Our Month in Review: January

Hi Friends, I'm not feeling very well this evening, but I wanted to touch base with you before I hit the hay (I sound like my grandma!).  I want you to take the time to reflect on your January, and I want to let you in on some of the things that have gone well this month.

How has the first month of 2018 gone for you?  What has gone well for you?  Where is there room for improvement?  There's always room for improvement! 

Before I go any further, you're probably wondering what this protein bar has to do with our January review.  Answer: nothing.  It was a freebie worth £2 that was delivered with our meat order from UKFreshMeats this evening, which, by the way, I used a voucher code and got 10% off my order.  Score! 

Where did things go well for the Boltons (that's us) this month? 

I set myself a goal of spending at least £50 less on food from the shop this month, and I not only achieved this goal, I saved an additional £83 on top of this!  Yeah! How did I do this?  The usual meal planning, stretching meals by having slightly smaller portions at supper to have enough for either or both of our lunches the next day, and adding in an extra meat-free meal each week (usually breakfast for dinner).  I also used about £50 worth of Nectar points over a few shops at Sainsbury's.  I could do better by planning our meals slightly better so that I make fewer trips to our local Morrison's.  I have probably shopped more at Morrison's this past month, because of the convenience of it being so close to home, than ever before. 

My US passport was due for renewal next month, so I had to factor in that pretty big cost into the budget along with the delivery charges this month.  I should have budgeted for this monthly since I realised in the summer that it would expire, but I was in denial and had to fork out the money for it all in one month.  Ouch.  But hey, we cut back in a few areas in order to pay up front for my new passport.  I will also probably have to pay for a new "Indefinite Leave to Remain" put in my new passport, so my goal is to figure out what I need to do for this in the next week.

Eating out/Restaurants.  I enjoy eating out... sometimes.  Honestly, I struggle to get over the cost of mediocre food often served by miserable waitstaff.  However, our girls enjoy going out... kids meals are usually great value, because they often include a drink, a starter, a main meal and a dessert.  I seriously wish I could order from the kids meal!  This month our restaurant budget had to be reduced £10 to be put toward my passport, which meant one meal out.  Since my husband's meals at the canteen go into our restaurant budget as well as coffees out - neither are often - it didn't leave much for our meal out.  I let the girls choose between McDonalds and a pizza restaurant - no surprise, they chose McDs.  We were still under budget by £2.03 in our restaurant budget this month... yippee!

We were slightly over budget (by £1.05) this month in our "play" budget due to treating our friends' children to soft play a couple of weeks ago... but it was TOTALLY worth it.  The £1.05 I'll carry over into February's budget so that it balances out over the two months. 

Not everything went according to plan... hey, that's life, right?!  We decided to book our flights "home" to Ohio.  I had been carefully watching for price drops for a few months, but there wasn't much change. However, I know that prices tend to increase, due to basic economics, in the winter months because people long for their summer holidays.  I was having difficulty using my credit card to book the flights, so I asked my husband to.  I won't go into detail, but one tiny error on our reservation resulted in a correction fee of £50.   All in all though we saved about £400 over last year's flights due to a new route on Iceland Air between Reykjavik and Cleveland.  So, we'll fly a different way from Manchester into a different airport, Cleveland, but £400 is definitely worth it!  (At least I hope so.)

Other than those things, nothing was too different in January.  We were even given the opportunity to bless an almost stranger with a small financial gift, which I feel absolutely blessed by! 

I planned ahead for February yesterday and this evening by preparing our budget for the next month.  Honestly, I LOVE to update my budget.  *Weirdo alert!*  It allows me to have a sense of control over our finances, which is completely freeing!  I do, however, know that everything is in the Lord's control, not mine.

