Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

greent

Hang on in there, newgirly x

newgirly

Thanks greent.

Its been a busy week, everything is sorted for dh's birthday except one present has not turned up yet, so I will have to buy a bar of chocolate as I don't want to give him 39.:D

I have tried to be careful with money even with so much going on, I got my MIL to cut my hair, dyed my roots myself am doing my own nails. I bought a really nice polka dot 50's style dress from ebay and am borrowing dd's shoes and bag.

Have been stewing over next years holiday (or not!) plans. The kids were a bit bored this year as there was not too much for them to do, and the options for next year are camping with the big tent we bought (slightly terrifying option!) or book a cottage near alton towers so we can drop the kids there lots (relaxing option!)

I think it is the last holiday that dd will come on with us probably so I would like to do something she will enjoy, however is still fairly cheap. Abroad would be nice but way too expensive. I know its very early to think about all this but financially it would be good to be organised.

Anyway, I am off to tidy the whole house as I have been avoiding it all week.:o

newgirly

Its dh's birthday today, he opened his presents and I think he liked most of them, although it did take ages

We went to romford dogs last night with the kids, I have been once before but it is a bit of an eye opener, an "authentic" experinece if you like :rotfl:the kids loved it and dh let them take turns choosing a dog and put £1 a race on and they all ended up with about £10 each.:beer:

Its the party tonight at the local pub , we have hired the comservatory area (for free) and paid for food. I am a bit nervous as I have no idea how many have been invited- around 50 -60 ish , but also not all of them replied :cool: So maybe 30-40?

Not much moneysaving going on, and we are taking the kids to the harvester on sunday for lunch which I am paying for, I dread to think how much all this has cost. However he does work very hard and deserves a treat. We will have to cut back for the rest of the year to make up for it!

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

http://www.vouchercodes.co.uk/harvester.co.uk

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

Hello,

I am sure that the the party will be great, don't worry. And don't beat yourself up about the cost, these are special days, oh won't be 40 again, and the kids won't be young again so just make the most of it and get back to frugality in term time. I know that if I could go back to when my children were young enough to go on holiday with me, I would give my right hand to do it.

All the best,

Squirrel

newgirly

Thanks for the vouvhercodes MRN :beer:
SSS you are right, its just I think that some of the money has been wasted a bit (takeaways etc.) rather than fun days out that they would remember.

The party went really well, we had about 60 ish I guess and even some friends we have not seen for years came which was nice. I did have three small glasses of wine last night though , which is the first time in weeks so am a bit cross with myself.:o

Dh let slip last night that he had taken LOTs of cash to buy drinks, given a few hundred to his mate to buy drinks for everyone which all went, plus more. :eek: Will find out more later when he gets up, but I had no idea he was planning that (or where he got the money from) Its his choice and his money, but I have been having slight palpatations since he told me as I know how much has been spent already and how tight things will have to be for the rest of the year.

Oh well, whats done is done now I guess and we need a fresh start for the last part of the year.
I need some mini challenges I think. Last year I did live on £10 a day for the last couple of months of the year, which went really well and helped me to remember to think about every penny, and got the food spends right down, we tend to eat healthier when spending less as well for some reason.

Anyway, I hope everone is having a good weekend.

greent

EEEK! re OH paying for drinks! However, glad he liked his pressies and it all seems to have worked out ok x

We shall eb camping next year - ahve had tent up in garden this weekend to dry/ clean/ spray with waterproofing. Discovered all the chairs had gone mouldy in the trailer Need to check airbeds tomorrow...

newgirly

Hi greent, thats a shame about the chairs, try posting on the oldstyle board for tips to remove it , you never know it might be possible.

We have not used our new massive tent this year and to be honest I can't see how we could fit everything in even with a roof rack, we can't get a trailer as there is no-where to keep one. Its such a waste though I think maybe we should sell it before it gets damp in my dads shed

I have wasted hours this evening looking for cheap hols for next year and have found a farm cottage near alton towers for £350 for the week in the school holiday that sleeps 6. I need to email them to check availability and whether the price is correct as it seems to good to be true. Its cheaper than the premier inn and some of the campsites, so fingers crossed.

Lots of time was also wasted looking for cheap batch cooking receipes using pulses as I want to cook more healthy stuff for me to zap when I'm feeling lazy. We all eat different foods, I am veggie, dh eats most stuff as long as its not veggie and the kids are a nightmare.

Nearly made an approved food order but emptied the trolley at the last minute as there is not a lot of storage space at the moment, so I've decided to try a store cupboard challenge instead. Maybe a £5 a day budget plus whatever is in (lots of packet mixes and assorted tins ) to last until the end of this month, so £140.

newgirly

I have stuck to the new budget for a whole day so far Yesterday spent £5.25 in the farm shop:

• 6 corn on the cobs
• 1 large green cabbage
• 10 onions
• 2 leeks
• small bag new potatoes

I made leek and potato soup and a veggie leftover curry last night.

There is exactly enough to spend £5 a day until the 12th sept, with an extra float of £40 which is for petrol and any xmas stocking fillers I might see.

Need to do lots of washing today, things slipped over the weekend what with dh's birthday and we went out /had a house full of kids yesterday so nothing got done again. Plus I have to do a few hours work for dh and get together all the school stuff.

Its so tempting to use the tumble dryer at the moment, I keep having scary spider moments with the washing being hung outside So might have to get a lot more organised and keep on top of it all just using the airers.

pink_poppy

It's the insects that make me go :eek: when I'm putting washing outside ~ we seem to have loads of those big things with long legs & wings (daddy long legs?? ) floating around here.

Well done on the new budget ~ I'm hoping to cut down now the kids are back at school.