Financial faux pas and other disasterous decisions

moo2moo

Thank you all!

Today is a new day. A slightly scary one. I have entered a wallet full of recipts into my improvised accounts book and the result is a bit eeekish. We appear to have hemorraghed £603.22 in the first seven days of October. The wedding did account for rather a lot of this as we had no means of cooking and had to eat out for every meal except Saturday night. Throw in a cash wedding gift and almost £70 in diesel to get there and back and it became a very expensive weekend away. OHs car service was very reasonable but at £110 its still a large and necessary expenditure. The rather farcical bottom line is that a very pathetic £1688.09 remains of my £4K challenge.

On a very positive note we managed to get DD1 lots of very pink extremely practical birthday gifts in the sales at the outlet village whilst spending only £21.97.

Still theres a lot of challenge still to go and it is still achievable. A large chunk of this months direct debits have already gone out and the freezer is still jam packed with meat. The store cupboards are just as full so I'll be able to keep the grocery shopping minimalistic which is where most of my money used to go.

mooomin

moo2moo wrote: »

Still theres a lot of challenge still to go and it is still achievable. A large chunk of this months direct debits have already gone out and the freezer is still jam packed with meat. The store cupboards are just as full so I'll be able to keep the grocery shopping minimalistic which is where most of my money used to go.

I think it's things like groceries that are key. I spent a lot of money (For me) in Costco a couple of weeks ago, but we have - or had at any rate - 5kg of mince for that. This means that we can have chilli, bolognaise etc, all of which streeeeeeetch nicely into more freezer food

I don't know about you but although I'm probably still spending where I shouldn't to some extent, I'm thinking about it more!

moo2moo

I've finally cashed out of Toluna!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A whole £12 gift voucher.

I'm definately spending money where I shouldn't but it always seems to be unavoidable things. I need to be far more ruthless with myself. Take aways seem to be the killer especially if OH collects them and gets a couple of extras.

moo2moo

Clearly I was talking out of my alternative orifice yesterday. Went to Mr T.s to do a meg monthly shop accompanied by OH. £14.68 on a half price toothbrush later the total bill came to £133. Much muttering was heard about the half ton of dried beans and lentils that made it into the trolley. Cupboards are now heaving. Will be spending the weekend batch cooking to make life easier through the week.

Needed to light the fire again last night as its distinctly arctic at times, especially when windy. Think we'll make the beginning of November before we need to start getting coal delivered. Have already been warned that prices have gone up 20% from last year so thats likely to be in excess of £100 a month. Fortunately its only till March.

Plans for today involve lots of housework. Don't they always. I'm almost on top of the laudry from last weekend will have to start on beds next. Its never ending. Still at least both DDs finally seem to be dry at night which makes a huge difference.

My day at work starts with the aftermath of an information evening and a lot of furniture movement. Also have to wade through a high school prospectus. The school in question are proudly boasting that 350 of 1500 exams sat were passed at grade C or above. Thats absolutely dire. Being cynical 35 bright kids got 10 passes and the rest didn't. Best of all 100% of pupils entered for exams gained a G or better. Eeek. DD1 won't be going there no matter how shiny the prospectus is. OH thinks we should at least give the place a visit but this is the same school whose pupils look like hookers whilst waiting for the school bus and a small hardcore of GCSE pupils have facial piercings. I am a snob. I want my eldest to be tortured with knee length skirts and a tie for as long as humanely possible.

moo2moo

Well helloo there people of the internet. Feeling vaguely human today depite staying up till 11:30pm playing Proffessor Layton on the DS. Its not that its a great game or even a good game but its so simplistically frustrating that I'm determined that I'll complete each challenge and the one after that and just one more until flat battery stopped play. The log burner being full of wood didn't help things either as it was very toasty. Anyhow I managed a lie in today making it daylight when DD1 decided to impersonate a hat and woke me up by sitting on my head. Shes just a bit excited as we're going to the panto after todays riding lesson. T'will be a very MSE afternoon out as the tickets were free thanks to the library reading challenge and I haven't made it as far as a cash point so I've no money for sweets or ice lollies at the interval. I'm sure they'll survive.