Enjoy Life NOW

Do you think it's possible to enjoy life while getting out of debt or working towards your financial goals? I believe it's absolutely possible, because this is how we - my family - live.  Read through this screenshot of a question someone posted on the Dave Ramsey UK Based Support Group Facebook page a few days ago followed by my reply:

I'd like to break down both her question and my reply.  "Dave podcasts" are Dave Ramsey's (DR) Daily podcasts which can be found through daveramsey.com or on the Dave Ramsey app.  I listen to parts of his podcasts pretty much every day for inspiration and education.

Dave's catch phrase "live like no one else, so you can later live and give like no one else" is so incredibly motivating to me.  To live like no one else means to not live like the average Joe meaning to budget, save, pay off any debt, not accumulate any more debt, save for retirement and to live within one's means. Basically this means to make some sacrifices and delay gratification TODAY so that you can prepare for TOMORROW.  The second half of this statement "so you can later live and give like no one else" means that when the time comes that you have paid off all debt, including your mortgage, saved an emergency fund worth 3-6 months of expenses, contributed 15% of your income towards retirement, and saved for your children's university fees, you can then live an EXTRAORDINARY life and give EXTRAORDINARILY knowing that you're financially secure.

Just a note on giving.  Christians believe in tithing 10% of their income to their local church and missionaries to give back to God what is His in the first place.  It's a monthly "thank you" gift to the Lord who has given us everything we have for the furtherance of His kingdom.  I know that everyone believes different things about tithing and giving, but I think we'd all agree that it changes one's heart.  It makes one think beyond one's self or one's ego.  And for this reason, I encourage everyone, no matter where you are with your finances to give, even just a tiny amount, on a regular basis.  Once you've freed up money that's going towards paying off debt, you can give more.  Once more money is freed up after having enough money in a fully-funded emergency fund, then you can give even more.  Once you've saved for your children's education (I know there are differing opinions on this) and have plenty going into retirement savings, then you can GIVE like no one else... that means BIG money! How exciting!

The husband's question to his wife in this post is actually absolutely fabulous!  He's thinking beyond today.  He's considering how to break free of the lifestyle they're used to, how they can enjoy life while they work together to accomplish their goals.

Ok, just to clarify a bit more before getting to my reply.  "BS2" stands for Baby Step 2, which in DR's plan refers to paying off all non-mortgage debt.  DR's plan has 7 steps plus BS0, which must have been added after 1-7 were created.  More on these in future blogs!  Or watch some videos on YouTube.

Now to my reply: enjoy money NOW.  By planning where your money goes (ie. budgeting) and sticking to it, you have the ability to enjoy what is left over NOW.  You don't have to sit, twiddling your thumbs and being miserable while you wait for time to pass and for your financial goals to happen.  NO!  The aim of my blog is to encourage you to "find pennies" or small ways to save money while you live your best life! (Now I'm sounding like Oprah!)  That doesn't mean once you achieve your financial goals or get to Baby Step 7, that means NOW!  LIVE LIFE NOW!

Moving on... I used to shudder at the thought of contentment.  "How can I possibly be content with what I have when so-in-so has so much more than me?"  The Lord has taught me sooo much about contentment the past few years.  The Lord provides for all of my needs.  I don't need anything more. I have a roof over my head, warm clothes and plenty of food.  I have so much more than that!  Do we live in my dream home? Far from it.  Do I wear the prettiest, designer clothes.  Uh, no.  Do we take exotic vacations/holidays multiple times a year? Not unless trips to visit our families in Northern Ireland and Ohio count.  Since putting my 2018 mantra "I have enough" into practice, it's made me take an even closer look at how content I am with what I have.  It's also about making the most of what we have and being thankful for everything.  Believe me, it's still something I'm working through and I'm not sure whether I'll ever be truly content... on Earth, that is.

Simple.  Isn't the word simple such a beautiful word?!  It's not complex. It's easy to understand.  What simple means to you may mean something different to me.  Simple to me means looking at situations and finding the root of why I'm doing it.  Is it to fulfill something in myself?  Is it to impress others?  What is it?  Are you going shopping to get out of the house?  Could you go for a walk somewhere instead?  Are you popping into the local cafe for a coffee and slice of cake "as a treat"?  What about making a pot of coffee and baking a cake at home?  A big part of simplification is slowing down and appreciating what you truly want from a moment in time.  It's about making things habitual or automatic, so you can focus on what you really want out of life.

