Goal - 3 debts paid by Christmas

Triggles

Thanks maman. I will admit to a tendency to combine "need to have" items with Christmas presents so they get to open more things on Christmas without going overboard. I also forgot a couple books I bought on clearance last year for DS3, so he has a couple books as well. I've always made sure the children had at least one book each Christmas and birthday, so that we have plenty of books to read before bedtime and to encourage good reading habits. We also bought a couple Christmas children's books in the sales last year, so we put them aside and we'll get out one or two of them this year and save the other two for next year as an addition to bedtime stories in the run up to Christmas. (Yes, passing my reading/book addiction on to my children, but when they get older, I'll take them in to the library to feed that addiction! )

I've got my recent grocery receipts sitting next to me and will be inputting the amounts into the spreadsheet for August's budget, as well as checking the bank account to see what monies have gone out and come in. So that's my MS things for today (well, that and sticking strictly to the grocery list this morning as well as buying the store brand nappies instead of Huggies as there was no sale - I only buy brand nappies if they are on sale and at least equal to the price of the store brand).

Arrgh!! DD just called to inform me that DGS has nits. :mad: She believes he got them at the childminders over the last two days, and we haven't seen her since Saturday, so I'm hoping that's when he got them, so we haven't. But will have to check everyone in the house now. Oh I just HATE nits.... I checked the boys on Sunday and didn't see anything, but you never know. Have just done a quick comb through of mine and didn't find anything, which is good. But will do another in the morning, just to make sure. sigh...

Well, little one has just woke up, all tempermental, so I'll have to wrap this up and do my receipts in a bit.

Triggles

Well, stocking up a bit on nappies and a few other things has put a dent in the grocery budget this month. We've spent almost half the budget. But on the other hand, other than some fresh stuff (milk, bread, fruit), we can probably get by for a couple weeks on what we have now. So we'll still make the effort obviously to stick to the budget. Tonight's tea is a frozen fish pie plus some tinned veg. I wouldn't have a clue how to make fish pie, so I figured we'll try it first, then if we like it, we'll go from there. I'd just like to introduce the boys to something new.

We're requesting CCAs on our accounts, to see where we stand. So far only one has answered, and it's enforceable, which is fine. The next step for that account will be to reclaim the charges on it, which are fairly hefty, while continuing to make our monthly payments on it. The rest are getting reminders sent this month.

I've been ill for a few days and wasn't able to post. But am feeling better today, so things are back to normal. One load of laundry hanging up and drying, another load washing now. Washing up done. Living room tidied once, but you'd never know it with all the toys about. :rotfl: Checked bank account and updated budget spreadsheet. Have transferred money from current account into savings account to put aside for bills that aren't paid for each month, like gas, electricity, water. I find that if we put it aside right away, we won't touch it. But if it sits in the account, it gets spent. So that's done and dusted. :j

I think a bit of comfort food is in order for tomorrow night. I'm liking the sound of meatloaf and mash. So we've got mince out thawing in the fridge for that. It will give me the opportunity to use up a few spare potatoes for the mash as well. I bought some fresh mushrooms very cheap from the supermarket as they were on their sell by date. Already sliced as well, so just popped them into a container and into the freezer. I'll probably use a few of those in the meatloaf, along with some peppers, onion, and garlic. I've got some tinned tomatoes in the cupboard to round it out. And a few spare pieces of bread from the last loaf for bread crumbs. Have I mentioned I looooove meatloaf?

Still hoping that we will have enough in savings to make a couple F&F offers to a few of our creditors. We're just trying to get things in order. Any that are unenforceable, we are considering just using that info to have a bit of leverage to get a small F&F agreed upon, so that it's cleared up immediately. We'll see what happens.

maman

Glad to hear you're feeling better. It can't be easy looking after littlies and feeling poorly.

:drool: This reminds me of how you sounded over the meatloaf. Enjoy!

Triggles

DS2 is rather hyperactive today. I think it's the result of a couple days indoors without running around outside much. He needs to blow off a bit of steam. I'm still not feeling up to a lot of walking/running around, but I think I'll suggest that DH take him outside in the garden and let him run around a bit. The grass is a bit overgrown, but we haven't had any decent weather to cut it lately. Hopefully we will have a sunny day soon.

