On the up (Hopefully)

sugarcube84

well we are officially skint till payday, i've got a £5 note stashed in my purse for milk/bread and enough food in the cupboards to last. Hubby hasnt been paid for a couple of jobs so i know there is money to come in its just a matter of when, the guy has been really busy so hasnt been around much so hubby hasnt been able to catch him at his house.

I rounded up my uni text books yesterday and have priced them on 2 different websites, using both for the best prices im going to get £48 for them which isnt bad i've got to wait until payday to send them as the printer has run out of ink and we need a new cartridge.

I'm going to go through the dvds as well i'm sure i can round up some to sell. Hubby has listed a few things on ebay as well. So we are trying our best to make some extra pennies.

I sat down with hubby and went through his bank account for the last 3 months to work out how much he has earnt (i knew deep down it wasnt quite working) its not great. So he's having a think about why he hasnt earnt as much as he should, probably underestimating the time jobs should take and taking cash out to pay for stuff which then disappears on nothing. I think it was a bit of a shock for him, he works 6 days a week and long hours too and he isnt seeing the rewards yet. Anyway he knows he has to price his work with a bit of extra time (money) built in and when he takes over the gardens it should get better as that is a nice steady stream of work with minimal outlay.

Can't wait to get christmas out of the way, i do love christmas but this year i know is going to be a stressful one money wise. Anyway nothing much more i can do for now, other than sell the contents of the house which im doing!!

Off to check for surveys and freebies then apart from swimming its a day of tidying and cooking. Hubby has taken the car to be serviced by my dad which im hoping will be free, nothing like being optimistic is there!!

Have a great weekend everyone.

savingholmes

You sound like you are doing all the right things SC - hopefully things will start to improve now you are both more aware of the situation

sugarcube84

well the optimism worked the car service was free, hubby now at work finishing off a job and i'm at home. So far today we have been swimming, made a beef stew and leek and potato soup, might make some flapjacks after i've had a brew and put a load of washing on. Little one is in bed and i dont think he is feeling tip top, his back teeth might be coming through as he keps sticking his finger right to the back and having a chomp and his tummy is a bit off. Quiet weekend for us.

sugarcube84

well another quiet day for us, hubby is at work again so we are consuming our own weight in lemon biscuits and chocolate flapjacks all washed down with copious amounts of tea. We havent moved apart from doing the washing up, a load of washing, putting some clothes away and hoovering. Actually sounds like i've done quite a lot!!:)

Sauages are out for tea, either sauasge and chips/mash or toad in the hole. I have signed up for a few more survey sites and tried to redeem my ipsos points for an amazon voucher but they have run out!! Which is a pain as the printer cartridges are £10 cheaper on there plus i would have been able to use the voucher, never mind i'll wait a couple of days and see if they get some more.

Going to go through some of the dvds with hubby when he gets back see if i can sell a few of them and get him to list a few things on ebay.

sugarcube84

Ive just updated my sig with this months figures we are £700 worse off than when we started but its no where near as bad as it could be for a few reasons

- the car broke £400
- big nursery bill £600
- hubby is waiting for a cheque for a couple of jobs

so we could have been much worse off. Hopefully next month this figure should be a lot lower as hubby has got it a bit more straight about how mcuh he needs to make next month, not turnover but profit and then the month after is the start of the gardens, fingers crossed for a few garden tidies/hedge cutting/ driveway cleans. I have also told him that he needs to start banking all his cash and not paying for materials with cash as it doesnt make budgeting any easier.

Hopefully 2012 will be the year we make a dent in the debt.

savingholmes

You will get there just need to take it step by step and challenge every spend until things start to feel more in control

sugarcube84

not had the best of weekends, hubbys nan died yesterday, very sad, but everyone had the chance to say goodbye which was nice.

Had some better news today,my wedding dress has sold so thats £400, she is sending a cheque in the post today. Im almost done with the christmas shopping as well, got hubbys stepdad to buy for which hubby is taking care of and i need 3 bottle of wine and some sweets to make sweetie jars. Going to wrap a few today and get the ones that need to be posted done.

So jobs for today

- wrap presents to be posted
- post office, send ebay items, presents and textbooks that ive sold.
- check banks and update spreadsheet

Short list today. Have a good day everyone

sugarcube84

well i got the majority of the presents wrapped yesterday, just the wine, sweeties, ds and hubbys grandad left to do. The front room is looking suitably festive with the tree up and presents under it.

Nursery are annoying me!! :mad:they sent me a bill last month (a big one as they hadnt been sending me bills) and its wrong, i sent a nice letter plus a higlighted calender showing the days he goes in each month (not hard its mon, tues, thurs) and how much it should be. They sent me another statement this month and it shows the same amount, despite further down showing my cheque that i sent so they have obviously read my letter. Think im going to write another letter!:)

Got an amazon voucher from ipsos (£10) so i managed to get a black and colour cartridge for the printer for £14.46 :T

and hubby got a cheque from orange for £8.36 so not a bad day!

sugarcube84

:TThe cheque arrived for my dress!! That was really quick i only got the email to say it had sold on Monday!

Trying to think about things positively as it doesnt look like we have made any progress when you see our spreadsheet:( but we have made big changes to our spending and our bills. Hubbys overdraft has increased for a number of reasons but this month it should be less than last month, by £10's or £100's i dont know it depends on work and getting paid but we have a couple of things due to end on ebay and they should make £90 when you take off fees. Which means that once that gets paid into hubbys acount, plus im going to transfer the dress money, plus a cheque he is owed for last months work then any money he earns this month will go straight off the overdraft. It makes it easier to think like this, my overdraft will be £200 less than last month even without the dress money.:)

I need to start looking into student loans for hubby, im sure you have to apply in advance of starting and he is due to start next year (sept), i know im thinking ahead but i like to be prepared!! :rotfl:I will also have to change the council tax as i believe we will get a discount when hubby is a full time student.

Off to check the freebies, do my surveys, check the banks and actually do some work!

savingholmes

My sympathies on your hubby's nan dying

Well done on the dress sale etc. I'm sure it will make a good dent