You probably already know that very little excites me more than finding a discount code for something I was already going to purchase.  Or finding a cheaper and more effective way of doing something.  I love getting things for free.  I love when my kids are happy doing inexpensive, fun things together, like looking for "mini beasts" on a walk, baking together, playing a game together or our once-a-month meal out.

The idea is that with some simplification, contentment and creativity, you can live your best life NOW... no matter where you are in your financial adventure. photo credit

6 Rules I Follow For Using My Tumble Dryer

A recent post on the Dave Ramsey UK Facebook group I follow asked, "What's your 'luxury' that you're not prepared/struggling to give up?"  Another member answered, "my tumble dryer" and I couldn't agree more!  I LOVE our dryer.  It dries clothes... within an hour and a half... and it comes out all fluffy and warm and fluffy and warm.... *grin*

Before I moved to Germany in 2003, I never had the "pleasure" of hanging each. and. every. single. item of clothing on a drying rack that took up half a room, then wait patiently for about two days for the clothes to finally dry only to have the clothes come off the drying rack stiff and wrinkled.  I had the pleasure of using drying racks through 2014 when we moved into our current house.  I pretty much demanded that we have a utility room in our house so that I could have a tumble dryer... a lovely tumble dryer. 

If I remember correctly, the first load of laundry I dried in our new dryer included my daughter Ellen's blankie.  I remember calling the little 2-year-old to the utility room.  The little blonde headed girl came toddling in and squealed with absolute delight when she snuggled her warm, soft blankie for the first time.  Tears filled my eyes and a lump formed in my throat.  Yep, there is nothing like a tumble dryer. #tumbledryerlove

As I was emptying the dryer a little while ago, I realised I follow my own money-saving rules even when I use the dryer. 

First, I make sure that everything that goes in the dryer is actually dryer-friendly.  This prevents any shrinkage of or damage to clothes (this is pretty obvious, I realise) and also the fewer items in the dryer, the faster the clothes will dry, thus using less energy (even if just slightly).


Second, we use wool laundry balls that I bought at Home Bargains for about £3 at least a year or so ago.  They claim to gently fluff clothes as they bounce around the drum and also help clothes dry quicker, again by hopefully reducing drying time, thus reducing the electricity used.

Third, any large items like duvet covers and bath sheets only get a partial dry in the dryer then we take them out and hang them on the banister upstairs to finish drying.  Again, this helps to reduce the electricity we use.

Fourth, we try to stop the dryer either right before or just as it finishes drying so that the clothes won't wrinkle not only saving (my husband who does the ironing!) time and more electricity to iron the clothes.

Fifth, we immediately clean the lint out of the lint trap and empty the condenser tray/reservoir/the-thing-that-holds-the-water so that the dryer works efficiently each time we use it.  Periodically, I clean out the filter on the bottom of the dryer as well.

Sixth, we then turn off the dryer switch at the wall, because even though the dryer isn't turned on, electricity is still running through the machine.

Oh, if you're wondering whether I don't use our dryer on the two hot summer days we have a year... nope... I know, it's my little luxury.

Do you have any dryer tips or rules you follow that I could consider adopting?

I Did Something Crazy...

