misscousinitt's MF Diary

misscousinitt

Well I am glad that week is over. I could have easily stayed at work till after 6 yesterday
But I got all the essentials done and the other jobs arn't urgent.

Think it's going to take me a few days to settle into the holiday. But boy am I glad it's
finally here.

Went out to the pub for the first time in ages last night. Was driving so still no alcohol. It was fun and something different to do. A good way to bring the holidays in.

Few chores to do today. Then got some plants to take up to mums. Charity wages to do too.

Planning to go and spend my £25 book voucher I've had for 18 months tomorrow. Some nice books so I don't spend my whole holiday on the computer. Also want to get that table and chairs for outside.

Tonights tea will be salmon with lemon and basil new potato salad and an avocado and tomato salad.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Will spend some time catching up on diaries next week.

MCI

Alchemilla

Happy book shopping.

Goldiegirl

£25 worth of books :j


Sounds like a good spree to me


Hope you have a lovely holiday from work

misscousinitt

Hi Everyone...


Been having a very relaxing time on my first week off - didn't even switch the computer on!


Some quick money news before I disappear again - though I may be back this week!


DH regular £50 added to the fund and I have finally counted the 50ps and we have £29 - so a further £20 will be deposited.


We have bought a new patio set - £80 (wooden one that can fold up and be put away in the winter) - its very nice.


Still not allowed up the allotment, but my friend is keeping it watered and we have had a fair few courgettes, beans and gherkins off it.


Spent the whole of my £25 book token (had to add 47p) - bought three books and I have read the thickest of them already.


DH goes back to work tomorrow, so will be getting some stuff done for mum - like CPP claim and roof quotes.


Hope everyone is well and I a sure I will pop in later in the week.


MCI

Goldiegirl

It sounds like you are having a nice relaxing time:)

Those 50p's soon mount up. I remember when we were saving up to get married (in the dim and distant past:rotfl:) we saved up our 50p's and managed to get a really good quality duvet with our savings.

These days I tend to use cards more than cash, so I don't get that many 50p's. I do put small change in my Sealed Pot, so it'll be interesting to see what I've got at the end of the year. Nothing like £29, I suspect!

misscousinitt

We do a bit of a sealed pot too Goldie with 20/10/5/2/1ps - and we have a meal out at the end of the first week back to work after Christmas as a nice treat - we usually save between £50-£80 a year!

Back at work now; and the holiday seems like a dim and distant past!

In the end I read 2 books and I am currently halfway through my third one. Brought it to work so I don't stare at the screen for the whole of lunchtime too.

Mum's CPP claim is done (must remember to post it for her) and we have had one roof quote of £4.5k - which considering it's a big roof that will need over 1500 new slates, I didn't think it was too bad - need to get another quote to compare though!

Need to add my £20 in 50ps to the account and update signature.

Still fighting with MIL to get her to stop paying us back at the end of the month - as far as she's concerned, she's got another year to go - but it's really not fair (or sensible) when she's borrowing money off DH every month. Fortunately DH can be just as stubborn as she is lol.

Munching our way through the freezer at the moment.

Tonight we are having poultry (either chicken or turkey - but not sure which!) which will probably be stir-fried with loads of veggies.

Hope everyone is well.

MCI

PS And this isn't really an after thought - deeply upset by the passing of Robin Williams - such a great talent - so sad that he lost the fight against his inner demon. RIP.

Goldiegirl

It was a real shock to hear about Robin Williams.

I've seen him on American chat shows in the past, and his public persona was so fast talking, quick fire jokes, it must have been an intolerable burden to try and keep that up

Such a sad end:(

misscousinitt

AWOL...

Been having a tough time - not something I really want to talk about.

I'll be back soon once I pull myself back together.

MCI

misscousinitt

Hi

Trying to get back on track. Have a few personal issues at the moment that I am working through. I still have much to be grateful for, including a wonderful supportive husband.

I have been looking at my finances; I think more as a starting point to become more focussed rather than that I need to – though I have found myself worrying about money – where I really don’t think I need to.
I have been doing some number crunching and I’ve come up with the following:

1. HOUSE FUND – what I am here on this board for.

Since paying off our mortgage in November 2012, we have saved £20,600 towards the deposit on a new house. Although we have enough should the right house come to us NOW! we would have to dip into our savings to move. My target for house deposit is £30k.

By my reckoning, at current levels (ie £373 per month) it will take us 24 months to reach this target. This does not take into consideration any extra savings we can make on a month by month basis or any bonus’ that may (or may not) be forthcoming.

I would really like to reach this target in 12 months – so there we have it – A GOAL!

2. EMERGENCY POT – although I have savings, I wanted to build up an extra pot of money ‘Just in case’. I have been saving on a monthly basis for a good while now and I have got together a little over £2k – my target is a minimum of £2.5k with £3.5k being ideal.

3. JOINT SAVINGS – we save £150 each into a joint account each month that pays for holidays and anything we need for the house (new appliances, repairs etc…). We will continue to do this. These savings may also act as a top up fund for either ‘house’ or ‘emergency’ pots should it be required in the future.

4. ALLOCATED MONEY – from my savings/inheritance I have allocated two portions of money. One of these being to contribute towards my Mum’s roof. This still leaves me with a reasonable amount for the future and whatever it holds.

5. MONTHLY SURPLUS FUNDS – every month after the bills have been paid or allocated for I have a little over £200 left for me to spend on me! This is perhaps an area I could be a little more regimented with, but I want to be able to live my life without worrying too much about what I’m spending. I do tend to have some left at the end of the month that gets split between the ‘House’ and ‘Emergency’ Pots – maybe I could make this more??? We will see.

I am hoping to be back on here on a more regular basis soon.

MCI

edinburgher

Good plans there MCI, it's always positive to have goals to work towards

How would your emergency fund look by the time you reach your savings goal? It's exciting thinking about new houses, but I think we're quite alike in that we like a 'cushion' for security behind us?

Psychic support being beamed your way for the personal issues, life can be tough at times. Nearly the weekend :coffee: