How I "Spent" My Day - McDs Sticker, Nectar Points and a Tiny Brownie

My day was pretty normal - gym in the morning, kids to school, work, kids from school, home.  I missed out on about 68p at the gym that someone had left on top of the shelves when, for a brief second, I felt insecure about my "weird" status as I was walking out with my friend.  Ugh! I should have just picked it up.  Darn it!  

So my normal day got a bit more interesting - in terms of my "finding the pennies" hobby/ mindset/ lifestyle when I was walking to my car after work and found litter *gasp!* next to my car - it was another McDonald's coffee cup with the loyalty sticker STILL ON IT!  Jack pot!  I secretly high fived myself.  The sticker completed Jeff's coffee card, so he can get his free coffee the next time he goes to McDs.  Caring is sharing, right?!

When we got home from the school run, I discovered that Mr Postman delivered a Nectar card promotion containing a coupon for 800 bonus points, worth £4 on my Nectar card.  Yaaayy!  More on my Nectar points in a bit.  

I wanted to have a meat-free, low-cost meal this evening and the solution was egg fried rice. It ticks the boxes for protein, carbs and veggies, as well as being very inexpensive.  I hadn't ever made egg fried rice before, but it turned out really well having followed this recipe. I used frozen mixed veg rather than chopping up fresh veggies - I boiled them first while the rice was cooking - and actually got to use an unopened bottle of oyster sauce that I bought a couple of years ago and didn't end up using (and it was just fine, by the way).  The girls enjoyed this meal, and even asked if we could add some prawns to it the next time we have it.

 

Are you wondering what's in the glass? It's iced tea "made" from last night's leftover tea in the teapot.  Why pour perfectly good tea down the drain when I can drink it cold another time?  Sooo good.

So it's Nectar Double Up Week at Sainsbury's!  This happens twice a year - once in November and once in the summer.  You can swap Nectar points for vouchers worth double the value of the points in a handful of departments, such as toys, entertainment, clothing and wine.  £5 worth of points can be exchanged for a voucher worth £10, exchange £10 for a £20 voucher, and £20 for a £40 voucher.  We save our Nectar points to mainly use during these double up events because they're such a great deal, especially considering the points were mostly free in the first place.  Find out more by visiting your local store (I've just looked at both the Sainsbury's website and the Nectar website and there is ZERO information about this on their websites - that's not good advertising!) I ended up buying some DVDs, a super cute My Little Pony dress costume for Brenna and toys for both of the girls for Christmas and walked out having spent £8.55 for £88.56 worth of stuff.  These won't even affect our Christmas budget, as the points were free.

I did have a quick nosey at the reduced sections in the store and found a bottle of Sainsbury's lotion reduced to 50p and this tiny gluten and dairy free chocolate & coconut brownie reduced to 10p.   This tiny brownie was tiny... tiny... only a few bites worth.  I cannot imagine paying £2.00 for this tiny little jar of brownie, but I thought it was worth a try for 10p.  I have to admit, it was very good - I heated it up in the microwave for a few seconds.

So, that's how my money-saving mindset worked today.  I hope I've encouraged you to find some small ways to save, too!

How We "Spent" Our Day: Child's Play

Today was basically a kids' day - swimming, McDs and a soft play birthday party.  Yay! Right?! Earlier this week, we gave the girls the option of going swimming - which they've been asking to do for about a couple of months now - and going to the cinema.  The cinema would have been cheaper, but it was their choice this time.  I'll let you in on a bit of a Bolton budget secret - we budget £20 per month for "play".  A friend asked me recently whether this is enough.  It is for our family, for the most part, anyway. We are finding, however, that our girls are reaching the age that they are no longer free and we actually have to pay for them... bummer!  

We've been going swimming at the same pool for years now, but recently they increased the price for an adult to swim 50% - from £5 to £7.50 each.  Now that Ellen is 5 we have to pay £5 for her, too.  So what used to cost us £10 for the family to go swimming, now costs £20.  Grrr... Jeff even rang around to other pools, but there were either swimming lessons going on, the pool didn't permit non-members access or it would have been actually more expensive.  So, off to our usual pool we went.  It is a lovely place... clean.... and very few other people...plus there's a Jacuzzi that I always take advantage of.  I like to think of it as a cheap spa break... as long as I drown out the sound of the girls' voices talking to me... the... entire... time.  Never mind.  We did end up swimming for an hour and a half.

