XSpender - MFW in Training

XSpender

cha97michelle wrote: »

Wow - your kitchen is done already. I am thinking we will be about 2 or 3 weeks at least without one. Hopefully i am wrong.

It took them 9-6 one day and 8-2 the next day and this included ripping up the existing tiled floor and pulling off the wall tiles before laying a laminate floorand retiling. They only had to fit an oven and hob, sink and replumb the dishwasher though, I kept my washer and fridge freezer. I am really impressed by their attention to detail; the shelves they have replaced in 2 of the cupbords and the metal bit(cant think of the word for it) between the kitchen and living room floors are 10 times better than they were installed originally.

P.S. Forgot to tell DS the clocks were going back so could he sleep for an extra hour this morning. I suppose he is only 6 months old;)

XSpender

I have had a look at what we need to spend against our budget this month and it looks like this:

Out
£45 Diesel and Misc
£250 Food
£22 DS Christening outift using £10 voucher
£45 DH concert ticket for next June
£362 Total Out

In

£26 cash in purse
£129 balance in account after all bills/dds come out
£40 Npower refund
£36 coins to be paid into bank
£231 Total In

So it appears I am £131 short:( Some of this can be made up from coming under the misc and food budget, probably £100 if I really watch the pennies. The npower refund and coins were destined for the overpayment pot for #2 which is a bit of a pain but can't be helped this month.

I need to pop out to get fruit and dishwasher salt so will buy a yellow ad mag and put adverts in for my scuba gear and the caravan stabaliser and the large dog crate we no longer use. I am sure there are other things I can't think of off hand to sell too. If I can make some money on these I can move some of the extra money into the #2 account.

Overpayments will still be getting paid this month as the #1 dd has been increased and my LTSB save the change and virtual sealed pot money will go over to #2, they will just be about £120 less than expected.

If DH wage continues at this level it looks like I will have to find a job sooner than I wanted otherwise we will be living on and using up the small amount of redundancy money we have left.:( Getting the kitchen done last month used up a big chunk but we have enough to survive till Easter, easily and when my colleague signed on they automatically sent her a big tax rebate (she was on mat leave too and getting taxed at emergency rate).

Feeling a bit fed up about it all really which is a bit premature as DH bonus months are Dec and Jan I think and we still don't know how much he will be getting as this is his first 6 months in this job.

I think I will keep a bit of a spending diary against the budgets this month on here to keep me on track. I will also be doing the store cupboard challenge as the mountains in there can feed us a good few weeks:o

Right I am off to cancel the dental hygienist and book DS into a music and movement class:)

SmlSave

Sorry to hear things are tight at the moment hun.

XSpender

Thanks SmlSave. I am probably making it out to be worse than it is really:o The savings are my maternity benefits paid in a lump sum due to my redundancy so if I wasn't redundant I would be getting it as monthly income so I am being tight trying not to spend anymore of it and keep it as a back up. We do have a decent family income, once we have cleared #2 we will be laughing:D

A grand total of 71p gone to #2 account today so it might take a while:o

£6 odd spent on groceries yesterday and I am expecting not to spend anything today. I am taking DS to his first class at the local children's centre so that should not cost anything to park and I have all we need in for lunches and dinners this week.

I forgot to buy the ad mag yesterday so will get that tomorrow when I go pay the change into the bank and collect my np0wer refund from the PO. I did spot a couple of other things in the garage yesterday, like my old office chair and desk, that could be sold. It will make a bit of room too. I have quite a few paper backs that I will stick on greenmet as I have sold quite a few on there before.

I am going to order a veg box this week but will only get a small one which should be enough as I am going to try and use up some of the frozen veg we have.

XSpender

Changed my veg box order to a small one and have had a NSD.:j

Took DS to his class and there was only me and one Grandma there!

I am hoping to meet some other people with babies as my friends either have no kids or they are grown up(the kids that is;)) so I hope there are more there next week and I will ring a couple of the other centres and see what classes/groups they have.

I am considering looking at doing mystery shopping? Is it a lot of work for not a lot of money?

I think I will sign up for some survey sites too. If anyone gets any points/£ for a referal let me know.:)

In an ideal world I would like to earn £100/wk from bits and pieces. I am going to look into doing a cake decorating course after Christmas at the local college with a view to selling cakes but this will take a while to get established and I will need to improve my skills before I have the confidence to do a cake for anyone but family:o

XSpender

It looks lke we won't need to find £45 of the money noted in that earlier list as we couldn't get the Foo F1ghters tickets today on the 02 priority thingy. will try t1krtmasrter on friday but not too hopeful.

Went to the last of 3 weaning classes today at the local health centre. Cost me 60p to park and came away with a free hand blender, pots and spoons and a recipe book. Looking forward to starting weaning at the weekend. My lovely new kitchen is going to get splattered:eek:

Popped to get some salad for tea tonight as BIL is coming around and it is the only proper feed he gets all week so this will stretch the pasta bake and garlic bread a bit.:)

I am feeling a bit more positive about not having to dip into the savings to manage this month...here is a little update......

