Erm....time for a new plan me thinks...

brummiebabe

Ok..so the state of play is this...

Balance (spending a/c) £271.81

Still to come out:

£20.80 (cheque to dancing)
£80 spends (2 x £20 per week..2 weeks)
£70 my petrol
£80 DH's petrol
£13 pocket money

TOTAL £263.80 leaving £8.01...but we owe the window cleaner £8.00...so we may come in with 1p left:rotfl:

The bills account is likely to be ok by the end of the month..but I may go overdrawn briefly this week...tax credits have been reduced a lot as DD has started school, so my budget hasn't quite worked as planned. Overall though...it looks like we may come in on target, or not far off:jIt will be so great if we do...the first time in months!!!!

brummiebabe

Sunday morning again....the weekends go so quickly don't they!! Was up late on the laptop last night, so am feeling fairly bleurgh this morning:o

Both boys have football this morning, but luckily DH can do both matches (it's his passion...wouldn't want to deprive him;) ) which means I don't have to go!!! So grocery shopping is the plan...

As for the rest of the day....my to-do-list includes:

Cleaning DD's room, change her bed
Tackle the ever increasing ironing mountain
Clean lounge
Vacuum downstairs
Clean shoes (will ask DH to do this)
Catch up with my sister & her kids at some point
DH to have his hair cut
Ensure DS1 has done his homework:( - always a battle

I'll be aiming for an early night too, but must remember to watch the second part of 'Appropriate Adult' which I think is on tonight.

Have a relaxing Sunday x

Long_tall_sally

Hi Brummiebabe. I am planning to watch the 2nd part of Appropriate Adult tonight aswell. I thought it was good last week. There is an article in yesterday's Mail about it which I have only skimmed through but it appears to be saying that the police were not happy with the real life woman & that she trial of Rosemary West nearly fell through due to her lies. I must read it later.

P.S. - your finances are looking good! Wish mine were!

brummiebabe

Hi Long Tall Sally - I must try & read that article online. I did the training to be an Appropriate Adult some years ago(as we can get asked to be one sometimes, in my job) but I felt she went above & beyond what the role entails. I'll enjoy watching it tonight though.

Haven't managed my whole list today but have:

Been grocery shopping (spent around £82.00 - will clarify exact totals later....am loving Aldi at the moment:money:
Seen my sister & her children
Vacuumed downstairs
3 loads of washing (2 dried outside, 1 in TD)
DH has had hair cut (my mum is a hairdresser)
DS1 won his match today, DS2 drew....both excellent results
DS1 practically finished homework due in either Monday/Tuesday


Right, off today dinner then getting kids ready to bed early before tackling the dreaded ironing!!!

Long_tall_sally

Morning Brummiebabe - do you mind me asking what you do job wise? I had never heard of the expression appropriate adult until I watched this. Did you watch it last night? I thought it was good but yes I agree she went too far but it did give the impression that he had kinda got into her head more than was "appropriate". Was it Xmas day that he hung himself? I remember it being on the news but not it being on xmas day for some reason.

I quite like Aldi (& Lidl) as well although recently I have been using a couple of Mr T vouchers plus I can't get all my shopping at Aldi or Lidl. I only work 2 &1/2 days a week but I still find it quite time consuming trying to get round all the different supermarkets etc to get their best offers.

I have just done a balance transfer onto a new Post Office C/card which is for 14 months (I think) but I see MSE are advising about one for 22 months which I had seen before I had done this one. I really need to try & get my food bill down. Some of that money could be spent a hundred times on more important things!

brummiebabe

Hi Long Tall Sally - I work as a Community Psychiatric Nurse in a CMHT (Community Mental Health Team) - I'm part time too, but still struggle to fit everything in!!! I tend to now go to Aldi first then top up the bits I couldn't get at one of the other supermarkets nearby. It's more time consuming, but I used to shop at Tesco & would spend much more!!!

Am currently at DD's swimming lesson. Have had a really busy day & am shattered - but I've still got jobs to do when I get home!! Would love to just get into my PJs and watch TV - but that's not going to happen for a while yet:(

Have had a NSD today - have £3 in my purse until Wednesday....only 2 weeks to payday & things looking good.:j

Long_tall_sally

Your job sounds interesting. My friend's brother is schizophrenic & he often has a nurse come to see him so I am presuming that your job involves that sort of thing. I work at a high school with autistic children & much as I love it, I am not sure that I would love it so much if I worked full time, particularly as I am get up most nights to check on my son's sugar levels (he is diabetic) & I am often tired.