Had a pretty productive day yesterday. All the ironing is done and most has been put away. DD2s bedroom is tidy, hopefully later today I can persuade her to try lots of things on so that we can Bag2school the smaller stuff . Far easier than taking it to the charity shop and its a bit too far gone for that anyway. This way school get 50p a kg.

moo2moo

I was rudely interupted by the battle cry of a small smelly child with a wet bed. Shes now happily trashing the bathroom. Suppose that'll need adding to my list of things to do today. Need to put lots of beans in to soak for frugal farty stew and some dried fruit into alcohol ready or making more x-mas cakes tomorrow. Also have a ton of stuff from school to list on flea-bay at some point though this will be to raise funds for the special needs department.

Haven't done any DooYoo reviews for a few days, there don't seem to have been enough hours in the day. I'm rather close to a payout so my plan is to reach that stage before we depart on vacation. Its finally stopped raining so I'll get in a couple of hours outside mucking out chickens and splitting scrap wood for kindling. Pretty sure that lot will keep me busy most of today. Whilst I'm out with the chucks I'll be having a very stern word with them. One pathetically small egg a day simply isn't good enough and it doesn't justify a £25 a month feed bill. Tis the juveniles letting the side down not helped by the black and whites who are hiding their eggs somewhere else and doing a rather good job of it. Will dispatch the DDs with torches playing hunt the egg.

moo2moo

Tis still dark out but its peaceful which makes it very pleasant, even if it is 6:30am on a Sunday. The house is beginning to retain heat from the stoves so is marginally warmer than anticipated, although I may be going in search of hiking socks before too much longer.

Liberated an assortment of lunchboxes and bits of paper from the DDs school bags. Am now £24.90 lighter. £20 in fees for music lessons and £4.90 for a secondhand music book via Amazon which was considerably cheaper than the £15 from school for the same thing. Despite only having had one lesson so far DD1 is practicing very hard and very frequently. Cat is not impressed.

Need a definate kick up the bum with this debt busting malarky, its not that I'm stagnating or that I've lost interest it just doesn't seem to be happening. No matter how frugal I attempt to be I seem to be constantly thwarted. Some things make sense. If OHs new posh toothbrush is as good as the dentist claims then he won't need to see the hygenist every 3 months which will save the national debt of a small country pouring in the dentists direction and will pay for itself in no time at all. If he doesn't use it or the dentists still not happy then its just another gimmicky expense. Much like the abandoned electronic fag.

Plans for today:

• Delve through the prezzie stash and see what I can utilise for x-mas gifts this year to both generate cupboard space and save buying gifts. Its all very well buying stuff cos its cheap and it'll come in handy but then I have to get rid of it.
• Dispatch DD2s outgrown clothes Done
• At least 1 load of laundry Done
• Bake 2 x-mas cakes Done
• Slap farty bean stew in slo-cooker (dependant upon me tracking down the remainder of the recipe first) Done
• Make buns and flapjacks for DDs lunchboxes almost done - ran out of enthusiam before I got as far as flapjacks
• Knock up some crumble topping to go with the apple that I liberated from the freezer to make space for the batch cooking marathon done
• Cook the mince that hadn't defrosted in time for tea yesterday (had pasta and pesto instead) umm sphag bol for dinner tomorrow
• and finally remember to time everything such that OHs roast pork dinner goes in the oven around 3:30pm. Cakes out 3:15pm

After that I'm also going to:

• List a shed load of tat on flea-bay Done
• Write 2 DooYoo reviews Done
• Enter tons of post from the postie lot before they e-mail to remind me I am a lazy tart who is behind with data entry - if they didn't send me so much stuff I wouldn't put it off for so long Done
• Tidy at least one room Done (but I cheated by making the DDs tidy their rooms)
• Play with the power jigsaw and masacre some unsuspecting old timber to make kindling Done
• Persuade the DDs to lug in lots of logs to fill up the indoor log stores Done
• Oil the squeaky hinges on the front door that wake me up as OH departs for work Done
• Persuade DDs to do their homework Done

Guess that will keep me busy into the middle of next week and beyond.

moo2moo

Had a mega productive day yesterday and completed almost everything on my list. Listed several hundred things on flea bay although as lots rather than individual itesms. They've all got watchers already so fingers cross they all shift. Unfortunately 90% of it is schools stuff but its better off elsewhere.

