The Budget Review of Febuary

Febuary was very simple as a budget 
Not much in Not much out. Its all relative

Left over from January £51.59
Incoming
Guest £41, 
Old mobiles x4 £46.20
Gift of £20 from my dad for wine
DVD's off music magpie £44.50

• An awful £151.70 brought in for month 2

Outgoing
Food & Essentials £66.80 (usually nearer £250)
Best friends birthday night out drinks £15
Rabbit food £11
Gift £10
Toni out with friends £10

• A low  £112.80 spent this month

We are now left with £90.49... but from being the 4th today I know we have already spent most of this already. Really need to get boosting our income !!!

How to celebrate your birthday for 3 days with £10

So I had a stall at a big Street Food event for 3 days, which luckily meant for me swapsies. Delicious dinner for 2 on Thursday :). Then on Friday I was seeing 2 friends for my pre birthday, I arranged for them to come to my house then we went into town to drop off Toni for his night out. I was supposed to make dinner but had not arranged anything & had no food & had no money. The idea was to pop into the Street food event whilst in town get some food and go home with it to have a little dinner party with a glass of boozio. I managed to blag the first 3 stalls into giving us the food for free in exchange for some cakes from my stall. BONUS. Went something like this ' that's £4.50 please' 'oh right do you want money or would you like a bag of cakes from my stall ' 'cakes from the French Oven, yeah OK ' Done. The next batch are highly acclaimed chefs who I did not have the cheek to ask, nor did my friends. Food was lovely unusual authentic way better than from a common takeaway. Lovely .

I must admit I had a bit of a stroppy moment before the girls arrived. I asked Toni if he had got my anything for my birthday, 'no' came his answer. So I thought wait a minute you've had 1 year to prepare for this and I haven't got anything :( felt a bit sorry for myself. Then I remembered the CHALLENGE, a challenge alright. No chocolate, no deserts, no wine, no money.
Poor man was dammed if he did spend anything and dammed if he didn't. Ill admit we are certainly from Venus and very complicated creatures.

Birthday morning, a lovely handmade card from Toni with pictures of us on it. Better than any £4 card from Paper chase. I then got to work and was taken out by my dad & his bakery manager for breakfast. Their choice of location. Weatherpersons a middle aged mans dream. I was told have anything you want. Wow a really hungry persons dream. Selection of pancakes and bacon were obvious to me, it is my birthday.Then they ruin it.... the menu designers that is 679 Kal for 3 tiny pancakes and 2 rashers of bacon. No chance, yogurt covered in fresh fruit please. When it arrived my father said, why did you order that you eat it everyday. True, fair point, I should have got the bacon mmm.

Back to work setup the event then home to do a few papers, walk the dog. Then Toni told me to pick him up from his mums, a couple hours later than usual. Thinking ... whats he got planned. I initially thought he might have went there to make mince and dumplings something I have been fancying for ages, or maybe he just had loads of mail in.On my arrival a stunning birthday cake made by his mother, with Coco our dog and even the bunnies on it. Tasted delicious and looked as much :) Then came the gifts from him ( there was some) wine,a keyring & some flowers. He did so well spent under £10 and its all I ever wanted so I was really made up. More pressies came to from the rest of the family :) I was really spoilt.

5.30 : Brother & girlfriend enter (DP & Fish) 'DONT LOOK' I hid in the bathroom for 2 minutes. Only to be greeted by .... DRUM ROLL please..... What can only be described as a GIANT food hamper !!! I nearly cried. Not kidding. Champagne to start so I popped that straight open, chicken, fish, crab, pizza,crackers, chocolate, asparagus, Heinz baked beans, sardines, some lamb,ham. Can you believe it. All for our little fridge. Give me that 1 year ago I would have thought it was a bit of a bazaar gift. Not now, they read my mind the little beauties, a feast fit for a king queen and their dog ! I wanted to stay in and eat it all immediately, but another gift they had was to take us out for dinner. Off we went, dp the designated driver :) Dinner at El Coto and as another gift DP and Toni let me (only a slight control freak) choose all their food. After a lovely meal we head to the JIMMY CARR gig that was pre organised half a year prior. Funny. Good times. At the end they said please wait downstairs if you would like to meet him. So we qued, the girls. Not the boys they waited patiently tooting outside the exit. He asked how we knew each other, I told him it was my birthday. He had no jokes for that. Only back home did I realise he had signed my diary Happy birthday :) turn out for the books.