I do think that Tescos can be very expensive & try to only shop there for the offers or the gluten-free food that I need for my son (he has Coeliacs disease aswell) that i cannot get in Aldi or Lidl. Places like Farm Foods or Home Bargains are also a lot cheaper than the main supermarkets.

I did actually have a mooching / dossing sort of day today which is a bit of a rarity & very nice it was too! I even went for a walk although it was quite a battle in the wind! Not a NSD though as I have just had to pay £18 for the next 4 weeks of DS's football which restarted tonight.

brummiebabe

Yes Long Tall Sally....that's the kind of job I do...I love it most of the time, but wouldn't want to be full-time. I'm permanently exhausted & don't think I could handle the stress. Your job sounds interesting though...one of our relatives does a similar type of job to you in a senior school - she loves it!!

I am shattered today...got chatting to an old friend on Facebook last night & didn't go to bed til midnight!!! When you're up at 6.00 it's not much fun!!! DS1 is at football training now, but hopefully all the kids will go to bed on time tonight do I can have an early night.

Still have my £3 intact....was tempted to stop for chocolate, but there was no easy parking available so I didn't....so I kept to my NSD:T

Have decided that somehow I need to work some money into my budget for clothes....I've been wearing the same stuff for years (literally) & really need to get some new things......don't know how we'll manage it, but will give it a go!!

Am off to get DD out of the bath....

brummiebabe

So I was left with £2 from last week's 'pocket money' - had to give DS1 some money for a sanck one day. That money has gone into my secret purse, along with teh 50p coins......there's now £5.50 in there..so will put that towards the kids' pocket money this weekend..and make a payment to my card via online banking.

My balance transfers have gone through:j:jbut I still have £30 left on one card to pay...so any extra will go on this currently. I haven't worked out an exact date but 22 months is roughly July 2013 - I really hope I get it paid off well before then..........

Had to buy 2 birthday presents today as DD and DS2 have parties this weekend....now they're back at shool I suppose the party season will be in full swing!! Spent about £13 in total and also stocked up on cards from the Card Factory...10 cards for £1...and they're nice cards too!! Can't believe I used to shop at Clintons and would easily spend £3-4 on one card - madness:rotfl:

I also spent £5 in Primark on 2 white tops (1 long and one short sleeve) - I've been thinking about my wardrobe and they're the two things that would really help me to have more choice of outfits. I desperately need loads of clothes..but that's not going to happen yet:( Having those tops though will help to make other outfits more versatile.

Unfortunately I had a major spend of £112 today.....our garage door literally fell off the other night, and we've had to have that repaired today!! However, a new door would cost us probably around £800 - so it had to be done. Luckily I had a little money put to one side for wooden flooring in the hall...well that's just going to have to wait now:mad:

Budget is looking very tight and I may end up going a little over - but nowhere near as bad as normal...I see that as progress of sorts..:)

Busy weekend ahead..dancing for DD, then straight onto a party. Both DS have football on Sunday then DS2 has a swimming party in the afternoon.....I've laso got to fit in grocery shopping, ironing, some cleaning, making DS1 do homework......it never ends. How do other people do it? I just can't seem to fit everything in that needs doing...any tips??

brummiebabe

Well I've had a fairly good weekend..managed to do my grocery shopping until payday for around £100 - about £10 overbudget but am ok with that.better than being £90 over at payday!! Have also counted up my loose change jar and have around £7.00 - have bagged this up into £1 bags and will use in the self service tills to top up on bread & milk towards the end of the week - feel better knowing how much I'm chucking in, without having to count it out in front of a queue of people:rotfl:

My 50p saving has gone well (helped by my £2 underspend last week) - so have paid £10 off my M&S card today...leaves £28.44 on that......will pay this off asap.

Have had to start thinking about DD's birthday - think I'm doing a joint party with one of her friends (they were born a day apart) should work out around £110 each but that's with party bags included.......much less stressful!!! She wants a scooter (less than £20 on Amazon) and one of those hamster things. I'll also get her some jeans (and hope that she'll wear them;)) and hope that I can get her some boots with any birthday money she's lucky enough to receive. Will get her some bits and pieces to open on the day too. My DS1 never uses his Nintendo DS so we'll probably give her that and a game or two that are appropriate for her age. Really need to get organised once I've been paid this month. Could go on forever with things for her really.....she also needs some party-type shoes & shoes to wear outside of school........why are kids so expensive!!!!

Well another week at work beckons....busy, busy, busy......roll on Friday and my day off:j