Stop the ride, i wanna get off!

ragstoricheswannabe

Had a bit of a panic last week as the OH never got his weeks wages, luckily he got 2 weeks worth today so the bank account is looking a little healthier than it was. Still waiting for his overtime that his boss keeps promising to sort...............

Well its a busy few weeks ahead for me, this week i am working 6 days in a row from sat as the manager is going to london to pick up an award the home has won and has asked me to look after the home for 3 days!! I am exhausted at the mo with the stupid shift patterns i seem to be getting but couldnt say no to that oppertunity!!!!! Means i will have a little extra in next months wage as its extra hours. Still would like to know what my wage is now?!?!

Had a quiet word with OH about his garage spends, he was averaging at least £10 a day:eek:. He admitted it straight away and said he knew he was being silly with money. Has promised to stop it and now gets his lunch and that ready the night before so he still has food if he sleeps in. No nagging involved which i was most impressed with!

Our shopping bill seems to have crept right up, doesnt help that most food comes in pack of 4 so i need to buy 2 to feed 5 of us! Also ds2 has moved onto the pull up nappies as we are introducing him to the toilet slowly and they dont come in the big boxes that we were getting with the others. MIL still keeps buying random stuff "for us to use" that ends up being thrown away. This week it was cakes (had just baked loads for the kids and she knows me and the OH are trying to lose weight) and pomegranate seeds!!! i mean what am i supposed to do with pomegranate seeds?!?!?!?! She adds new meaning to bargain shopper, if its on offer she will get it, whether we use it or not.

Not much else going on really, think i need to get a life really.....................lol!

ragstoricheswannabe

My goodness, i am finally almost through this week of mammouth working hours!!! just got the weekend to go, and i dont think i will be working 8 out of 9 days again!

I enjoyed my 3 days as manager, think i did an ok job and the manager seemed to be ok with me when she got back. The first day was a nightmare though........found the management had missed the nightshift was down a carer all month so had that to try and sort out then the inspectors turned up for an unannounced visit as the home hadnt had one for 2 years!!! of all the bloody days! The manager will be getting the feedback today so im a bit nervous really, i know if things come back its not my fault but still will feel better if its ok. Was a bit naughty though and had a peak in my file in the office, then regretted it. The saying that you will never hear any good about yourself if you eaves drop is true for snooping in your file. Was a little shocked at some of the things i saw and hadnt realised was being put in there. Think the deputy has it in for me though...........will have to watch my back and start writing my own staements of our conversations as the ones i read where very one sided, made me look bad and didnt display the whole conversation or demonstrate the fact she doesnt let you get a word in as starts shouting over what your saying!!!!!!:(

anyway, not much happening with money. OH still hasnt got his overtime and we are not sure if his job is 100% safe. The company he is subbed out to isnt 100% safe from closure and his boss has 0% buisness sense and we think is running into difficulties finacially. Joy of joys. OH could get another job tomorrow and has been told if the worst happens a job is waiting for him, but it means him back on tramping and being away all week. It is more money but means we will only see him at weekends. Last time it nearly broke us up as all we did was fight when he got home. Ds1 was only a baby at the time and i was so tired from having to cope with the sleepless nights etc on my own and the OH couldnt understand why he had to get up in the night when he was home as he saw it as his "days off" from work. Luckily he managed to come off the road and we managed to get back on track. So the thought of him going back to that fills me with dread.

MIL is away this week on her jolly holidays!!!!:D cant afford a place of her own but can go abroad a week at a time several times a year.............

OK, need to give my head a wobble. and get some more coffee............lol!
love rags
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prophecy_grrl

Hi Rags

So nice to see you back on the boards. Lovely to hear about your wedding plans, I bet you're super excited now. You must have the patience of a saint with your mil living there - well done!

Take care

prophecy xxx

ragstoricheswannabe

hello.

I am doing the walk of shame back onto here as i have failed big style at keeping our heads above water whist saving for a wedding.

Checked the bank this morning (not done so since last month ) to find that we didnt have enough money to pay the mortgage due out on thurs. Had hit the overdraft wall in good style! and yes poor money management was partially to blame, as was silly spending on ebay, asda, rubbish and general carp.

So have had to transfer the xmas fund to make sure the mortgage goes out as an i.o.u to that account. so thats sorted for now.

The only way left for me to reduce outgoings was doing the dreaded C word. so we have now upped my loan from the bank to consolidate most of the debts (not including the sofas as that runs out next year and is 0%) Have to say i didnt think the bank would give us a big enough loan, but they did on the condition we close the cc's and reduce the overdraft! BINGO as that was my plan anyways. If we dont have the credit available we cant use it!!!! and a £4k overdraft is way to much anyways.

Have saved £200 a month on repayments but extended it a further 2 years on when we would have originally been debt free, but it will allow us to overpay and will only charge 58 days of interest to settle early. So after the wedding we can carry on saving to pay it off early.

So here i am, my name is rags and i am £22,100.00 in debt plus my sofas (about £1k ish).

ragstoricheswannabe

howdy doody!

Work at the minute is crazy and doing lots of shifts resulting in one tired rags who cant remember her own name let alone work out her money.

But, its my day off today and my loan has been paid so i need to get my bum into gear. Have paid off what i can so far:
overdraft, first loan, and 2 cc's. Need OH to ring bout the car loan then work out if we have enough to pay the 3rd cc off and leave some money in the account as a buffer. Have reduced the overdraft to £1k now so will need to keep my eye on the ball.

Plan so far: spend less.

ha ha ha! good plan eh?! gonna try and cut back on food. think i was getting way to much for lunch boxes thinking my children would starve if i didnt fill it, and they need lots of nice things to eat. wrong, ds2 manages to eat most of it but thats through a whole day using some of it as snacks but ds1 just brought most of it back yesterday. Sent him with the basics today: drink, grapes, sandwich, snack pack of prunes, a yogurt, crisps and a cereal bar. prob wont win the award for healthiest lunch but so what?! lets see how he gets on.

not getting on well with potty training with ds2. He is so ready as can go for long periods without weeing, but can sit on the loo/potty for ages and do nothing, only to pee 2 seconds later on my floor. doesnt start nursery till next month so plenty of time to crack it beofre then.

wedding talk: my dress came, and i have to say the gamble paid off as the dress is gorgeous and fits like a glove!!!! massive saving made! now looking at trying to reduce cost of invites, and i really dont have time to do them myself. we are gonna get the rings made (a normal band wont sit with my engagement ring) but one of the OH's friends knows someone who will do it for us without it costing an arm and a leg.

right, time for a brew. who wants one?

mummy2mygirls

Glad to hear the dress is nice and fits well
Im going to PT dd3 soon and not looking forward to it as DH just put new carpet down and dont fancy to acidents on the new carpet Hope ds gets the hang off it soon for you xx

ragstoricheswannabe

well ds2 now almost fully potty trained, having maybe one accident a day and thats usually the number 2's . This will save us a fortune in nappies!

All the bills have been paid off using the loan (apart from one cc as its 5% life of balance and the loan is 10% so makes sense to leave as it is). Keep seeing adverts for deals on balance transfers and its a nice feeling knowing i dont have to do that anymore.
Have kept £1k in the account as a buffer if needed but dont start repaying the loan till nov so the money we would have paid to the debts should give us a bigger buffer.

Have given in today and put the heating on. Its freezing and despite me and ds2 having wooly jumpers on we were still cold cuddling up under a fleece blanket. Have done well to last till now given the weather we have had up here recently.

have managed to save more money on the wedding, this time invites. Said i wasnt gonna do them myself but found a really novel idea. Have got some wooden roses (250 for not many pennies) and gonna print out the invite onto a nice label and tie it onto the rose with coloured ribbon. This will then go into a simple box with coloured tissue paper. cheap but looks really elegant, and no one we know has done it this way.

have had to fork out for 2 passports this month and our kitten is off to the vets today for its injections. good job i have the buffer!

we have also decided to "eat out of the freezer" as the one in the shed is full but not sure whats in there. will make for some interesting meals.........................

ok, enough ramble.
love rags
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Pinky15

Ah bet you are so pleased about the dress - def money well spent - and saved:D.
We too are on a freezer mission - I must empty one to defrost, and the other will need doing soon also - so again some interesting meals to be had I am sure.
Your good at baking arent you? do you know a really simple no frills cupcake recipe (I am a rubbish cook;))?
Anyway well done to you DS on the potty training - will def save money x

mummy2mygirls

IT has been cold hasnt it!! Im trying so hard not to put the heating on just yet as i know when i do it once it will be on everyday But also tempted as it will help dry clothes quicker....
Enjoy your freezer mission and glad DS is sorted on the PTing now I still havent got round to it just just with DD3 I am now thinking half term might be a good time as no school runs while she sorts it (I might just keep putting it off )

edited as it posted halfway through my sentence

ragstoricheswannabe

im working today so this is a quick run in. will post my cake recipes when i finish work tonight.