It's actually quite cool in the house now... it's a bit early to think we're headed to winter already though. It does get me of a mind to start organising for winter though. (which reminds me - I never posted my stock-up list, so I'll get that done too) I'm determined to do a lot more cooking in the slow cooker (soups and such) this winter. DS2 is not keen on soups, so I'm going to have to ease him into them by using food he likes. I'm sure I can find some good recipes online - between this site and general web searches. So the list for winter is:

- purchase inexpensive fleece to line the curtains (done - Asda at 2 for £3)
- purchase some coal/fire logs to have in supply in case of power outage so we can at least heat the living room for a day or two
- get out curtains for living room doorway (there's no door on the living room, just door frame thanks to previous owners) from last winter
- stock up on non perishables (in progress)
- put new door on downstairs bathroom (ok, this doesn't really qualify as preparing for winter, but I really want to get this done!!)
- check that everyone has at least 3 pairs of warm pajamas (the old "one to wear, one to clean, and one drying" thing, eh?)
- make advent calendar in preparation for countdown to Christmas (have a patterned sewing one to make)
- make draft excluders for doors
- put extra blanket underneath sheets in beds for added warmth
- check supplies of hot water bottles to warm up beds in evening
- antifreeze in the car
- emergency travel kit in car
- get out winter jackets and box of hats, gloves, scarves
- finish sorting boys' clothing by size and season

hmmm... I'm sure there's more....

Triggles

The meatloaf was lovely. We had enough left over to have for lunch today with the boys. DS2 wasn't so sure, he's a rather picky eater, but he did try a little so I'm happy with that.

Clothes out drying on the line, second load in the washing machine now. Thank heavens for a decent day to dry clothing!! :j Washing up done. Dining room tidied. Boys' rooms are tidied. Tonight we're going to do a bit more DIY on the walls. A trip to B&Q later this afternoon for a couple supplies. Also plan on making some rice krispie treats as well as some peach crumble today.

Let's see... my list for stocking up for winter....
Water
Pasta
rice
kidney beans
baked beans
fruit juices
jelly
jam
peanut butter
chocolate
tinned tomatoes
tinned carrots
tinned potatoes
tinned peas
tinned mushrooms
tinned soup
tinned fruit
cereals
oatmeal
ketchup
mustard
mayonnaise
salt
pepper
brown sugar
raisins (check dates)
crackers
jarred curry sauce (basics)
jarred sweet and sour sauce (basics)
powdered or UHT milk
SR flour
sugar (farm foods)
squash
tea
coffee
hot chocolate mix
bleach
washing up liquid
laundry detergent
fabric softener
shampoo
conditioner
handsoap
shower gel
baby bath (DS3 has eczema so has a special kind)
deodorant
candles
matches
ibuprofen
cocodamol
paracetamol
cough losenges
children's paracetamol
children's nurofen
cold tablets
anti diarrheal tablets
sanitary supplies
toilet roll
tissues
nappies
batteries

Hmm... that's it so far... but will keep an eye on it, and add to it as I need to. It's a start anyway.

maman

Well done on the meat loaf, triggles, glad it went down so well.

Excuse me asking, but do you live somewhere very isolated that you need to stock up for winter?

Triggles

Nope, but I have 2 kids, a health problem, and a husband that works nights. So if there is bad weather or if DH or I are ill, it makes it difficult to go do the shop. So I like to have plenty on hand in case of problems. And then there are the people that buy out the supermarket when we get 3 snowflakes... I don't like to get to the shop and find out that there is nothing there (which I ran into a few times locally last year!). There is also the aspect of buying some nonperishables and keeping them stocked up while money is at a normal level (for us), so that if we have a particularly bad month financially, we can use some of the stocks to keep the grocery bill down for that month. And since the most variable bills are for utilities, which are normally higher in winter, we tend to make sure we're stocked up for winter. That's about it, really.

Oh, and while the internet shopping/delivery is nice, it's not "same day service" and often they are out or simply do not choose what I would choose, especially in terms of substitutions. So we simply prefer to have a good stock up before winter hits.

maman

Oh that makes great sense triggles. Hope I didn't offend by asking.

Triggles

No, not at all, fair question really.

DH's glasses broke last night, so we're going to have to go in to Specsavers on the High Street and get another pair. Not an expense we were planning on, but it's not like he can go without them. Thankfully he (like myself) goes with the cheapest option, so it'll be about £25 for a pair, which we can cover, as long as we stick to the budget carefully.

DH got most of the paint scraped off the ceiling in the hallway last night. It was a murky greeny yellow colour (think dull olive green yellowed by years of smoking from previous owners), and now is white. So much brighter!! We'll be painting it over the next couple days after we've finished rubbing down the walls and the stairway wall. I'm really looking forward to fresh paint there - it will spruce up the house immeasurably! We decided to wait until after DS2 starts reception (beginning of September) to do the noisy sanding with the drill attachment. As the noise greatly upsets DS2, we'd prefer to do it while he is away from the house (in school) for the day. The noise doesn't seem to bother DS3 at all. DS2 has always been upset by noise - vacuum, loud noises, drills, and he is terrified of those hand driers that blow air (although he's going to have to slowly get used to them as his school has them).

maman

Missed you for a couple of days triggles, hope you're not poorly?