My rags to riches, weight loss, yummy mummy stuff and 'owt else i can think of diary!

Pips_Mum

Wow that looks great Rags
Loads of savings in there too which is grand especially for Christmas.
Going to try and do mine later, bet its not as healthy looking as yours !!!

x x x x

ragstoricheswannabe

Thanks pipsmum, wont have that amount at the end as not included things like the lottery, stuff the boys need/medicine etc. Mr rags has had a look and have gone through it with him. Made a point of saying that we will be able to overpay if there are no ebay spends (apart from some seeds but they will pay for themselves) and garages on his half, and no impulse "got to have it" uys at my end.

Looking at the budget, we need to have an emergancy fund as if anything goes wrong we are screwed with no money to fix or get new. Might use my A+L account for that for now, just need to find all my paperwork for it. How much does everyone else put away into an emergancy fund???? Does everyone else put money away for clothes each month?? hard that one as when ds2 needs new stuff its the whole wardrobe and he doesnt habve that many clothes to start with!!!!

miemie

Rags with my 2 i have found once they are at school they really don't need that many clothes, they just don't get the same amount of wear out of them and there not growing as fast so they last longer, by the time we have got in from school they have got changed they are only in them a couple of hour before its bath and bed, sometimes they come out of school and their uniform is filthy so i don't bother changing them out of it as by the time they have had there tea and slopped beans and god knows what down the front i think whats the point in messing clean clothes up IYSWIM. I tend to average about £20 a month and put it away when i have around £100 i leave it at that and then start again when needed, i just then buy things as and when needed, i also buy school uniform when ever i see it on offer during the year as its something they are always going to need for the next few years, never leave it untill they are ready to go back to school, for example my daughter has 4 blouses, 2 skirts and a pair of trousers in her wardrobe she won't fit in this uniform until christmas time probably, but its there ready for the next growth spurt she has and i'm never caught out and have to buy a whole load of uniform at once.(hope that made sense).

ragstoricheswannabe

Thanks miemie. ds1 is good for clothes as they last at least half a year, its ds2 that is the problem as his clothes only last 3-4 months and when he grows out of an age group its the whole caboodle - vests, pjs, t shirts, pants/shorts/ jumper/long sleeve tops etc- and that costs. Keep looking in the sales for the next size up and have a few bits stashed away......................................

Well, went shopping and stuck to me shopping list although found a few bits i needed but had forgotton and spent £51!! £1 over the budget i set myself but have given myself £250 a month so still in!!!!

miemie

£1 not bad going, maybe next week will be under,see what you mean about ds2 i remember when mine where that age always seemed to be needing new stuff, at least the summer sales should be starting soon you might be able to pick up some bits then.

pixieface_3

Phew!!! at last i have finished reading your diary.......what an amazing person you are I admire the fact that you work so hard to pay your debts off, you must find it very hard work at times, especially with such a young family and working (i know i have been there) keep up the good work, I will be following your progress and I do hope you win the lotto big time.....keep smiling xx

pixieface_3

PS .....How lucky are you to live in Kendal what a lovely place.

ragstoricheswannabe

Hello and welcome pixieface!!!!! you deserve a medal for reading through all this diary!!!!!:D

Kendal is ok to live in, but everyone knows everyone so your buisness gets round quickly. suppose its like that everywhere though, think i take for granted living here and dont see beyond what i have to do to take in the scenery. Our one way traffic system is pants though....................ha ha ha!!!!

Someone down the road from me won the lottery the other month...........................hanging on to this fact as cumbria is usually forgotten where compitions and the like are concerened and you never hear of winners from here!

Jo_R_2

Wow so organised with the forecasted SOAs, I must start doing that!

Hopefully I plan £50 a month into my emergency fund (start doing that from next month if all goes well.) For me, I don't have anything put aside 'just in case' and as we all know, just in case ALWAYS comes along at some point! I want to build up a little safety net whilst still being able to throw money at my debts.

In practical terms I agree that kids don't need clothes as much once they start school, I've really noticed the difference since DD1 started school. We're lucky as my mum is a bit of a thriftaholic (don't know if there's such a word but if not I've just made it up LOL) and loves buying the kids clothes from charity shops so it's actually very rare that I have to buy anything for my DDs (aged nearly 3 and 5.) In my SOA I've allocated £40 but not sure how realistic that is really, there's 5 of us, me, OH, DDs and baby aged 13 weeks and in all honesty I tend to buy clothes I need from my ebay Paypal account... think I'm rambling a bit there!

[Deleted User]

Rags,

Your a nurse, arent you? My wife is too and she was speaking to a friend whos in the beauty treatement business.

Apparently, their crying out for people like nurses to do botox treatments. Going rate is over £200 per session, and the costs are about £10.

My wife is looking into this and thinking about going on a training course for it.