Home bed Sleep and that's how you do Birthday Weekend for only £10. Only possible from every ones generosity and kindness. Thanks everyone involved was up there with one of my best Birthdays










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A regular week

Looking at the date, we are nearly 2 months into the moneylesschallenge, so 1/6th.... just 4 weeks away from 1/4 of the year.Not bad hey.

Had our guest from Airbnb last night, lovely couple visiting their sun who is in his 1st year at University here. Its a great idea, you stay in someones home, its half the price of a budget hotel. You get all the info on where to eat what to do. Another great experience with guests from the site. And it helps pay the bills all in all. Think we are in the top 10 in our area now out of about 50+ homes for amounts of reviews. Its great to increase the booking we have 2/3 already lined up now for the summer.

Last night was also my best friends 30th Birthday we went to the Hyena comedy club in Newcastle. No taxi, no meal, a couple of drinks and that's it :) an evening out consumption wise of just under £15 for 2 people. Gift already organised but haven't told the birthday girl yet :)

Music magpie are apparently still processing all my DVD's ..... 7 weeks later!

On another note,Ive got really bad headaches/migraines at the minute. My mother from 2000 miles away believes its because of the moneylesschallenge & the own brand eating. Defiantly not. The corner of the kitchen could be suspect looks like the paper is peeling off ... mould? damp? Lets hope not I have the most basic house insurance policy & im pretty sure its made impossible to ever claim on it anyway (to have mould removed) Lets hope it clears noise and lights are driving me mad. Need to find a dimmer switch for this PC too soon!

Its my birthday this week, I have tickets to see Jimmy Caar which I forgot I bought months and months ago for myself along with it as a gift for Toni, my brother and his girlfriend Rachel. So that is the cheap birthday night out planned. Id also like to see a couple friends but they are all away so ideal to have a little get together maybe on Friday, low key & as free as possible.  I hope I do have some fun this year ! At some point ! I imagine I will have to find new ways to make fun things happen. The best things in life are free.
Right ?

Toni found a few site online who pay you for your pictures I imagine to sell on as Shutterbox images and we have about 3000 pics just from the last few months, so lets hope that lines our pockets with wonga.

Also this blog has have 1000+ views and my new 1 Theguyry of a Teenage girl has had over 1100+ so I will add a small advert & get paid for every view coming soon :)

A Cheap and Chearfull Valentines

February has been slightly un eventfull really, so nothing too much to blog about. Not been spending much & not been earning much. The £50 I was expecting from the sale of 4 old mobile phones did come in took weeks though, the sites I reccommend are Top Dollar & Simply drop both efficient and offering the highest prices.

I used to get my Bins cleaned £2.50 a time, had to much shame to cancel so sent Toni out to ask the guy to just do the 1 bin once a month from now. How embarrassing.

Made me think : in economy if we all fail to spend that little bit extra on the luxuries. Those industries suffer. I mean the wheeli bin company hopefully wont file for bankruptcy without me on their weeky books but if 20 % of the neighbourhood did who knows. I wonder how bad the hairdressers/ restaurants all suffered during the worst of this recession.

{ If i let you into a secret... I cant wear my hair down... I actually cut it myslef ... 2nd time in 4 months.... With awful kitchen scisors .... It looks naf ...But im not really bothered. }

Ebay has been a bit rubbish sold 2 items both new toys in boxes that Toni had, I need to build up good reviews and fast so I stupidly dispatched both prior to receiving payment. So 1 paid 1 didnt the cost of posting is nearly £3 x 2 £6 which is what one of them paid for their item. Oh no a loose loose situation. Never mind lesson learned TIK.

On the B & B side of things , we have had 2 requests but they never turned into a confimed booking. In your head you already spend the money. One was for 12 days nearly £500 would have been amazing.

Eating mainly basic foods starting to use up all the spices trying to jazz them meals up. I havnt mentioned I own a food shop but getting all my food from there would just be cheating, thats along with the fact baked goods has never helped my none slender figure.I did actually get some free food, I had an unused voucher for £45 for Cosco so I wasted that and stocked up the freezer. I also found a £8 tesco one in my wallet unexpired. Will keep that for my birthday next month :)

Little comment by Toni, think your blog should be called 'Secret Diary of  Penny Pincher' haha I think im nearly in a position to be asked onto superskrimpers. He also just said to me ' I just read Metro newspapers now you know, coz they are free ' The tightness is spreading !!!

