LBM!!! Pinkys NS Diary

Pinky15

Yes am up at this terrible time little one is always up between 5am- 6am am shattered and can never get her to sleep for any longer boo hoo - I am so sick of feeling rough on a morning and she is still not sleeping through the night. Then to top it off dear sis who hasn't any kids moans how tired she is allll the time!!! gosh just wait till its her time to have them!!!
Anyway the exciting news is that I opened my sealed tin and how much - drum roll pleaseeeeeee - £51 :T
Was so pleased - so that will pay for all christmas food and a few treats and I will look in the sales for a new tin which I aim to fill for treats in the summer hols!
I have a good couple of boxes for ebay but not going to put them on till feb as there is no point with all the sales etc.
I am off shopping this am so have done a list and need to check my meal planner also so will do that once I am fully woken up!
So far this am I have fed the cats, cleaned the litter tray, emptied the w machine and put it on with another load!
Still to do -
Hang all washing out
Feed hoards once they all awake (I hear someone else moving about now)
Wash & dry up
Head off to Asda
Fill car with diesal
Get DH to find playdough he has misplaced and I want for keeping kids busy!

mummy2mygirls

Wow thats a great amount for the sealed tin!!! I am keeping all my £2 coins in one for next christmas but i might put all the change in a different tin for the holidays as it would be nice to have a little extra for when they are home....... will have to have a think about it......

Hope you enjoy all your treats x

katieclampet

Good luck to you both, with your sealed tins. (I usually use the money I collect to buy treats for my 2gc.)
Merry christmas & happy new year.

katiex

PS Good luck with the budgeting over christmas, pinky!

Pinky15

Well should I say I spent my money wisely well yes and no. I have enough not to shop for at least 2 weeks (except milk and fruit of course) lots of tins and overspent by £10. I have also to pay for the xmas meat tomorrow so heres hoping it's not too much!
I was shattered by lunch time as the shops were heaving - I always say every year - never again but at least it's all done now.
Have sorted washing, fed kids, house fairly tidy and washing hung out. I could do with mopping floors but not quite motivated enough to do this yet. I have bough some work home over hols and so must put some time aside to do this - boohoo. I am dreading going back to work after Jan bu am absolutely praying we can stay in budget and keep paying off our debt and there will be a glimmer of hope I may be able to stay at home with little one just till they go to school. So am trying to be soooo good. I have seen on the quick grabbit thread homebase have knocked down the xmas stuff so may pop down tomorrow first thing and get a few bits to put away for next year!

Pinky15

Well boo hoo I am feeling very sorry for myself today on the grabbit page loads of fab sales and offers and I can't buy a thing as I am £37 into my overdraft and desperately want to clear it am trying soooo hard to resist temptation!!!!! On a better note popped into Homebase today as someone said they were selling cheap wrapping paper. I got
- party poppers
- 3 x dear santa sets (for next year, letters, envelopes, pencil and stickers)
- 3 x tubs of beautiful pink and silver baubles (for next year)
- 3 x wrapping paper rolls (gold and white v nice!)
- 1 x gold coins (bride for children waiting whilst I looked lol)
all this for £4.56 so was very happy. All the bits can go in my christmad box and if I can afford it in jan out of my new weekly budget (£100 per week) I would like to try and get a very muchly reduced xmas tree. The one we have was £3.99 from Asda and very much on its last legs and the other day DS asked why did we only have a little christmad tree? felt so sorry for him as it is really carp!! So will be looking for a better one - that should make the little monkey happy! Other than homebase I havent spent anything else. I have asked for vouchers for little ones from family this year so hoping to get some clothes in the sale for them next year. I have already had a good raid through the wardrobe though and made a mental list if things they need and things they def do not need. In the past I just bough anything I though was a bargain - but not this year.
Well off to peel some veg and go and hide a few more pressies (am running out of hiding places lol) x

katieclampet

Merry christmas to you and your family, pinky :A, and best wishes for a peaceful and prosperous new yearx

