Lois_E begins a long MFW journey

Radish72

Hi

I need to do some de-cluttering/odd jobs, so this week when I get home I'm going to tackle the hall (apart from the cupboards off doom) so there is nothing out of place when I come in from work

I like the idea of a drawer at a time

Hurdler

I think I might take ICTD's approach of one small area at a time - I need to tackle a cupboard in the spare room BADLY - and I put things off all the time where tidying is concerned!

I need to get some of those clear boxes from stationers and start to have a good clear out. Especially as I start clearing out old shares - I will keep the paperwork but need to shift it. Will try to do something on a Sunday, as a break from studies.

Lois_E

Well, I did no decluttering at all yesterday, I'm afraid. However, after the kids had gone to bed I did do a bit of work on getting my uber-spreadsheet back up to date after neglecting it for a couple of months. I know myself - I can only stay motivated about managing my money well if I have all the info where I can easily see it. So that's good. Not fully sorted out yet, though.

Gave in to kids' pleading for a take-away last night but managed to feed all three of us for a mere £7.30, so not too bad, and didn't spend anything else.

Lois_E

Well, I got a lot more done on the uber-spreadsheet today. Was v shocked to realise I hadn't checked it against my bank/CC statements since August. :eek: It all balances now, though, including stray Amazon payments that only got as far as my emails and not onto the sheet. So the only thing left to catch up with is now the spending diary and the "Bank of Mum" bit where I pay my kids interest if they save their pocket money with me.

Got the house all nice and tidy so the cleaner would be able to clean it, and then she didn't turn up. Will have to clean it myself tomorrow instead. Saved a bit of money, but I hope she's back next week when I'm at work. I've got a few other things to sort out tomorrow and then the kids and I go back to our separate schools on Thursday, so no more posting on here during weekday daytimes for me - until half term, anyway.

Lois_E

Aaargh. My kids have grown again. Had to take DD shopping after school today for new school skirt (£5) and new swimming costume (£6). Got home thinking it could have been worse, and noticed DS's school trousers are at least an inch too short for him. Must dig out all his school trousers and see which are still OK. Why can't they have these growth spurts when there's just about to be a second hand sale at the school?

Peonie

Can the trouser hems be taken down?

Lois_E

Peonie wrote: »

Can the trouser hems be taken down?

Yes, probably. That's one of the things I'll be looking at when I round up the trousers to inspect them. Didn't get round to it today, so will have to do it tomorrow.

Good news is that I have caught up with the pile of receipts that didn't get put into my spending diary during a particularly hectic bit of last term.

Almost good news is that my savings account is looking a lot healthier than it has for a couple of months, but a lot of Christmas won't appear until my next CC bill, and I may need to get some of it back out again when that comes. At least it can be earning some interest in the meantime. (I do all my spending on CC and pay off in full each month as a sort of mini-stooze).

Bad news is that I have been spending money on boring but necessary household things like lightbulbs etc, and it all seems to be adding up to too much, too quickly.

Lois_E

Grrr. Kids growing AGAIN. Both needed new tracksuits for PE urgently - DD couldn't fit into hers at all, and DS could, but it was inches too short in the legs. Got one for DS in the JJB sale - mix & match tops & bottoms for £15. DD fell in love with a pair of purple trackie bottoms in JJB - miles too large for her, and £20 just for the bottoms, with no tops available. She had a bit of a strop when I said she couldn't have them, but cheered up in Mr T when we found purple tracksuits in her size, with a sparkly heart on, for £10 (top & bottom included).

Still no OPs - I want to but I am being sensible and building up my savings first. But this month's standard payment takes the total down again. Will update this with the stats in a few minutes when I've collected them.

6th September 2011 - Highest amount owing
Mortgage ..........£75,143.13
Family loan 1......£12,796.89
Family loan 2...... £ 5,241.20
Total owing........£93,181.21

6th January 2012
Mortgage ..........£74,360.86
Family loan 1......£12,790.64
Family loan 2...... £ 5,097.45
Total owing........£92,248.95

<goes off to update sig>

gallygirl

I have to ask - how come you've paid £6.25 off family loan 1 :rotfl:

Lois_E

Because I was sending them some money for something unrelated, and realised that if I rounded it up a bit, I'd be able to get that blue number in my sig crossed out and replaced with a new one, so it would look as though I was making progress!

As soon as I've got my savings account to have a decent emergency fund, I want to make a big enough OP to get the MF date to move, so I can have everything in the sig to have a crossing-out and replacement! Oh, and I want to get FL#2 down below £5k, because it's close enough to be bugging me now.