Valentines day: Was always going to be a funny one. We talked about having a budget £10 each to spend, then we didnt earn any money so talked about £10 between us. But we really hadnt earned a penny so, in a world where you are not surrounded by friends or family or loans then you have to wait until you have it to spend it. So if we are - £20 on the challenge there was just no way we should be entitled to a spend a little. Made me feel a bit sad thinking there would be no posh card to put on the window sill to look at for 2 weeks. In the end I dint really need those little things. A kiss A cudle A little dance A film A nice piece of duck from the freezer, the kitchen table pulled into the dinning with a splash of colour & a big burning candle. Was lovely.

Got to have a night out the next evening to on the 15th, Tonis sister had given us free tickets to go and watch the Newcastle Eagles Basketball Team. Was really fun, nice to be out. Armed with my bottle of water and a pack of sweets to share with everyone.

We have a guest on Saturday that might remove the - £ and finally bring us into the +.

Its also my best friends birthday which means the comedy night out, tickets are paid for & im going to drive to save on Taxis then we just have to get toni a couple drinks & something for Katrina.

Will keep you posted :)

Part 4 the budget review

Over a month into the challenge now. I thought it would be a good time to do a budget review. Something I imagine most people dont do but it really would be beneficial to their wallet. Im always shocked when I watch programs on the TV ( I havnt sold it yet haha) and they ask people simple questions about how much their house costs to run and things like that and people have no idea, none whatsoever.

So here is myne, all the bills,personal loans & mortgage are taken care of from our wages.

Incoming
Guest £39, £39/£20
Sold cloths by weight £3.20, £8
Toni tip at work £2
Old lottery ticket £10 Old scratch card £5
Brothers contribution to a gift for my cousin £15
Money found in loft £3.34
Take back broken things Dog Lead £8
Christmas gifts taken back :( £46, £30
Money owed off friends £50

• A whoooping £278.54 brought in for month 1

Outgoing
Food £88.35 (usually nearer £250)
Transport £4.60
Spare room blind & screws £13
Prescriptions £21
Pet foods £6
Tonis 2 nights out £70 { will have to but a ban on these, just joking tonis friends }
EC's nights out £0 ( they dont exist )
Best friends birthday tickets for a night of comedy next month £24
A surprising  £226.95 spent this month

So we managed to earn on top of our wages and save £51.59 in January. Im happy with this, it all means the moneylesschallenge2013 is working. Id love to have more people join me on it. Its really interesting thinking of what you own and how you can turn it into money instead of it being a bunch of things in your loft.

You can turn your shed, car, spare room, drive, loft space all into money. So if you are lucky enough to have bought or own something I feel like you might as well use it to its best because there is someone out there willing to pay to use,buy,borrow or rent it.

Heading into February I have plenty more planned & the sales of my DVD's, old phones ect should all start coming in. I have a new route to go down too the sale of plenty things myself and toni have kept over the years are going to head to EBAY starting with cinema posters, old toys, teapots ect. Its all a bit addictive when you start selling the possessions you clearly dont use or need, you start wanting to even sell those that you do.

Sunday today but I cant go anywhere my car is being rented for the day through Whipcar car rental, I guess 10 items will apear on my ebay site by the end of the day. Off to get that done now.

Part 3 shortage of carrier bags !!!

 Things have been going ok these past few days, the dog did downgrade in food type but she ate it. We all are eating it. Not the dog food. The downgrade.Own brand pasta, fine, the super noodles, just.

Did you ever think you would run out of carrier bags at home? I bet you have stacks of them. Well when you basically stop shopping you stop getting free carrier bags, so I now need to start asking someone, somewhere for carrier bags. Im certainly not spending money on black bags, what a waste, does anyone still do this?

Next stage of things. Have you ever been in your loft to see if just maybe you can find food? Its not the most common place to go thats for sure. So toni nips up there to see what he can find. a little bag of storeroom items, suet, old jam, old chutney. Rank and all out of date.... HaaaaHaaaa a packet of after eight mints. A year or so out of date but whos counting. Usually im not an out of date eater i can tell by sight and smell if things are way above my pallet levels. But these slightly now white choccies will fill an evening gap me thinks.