We also treated the girls to McDonald's on the way home. Of course, it wasn't spontaneous and it fit into our "Restaurants" budget.  We ordered two Happy Meals, 2 Big Macs, 2 medium fries and a "festive" coffee.  It cost us less than £10 for all of us to eat at McDs.  I must say... I was pretty impressed with myself.

The Happy Meals were the usual price £2.79 each.  Jeff and I each had a Big Mac and medium fries for £1.99 having used two receipts with codes; a thoughtful colleague of Jeff's actually gave him two receipts with the codes from the online feedback surveys that we could use today.  

And what about the large "festive" coffee?  It was free.  Imagine my excitement when I finally had six stickers to fill the coffee card above.  And no, of course, I didn't buy the six coffees to get the stickers... okay, I did buy one coffee in July... I found them... on cups... on the ground.  Eeeewww?!?! "Lauren, that's really weird."  Yep, I'm weird... so what.  I also pick up loose change... and the £5 note on the ground on a recent short stay in London... so what's the difference?  Not much.  I've actually tried to fill a card the past two years and haven't been successful, but this year I finally achieved my goal. YES!  I was even more excited that I could use this free coffee card on a fancy, whipped cream-topped coffee.  I did share it with Jeff, in case you were wondering.  I also asked for a cup of water, rather than paying for a Coke. So, there you go... McDs for a family of 4 for £10. Not bad.  

I spent a few couple of hours baking this afternoon - peanut and chocolate granola and cinnamon streusel pumpkin cake.  I added a couple of spoonfuls of this granola to natural Greek yogurt and Brenna loved it.  Mommy win!

Later this afternoon, we had a fun time at a friend's birthday party which took place at a indoor play area.  We spent £1 on a ride-on game that Brenna then abandoned halfway through.  

All-in-all we had a fun family day.  Totally worth the £20 to go swimming and the £10 for lunch at McDonalds.  Now that we've spent the allocated £20 in the play category of our budget, we may not be able to spend money on "play" until December, but that's ok. I'm sure we'll find other way to have fun for free!

An Emergency Fund... Do It Anyway

I've almost finished preparing these shoe boxes to be sent to two girls somewhere in the world via the charity Samaritan's Purse. I enjoy picking out all of the gifts that go inside each box, I enjoy imagining the excited faces of the little girls who will receive these present-packed boxes and the lesson I hope to instill in my daughters of gratitude, giving and awareness of others in the world.  But there is one thing that I don't love to do in regards to these shoe boxes - wrapping them! I honestly dread having to sit and wrap the lids separately from the actual box.  Why?  I'm not sure... but I simply don't... like... to... do... it... and yet, I still do it anyway.

Sometimes we have to do things we simply don't like or want to do, right?  I've been thinking all day about a comment that someone posted on a financial Facebook page that I follow. Just FYI, by "ef", she means an emergency fund.

The lady posted the following:
"Hi question about ef. How do you know which amount to aim for (£500-1000)? For instance, we own our home, within the last three years we have bought new most are appliances. My dh car is fair to say going to need to be replaced possibly in the next year. Mine is fine. But I don't think we'd need £1000 ef we have some money at aside for his new car already.

I could see the reason behind having a higher ef if we had older, more unreliable items in our life but not as it stands."

I replied: 

Hi, emergency funds are saved for unexpected occasions in your life, like job loss and isn’t necessarily just there to use to replace things that need replaced or repaired. Determining how much you have saved in an emergency fund depends on how many dependents there are in your family and how much risk you’re willing to take. You should also have sinking funds for things like Patricia mentioned: boiler service and repair, new-to-you car fund, MOT and annual service, House expenditures, holidays, birthdays, gifts for others, etc. These are expected expenses, things you know will eventually happen or are very likely to happen in the future. DR says we should have 3-6 months of expenses saved in an emergency fund. Hope this helps.

I hope this helps you, too.  I'm going to ask you something... how much do you have in your emergency fund? (Please tell me you have something saved for a "rainy day".)  Initially a good place to start is to aim for £1,000, then after paying off all debts except your mortgage, boost your emergency fund to 3-6 months of expenses.  I am not a financial expert, nor qualified in any way, but I do follow the advice of Dave Ramsey, an American financial adviser.  