Plans for today- what remains of it (once I've scoffed my way through a giant pack of co-op imitation bacon frazzles) Done:

• Laundry (I never seem to do anything else) Done even more
• De-rice the bathroom - its a very long story involving a six year old, sweet and sour sauce and an awful lot of egg fried rice)
• Sort out more stuff for Bag2school. I'm going to be very ruthless. I need to be able to shut my underwear drawer. I must not buy any more knickers. At a guess I have enough to keep me going for roughly six months without doing any laundry. **Not that I'm planning to donate any used undies to school as that would be truly horrifically revolting!
• 2 DooYoos Done
• Clear my in-box of any surveys over a week old as they'll be shut by now
• Clean out all three stoves.
• Vacuum in the vicinity of the stoves to clear up the mess I'll make and also vac up the ash trail from the leaking corner of the ash carrier. Whilst gaffer tape is good it does have lsome limitations. Must persuade OH to weld a patch over the hole.
• Lay kindling in the stoves so that they can be lit when required rather than pratting around finding the necessarys.
• Make appt. at vets and submit annual claim for medication Done
• Check my bank balance as its perilously close to payday and I've written an awful lot of cheques recently.Ugh 80p overdrawn already
• Purchase milk as we've run out again.

moo2moo

I've lost a day somewhere, turns out today is the 13th making Thursday payday and quite frankly it can't get here fast enough.

DD1 is horrifically hormonally. Halfway through cooking supper last night she burst into tears about something she'd seen on tv and mid sob was saying Mummy I don't want to cry. Aah. How well I know that feeling. Clearly I don't usually get over it by smashing eggs into a pan using only my fist but it seemed to work for DD1. OH wasn't quite so ammused by this once he'd finished extracting fragments of shell from his rather crunchy scrambled eggs on toast. Hes on a wierd shift again and his meal pattern is all over the place.

Distracted myself from my list of things to do yesterday with DooYoo research (playing Mahjong on the DS) ended up late for work, not that I was actually late for work as no one knows whaen to expect me, but after 2:40 its impossible to get parked anywhere near school. We have some very wierd parents who arrive almost an hour early to get parking spaces rather than have to wlk from further in the village. one poor mum was overheard whinging that she'd passed her own house three times whilst looking for a spot. Lazy tart.

Have minimalistic bids on 90% of the E-bay stuff already and have reached 46405 DooYoo points, only another 7 and a bit reviews to £50. Whoohoo. If I get my bum in gear I can do that by the weekend.

moo2moo

I'm on housework avoidance again. Having one of those everything seems to pointless days. I cleaned the loo before work and arrived home to find that OH couldn't be arsed to lift up the seat is it really that sodding difficult? Loo now needs cleaning again before the DDs use it. Begining to wish we hadn't capped the spider infested outdoor privy as I could quite happily banish him out there at the mo. Have appeased my stroppy self by demolishing a teeny Toblerone fruit and nut bar, more DooYoo reasearch. Honest. Has nothing to do with the postie delivering a parcel crammed full of choccies from my dad and step mum as a birthday prezzie. I could have had it a whole week earlier if the postie had left a "we called but you were out so we took your parcel to the outer hebrides, you may collect it during office opening hours which won't be until some point in the distant future as we're all on strike and so will only be open between 11.58 and 11:59pm on alternate Wednesdays". Sadly postie couldn't be arsed either so its only by chance that I got it as they redelivered before returning to sender. Still on a very positive note I have another five choccie bars to munch my way through. Thank god for parents!

Avoided spending any money at all yesterday but have made up for that today by blowing £38.40 at the vets on the old dears anti-incontinence medicine. Still its money well spent as the house doesn't smell like the inside of a council estate lift and the dog hasn't had to be banished to the garden.

Have an hour before I return to work. Will find something productive to do with it. More productive than playing on the DS which is remarkably tempting.