And it pays to be nice, oh yey. A customer of myne from my shop came in to leave some chocloates for me, nothing to do with my 2013moneylesschallenge just a gesture which has already made every evening since lovely, a mouthfull sized piece of chocolate goes a long way to cheering girls up.

Count up, first big count up, have a little rummage in the selected money box look at the earned collum looking good, look at the spend collum its hardly anything. So this is working. How much could you save in 3 weeks period that you earned as well as your wages. Take a guess. Well there is an astonishing £130 in this box. So when times get tough I have savings. When all is sold I have savings. When I am hungry I have savings. This is security, relief & like a blanket of warmth wrapped arround me. Its really nice but I seem to have slowed the earning process since.

Jelousy is nothing I have ever felt, if you want something you work then you buy it. You save then you buy it, my views. But at the moment I cant help feeling that the people arround me are wasting their money. Resetment or Jelousy. Time is money so their time too I guess. My brother called with asking me if I fancied the cinema but not on Orange wednesday??? or cheap tuesday . No way would I pay double the price for something I can get cheaper.Not these days. I quickly knock back the offer. Kindly. My mother is next on the phone. The most frugal lady I know. Asking me to come along .... ( rare treat for her too) 'no thanks i need to save i dont know when things are going to get worse' mum 'ill pay' WHHHHawawiaa 'no thanks, im not on this challenge to sponge off my family im on this to prove a point about a wastefull nation, to save and to cut back '

Following on: Here is a little sad part about the 2013 challenge. We have taken back some of our christmas presents :( to bring back cash so to speak. At least we had gifts to take back. My lovely towel bathrobe off Toni which cost him £46, i know I can find one for less than £10 in the nxt few months, his new next trowsers £26 and the dogs new lead from Tkmax which snapped during her first jog. Taking things back to shops has never really been my thing, I would just use the item broken or pop it in the loft even though it was £6 but when you are looking at things in terms of just cash value well if its not fit for purpose it deserves to go straight back to the shop. And the cash straight back into your bank/ pocket. Depends if you are a cash or card spender I know which makes you spend less !!! Taking gifts back reminds me of something, something in the depths of my first memories. As i grew up in africa there were a few rules that wudnt b the same as when I came to live in the UK. One being: when it was next time to receive gifts your birthday or christmas you had to give away to the village children all your toys of the previous year, all bar 1. What a way to keep your homes uncluttered, spread the joy, make things be loved twice. I must have cried and winged but that one gift wasnt going to be given to 1 child, it was going to be played with and shared amongst soo many children who had nothing. So i guess it isnt that bad taking something back, at lease I still received the monetary benefits.

The DVD selling is going good 3 lots of friends on facebook have vowed to buy a batch each the remainder goes off to music magpie tomorrow by courier ( they send them )

Ebay has allowed me back on, got myself banned 8 years ago wooops. So now im once again a seller. Only being permited to sell 10 items a month thought. Is this new rule for everyone.... how can I make lots of money with 10 tiny 1p items for sale. Here is to hoping that amount increases and rapidly.

Our BnB guests were lovely, and not only did they wish for the BnB, they wished for extras, a dinner party meal & towels. Extras are additional so our fees went up, then we received a tip so it was some evening. They even reccomended another website that has great BnB booking rates. The moment they left I joined this also and filled in all the relevant forms and downloaded the relevant pictures. So we are now available as hosts on 2 top websites. This will surely help? Every guest so far so good.

The quality of our meals has improved since the SUPERdaddy delivery only a few pieces of fish left in the freezer. Only 1 shopping trip needed this week I think. The chosen luck spot was a trip to ALDI, tins of tomatoes 19p rice noodles 49p, all much cheaper than the huge shops. Its one way to make the money stretch further.An weekly shop of £8 something for 2 & the dog food surely cant be beaten.

The amount of food in your cupboards can really affect your mood. Too much so. Hunger shud b normal it should be the feeling just before your next meal surely....

I am quite conscious that once I have sold almost everything I own ( that I dont use ) the ways of making money will have to take a turn somehow, into pastures old or new. I might have to start doing private languages tuition again or more mystery shopping. All time consuming preparation wise. However I think im too old at 28 for washing neighbours cars & babysitting. The challenge continues.