Sooo... I did something crazy this week... something so not me.... something so not Finding the Pennies.  Honestly, I can't believe that I did it actually. Enough already! What is it, Lauren?! I passed up the opportunity of a FREE gym membership to Nuffield Health Gym. *gulp!*  I can hardly believe it myself.  The directors of the company I work for offered to pay for a full gym membership for the office employees, worth £33... and I didn't take it.  Why?!  Because I belong to Anytime Fitness which is about a 5-minute walk up the hill from our house.  I know myself... there is NO WAY I'd want to get in the car and drive 8-ish minutes to Nuffield.  More than that... the classes don't start until 6:45, so there's NO WAY it would work out time-wise with working out for an hour then driving back home to get myself and the family ready before the school run and work.  I mostly don't work out in the evenings, so evening workouts/classes isn't really a possibility for my family's schedule.  So, I kindly declined the generous offer.  *sigh*

So, back to the money-saving Lauren.  What did you do Friday evening? I bet it wasn't as good as ours!  While the girls enjoyed their movie night - Dora the Explorer... again - Jeff and I hovered over the laptop screen at the kitchen table considering remortgaging options. Yay! Fun! (Not.)  What's sooo depressing is realising how much is left on our house to pay off and how much we pay in interest!  Waaaa!  At least we're starting to look at the options and have the time to ask others for advice.  My ultimate goal is to pay off our mortgage... and the sooner, the better!

Completely changing topics.... my girls have had the Mueller corner yogurts perhaps twice... ever... because they're full of sugar and EXPENSIVE... and the "yogurt" is drippy and gross.  Can you tell I don't like Mueller yogurt?!  Not that the above-pictured yogurt is any less sugary (I haven't compared nutritional info), it does taste a WHOLE lot better and cost less than 90p (I can't remember the actual price) from Aldi.  So that my daughters don't entirely miss out on the "fun" of having Smarties (British M&Ms for my non-British readers) in their yogurt, I occasionally let them add a small handful to their yogurt.  Cost-wise it comes to about 15p per bowl compared to the best price of 40p per Mueller Corner yogurt.  

Sorry (not sorry) that I talk so much about food on my blog, but it is such an easy way of saving money.  Almost every weekend, I crave Chinese or a curry.... but it can be sooo expensive if it's eaten at a restaurant or even taken away.  The next-best option is the Chinese or curry "deals" from the supermarket... and yes, they're fine, as long as my girls will eat them. The meal would cost £8-£10.  Not too bad... but I know I can do better... with the use of my slow cooker.  Even having ordered great-quality meat from UKFreshMeats for £8 for this recipe, it still works out to about £4 for the meat for this meal since we've only eaten half of the beef.  Of course there are the costs of the pretty basic ingredients for the sauce and the costs for the brown rice I boiled myself... oh yeah, I made Slow Cooker Broccoli and Beef  and it hit the spot!  The leftover beef will be used in steak fajitas tomorrow evening for a quick, easy and cheap meal.

Saturday evening Jeff and I shared this small-ish bar of chocolate that was marked down to 47p at Aldi after Christmas.  It was alright... not fantastic... but it did the trick for a simple, inexpensive Saturday evening treat... and it looked pretty too! 

I know this post is somewhat random, and honestly, not completely thought through... but that's ok!  I'm simply sharing my thoughts in the hopes of encouraging you to find ways to simplify, cut-back where possible and consider options that may or may not save you money depending on your circumstances, like not taking advantage of the paid-for gym membership. 

Have a great week!

Putting "I Have Enough" into Practice

Evening All! I sat down a half hour ago with my cup of tea and a couple of Lindor truffles (my favs!) to start my evening by clearing out a few receipts from my wallet/purse and updating my budget.

Brenna and I went to Sainsbury's this morning.  Man! I almost wish I hadn't.  £56.51 for seemingly few things!  Unfortunately, I can't get everything at Aldi that my family wants, Shreddies (Jeff doesn't like Aldi's Malties... oh, well).  I did buy a large reduced beef joint for a VIP's visit on Saturday and a few packs of fresh berries that I don't usually buy... it all sure adds up quickly!  I used up what was remaining on the Sainsbury's gift card that we purchase at a slightly reduced rate through Jeff's work) and £32.50 worth of Nectar points, leaving £2.14 remaining. 

We reduced our grocery budget £50 this month as a challenge to get by on just "enough", which could be allocated elsewhere in the budget.

