On the up (Hopefully)

sugarcube84

Well i have just updated my spreadsheet to take us to the end of the month and it doesnt look great, only £200 better off than when we started at the end of August but it has been a bad month money wise
-holiday
- car brakes
- hubby volunteering so losing a days work per week plus having a week away

but dread to think what it would have been like if we hadnt been ebaying anything and everything, i think that was the difference between us getting close to the overdraft limit and going over it. We knew it would be a tight month and the car just added to it

Onwards and upwards my flapjacks went down well at the weekend so i think they might be a regular bake, saves me money on treats for lunches!! I have just tweaked the budget for next month and have looked at my meal planner and cupboards to see if i can stretch the meal planner a bit which i can if we have a couple of days of beans on toast and freezer leftovers.

Off to have a look at the christmas list as well see if i can include some homemade items as prezzies anywhere.

I refuse to be beaten!

Savingholmes do you bake much? any ideas for a cake that i can bake for hubbys nans birthday party?

sugarcube84

Just updated my sig for grocery spend which so far is

£35 -Lidl/asda shop
£40 -holiday shop/spends
£61.39- Tesco shop
£3- aldi bread milk biscuits juice
£8 - tinned tomatoed/pasatta/chocolate/milk cookie cutters (for Christmas biscuits)
£1.15 asda milk
£2.85 local shop bread/milk

Total- £151.39 and i think i have enough to last to Friday not sure if ive got enough for the weekend, but i i buy a pack of mince ive got enough in to make meals with that.

Ive reduced my budget to £160 as well, as my hubby took £20 and after the car incident ive decided he can keep it and we will try to save the £20. So thats my positive update for the day not only within my food budget this month but £20 under it.:T

sugarcube84

We have enough food to last until i get paid (apart from milk) so will be around £18 under my food budget :j so thats something to smile about.

Ive just joined quidco and applied for a post office credit card as my 0% is due to end should get £50 cashback so that helps.

Hubby enjoyed uni again last night and hasnt got his volunteering at school tommorro due to half term which means he can get some more work done:) and he can work saturday as well as swimming is cancelled due to half term. We need to sit down and work out what we have coming in next month so then i can tweak our budget.

Shopping is at lidl and aldi only this month and im not going to add stuff in because its store cupboard item im going to try to use what i have and not buy extra. Ive got a lot better at this since ive been meal planning but its almost like i think the world is going to end if i dont have a spare can of tomatoes in the cupboard!! :rotfl:Its going to be a tight month next month to see if we can make ourselves a bit more comfortable that our debts are going in the right direction, doesnt help that we still have some presents to buy but never mind.

I had a meeting at work today with the big boss who basically assured us that we have somewhere to go after our current project finishes, its a massive relief as there are a lot of people at the moment being put on their notice. The bad thing is it doesnt look like im getting my extremely long overdue promotion anytime soon as the area is being tasked with cutting spending, our boss is looking at alternative ways to do this (car share, working from home) rather than a salary reduction.

So all in all a good news/bad news day.

savingholmes

As long as you keep your job - that's the main thing in this climate. Good your OH managed some extra work.

Regarding cakes - it may sound mad but Betty crockers devil food cake - chocolate fudge cake to you and me and matching icing looks fab with silver balls over it. Its on a deal at the mo at asda for £3 - its a packet mix and you still have to make it. Home bargain type places also sell silver balls but that is yummy. this was it decorated with a mix of hearts and stars


I did make my daughter a handbag cake for her birthday. You just make two vanilla round sponge cakes. Seal them together with butter cream. Cut about a third off.... stand it upright. Cover with thin buttercream icing - use it as glue. Cover with pre rolled out white icing (get from Mr As or similar) and then also bought pre coloured icing to make handle out of thick icing and piping for the bag. I put my DD's initial on the bag and used edible gold beads from Mr As for decoration. I also used pre-coloured icing to make fake lipstick, eyeshadow, applicator and number. Everyone was really impressed.

You can buy shaped tins of different shapes - that may be another way to go....

sugarcube84

I went with a mammoth chocolate fudge cake in the end the ultimate indulgence!!

Well i have just updated my spreadsheet and we are £104 worse off than when we started, which tbh im pretty chuffed with considering hubby is working less due to college and volunteering and we had an expensive month (holiday and car) plus got a load of christmas present sorted as well. So i have to look at it positively or id cry!!

Got my co-op account all sorted and confirmation that i will get the £200 after ive deposited £800 for 3 months following the 11th Nov so Nov, Dec, Jan and paid in Feb.