Out
£45 Diesel and Misc
£245 Food
£22 DS Christening outift using £10 voucher (has to be used Nov)
£312 Total Out

In

£16 cash in purse
£129 balance in account after all bills/dds come out
£39 Npower refund (still need to collect this)
£36 coins to be paid into bank (still need to pay this in)
£220 Total In

Three weeks of £40 for food, formula and beer and say £10 of diesel and I have more than enough to last and will be able to bank the refund to the #2 account. Must make sure I don't take DH food shopping as he can't resist an offer;)

Charliec45

XSpender wrote: »

It looks lke we won't need to find £45 of the money noted in that earlier list as we couldn't get the Foo F1ghters tickets today on the 02 priority thingy. will try t1krtmasrter on friday but not too hopeful.

Went to the last of 3 weaning classes today at the local health centre. Cost me 60p to park and came away with a free hand blender, pots and spoons and a recipe book. Looking forward to starting weaning at the weekend. My lovely new kitchen is going to get splattered:eek:

Popped to get some salad for tea tonight as BIL is coming around and it is the only proper feed he gets all week so this will stretch the pasta bake and garlic bread a bit.:)

I am feeling a bit more positive about not having to dip into the savings to manage this month...here is a little update......

Out
£45 Diesel and Misc
£245 Food
£22 DS Christening outift using £10 voucher (has to be used Nov)
£312 Total Out

In

£16 cash in purse
£129 balance in account after all bills/dds come out
£39 Npower refund (still need to collect this)
£36 coins to be paid into bank (still need to pay this in)
£220 Total In

Three weeks of £40 for food, formula and beer and say £10 of diesel and I have more than enough to last and will be able to bank the refund to the #2 account. Must make sure I don't take DH food shopping as he can't resist an offer;)

Hope you don't mind me commenting on your post but I have just bought foo fighters tickets myself! I am not on 02 priority but I got them on the foo fighters website - they have got their own presale on there if thats any use?! Not exactly MSE but they are amazing!!!!!


Also I am registered as a mystery shopper it is really easy work - I haven't done many assignments but they email me when there is one available and I can pick and choose! It doesn't bring in loads of dosh though I have probably averaged about £8 per assignment. I am also trying to be mortgage free and I admire your efforts especially with two mortgages and a baby!!!! Keep up the good work! (p.s. sorry if i have steered you away with the foo fighters tickets!!!)

XSpender

Charliec45 wrote: »

Hope you don't mind me commenting on your post but I have just bought foo fighters tickets myself! I am not on 02 priority but I got them on the foo fighters website - they have got their own presale on there if thats any use?! Not exactly MSE but they are amazing!!!!!


Also I am registered as a mystery shopper it is really easy work - I haven't done many assignments but they email me when there is one available and I can pick and choose! It doesn't bring in loads of dosh though I have probably averaged about £8 per assignment. I am also trying to be mortgage free and I admire your efforts especially with two mortgages and a baby!!!! Keep up the good work! (p.s. sorry if i have steered you away with the foo fighters tickets!!!)

:iloveyou: Went on the website and had 3 tickets bought within 30 minutes. :j Thank you so much for this my DH, his brother and mate are chuffed to bits. Me and DH went to see them at Wembley 2 years ago and they were indeed amazing. Not cheap but they do a long set and have good support so you get your £s worth:D

£8 per mystery shopping assignment is better than I thought so I think I will get signed up to a couple of sites. I did sign up about 18 months ago but the only ones in my area were for the bank I worked for at the time so I couldn't do them. I could now though since they made me redundant:rotfl:

Good luck on your mortgage free journey too:)

Charliec45

XSpender wrote: »

:iloveyou: Went on the website and had 3 tickets bought within 30 minutes. :j Thank you so much for this my DH, his brother and mate are chuffed to bits. Me and DH went to see them at Wembley 2 years ago and they were indeed amazing. Not cheap but they do a long set and have good support so you get your £s worth:D

£8 per mystery shopping assignment is better than I thought so I think I will get signed up to a couple of sites. I did sign up about 18 months ago but the only ones in my area were for the bank I worked for at the time so I couldn't do them. I could now though since they made me redundant:rotfl:

Good luck on your mortgage free journey too:)

am so pleased you managed to get tickets!!!!! Glad I actually gave some good advice for a change!!!! Yeah I saw them at Wembley two years ago as well!!!!!

I am signed up with Cybershop if thats any help?!

Iris_Blue

Hi XS

Just caught up with your thread. Well done with juggling your money about - its a never-ending job isn't it.

Good luck with the weening, you did well to get the freebies. I was dreading weaning with DD last year but it was so easy this time around.

Hope your finger and stomach is better !

Iris

x