Our attempt at being MF!!

CathT

Well it's the 1st of the month again so time to update figures.

We only managed to knock £732 off our WIOTW figure which is disappointing. However, we have had a spendy month so it is to be expected.

Car went in for MOT re-test today, needed some work on brakes and clutch. Total bill was £225 when I had budgeted £120 will have to try and claw some of this back in Ocotber through reduced food/petrol spends. DH will go to the meal alone unfortunately as we simply can't afford for us all to go even though I have calmed down!!

Basic plan for the month is

1) Pay as much as possible off smallest cc before 0% ends
2) pay DH overtime off this cc on payday
3) Reduce 4 credit cards to 3 due to the above
4) arrange balance transfer if card not cleared.

Monthly spends

Food. - £93.33
Petrol - £48.62

CathT

Quick update from me, barely had time to log on last few days! Food/petrol spends seem high for this stage of the month but tanks are filled and cupboards are stocked. We had our usual delivery of meat yesterday which tends to last a month. We had some leftover too so should definitely see us through!

Am hoping pre-paid card will arrive soon and I can use that to offset the usual cc with food/petrol spends.

For some reason I am feeling really lethargic at the moment which is really frustrating, falling asleep by 10pm even at weekends. All I can think if is that I need to drink more water, eat better and run more? (have been a bit lazy of late)

So far today, swimming lessons done - yummy brunch planned then off to our local NT property before going out for a family meal.

Will assess the budget following this!!!

Mrs_E_3

How's the house selling coming along?

CathT

Hi, nothing happening. It has all gone veeeerrrry quiet!

We have a fabulous plan b though as realised we could extend on the side of the house rather than over the garage on the other side. When we bought this house the vendors gave us some plans they had drawn up. It gives us an idea of what might be possible and how we can tweak it for our needs.

Plan A is to sell but it's not a disaster if we don't and everything happens for a reason. That's the benefit of wanting to move as opposed to 'having' to.

Are things progressing with you? Will find your diary to see if you had a higher offer.

Decided not to go to NT as children didn't want to. We have played a family game of Cluedo instead!

Now I need to muster up the energy to go out!

Mrs_E_3

Good to know you have a plan B if you need it. It does seem much less stressful selling because you want to rather than need to though doesn't it. Not sold yet, but have plenty of interest in the house so just waiting for the right offer.

smallholdingsister

Mrs E half your luck with the house selling!

CathT

Ok, so there are 2 weeks to payday which means I can make a mini-plan. There is just over £30 in the current account and that will have to last (it is ample!)

We need to keep food spends very minimal as we have spent a fair bit stocking us up for the month. Having to write a cheque for childcare costs has really thrown us this month as I used to use vouchers or use the cc! :eek:

We both had wine on Friday so am annoyed I fell at day 2 of the challenge! DH went to pour a glass on Saturday with the leftover bottle but I caught him just in time and he put everything back! We don't drink a lot but as I am so lethargic at the moment I think abstaining wouldn't harm. I will be fine with something fizzy and non alcoholic.

Meter readings submitted yesterday, spends reasonable and we have only put the heating on once to dry some clothes.

Am changing the chldren's b/fast club provision. We currently pay over £100 a month just for that but have realised if I take them 5-10 mins later I can use the free one! Means I will get to work slightly later but they are flexible so I will tag it on the end of my day without it impacting too much. I also get a pay rise next month which should see my take home pay increase by £60 (damn student loan eats into it!) so I need to work out what to do with this extra money.

Spotted Newgirly has set a plan to take her to the end of the year so something similar needs to happen here to ensure we reach our end of year goals.

Stop booking weekends away should help us with this but I think I have got it out of my system now! CP is paid for and we will take most of the food. I just need to investigate the price of fresh food in their on site shops. Our Easter break is also paid for and we don't spend much on caravan trips.

Haven't started any Christmas shopping yet either but I intend to keep this low key. We have agreed over recent years to not buy certain relatives amd it is working well. I just hope the children come up with realistic lists! :rotfl:

lulabelle1

Liking your Plan B...... see how it goes with the house on the market for a wee while and then see how you feel about the whole thing.

We'd made our minds up that we were definitely moving, but now that we've extended and changed things around, I'm thrilled to bits that we didn't move. If we think about what the moving costs alone would have been (estate agents, conveyancing, stamp, removals, spare £'s to sort out potential bits of new house) then this alone was a massive contribution to the extension costs. It's nice to know that we haven't increased our mortgage and added lots more years to paying it off Good luck with it all, if it's meant to be it will be.....

CathT

Thanks Lula, what will be will be. Lovely to hear how settled you are now you have made changes to your house. Was it wanting a bigger property that spurred you into wanting to move in the first place?

If we had a decent secondary school near us then the decision would be far easier.

It is much less stressfull knowing we have options though.

CathT

Child benefit has hit account to money been shuffled and a small cc payment with the odd pounds. Decided £20 is plenty to last until payday so paid another £17.95 off the cc.

I have come up with a plan to clear the 0% card by the end of the month through some stoozing and will tackle this amount in November. It saves the hassle of a balance transfer which will incur fees and also using the dreaded overdraft. I much prefer staying in the black, find a negative balance soul destroying!

In other news, won a fb competition yesterday! I'd forgotten I'd entered so there is a fab new book for the children on its way!