have wrapped up 2 presents for next years crimbo!!! Hows that for a head start!
Managed to get all the books and DVD needed for my OU course - recommended price on the list they sent me was £55 - got 2 2nd hand from Green Metropolis, checked on ebay but they were too pricey so ended up getting the rest new from Amazon (worked out cheaper than buying second hand - how odd!!!) So they cost me £26.68 altogether. As I didn't pay for my course as I am on Working Tax credit I cant complain about buying the books!
And our rabbit had to have drops as he has some kind of mite - £3.75. I have an Emergency fund in my Freedom account for things that pop up and I don't have a category for (i.e. the OU books) The vet fee came out of this too (also £13 to snip his teeth)
I have been playing with my new laptop that the OU provided too - it has Star office on it instead of Office. Its bad enough having to cope with learning stuff for my course without having to learn Star Office too so I am thinking about buying Office which I am used to at work - apparently I can get it for £35 - £40 as I am now a student - will have to look into it.....

Jan housekeeping left - £141
Spent - my allowance - £19
Spent - household - £14
Spent - emergency fund - £43.43
Spent - birthday fund - £17
Spent - Christmas 2011 - £106.25 (saved - £202.45!)

Great day - and some bargains too!

Went to the hospital with eldest dd and got another all clear so she has now been cancer free for 9 months!!!!! yayyyyyy
So off we went shopping as she had a lot of her Christmas money left to spend - she got loads of stuff and I got some great bargains ready for Christmas next year. M&s had their wrapping paper reduced from £3.50 a roll to 49p so got lots - some nice holgraphic paper too which will do for birthday presents during the year. Bought lunch (out of my allowance)
My Sainsburys and BHS deliveries arrived - very pleased - best bargain - £20 worth of Christmas cards for £3. Got not only xmas bits but birthday presents too. Got 8 nice china mugs for £4 (from £12) and pillows (in desperate need!) £10 from £25.
Our rabbit had to go back to the vet again (his teeth get very overgrown very quickly) so that was another £13 as it was just the front ones this time.
So, that's my spending over for another wee while (although I have to get books for my Open University course so will be scouring ebay for these)

Jan housekeeping left - £141
Spent - my allowance - £16
Spent - household - £14
Spent - emergency fund - £13
Spent - birthday fund - £17

Menu planning

Busy day today - took all the deccies down and packed them away (this time learned my lesson and invested in 2 storage boxes with attached secured lids - lost most of my deccies in the pit of a shed and broke quite a few trying to get them all out as they were just kept in open boxes last year!!!)
Was going to do an inventory of the big freezer but it was too cold so have made up a rough menu with just the things that I got in my Asda shop and stuff I know is in there - when I'm feeling brave I will go out and have a proper root about and see what's in there!

Menu plan (not in any order and have already eaten the first 2!)

1 – Gammon, bubble and squeak
2 – Chicken curry
3 – Mince tatie pot
4 – Vegetable cobbler
5 – Egg and chips
6 – Bacon & cheese lasagne
7 – Beef olives
8 – Roast turkey, sausagemeat stuffing (yes, leftovers!)
9 – Pasta with cheese
10 – Lentil soup and pud
11 – Roast lamb
12 – Left over Lamb Shepherds pie
13 – Frey bentos pies (haven't had these in years!)
14 - Lasagne

Trying to sneak a few vegetarian and cheap meals in - hopefully the troops wont take to badly to them!

Freedom account adjustments

Took me an hour but I have re-jigged all my Freedom accounts and am happy with the result. This year I had to put more into the Birthday accounts due to extra babies in the family so as I am not earning any more that money had to come out of other accounts. I have re-jigged my Christmas budget by spending a little less on some to fit the new ones in!
My new housekeeping budget is £250 per month - if I can get under that I will be very pleased but at least it gives me some leeway for treats (nothing worse than feeling deprived!) Got my Asda delivery and will go through my cupboards and freezers tomorrow to make up a proper menu and see how long it will last.....

Tea was left-over gammon from freezer, bubble and squeak (left overs again!) and baby spinach

Jan houskeeping left - £149

Looking back at my blog...

The joy of doing a blog is you can keep looking back on what you have been up to! Last September my eldest dd went to college which cancelled out our Tuesdays which was the main day I always went out and had lunch, mooched round shops and generally spent money. Which is probably why my bank balance is a lot better!
Today we had our traditional New Year visit to the pictures and a nice meal - did manage a bit of frugality in that I used a cinema voucher bought for my xmas and the last of my luncheon vouchers I got from on-line surveys (which seem to have dried up over the last couple of months)
So tomorrow as they say is the start of my new Financial Year. I am going to have another look at my Freedom account as I need to start adding in my cars insurance and road tax and also its due its MOT at the end of January. I have done my Asda on-line shop - spent £101 and used my Asda credit card so I get points and free delivery (both my Tesco credit card and Asda credit cards are on direct debits so the whole balance is paid off in full every month) so its just like using a debit card but getting extra by saving points. It will be interesting to see if I get the 4 packs of Finish dishwasher tablets I ordered that were on special offer for £5. I need to post off my Prima subscription that I got with my Tesco points while they were still doing the 4x deals - have bought that magazine since it first began and still think its the best all round one (I love magazines but have been very good and only get the Prima) I am also starting my youngest dds clothes allowance so will have to juggle a few of my Freedom accounts to accommodate this.
Happy days!

3 years of Xmas savings

I am very sad but for the last 3 years I have kept a spreadsheet of everything I buy during the year for Christmas ie presents, cards, crackers, food, drink etc - I never go over my budget for presents but might go over a small bit for food (nothing to worry over). Actually, even my food bill has been going down as I only really buy for Christmas Day and Boxing Day and don't buy any extras "just in case".

So the last three years I have used up my budget of £540 per year and saved the following on presents and Christmas paraphernalia by buying carefully during the year and in sales etc

2008 - £247.98
2009 - £110
2010 - £268.5

My budget for the last 3 years has been £50 per month i.e. £540 per year. I am going to stick to the same budget this year but its been getting harder and harder - and this year I have more children to buy for so will have to juggle the budget to fit. I am really lucky in that my dd (who is now 14) doesn't want the latest phones, laptops, GHD's etc but that might change in the future! Luckily her birthday is just before Christmas and she gets mostly money for that so if she wants something she can buy it - she never asks for anything at Christmas - she's happy with all her surprises bless her!

I always buy my cards in the sales but don't always use full packs so I am going to put what's left from this year in a big envelope and mark 2010 on it and then not use those ones until 2012 so wont be sending the same ones 2 years running!

Homemade rasberry liqueur

Is the very business! made it 3 months ago (just adding sugar and raspberries - reduced of course!- to vodka) and brought the New Year in with it last night...mmmmmmmmm - mind you my head this morning does not seem to agree!

Happy New Year to everyone who reads this and hope 2011 is a good one.