Stop the ride, i wanna get off!

Pips_Mum

At least its all down on "paper" and you can see the wood for the trees.

Must be awful still having MIL with you and stressful, I dont think a £10 increase is too much to ask for.

ragstoricheswannabe

Hey everyone, i am still here just had a mammouth 3 weeks at work, think my boss may be trying to kill me with the amount of shifts i have been doing lately!!! Day off today and the kids are on school hols so its great i can actually spend some time with them.

Money wise i dont think i am doing very well, mortgage came out today so no money left in that account, but the spending account is now up and running so have enough to get what i need. Hopefully should see the benifit of the spending account this time next month. Gonna do another soa later to see where i am going wrong as no matter how hard i try the money just seems to disappear.

Gonna have a day of baking tomorrow as weather is reported to be pants, gonna do muffins, banana bread, scones and what ever else i can be bothered with and put half in the freezer so have got things for lunch boxes. They tend to get eaten very quickly if i put them all out in the cake box.

Am now in the process of trying to get the chest freezer down so having some very odd concoctions for tea! lol! We have a cash and carry near us that does frozen food so gonna go there and stockpile things we have often. Also found a garden centre that has a farm shop there that does frozen things too so can get some treats to bake when needed. Used to buy a lot of meat and i would try and less processed food, but with me working as i am at the mo, it isnt being done and the meat just sits going off in the fridge. Need to think smart with regards to meals. Mil doesnt stick to any meall plan i do so cant even go back down that route, and she doesnt bulk mince out either so she usually only gets one meal out of a pack of mince where as i can get 2.

Also need to change my mind set: i have what i need, my cupboards dont need to be full of food to be a good mummy, i dont need to keep up with the jones's............................................. this is my new mantra. Just need OH to think the same, he thinks he hates spending money and tells everyone so, but he is the worst for little bits here and there adding up hugely over the week and he doesnt even realise it.

Sorry for rambling, i just need to get all my thoughts out of my head as its feels i am getting no where, or going backwards. We have no money yet seem to need to buy alot of things, spesh as the kids have suddenly had a growth spurt (note to self: stop feeding them so well:rotfl:) and OH has his stag do in 2 weeks so will need spends for that.
Keep reading other diaries and everyone seems to be making progress, if not almost there with being debt free.

Well, positive head on, its a new month, new start............time to stop my money disappearing!!!!!!!

ragstoricheswannabe

Right, in keeping with being positive i have had a fresh look at outgoings.

I have rung sky to cancel movies package, done and got my phone moved over to them so paying less in line rental and get £5 off my broadband...RESULT.

Also have got Ds2 starting 2 full days in nursery, the extra 2 afternoons are only costing £6 a week for the lunch club and the nursery ask for a donation in book vouchers as cant charge me. Means my childcare bill has dropped by £100 a month and gets him used to full days before starting school in sept.

So that means that even after the money for the wedding fund comes out, on paper i should have another £100-£200 a month to play with, and thats not including the money the MIL gives us. Didnt want to include that as she WILL move out one day so dont want to get used to it. Plus when she does my food bill will go down as will only have to buy 1 pack of things not 2!!

OH's boss has told him though that he will start having several nights out (just what i feared and didnt want with my long working hours) so he needs money to take with him to pay for parking and the like so need to find that somewhere. He does get some of it back ( through the diseal card as rubbish at paying extra other than his salary) but need to factor that in to the budget.

So, not looking so grim, but we know we really have to tighten our belts. Think the spending account will work as we know thats for fuel as well as spends.....tooo much spending = no fuel!

ragstoricheswannabe

Well, my freezer now looking a little better, although seem to have accumilated alot of bread buns in there, so it looks full but really not much food in there. Tea last night consisted of pies i found at the bottom, garlic wedges also at the bottom and beans. Kids have had hash browns, also at the bottom, and beans this morning for breakfast.
Gonna have a stew today with some beef i found (slow cooker i think) and gonna slice some left over cooked potatoes with skins on and fry in chip pan for tea tonight.