I also returned an unopened canister of Allinson's yeast that I bought prior to Christmas for £1.10.  I found yeast at Aldi for much less a day or so later, so I didn't need the Allinson's yeast.  It's about finding pennies, right? 

This afternoon I spent a little time setting up the girls' Fisher Price Little People Farm and Zoo toys to take pictures of in the hopes of selling them.  I've been dreading this moment for years as these were favourites once upon a time, but aren't any longer.  My girls no longer play with them, they're taking up valuable space, and I'm sure they will be loved again by another family. (This is me trying to console myself.)

Yesterday, I forgot to take my lunch to work.  My immediate thought was to make it until I got home at 3:30pm.  Hmm... nope that didn't last long.  Then I remember the sandwich van whose music chimes loudly outside the office at 11:45am every day.  I thought, "This is the one time I will buy myself a sandwich."  Then my mantra "I have enough" popped into mind.  In my desk drawer were some packets of just-add-boiling-water soup, a handful of almonds, a clementine leftover from Tuesday and a selection of biscuits/bars.  "I have enough."  The sandwich van came and went without my visiting it.

I didn't really feel like going to the shop yesterday, nor did I really need to.  We had enough at home.  Since I like to have a couple of meat-free meals a week, I decided it was "breakfast for supper" night.  We had scrambled eggs (it's not technically meat, right?), blueberry muffins (Recipe from Everydaycheapskate.com, but without the sugary topping) and fruit salad with a couple spoonfuls of yogurt stirred in for something different. Cheap and easy.

"I have enough" has helped me in a few situations already this week.  One other example was when I went to dry my hair yesterday morning. I almost turned on the light in the bedroom, but then realised there was just enough light in the room to dry and brush my hair. I'm finding even more places to cut back when I keep "I have enough" in mind.     

My 2018 Mantra: "I Have Enough"

Picture credit

Welcome to 2018, Friends!  Have you made any New Year resolutions?  I haven't.  That's right.  I haven't.  There's something about new year resolutions that feel so immediate, but temporary, not something that is sustainable or something that one can start and build up gradually overtime.  I feel that in order to make a change... for good... old habits have to be broken down, while new habits are slowly created and improved upon.  My money-saving mindset did not - voila! - magically happen overnight... in fact, it's very much a work in progress and always will be. 

Although not always good at it, my money-saving mindset started when I was young.  I would watch my dad clip coupons for groceries from the Sunday newspaper, then eventually, I'd be the first to snatch up the pages of coupons to cut out.  We didn't necessarily need to cut out coupons and use them at the grocery store, but we did.  I began to understand how much fun it was to get something for less money.  Over 30-odd years, this has developed into not only my love for and utter thrill at finding a bargain, but wanting to share this love and thrill with you! 

Perhaps you're thinking, "Lauren, doesn't saving money leave you with feelings of deprivation or inadequacy?"  My answer: No, not at all. In fact, the more money I don't spend, the more money I get to keep to myself or use for something else.  Makes sense, right?

But honestly, sometimes I do feel a little inadequate when I see lovely cars driving down the road while I drive my 11-year-old Vauxhall Vectra, or when I see others wearing lovely clothes and mine are pretty basic and either a hand-me-down or purchased at 60% off somewhere.  But you know what, I then quickly remind myself that there's absolutely nothing wrong with driving a perfectly good, safe Vectra or wearing hand-me-downs.  I have enough.

Just a little bunny trail here - I listen to podcasts as often as I can (they're FREE!) as they are so informative and encouraging.  My favourites, by the way, are Primal Potential with Elizabeth Benton (healthy lifestyle), Dave Ramsey (finance), Retire Inspired with Chris Hogan (finance), Life Money Hope with Chris Brown (Christian finance) and Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Demoss Wolgemuth (Christian).  

