The Final Push - Getting Rid of the Last Loan and CC

WelshWoofer

Just a quick update on the food shopping - as expected it came to £54 (£4 over budget) and that was without any real treats!
Am fed up of food prices - would like to say I'd go on hunger strike but I'd last about 3 hours!

At least OH bought me a lovely sunday lunch and I'm now stuffed!

WelshWoofer

Well after a pretty pants week I finally have the time to post here.

Just been through the finances and after all the DDs and money spent today have cleared from the bank there will be just £90 credit left:(

The extras I've had to pay for this month have all added up and its not pretty reading - most of the spends couldn't be helped (funeral flowers, extra petrol, visits home etc) but they all contribute to poorness this month! The council tax also needed paying - another £120 but no more payments until April at least.

I still need to pay for the dog's haircut (picking him up in 30mins and not sure how much it will be yet), 1 weeks food shopping, some petrol (minimum to keep me going!) and incidental spends.

I do have savings but don't want to use them and I also have an overdraft I could use but I will try to keep as close to the £90 I have as possible but I'm not hopeful!

On the positive side, the food shopping came in at £40 in Mr S and £6 in Wilkos so under the £50 total budget.;)

Let's hope February will be a better month - its shorter at least!:rotfl::rotfl:

pixiechick99

Ah sorry to hear about your gran, what a tough time you've had:(
I'm sure you'll manage to stick to your budget and not dip into the savings - but if you do, well it can't be helped, and at least you won't be adding to debt...

And another good thing about February - it has a half term in it:T Got to love working in a school when holidays appear again!
Have a good weekend, do some nice things for yourself:D

WelshWoofer

Thanks Millly. Half term is just 2 weeks away for me! Hurrah!!!

Good news - went to pick the dog up and didn't realise they had a special offer on - any dog any size groomed for £15 - its usually at least £25 so I've inadvertantly saved a tenner! (and he looks nice!)

Cheered me up anyway! Little things please little minds!

WelshWoofer

Back to earth again today after the past few days - funeral, visiting home etc

Just redone the bank stuff and I now have £25 to last to payday (with the option of OD or taking some money from savings).:(

I need about £40 for food shopping next weekend, £10 or so petrol and some spending money - about £30? I have £15 in my purse and only need to spend about £5 between now and the weekend so should have a tenner to take into next weeks budget.

So all in all I will be about £50-£60 overdrawn by payday. Not the end of the world, its been tons worse over the years (add a zero or two!) but its the principle of the thing that's annoying me - how your attitude changes!
Oh well, I have to put it down to a bad month and look to the future.
Its all about damage limitation this month!

WelshWoofer

Right, I am officially pooped!
No days off for ages and all the work that funerals involve - throw in a parents evening last night and it all adds up to a bottle of wine bought on the way home even though I'm officially poor this month:o

I have done a meal plan and shopping list for the next week and have done a "use it up" type of menu with no extras involved. I need to keep the cost down as much as I can to minimise the overspend this month. We'll see tomorrow how successful that is!

No plans at all apart from wine and watching rugby - come on Wales !! (not hopeful!)

WelshWoofer

Well, Wales didn't do so badly - not brilliant though:o

The shopping came to £37 so it could have been worse I suppose?
That did include laundry stuff and some cleaning bits and pieces and some sweets for tonight (staying in) and all the food we need for the week other than some milk.
I usually spend about £50 so I did just get the essentials this week.

Have just cleaned the house and put a load of washing on and am now looking forward to a sit down watching the rugby and doing a bit of gentle school work.

We have visitors invited by OH next weekend (2 adults and 2 small children) and so will need to clean again, go shopping, change beds etc in the week - why do men not think about things like that? Grrrr!
The the day after they go my mum and sister arrive - mum is feeling down (understandably) after her mum's death and so a few days distraction staying with me during half term may make her feel a bit better, might take her mind of it at least?

Not sure where the money for next weekend will come from - may ask OH for a bit more as they're his friends and he invited them! At least with 2 kids we can't go out and spend tons in the evening but no doubt there will be a lunch somewhere and a takeaway involved.
Could really do without it - feel like I'll meet myself coming back soon!

WelshWoofer

Just a quick meal plan to try to keep me on track......

Sun - quorn sausages, runner beans, peas, roasties and gravy in a giant yorkshire pudding
Mon - morrocan butter beans and spiced couscous
Tues - jacket potato with beans and cheese
Weds - tuna pasta bake and garlic bread
Thurs - lentil dahl and pilau rice
Fri - mushroom burger and chips/wedges

Will try to take leftovers to work for lunch for a few days - don't really like bread and am fed up of forcing down sandwiches.:o

Didn't do any school work at all today and feel like I've had a little rest - loads to do tomorrow now though.............

WelshWoofer

Not a lot to report other than work work work.....
Trying to keep the spending down but not getting on very well:(

Roll on payday!
My next few days are hectic..

• School tomorrow
• INSET Friday
• Visitors Sat and Sun
• Mum and sister coming Mon-Weds
• Finally a few days off before half term is over!

Need to do a mega shopping list for the big shop on Friday night/Saturday morning - we've really run down the cupboards and freezer so a stock up is due.
Oh well, these things are sent to try us!

WelshWoofer

The weekend from hell is over!:j
The visitors (OH friends and their 2 kids) have gone - hurrah! The eldest child is the most spoilt kid I have ever met - just like Violet from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - a right little madam that ruled our house for two days.

Mum and my sister are coming to visit today for 2 days so another houseful of people but at least these aren't hard work! I have to do a few bits this morning to get things ready (put clean sheets on etc) but otherwise not much to do.

Have done the budget for next month (payday tomorrow) - it does help that there's no council tax this month - I was £65 overdrawn at the end of the month but it could have been worse.

Extras for this month include...

• A night out with the dept at school £40
• Dog groomers whilst their special offer is still on £15
• Extra cash for mum's visit £25

There should be £235 left after all food shopping, bills, hairdressers, petrol etc and the above extras - it never quite works out though!

If I budget £40 cash each week after this week (so next 3 weeks) there could be just over £100 left for savings - famous last words:rotfl:

I have £19 ish in my purse and have budgeted an extra £25 for the week off and visitors - not really got much planned apart from a trip into town including lunch and the cinema. So hopefully I'll get to Saturday when the next weeks money starts without going over budget.

I did a really big food shop on Friday that should allow me to just buy fresh food this weekend for lunches etc next week. I have budgeted £40 but it will hopefully be more like £30 - the freezer is full to bursting, we have enough meat to last for about 3 weeks or so and I'm part way through doing a new meal plan for next week - keeping the spending down as much as possible.

I have also budgeted another £30 for petrol but the car is two thirds full and I don't have any plans to go far so this may be reduced to £20 - just a little saving but surely its better in my savings account rather than in the car?

Right, enough waffling - better get started on a little tidy up - its like a bombs dropped 5 mins after they arrive though so I'm not going to go mad!