Learning to Live on Less!

White_Iris

Oh dear, blew the grocery budget. Came in at £40. Actually though, it's less of an overspend than thought (about £35) and there are some things like washing powder, which will last in to next month.

White_Iris

Feeling a bit low today, as usual it's about our housing situation. Fortunately we haven't heard a peep from our neighbours since that dreadful weekend at the start of May but it has tainted the house for us. We have come to the decision to move as soon as the right house becomes available (not just because of next door - we need more storage space and some off road parking) and a house may be available in the village that DH grew up in. It's a lovely house and a great village but there is nothing there, I would have to go back to driving everywhere. Initially I said yes, lets go for it but after thinking about it some more I've changed my mind - I want to stay in town, where the children have a great pre-school and there are lots of things for us all to do and there is some stability to our life. We've only been here for four months but I would miss the place if we left. I know DH is disappointed but I think we just have to deal with the negativity we have about the house and concentrate on what's best for the children.

Self indulgent grumble over, thanks for listening virtual friends.

debtfreewannabe321

well at the end of the day when we're in the house most of the day with the kids you have to be happy. I hate being in a place where the negativity just seems to radiate off as it gets me down. So can totally understand why you would want to move. I hope you haven't done much to the house though! Good luck with looking for a new one

p.s my food shop was £40 this week too but that's not including meat and store cupboard stuff as I buy that in bulk at the beginning of the month. So if you did a whole shop for that amount I think you did pretty well xx

White_Iris

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

well at the end of the day when we're in the house most of the day with the kids you have to be happy. I hate being in a place where the negativity just seems to radiate off as it gets me down. So can totally understand why you would want to move. I hope you haven't done much to the house though! Good luck with looking for a new one

I think I need to just grin and bare it, I hate the idea of wasting our new house savings paying for admin fees and all the other stuff associated with renting a house. I'm going to have a good long talk with DH tonight and let him know I'm (sort-of) happy to stay put until we can buy a place unless things get really bad. I think in September, when the children are out at pre-school for a few hours a day, I won't feel quite so stuck. I'll hopefully be able to get out of the house for a few hours each day and maybe if MIL can collect them I might even get a whole day to myself! I'm also pricing up some new shelves to go in front of the adjoining wall to improve our storage situation and also act as a bit of a sound barrier.

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

p.s my food shop was £40 this week too but that's not including meat and store cupboard stuff as I buy that in bulk at the beginning of the month. So if you did a whole shop for that amount I think you did pretty well xx

No, sadly it wasn't a whole shop. Mostly fresh stuff; fruit, veg, bread and milk, a little bit of meat.

White_Iris

Well DH has managed to sort out the tax problem - unfortunately he does still owe it but he can pay it back next tax year (apparently we're too late for them to arrange it this year) at about £40 a month. Apparently it's all because he was issued a refund a for tax paid a few years ago, which he shouldn't have got. :mad: HMRC - what a bunch of incompetents (although the people he has spoken to recently have seemed pretty on the ball).

I'm trying to come with ways to make some money towards the new house - more than I'm getting from eBay and surveys - and it basically boils down to me getting a job! It's frustrating because I'm happy to do anything but I'm so tied with childcare it's almost impossible to find something to fit. It also seems like jobs are pretty thin on the ground in this area (probably the same all over the country). Maybe once they start pre-school in September, I can get MIL to have them for the rest of the day a few times a week and I'll be able to find something.

So I'm off the scour the house for anything valuable to sell :money:

White_Iris

Well I didn't find anything of value to eBay but I did make a start on ironing the clothes to sell over the next few weeks (if the weather ever warms up, they're all summer clothes!). I need to re-assemble the old pram today, now that all the covers have been washed, and get that listed and hopefully sold, as much to make some space as make some money.

Half term next week, as well as a bank holiday weekend and the children's birthday! It will be nice to have DH home for a week but I'm also slightly dreading the weekend in case next door decide to have another noisy BBQ :-/
I've saved £50 to cover the bank hol weekend and the children's birthday - hopefully it will be enough - and we'll just have to wing it for the rest of the week! The good thing about moving is we're now in a much more touristy area, so there are lots of free or cheap things to do, so we should manage to have some low cost fun next week.

debtfreewannabe321

Oh no, getting a job is easier said than done in this climate. What sort of work will you be looking for? I was going to go back once ds2 starts school in September but a friend has asked me to look after her kids before and after school and is paying me so means I don't have to pay childcare and still earn some money :T

I've got lots of summer stuff to ebay but am holding off also as there is no sun everyone is in their winter clothes and wellies round here. Putting on Summer hats, sandals and shorts will just be a waste of my time! xx

White_Iris

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

Oh no, getting a job is easier said than done in this climate. What sort of work will you be looking for? I was going to go back once ds2 starts school in September but a friend has asked me to look after her kids before and after school and is paying me so means I don't have to pay childcare and still earn some money :T

I'll probably look for something in a school as DH is a teacher and I'd quite like the same holidays as him and the children. I used to work in education so hopefully I'd be qualified for most TA/support type roles but it's just a case of waiting until something comes up that fits in with the children.

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

I've got lots of summer stuff to ebay but am holding off also as there is no sun everyone is in their winter clothes and wellies round here. Putting on Summer hats, sandals and shorts will just be a waste of my time! xx

It's currently cold, grey and wet here and I'm sat in a big jumper - I agree that eBaying summer stuff would be a complete waste of time.

White_Iris

Eeep, we're moving again :j We were offered the chance to rent a large detatched house for not much more than we're paying now and it's so lovely we can't refuse...woodburner, fruit-trees, space for chickens. I'm so excited that even the prospect of packing everything up again, only six months after the last move, can't worry me.

debtfreewannabe321

White_Iris wrote: »

Eeep, we're moving again :j We were offered the chance to rent a large detatched house for not much more than we're paying now and it's so lovely we can't refuse...woodburner, fruit-trees, space for chickens. I'm so excited that even the prospect of packing everything up again, only six months after the last move, can't worry me.

:j:j:j:j
Sounds fab! When do you move