XSpender - MFW in Training

XSpender

Thanks for the info on the scones Michelle. I made some on Sunday and had them with jam and cream and they were lovely. I am going to try and make them much bigger though as I am a greedy piggy.

Losing the plot with money matters at the moment as DS has been ill again and I am not in a routine with work/meals. Plus with the extra income coming in I think we have not been keeping an eye on things as we should.

My first challenge is to spend no more than £200 on all our food, toiletries, dog food, takeaways, alcohol between 12th April and 21st May. I have got so much stuff in the cupboards are groaning. I need to start the GC again as that always keeps me on track.

DH said he would like to pay the mortgage off by the time we are 50 :eek: He thinks we could pay/offset £20k off a year. We can pay £9k off just by making our repayments and hitting our savings targets so £20k isn't impossible. That's 9 years and 3.5 months away. That would also cover the increase in the mortgage for when we move to our forever home in the next 4 or 5 years.

I am going to look for a swing set for DS birthday and see if I can get some cash back.:)

Iris_Blue

I'm not surprised that your losing the plot with money as its really difficult to save money and work and have a child. Its one big juggling act.

I always struggled with the food budget when I worked, we didnt even have a budget to be honest I just spent on bits when I popped in Mr Ms at dinner time. Madness


How's work now that you've settled in ?

XSpender

Hi Iris

If I could stop myself entering a supermarket I might stand a chance;) I wouldn't dare add up what we have spent:o Ate out of the freezer tonight and took a shep pie out to defrost for tomorrow's tea so I am making a start:)

Unfortunatley the job isn't going to well. There is no work for us to do at the minute and I don't like not being busy. I am disapointed as I really thought it would be a great place to work. I don't even mind the long commute and the money is OK:(

My friend has emailed me tonight with a vaccancy at her place in my field so I am going to tweak my CV and apply for that one.

Iris_Blue

Just think of the money. There's nothing worse than being at work though with no work to do. It's a long enough day there as it is.

I hope you hear about the job and get an interview.

cha97michelle

Can you do your meal plan while you are sat around? Must be some way you can use that time to your advantage.

XSpender

Hello fellow MFWs:wave:

I haven't posted in months cos I have had nothing good MFW to report. We finally lost the plot with money as we had been threatening to do since I went back to work and we have been overspending and have emptied what little bit we had in the savings.:o We have not got into any debt so that is a relief but I feel like we are back to square one.:(

I have still made the small £46 overpayment to the #1 mortgage every month that comes out with the direct debit and mortgage #2 is decreasing all the time as it is fully repayment. We only have July and August to pay on my car and then will have an extra £128 month to save:j When I can find the internet passwords to the mortgage account and have ordered a settlement figure for mortgage # 2 I will do a new what I owe the world figure.

My new job is much better now and DS seems to have stopped catching every bug going at nursery and is walking and running everywhere. He is a joy:happyhear. DH job is going very well and I think they may soonmove him to a bigger branch which will mean more money.

We have a holiday to pay for in August, we are driving to France to spend time with my DF and want to extend our visit to them by a few days to spend some time in Languedoc. I want to do this as cheaply as possible. Our main expense will be food/meals out.

We still need to get the curtains hung up in our kitchen and the living room is desperate for a lick of paint. It is a heavy traffic area and it is beginning to look a bit grubby.

I have about £70 to last until the 22nd June:eek: I have meal planned and have plenty of stuff into make meals. The biggest expense is BIL birthday where we will be expected to give him £30 cash. The card will be a cheapie from card factory though;)

I am trying to catch up with everyone's diaries this week as I have really missed you all:o

yukkibear

Good to see you back posting

gratefulforhelp_2

Expecting cash from siblings as a present??????????????????????????????????

XSpender

Finding time at the moment to catch up on people's diaries which is helping my focus and motivation:)

Remembered to check TCB and the final sum of £33 I was waiting for was finally available to payout so have transfered it in to the holiday account. Woo hoo:j

Much number crunching has taken place over the last couple of days and I have created a new budget to start after payday on the 22nd August. I chose this date as we pay our final HP payment and go on holdiay for 2 weeks at the beginning of August and I am desperatley trying to scrimp and save for our holidays.

My new budget includes opening a regular saver with no access, well once a year, as I need to build up our savings again where I cannot be tempted to touch it. I will have another savings account for holidays/annual bills etc. There is enough in the budget to make an additional £100/mnth op but I am not sure we have the budget/spending control for this not to cripple us so I may make it £50 (total op including current op will be almost £100) and try and scrape up bits here and there to make up another £50. If I increase the DD by this amount I know it will get paid.

I think this is more realistic as my DH constantly complains that he is sick of us being skint when he works so hard:( He does want to pay the mortgage off early, has suggested by the time we are 50 and we are both 41 this year, but does not seem to see that there is no pain no gain.

I have declded I will have a budget of £500 for all our food, diesel, household and joint entertainment spends basically everything except bills, pocket money for me and DH and savings. This will take some management by me but I will have one budget to worry about rather than worrying about everything.

Sorry for the ramblings I am just trying to get it straight in my head. I am sure if I read back through my diary there would be loads of different ways I have tried to budget. I just struggle at it.

We are off to the lakes walking on Saturday, DS's first fell:) and I am really looking forward to it. I have £45 of change to pay in to the bank before we set off though.

Gardening and house work planned for Sunday - oh joy;)

XSpender

gratefulforhelp wrote: »

Expecting cash from siblings as a present??????????????????????????????????

Yep, that's the way they do it. BIL only ever does cash, even for DS Christening and 1st Birthday. He got some lovely clothes for him for his 1st Christmas but only because DH went shopping with him.

He is a single bloke, doesn't do shopping:rotfl:

I would prefer to buy him a gift but DH wants to give him cash. I always make him a hamper at Christmas and buy him gifts then.