I listen to pretty much every single Primal Potential podcast and learn amazingly wonderful things from Elizabeth Benton about nutrition, exercise and mindset.  But Podcast 429 titled "My Personal Mantra & 2018 (please listen here) I listened to 3 times (and now a fourth time to write this blog).  Three times! Elizabeth discusses a book she read and had reflected on called The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist and from which she quoted a couple of pages.  Did I mention that I listened to this podcast three times?!  It had that big of an impact on me. 

Elizabeth quotes, "...and for many of us, our first thought is 'I didn't get enough sleep', the next one is 'I don't have enough time'.  Whether true or not, that thought of "not enough" occurs to us automatically before we even think to question or examine it.  We spend most of the hours in the days of our lives complaining or worrying about we don't have enough of.  We don't have enough time. We don't have enough rest. We don't have enough exercise. We don't have enough work. We don't have enough profits. We don't have enough power. We don't have enough wilderness. We don't have enough weekends.  Of course we don't have enough money... ever.  We're not thin enough. We're not smart enough. We're not pretty enough or fit enough, educated or successful enough or rich enough... ever. Before we even sit up in bed, before our feet touch the floor, we're already inadequate, already behind, already losing, already lacking something.  And by the time we go to bed at night, our minds race with a litany of what we didn't get, or didn't get done that day. We go to sleep burdened by those thoughts and wake up to that revelry of lack. This manta of "not enough" carries the day and becomes a kind of default setting for thinking about everything.  From the cash in our pockets, to the people we love or the value of our own lives. What begins as a simple expression of the harried life or even the challenged life, grows into the deep justification for an unfulfilled life. It becomes the reason we can't have what we want or be who we want to be.  It becomes the reason we can't accomplish the goals we set for ourselves, the reason our dreams can't come true, or the reason other people disappoint us. The reason we compromise our integrity, give up on ourselves or write off others.  We live with scarcity as an underlying assumption. It's not that we necessarily experience a lack of something, but scarcity, as a chronic sense of inadequacy about life, becomes the very place from which we think and act and live in the world. Through that lens, our expectations, our behavior and their consequences become a self-fulfilling prophecy of inadequacy, lack and dissatisfaction. 

"In the mindset of scarcity, our relationship with money is an expression of fear. A fear that drives us in an endless and unfulfilling chase for more, or into compromises that promise us a way out of the discomfort around money." 

Elizabeth goes on to explain the parallel between money and overeating... "the desire for more... more... more."  She continues to quote, "When you LET GO of trying to get more of what you don't really need, it frees up oceans of energy to make a difference with what you have."

Elizabeth then chats about an exercise in journaling (which I have really haven't gotten the hang of myself) and has asked herself, "What do I not need more of? And where do I act as if I don't have enough? Where do I act as though I need more?" She answers what she doesn't need more of, "Food, sugar, alcohol, television, money, stuff.  Whether that stuff is clothes, coffee mugs, tech accessories, books."  For me, it's very similar things. I, too, don't need more food or sugar, bath towels(!), cooking equipment, stuff... ugh! I have too much stuff!  Kids' toys, markers and pens, dust (ha!). 

Where do you feel like you don't have enough?  I have been thinking of the word "enough" since I first listened to the podcast last week.  I have enough. I feel fulfilled. I don't need more. *BAM!* It was a total light bulb - no, EXPLOSION moment! 

I have enough.

I have enough food - my fridge and freezer are crammed full. My cupboards won't fit another can/tin or box.  Look at me! I am no skinny mini! I hardly need more food than I need.

I have enough friends  -  I don't need more friends. I don't even nurture the friendships I have with amazing friends who are spread around the globe.

I have enough money - we are able to pay our bills, put food on the table, keep warm and dry.

I have enough time - hey, we all have the same 24 hours.

I have EVERYTHING I need.  "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19).

I have enough.

This is my 2018 mantra: "I have enough."  I have noticed already that a few thoughts of inadequacy were quickly diminished when I recited my mantra to myself.  I am really looking forward to exploring how this impacts my decisions regarding money, my continued progress to lose weight and my life in general and will share these experiences with you this year. Take care, Friends.