Well, the stupid bank has put me over my overdraft today with their charges but still have £30 in the spending account which will be refilled tomorrow due to OH getting paid.

Its raining here, so no more nice smelling washing from being line dried. Me and the kids are gonna make ice cream today (in the machine i got for a tenner many moons ago and have never used) and hopefully if my eggs come today i can do some baking.

Not sure what else to do moneywise, for us its just a case of not spending at the moment. I have all the determination but nothing to do with it ha ha ha!!

Gonna have a sort through the cd's and dvd's and see how much i can get on music magpie. I know it wont be alot but at least its something and will create space. Also have a pile of things to sell so might start having a look through it.

mummy2mygirls

Hello just having a catch up Good to see you all organised. We now have a seperate spending account which is for spending - fuel, food clothes and anything else which needs spending on.......Seems to help a little to know exactly what we have for spends and not worry about any bills being paid.
Sounds like you oven had a busy day today Made me all hungry thinking of the yumminess x

DebtFree2012

Hi Rags!!

Found you after you kindly commented in my diary.

I've had a quick look through to see what you are up to and so on and shall be following you with interest.

I'm back in the office today and kiddies are with Grandma.

Lots to do so should make the day go quick.

How are you today hun?

xx

Pips_Mum

See you seem to be going great guns again hun x x

ragstoricheswannabe

Hello everyone!!!

Well all was going great untill we went food shopping yesterday and had the embarrassment of our card being declined!!!!!:o:eek::o:eek::mad: My OH had to go home and get the other accounts card so we could pay.
Put me in a bit of a mood to be honest as we have failed, again!!!! This has made the OH think though, and hopefully will stop us both spending little and often.

Oh well, woke up today a little refreshed as today is my payday, but the loan and childcare costs have gone out so staright back into the overdraft. OH gets paid tomorrow so can refill the spends account.

We had a bit of a "why do we bother working so bl00dy hard" moment this weekend after his sister (single mum of 4) announced she would pay for us to go out with her on fri (for the MIL's 60th birthday) as she had £700 in the bank and would be getting another £250 this week!:mad::mad: (i did she was telling the truth though as went to the bank with her) We both work full time and sacrafice time with the kids and seem so much worse off for it.:( Was a good free night though...........:beer:

Gonna have a look tomorrow at the tax rebate thing as i can claim for washing my uniform, can claim so much for new shoes being a nurse and can get the tax back on the fee i have to pay yearly to stay on the register. Every little helps and all that!

DebtFree2012

Keep your chin up hun, these things are sent to try us.

We will get there

xx

ragstoricheswannabe

Your right debtfree, we WILL get there!!!

Well, checked the bank this morning, OH has been paid so done the transfering around. The spends account that said it had x amount in, but wouldnt let me get my shopping as not enough funds has decided today that i did infact have enough funds!!!!:mad::mad::mad: Really not sure what it was playing at.

Kids are still fighting like i dont know what. Every now and again i see glimpses that they do infact secretly love each other. Got to the point now where i just let them argue instead of breaking it up. Reminds me of what me and my bro were like as kids!!! my poor mother........:rotfl:

Watched the extreme couponing again on tv the other day, im in complete awe of them! $400 + groceries they were getting for nothing,:D and their stockpiles..........wow!!! shame we cant use our coupons here like that. Must start looking into coupons though as may be helpful, just not to that extent.

OH is now working away all week so i can now start to use up my pasta piles. Have to be clever now with meals as need some that he can take with him or our spends will spiral with him eating out. Have got fri planned for batch cooking for the freezer for the house and him. Just need to find cheap containers to put them that he can actually bung into his travel oven as well. Shopping is more complex as shopping for us and him!!!!

My house looks like a bomb site, so off cleaning i go!!!