Going to go home and make some flapjacks i think along with beef pie which ive put the filling in the slow cooker already (comfort food anyone??)

savingholmes

Hi SC things often get worse before they get better - possibly because we are so good at denial. Hopefully now your finances are more open and clearer there wont be any nasty surprises lurking....

sugarcube84

Thats exactly how im looking at it i keep thinking as well how much worse off we would be if we hadnt been actively trying to cut back.

Hubby hasnt been paid yet from a couple of big jobs and has already shelled out for materials for his next 10 days worth of jobs so the bank probabl looks a lot worse than it is, i went through the money he is owed and the money he has to spend for the next 10 days to give me a good idea of how much he can bank and it looks pretty good

-£95 cash in hand
- £1800 cash in
- £380 cash out
= £1515

Allowance for materials for jobs til the end of the month= £500

Total to bank- £1015 that means that he is still banking over £1k and thats just for the jobs for the next 10 days so that will make the bank look a bit better.

I keep feeling really down about the money situation it doesnt feel like we have moved forward at all and we have made loads of cut backs, the thing i keep having to remember is how much worse off we would have been it we hadnt made the changes.

Things to do today
-work
- fuel card return (otherwise ill forget and all my fuel will come off my wage)
- check banks
- ive already done my surevys but i could do with seeing where im up to with the earnings from them.
- check ebay for payment outstanding

Lunches are done and ive got something out for tea. Its going to be a quiet weekend, hubby is working and we have fireworks at his dads tomorrow night so its a weekend of cooking cleaning and tidying woohoo exciting!!

sugarcube84

Moan alert. Im feeling really down about things at the minute everything seems to be getting to me- the state of the house (jobs half finished as we need to save up for materials), hubby not helping out much even though i knowhes working super hard at work and college, the work situation, needing new work clothes but cant afford it. Basically everything! I feel like its all too much and its getting on top of me. Sorry for th moan but the hoover is broken and it was the last straw!!

Well i feel a bit better for getting that out, im off to do some house work at least it can be clean even though there are unfinished bits. Though it means ill have to hoover the whole house using the nozzle as the other bit wont suck!

sugarcube84

Feel like i've been neglecting this lately as i've been a bit down about everything and i've had flu and a nasty chest infection as well.

Feeling much better, although still not 100% and i've decided that it's no good moping about things that i cant change. I've just got to get stuck in and tackle things head on, it's amazing how much better you feel when you can say you have done something!

So i've done the filing, all the letters, bills etc that get 'filed' on the kitchen windowsill have now been put in the filing boxes.

- anything old or irrelevant got binned to make room for the new stuff
- i set up a new folder for the car and one for my son for his birth certificate/child trust fund/savings etc

i also found a virgin credit card of hubbys so i added it to my online account and found it was £23 in credit.

I also checked Tesco and i've got £4 worth of vouchers

I've £5.10 worth of boots points

I've got enough ipsos points to convert into a £10 voucher

And i've got a Asda voucher for £3.88 thanks price guarantee!!:T

so that's £45.98 :jWhich is almost the remainder of the christmas presents.

I've also decided to get a fake tree for the first time ever, i've seen one for £17 on ebay which is a big saving on the £40 we normally spend on a real tree, i'm a bit sad to be honest as i used to love going buying a tree when i was a kid and i wanted to be able to do the same for my son but looking on the bright side he is 19 months old and we have got next year to start with the traditions

Christmas day we are going to hubbys aunties so food is taken care of but i will bake a load of flapjacks, cakes and biscuits plus some sausage rolls.

Roll on 2012 so i can get stuck in to paying off the debts! Its going to be a big year next year with hubby starting uni in Sept (full time!) and he is taking over 50 gardens of his dads from December (next month!!) onwards so that should inprove the cash flow of the business, less materials to buy before being paid, paid more frequently and stable amount of work.So that should help things. I've also decided that im a lidl/aldi convert it does save me money and i get the same if not better quality, the only thing i haven't liked is the lidl nappies (aldi are great) and i will carry on doing a top up shop at either asda or Tesco for things i cant get. That might not seem like much to some but it's a decision that will make a difference to us. These are a difficult few months and we knew they would be, we just need to plough on and it should get easier in the new year.

So a bit early but resolutions (more of a to do list) for next year

- lidl/aldi convert
- packed luches
- meal planners
- ebay (read get rid of vinyl!)
- build up prezzie stash in sales
- hubby to increase gardens and reduce building work
- big one for me sit (and pass!) RICS APC.
- Insulate loft
- pay off debts, or at least clear overdrafts and the loan.

So onwards and upwards as always just thought i'm due the £200 from co-op in Feb as well things are looking bright(er)

sugarcube84

Forgot i've also got £15.09 cash back due for the credit reports, £30 for switching the gas and elec and my wedding dress is at the shop so thats up to £400 just needs to catch someones eye!