Our attempt at being MF!!

Karmacat

Sounds good, Cath, and 2 bathrooms cleaned already is no mean feat.  I know what you mean about charity shop drop offs - I have a *lot* of ragging stuff and straightforward donations, it's all piled up, but still ... I wish it was out of the house.

Enjoy your Sarah Beany catchup  

Moneyfordreams

I think our dining table has been buried in clutter... although our decorations are not away until my first January day off (3rd). I'm hoping OH will sort it all   

greent

I've cleared the dining table of cloth/ runner/ decorations this morning but all other decs will stay up until 3rd/4th/5th (will probably take 2 or 3 days to get them all down and away....!!) I like all the sparkle and twinkly lights everywhere - although the Xmas cards annoy me as they keep falling off windowsills!

CathT

Well it's finally the end of this very strange year. Even in normal times we wouldn't have a wild evening planned but are going to push the boat out and order a takeaway and watch a film. Pinot and Bail3ys May also be involved. 

Have been out for a lovely outing with the dog this morning so he is absolutely shattered so will only need a quick walk around the block later. 

Dh has done another food shop but this also included some treats for games to play this evening. I'm expecting there to be various leftovers as we are still full from brunch!

payday for dh, money shuffled and an extra £78 sent to the mortgage. 3bay item arrived for ds and he's pleased with it, have also put Led lights up in dd room so she's happy too but we had to improvise a little as weren't as long as expected. Am hoping it doesn't look too odd and it's more of a feature! 

December spends

Supermarket £288.59
Fuel £68

debtfreeoneday

Have a nice evening Cath - happy new year x

CathT

Thanks debtfree, didn't make it until midnight but quite happy to enter 2021 quietly! 

NYE and day consisted for some fun party games (children keep asking to play them, I suspect because they involved doughnuts!!) some reading, tidying and general rest. Was planning to take the Christmas tree down today but it's really dull today and it really brightened up the lounge once I turned it on. Other decs are down, not quite away but halfway there. 

Have totalled up December spends
supermarket £288.59
fuel £68
overpayments £217.78
so I'm just about to work out annual totals and averages to set some goals for 2021.

Briefly ran through some of our plans with dh yesterday, he's happy to continue with making our money work hard for us and not just spend for the sake of it. We had a takeaway recently and no one enjoyed it so that's not going to be a regular thing and we don't regard it as a treat. Some people may be shocked by our budget and spends but it works for us and I am all for giving us choices over the next few years especially with regards to employment for dh. 

Laptop is broken, am assuming it's the battery so need to get one ordered as otherwise my spreadsheets are on dd computer and I don't think she will be too impressed with me sat in her room with a notebook! 

Right, going to see what I can achieve with a notebook, pen, calculator and coffee for a few minutes whilst the children are still sleeping and dog is snoozing. 

debtfreeoneday

Looking forward to seeing your plans Cath 

apple_muncher

Another one looking forward to seeing your plans...!

CathT

Will try and post plans later. I'm trying not to raise expectations too high in case we miss our goals but will try to have them firmly in place this evening. Dh is on board, he knows we have the budget to spend a lot more than we do but is happy to keep making our money work as hard as possible for us.

Having a good start to the year and budget as currently on our 3rd NSD but a shop is needed Monday or Tuesday.  I'm also planning to eat slightly healthier from tomorrow, nothing drastic but definitely less sugar and more veg. 

Don't feel like I've achieved anything yet today, slept until 8am again which seems to have developed into my natural wake up time - not sure how this will fit on with work! Anyway, I've done a load of washing, dd has done kitchen floor and skirting boards (she's trying to earn some pocket money) and I've walked the dog for an hour. The park was incredibly busy with walkers and runners this morning, definitely a sign it is January. It was so lovely to see things through ds eyes today, he loves nature and animals and is still in that lovely stage of imaginative play which made the walk home interesting and hopefully I was a 'fun mum'.

We've all had lunch so I'm going to sort dishes and empty dishwasher and tackle the utility room. it's a large room with fairly good storage but has too much stuff in it so need to be ruthless. We have a floor to ceiling cupboard but it's not exactly easy to get things like the mop, ironing board in and out of it. We also have a section of worktop above the appliances which generally looks a mess so I'm hoping to spruce it up with plants and candles. Streamlining coats and shoes is an essential too. It's never going to look like a p1nterest utility room but it could look more presentable and usable. 

Here goes.......

CathT

Oops, another late start this morning, it's become a bit of a habit!

However, the plans are written down and hopefully posting also make me more accountable. I sorted them into categories as I went along rather than thinking of a category and finding goals to fit, so here they are.

January goals

Finances
 - reduce cc (both stoozing and 0% by £700)
- knock 2 months off Mortgage 2.
Now dh is paid weekly empty account end of week and split between relevant pots.

Health
- do 2 full body weight workouts 
- continue with dog walks 
- more water - less caffeine 
- more nutrients - less sugar

Personal development
- Less social media scrolling
- Read 2 books
- Practice mindfulness when feeling overwhelmed/anxious

House
- skip run
- charity shop run
- empty cupboards /wardrobes - be ruthless!

Home improvements
- would like new lights in landing and hallway but this isn't a must do.