katiex

Pinky15

Well I hope everyone had a fab xmas - we have a fab one. I cut back loads this year and must admit I was a bit worried that the kids would notice but they didnt and were really grateful for everything they got - it was really sweet. We were given some vouchers and money for xmas so this is how I have spent it
- £200 in Next (enough clothes and bottoms for all little ones and some bits for DH should last all year including a winter coat for DS for next sept!)
- Paid off 1 overdraft
- Paid £50 off the other meaning £150 remaining on it
- Paid £20 towards MOT
- £50 off money we owe mum and dad
I have £50 left now till pay day so may treat myself to a few bits in the sales. I would love a dressing gown and some new slippers if I get them cheap in the sales am hoping to get a diary also.
In my new diary will be space for DH to write down any overtime he does - this will help me budget for following month. We are going to live on £100 per week which we will take every monday. This will pay for food, diesal and any other little bits we need. Anything left over I will give to mum for safe keeping and will go towards a bill prob the ccard.
I must also get another tin so we can save some extra spends for the summer hols.
Tomorrow I will -
- Book our camping pitch for the holidays (money saver hols this year!)
- do a meal planner - I reckon I wont need a big shop for a couple of weeks.
When I leave work I am going to join the fly lady thread to bring some more organisation to the house and I am also going to try and cook more meals from scratch and freeze. I really struggle to do this at the moment as I dont have any time - hopefully things will change!
Hope you all had a fab xmas too!!!

Pinky15

Wow what a hectic day!!
Had a lie in which was lush and them decided to pop to wilkos for a few bits eh guinea pig food, fire lighters and some storage boxes to sort pile of toys out.
Well parking was free (always good!) and managed to spend cash only £29.00 but I got
- 5 storage boxes (in sale)
- mouse food - oops DH will be taking back to swap!
- 2 boxes of tags for next xmas - 1/2 price
- 2 x wrap paper at 40p each
- firelighters
- 1/2 playmobile £2.50 for DS
- Stool for bathroom so little ones can reach sink -last ones leg fell off
- 6 various gift sets for next xmas for teachers etc
- 2010 diary
- lined book for meal planning etc for 2010!
hmm think that was all - but pleased with my buys.
Also little ones was wanting to sit on the potty again today- so will start the training - will be pleased when out of nappies as this will save £30ish per month!
Got home and all had a lovely dinner at mums house! We then got little one down for a nap the other 2 upstairs for a dvd and really clashed on sorting out the downstairs. I got rid of all boxes, threw a load of broken toys out. I sorted a bin liner out for ebay - Feb will be the month for doing this.
We swept all the floors and DH sorted out the cupboard under the stairs - gosh he was a brave boy lol. We must have put 6 bin bags out. Still a little untidy but feel better for the sort out.
Tonight when the kids are in bed we will -
- price up campsites for next summer hols
- meal plan for next 2 weeks
- go through budget for 2010 so we both know exactly what is happening with money and where it is going.
- sort through some paperwork which has been lying around and needs a home.
Tomorrow - DH will return some bits for xmas we bought for DD and they didnt fit, get tax stamps for car. We have decided with the car tax to just pay 6 months and then 12 as March seems to be our most expensive month so it would be easier to spread things out.
Well I feel like I have made a good start and hope my motivation continues. My final goal will be to lose 1 stone in weight - I managed this last year but it has gradually crept back on! x

mummy2mygirls

Glad you had a lovely xmas and sounds like you have had a busy day!!! Got loads for your money today well done.
Just wanted to ask about the cartax stamps - do you get them from the post office?? Also then do you just hand them over and can pay any extra if you dont have the full amount?? Sounds a good idea....

Pinky15

Hi Mummy - I think they are just post office saving stamps and you can spend them on what you like re car tax or tv licence. The car tax always catches me short so when I withdraw my family allowance I always get some stamps (they come in £5's) while I am there so I dont forget and spend the money. This way I nearly always have it paid when it is due. In jan I am also going to start a saving scheme with them you get a blank credit card thingy and just load cash onto it when you can and then in Nov your money can be spent in loads of shops eg boots, argos, and loads of others. i though this would be a good way of saving a little for next years xmas without breaking the bank! I can also do this while I am at the post office buying the stamps. It seems to work for us anyway lol. Hope you had a lovely xmas too when is the little one due again?? x