Our attempt at being MF!!

CathT

Still ravelling Apple! This has been helped by one of the car refunds being processed, I still need to chase up the other one. I'd be pleasantly surprised to see it back in the bank account but I have a feeling it needs to be chased up. 

We have had a few thunderstorms lately and had one last night which went on for hours. Let's hope it has cleared the air a little as it was unbearable at work yesterday. 

Payday a week away, food/fuel account budget looking good, main account surviving the unravelling/shuffling! 85p Tilly tidy today aswell. Just trying not to focus too much on what I 'owe' the cc this month but it will all even out by payday - I think! The second car related refund will definitely help.

August spends

Supermarket £86.90
Fuel £89.01

CathT

We are definitely in the lull before payday. Another top up food shop yesterday but budget there still looking good. Dh has used the e@t out to help out scheme a couple of times this week and we will do the same until it ends. We rarely eat out so it's a treat for us all and a great deal! 

Car refund chased up and despite promising they respond by the end of the following day, that hasn't happened so will ring them later.

Today's plan is to make the most of the last day of forecast dry weather as it looks like it's going massively downhill after today. We have been very luck the last couple of weeks though and we have made the most of it. August weather normally tends to be wet and cool (IIRC) so not feeling too hard done by that I have a week off coming up and forecast not great. It might actually give me an opportunity to get more stuff done. I would like to sort out photographs so need to see where we are up to with our albums, order more ready, order photos to be printed and then use my week off to get them sorted. It's something I have been meaning to do for ages so will be happy with it's done. 

Also had pet insurance quote through, we claimed around £1000 last year and our quote has gone down slightly. It appears to be like for like cover which I will double check but I was expecting it to double! A very nice surprise!

Hoping to get out for a fairly early family walk, have found a lovely spot with a waterfall which isn't particularly touristy so should avoid the crowds. Be a bonus to have a chilled out doggy after it too! 

August spends

Supermarket £111.99
Fuel £89.01

CathT

Well I've woken up to dreary cloud as predicted but we did have a day of warm sunshine yesterday. I made the most of it by doing a lot of reading in the garden! Also managed to weed the rockery but will tackle the remaining weeds this week as they seem to have gone mad again! Have some lovely snapdragons which have self seeded along the sleepers which separate the lawn and patio. Hoping they continue to self seed as they are very pretty but just out of sight where they currently are. Am thinking ahead to Autumn plants and bulbs now as have really enjoyed having so much colour in the garden this year. 

Car also hoovered after our walk, we didn't find the area we planned to but enjoyed it all the same.

August spends

Supermarket £166.69
Fuel £119.01

CathT

Woken up to rain and cloud here but at least it is cooler!!

Hoping for a positive day today as haven't slept particularly well. Checked accounts and all looking ok but much of the surplus needs to be paid off the cc as I've been stoozing for a couple of weeks. Ordered dd high school blazer yesterday so hopefully be able to pick that up later this week. Just need to get shoes, shirts and stationery now. 

Need to get myself organised for my week off too otherwise I won't be able to do the jobs I want to, maybe some painting (so need to reserve and collect paint) and I need to order photos to put in albums. I really feel like I need to have a productive week off otherwise it will feel wasted. 

CathT

Planning for my week off work is going well, shame about the Weather forecast though! Hopefully we can still get out for some nice walks between the showers. 

You know those days where don't stop but it doesn't look like you've done a lot! Plan was to sort kitchen/diner/family area. I've done a bit and moved stuff round, deep cleaned and rearranged snug (which we never use), our garden furniture cushions 'near' to where they will be stored away (need to check with Dh where is best) and done two loads of washing which Is currently everywhere.

What I planned to do was deep clean the kitchen which I'll tackle after I've had a coffee!

I've also finally ordered the photos, it's taken me 3 evenings to get them uploaded. It's cost a ridiculous amount and I've also ordered albums but I really want us to have actually photos to look at and not just rely on social media albums. Paid extra for quicker delivery otherwise they would be arriving at the end of the week and I'd never get time to sort them. So whilst I'm waiting for the photos to arrive I have painting plans! I want to do a few small pieces of furniture but would really like to paint the doors upstairs but fear I may quickly regret starting that! 

Think I need to write a jobs list for next week as have the school shop stuff to do too. Feeling grateful I booked this week off work!

10p Tilly tidy yesterday, used tcb for photos and also used a discount code. 

August spends

Supermarket £205.75
Fuel £119.01

debtfreeoneday

Good news on the pet insurance. That’s a bonus x

CathT

Thanks debtfree, it was definitley a relief!

Have a week off work so have been catching up with jobs at home and some reading. Spent some time in the garden before the storm hit yesterday so at that point it was tidy and weed free and the lawn always looks so much better when freshly cut. Dead headed the geraniums to try and prolong them and cut some flowers to bring in. So sad to see the summer plants coming to an end. 

Photos and albums have arrived so have made a start on them. The news albums will tie in with when we started going abroad so looking forward to sorting those photos out tomorrow. I just want to go back through the albums and make the odd comment of when/where the photo was taken. My mum used to write on the back of our childhood photos and I liked to read what was written. 

Have used the government eat out scheme a few times over the last couple of weeks and we all ate out to use it today. I was chatting with the staff and they said it is so intense Mon-Wed and then they are really quiet Thursday onwards. Be interesting to see if the scheme is extended as we go into the off peak season. 

Back to school preparations almost complete, took dd for some last bits today. I'm not a fan of shopping but it was lovely to see our town so busy and lovely with someone busking too. I know people are often quick to criticise their towns so this was good to see. 

Tomorrow is likely to be a mix of some painting (I've mentally downscaled my project) and losing time looking through photos rather than just organising them in the album! 

Moneyfordreams

That's a point about photos, its good for other to see when and where it was taken. 

CathT

Moneyfordreams said:

That's a point about photos, its good for other to see when and where it was taken. 

It will definitely be worth doing even though I've spent a ridiculous amount of money on the prints and albums! I've justified it to myself in that we've not printed out any for albums since 2012 so per year it's not a lot!! I'll involve the children in writing the dates/locations on them too. 

Busyish day yesterday, tried to get the washing done before the rain arrived. It arrived earlier so had to resort to the heated airer and dryer. Weekend looking dry and sunny so will strip all the beds and get them done too. 

Finally started my next painting protect too - not really sure why I had been putting it off. Am so glad I've done it. Our stair banister is very 70's and I've never been keen on it but replacing it with spindles has never been a priority. I've recently discovered fr3nchic paint and it's really transformed it! Just the touching up to do today and then might have to consider painting the other woodwork so it all looks new. I'm debating painting all the doors upstairs which is a mammoth task but the paint really does go on like a dream. 

Payday for Dh today, £250 back into savings which we dipped into for the car and £9.36 overpayment. 

August spends

Supermarket £254.99
Fuel £149.01

CathT

We are in the 50's for mortgage one!! If only that was our only mortgage!! It's still wonderful to see though and honestly doesn't feel that long since that mortgage went sub 100k. Just goes to show how fast the years go by really. August has been pretty spendy with back to school spends so only been making small OP's so no months knocked off. I think another £60 or so would do it, just need some more y0ugov surveys to come through but did overpay £5 this morning to kick off the month.

Food spends crept up last month and fuel spends higher as had 2 weekends away but still £100 under budget overall. That should be leftover in the pot just before September payday! 

Photos finally finished and absolutely worth every penny, was so lovely to see all those memories and am looking forward to going through them with Dh and the children. It did make me wish we'd had a holiday this year though as there what the 3 albums are mostly full of!! 

NSD today, starting the month strong!!