The lady above didn't seem to understand the importance of having an emergency fund, otherwise she would have been motivated to do something that she doesn't seem to really want to do.  You know what?  I don't really want to find ways to save money every day. But I do. I don't really want to say "no" to buying things I really want... but I do. I don't really want to just have money "sitting" in an account just in case when I could be spending it on things to enjoy now... but I do.

If you don't have money in an account set aside for life's emergencies, I want to urge you to start today... yep, even prior to Christmas.  How can you start or boost your emergency fund today? Decide what your first goal for an emergency fund is: is it £500, £1000, or 3 months to 6 months of expenses? Create a spending plan (aka "budget") and allocate an amount from each month's wages to build to this goal.  Are there items in your house you can sell? Even if it's only worth a few quid; it all adds up!  Perhaps you have some money in an account already but it hasn't been dogeared for anything yet... you can either put it in another account or simply take a mental note that this amount isn't for spending unless it's an emergency.  Perhaps you can work extra shifts and put that extra money towards your emergency fund.  Maybe you have other ideas!

I honestly want the best for you and your family.  Having an emergency fund may seem strange or difficult.  You know what?! It's worth the extra work and all the saying "no"s for peace of mind, right?  Do it anyway.

How I "Spent" My Day

Hi Friends!  I have so many thoughts swirling in my mind... all things I want to share with you!  BUT... not today.  I want to flesh out the ideas a bit more before I do. 

I do, however, want to give you a bit of insight on my earnings and expenditures today, to hopefully give you a bit of inspiration!

As of this morning, our fridge was pretty bare.  I wondered what in the world Jeff and I were going to pack for our lunches. I was momentarily tempted to give in and buy a sandwich from the sandwich van that pulls up blaring its music like an ice cream van and parks itself dutifully at 11:45 outside my office window daily.  The salads and sandwiches that my colleagues buy from the sandwich van look good and, boy, would it be easy to buy something every day... but two things: a) I don't want to spend money unnecessarily, b) I don't want to fall into the habit of thinking of the sandwich van as a backup "just in case"... it's simply not an option (ok, it is, but the very last option).  Thankfully we had a few eggs, which I hard boiled, cut up and put on a couple of day-old rolls with a little mayo.  We also had yogurt, a nectarine and a Kit-Kat each. Done.  And no extra money spent. Phew!

Dinner was a similar situation, since I wasn't planning to go grocery shopping until after dinner... sans kids.  I had planned to make pasta carbonara, again using up a few more eggs, a few strips of bacon and a handful of frozen peas, but then my daughter, Ellen, asked if we could have tuna pasta bake instead.  Sure!  Thankfully, we had 4 tins of tuna in the cupboard; I used 2. I also chopped up the remaining couple of carrots in the fridge that were starting to shrivel.  So, I made a complete meal with some cupboard staples and used up a couple of carrots that may have ended up in the bin in a few days had they not been used today.

After dinner, with my grocery list app in hand, I headed to Aldi.  I kept to my list for the most part and spent about £40 to fill up our fridge. I splurged on a large pack of strawberries at £2.39, but these will be a side dish of sorts to have with hamburgers, so in my opinion, they're worth the extra expense.  I don't really follow economics, but I'm amazed at how much a normal pack (250g) of butter has sky rocketed the past 6 months or so.  I'm not entirely sure why the cost of butter has gone up as much as it has, I just know it has.

On the way home, I dropped off a Christmas teddy bear to someone who couldn't collect it - I only agreed to drop it off because I was about 3 minutes from her house when I was at Aldi.  Another £2 added to my kids' university savings fund.  (Another blog post in the works!)  I also swung by the Tesco petrol station to use a 10p off per litre of fuel voucher I received when I did a big shop at Tesco a couple of weeks ago which expires tomorrow.  Definitely wanted to take advantage of that!  Using the voucher saved me £4.60. We have another one to use by next week for Jeff's car. I went this evening rather than making an extra trip out tomorrow evening... that's a small savings, right?!

I'm planning to write more of these "How I Spent My Day" blog posts. I'd love to know what you think of them and whether they inspire you to think about your pennies in a different way.