Our attempt at being MF!!

CathT

I resisted wine despite there being some in the fridge from tombola wins :rotfl:

Hopefully that means I will go out for a run today, if I'm not gone within the hour I don't see it happening!

Currently trying to make every penny count. Food spends really were minimal this week. Batch cooking definitely works for us. Over the weekend we will need a top up shop ready for the week ahead but we have lots of other provisions. Am expecting a credit of around £33 into the account so have split this between a 0% card and our stoozing card (which is not meant to have a balance!) 9p tilly tidy made this morning too.

After chasing up my awful bb provider I thought it was sorted and was waiting to hear from a different dept. They emailed me yesterday about my claim but referred to a different reward so I am not holding out much hope! They have fobbed me off for another 3-4 weeks when they say it will be sorted and received!
I am tempted to use some of the funds in the current account to make extra repayments but now is not the time of year to be leaving us short. Shopping almost complete, we only really buy for the children and our parents. I did order some extra items yesterday so will need to pile the presents up to check all looks ok and then begin wrapping!

Just might go and visit Santa and his reindeer today

sarahevie1

CathT wrote: »

So, payday came and went but there is more leftover than last month. Got a little more than expected, was due a payrise but obviously budgeted to lose more in tax, NI, pension and student load deductions. Will be clearer when I get my payslip. This means there is a little extra to save/spend/overpay!I definitely don't want it getting swallowed up and not put to good use.

I'm hoping to overpay my pay scale rise as well. It's not very clear what mine will be, as it should have started from Sept but I only got it Nov, so this month also had back pay for Sept and Oct. To say it included pack pay was an incredibly low amount, so unsure what it will be on a 'normal' month. I found that Tax and Ni deductions weren't much more but my Student loan was more than double, and teacher pension was a lot more too:eek:

Along with some other MFW I am going back to cash for groceries. This works well for us during our mini challenges but I think we need to do it full time. I have ended up with £2k on the card we used for stoozing which is incredibly frustrating :mad: this has gradually increased over the year worsened by having to pay out for ridiculous nursery fees. This needs to be gone and reducing food spends should help.

I'm going back to cash, as my chip doesn't work in shops just in cash machines. I quite like it but will order a new card

CathT

Hi Sarahevie, hopefully it will balance out. I didn't expect to receive so little of it, mabe a 1/3 in stoppages but not half! Here's hoping for a cost of living rise to offset it a little!

Has been a busy day and I did get out for a run! Only 10 minute miles but did 4.5 miles so pleased I actually got out there and ran! I have slipped back into bad habits and am determined to stay fit. I still drink more water than I used to and the next step is to reduce the amount of red meat we eat.

Children have been to a party and dd has now gone round to her friends. Children really do have an excellent social life! Small top up shop of £11.67 today so we have done really well this week.

Have also spent £5 on some green felt to make a crafty Christmas tree I had found. Have bought some more felt off eBay which was £9.99 so a bit pricey but a lovely activity to do with the children. Never made it to see the reindeer as chldren a bit grumpy this morning and it was pouring with rain!

Monthly spends

Petrol. £166.15
Food. £175.90

Total 342/500

CathT

Urgh, feeling really stressed out today. Having to search for car insurance quotes isn't helping, nor being up since 5:20am! DH at work and swimming lessons done. Was hoping to catch the reindeer at a local garden centre but weather isn't brilliant. A shame to miss it but we can do Christmas activities the next few weekends.

Plans for the rest of the day include...

1) sort car insurance
2) homework with dd
3) washing
4) clean utility and mop floors

CathT

CathT wrote: »

Monthly spends

Petrol. £166.15
Food. £175.90

Total 342/500

Really, really pleased with this and it is a reflection of how hard we tried. We were away the first 5 days of the month so that hasn't been taken into account but overall the spends are pleasing!

Getting a little stressed out over DS childcare, every time I think it is sorted and balanced, the provider has another query!

Be back later to update end of month figures. I almost made some extra OP's last night as found a better way to use up the 2 cb payments we get this month but then remembered that swimming fees are due!

CathT

Sig updated, mortgage goes out tomorrow and falls under 90k! :j so pleased to be in the 80's.

Did some quick current account calculations and figured we should have some spare. Have paid another £64 off 0% card and £36 off stoozing card. This card is an inconvenience but lesson learned! Also made a 7p Tilly tidy and will transfer more funds to bills account when cb hits tomorrow.

Workout done this morning before work which I was quite relieved about when I got home as had zero energy and motivation! Hopefully get out for a run midweek, feeling quite motivated at the moment which is surprising at this time of year!

CathT

Morning. I am definitely starting to feel better for regaining control of my food and being mindful about what I eat and it's mostly healthy! Either that or the workout I do gets results fast! am staying away from the scales though as am more influenced by the way I feel.

CB has hit the account so half sent to bills account (we get paid it twice in Dec). Also made a 60p Tilly tidy. If the Hally reward credits later I will have some extra funds to send to cc.

Our WIOTW figure means so far this year we have achieved 94% of target! It's not been an easy year due to nursery fees, we have had 3 mini breaks (very much enjoyed), had car repairs.....but we are going to hit target. I roughly worked out that this month we need to pay off £760. The mortgage clears almost £500 so it is more than do-able! At the start of the year this seemed a big task but it means we will start 2016 in a much better place financially. :j

Who knows what we will achieve in 2016???? I want to make a plan!

We are doing 'elf on a shelf' and our elf delivering advent calendars was a hit this morning! I have a day off with DH tomorrow so after watching DS christmas play we are going to get the house ready for Christmas. I'm a bit too excited about a midweek day off! Maybe this is a common feature amongst full time workers, it feels like a real treat!

lulabelle1

Yay - we have an elf on the shelf this year too! My mum brought it over when she visited from Canada a few months ago!

DS1 had a chat with the Elf (Sugar Socks!) this morning and DS2 just had a little look and giggled.... he then went on to do a little dance and tell the Elf that he'd really like some Playmobil for Christmas!

Congrats on a great 2015, and happy planning for 2016!

newgirly

Well done Cath, you have done amazingly well this year congratulations!

muddywhitechicken

Well done - great achievement in 2015 :T