Our attempt at being MF!!

CathT

Well the first week of July is whizzing by already! We've had garden work done this week and it looks brilliant. Od
budgetted slightly extra than the original quote so hoping to be able to overpay the difference. Today and tomorrow needs to be spent moving the furniture and planters back and making it look pretty. The fences will also need painting too so need to try and remember what paint we used on the other panels! Painting fence panels is not one of my favourite things to do! 

Our decking has seen better days so need to plan what we are doing with that long term, up to now it hasn't been an area we've sat on but now all the bushes etc have gone it seems more appealing and is a little sun trap! 

No financial news to report, it'll be another month of keeping spends low and trying to make our money work hard for us. 

July spends 

Supermarket £33.69
Fuel 

South_coast

Such is the life of the MFW! I'm always in awe of your food spends 😀 Garden sounds lovely, now we just need the sun back....

Moneyfordreams

I've been watching Charlie Dimmock gardening makeover show  (bbc) they have some gorgeous ideas.. Do you think you will restore decking or replace with something? 

CathT

We definitely do need the sun back, hoping it's not too far away. I've recorded a gardening programme recently to will check if it's that one. I'm on a few gardening pages on fb and open to new ideas. Under our decking is a large concrete slab which used to be the shed base. I'm thinking of using Frenchic to transform it but not sure I've got the patience to stencil it. 

Today has been a day of deliveries. I finally got an egg chair for a non extortionate price and it really is lovely and so comfortable. Any sign of bad weather it is being brought straight back in! Planning to use as an indoor chair over the winter so it does need a home inside too. Also had some border edging arrive so will get that done over the next few days weather/time/motivation permitting. Have also bought some fence stain ready for the weekend (was lucky to get the last one off the shelf) so now just need time off and good weather. 

The garden really is coming together. 

July spends
supermarket £33.69
fuel £27

newgirly

The garden sounds lovely cath 😊

CathT

Thanks Newgirly, I'm trying to spend lots of time out there enjoying it. I am missing morning coffees out there though when the weather was better and I was working shifts so had more days off! The egg chair also has a lovely new home in our family area, we just need to move the piano into the snug. Then we can easily take the egg chair into the garden through the patio doors at the first sign of sunshine!

Slept poorly the last couple of nights to really feel it's catching up with me now. Am really hoping for some solid sleep tonight as I really need it! Did manage to dodge the rain and took the dog for a 30 minute walk after work. Found a nice route that wasn't peopley and I think we both enjoyed it. 

Two weeks until payday day so time for a mini-challenge. Will be mainly about keeping spends low and lots of NSD's

£5 overpaid today which is the amount we used to round down the CB and the increase in payment since April. Water bill has arrived so need to get that paid and check the bills account so can transfer across too.

July

Supermarket £84.34
Fuel £57

CathT

Well it's nearly the end of a very wet week, let's hope the sun makes an appearance tomorrow ready for the weekend. Couple of food shops done but also got some bargains so hopefully no more big shops until next week. 77p OP yesterday and £3.75 today which was a mix of supermarket discount and a tilly tidy. My motto is if I manage to save it, it's being put to good use! We're about £15 away from knocking off another month too!

Busy weekend of house/garden jobs planned here so a dry weekend will be extremely helpful. That's both alcohol and weather related!

debtfreeoneday

great progress cath. 

CathT

Thanks debtfree. Today needs to be productive. I'm on my second coffee and the sun is starting to break through the clouds. The plan today is to paint the fences but had to pop out last evening as the new stain won't go over the old paint! So new colour scheme now so aim to get out there soon to see if the new paint covers the old one! If it seems a success Dh will pick up another tub this morning. With 12 panels to paint (thankfully one side only) I need to get cracking it it's going to get finished today.

found £2.87 lurking in bills account so have overpaid this.
The accounts seem to have been downgraded from reward accounts for some reason though. I do need to keep an eye out for a bank transfer offer and have an account each set up for that purpose with another bank. 

Looking forward to sitting in the warm sunshine with a 'completed' garden is now my motivation to finish this coffee and get cracking!! 

CathT

Well yesterday was busy as expected. Was out in the garden from 9-4 with just a quick stop for lunch. Between us we got all the 12 fence panels done, 6 of them required 3 coats!! Put in some new border edging for new rockery. Cut the grass front and back and generally tidied up. I also planted a new plant in the rockery which was the least strenuous activity! Was worth working so hard to get it done yesterday. Planning to sit reading my book in the sunshine for a little while now.

Current account looks ready for payday. Sent a token £1 overpayment to round account down and out food budget account is looking very healthy. Am thinking of making a food plan and setting strict budget and list for the run up to payday. Will have a rummage to see what might be lurking in the freezer! 

Right, garden and sunshine awaits!