Lulabelle's MFW Diary

lulabelle1

Orrrr, thanks Ally - that's very kind of you to pop by........
Hope all is well with you, L

lulabelle1

Have done a little bit of jiggling....... I have loads of savings pots for various things, such as kids treats, entertainment, eating out etc etc. Anyway, when I first decided that I would do this each month I thought I was being quite tight with the allowances for each, but I'm pleased to report that we seem to have a little bit left in each at the end of the month.

So, I've decided to reduce some of the monthly payments to the pots and OP instead (of course!!!)....

I'm having to increase the amount I put aside for file by £50 per month though, I currently put aside £200 but it seems to be a little bit too low. Grrrrrr to the price of fuel!!

lulabelle1

Eeeek - have spent £216 on fuel so far this month, there is still 11 days until funds are replenished courtesy of payday.

However, on the bright side, some of mine has been used for business miles so I am claiming back mileage via expenses, however I will use this money as an OP next month that than putting it back in the account to subsidise the money I spent on fuel if that makes sense......

Off to tot up the food spend now

lulabelle1

Ok, right, made a mistake.......

Fuel Spend - £216, however fuel money is replenished on the 10th of each month, which is tomorrow. So, actually thats pretty good as I did use a fair bit for business mileage. So, I think I will leave it at £200 per month as before.

Food Spend - Actually this is amazing for us - £321. It may seem high to some people, but when I stated my diary, we were spending anywhere in the region of £600 per month, so actually this is an amazing achievement.

Withdrawn - £70 Some of this will have been used for food, bits and pieces for DH at work, although he does take in a packed lunch and snacks every day.

So, overall spend from this account is £607. I budgeted £700 so very happy, as I didn't think we would ever come in under the £700.

Fingers crossed that we can continue to do this every month.

I love it when things start to come together, makes it all worthwhile......

Best, L x

ally18

lulabelle1 wrote: »

I'm having to increase the amount I put aside for file by £50 per month though

Sorry, had to laugh at this one, I wondered what file was

I put my fuel budget in my car last night, £50 and its given me 548 miles so hopefully that should last until middle of March and I don't do many miles.

It must be horrendous for everyone if you have lots of travelling to do.

Your food spend now is brilliant, you should be really pleased with yourselves on cutting that back so much.

Have a good weekend.
Ally

lulabelle1

LOL, I type far too quickly and make loads of mistakes, I wonder how many bizarre non sensical things I have said throughout my diary, I dread to think........!!

Enjoy your weekend too x

lulabelle1

HMRC drive me nuts....

I complete my SA and they tell me they owe me 20p

Then, they send me a new tax coding saying that I owe them thousands

So, I call them, they made a mistake with my expenses, they correct, my tax code goes back to "normal" and I owe them no money.....

Although this was all dealt with by myself upon receipt of their letter, in the mean time I am paid, the result being that I am significantly underpaid this month due to all of the blooming tax that I had to pay.

Presumably this will correct itself next month and I will pay the normal amount plus receive a rebate for this month for the amount that I incorrectly overpaid.

It's no wonder people have a distaste for them sometimes, with a click of a button they can have a massive impact on people. Thank goodness I was able to deal with this quickly and knew my stuff inside out otherwise I could have just assumed that they were correct and continue to let them take whatever they please.......

So, I've done some "jiggling" to subsidise.......

lulabelle1

First day of half term has been a long one.....

Did some work this morning and then decided to have the rest of the week off to spend time with the children. Haven't had time off since June (few days over Christmas), so it's a much needed break....

Ds2 was at nursery this morning, came home with tummy ache and then spent the rest of the afternoon throwing up everywhere. So lots of cuddling and cleaning.

Ds1 has a friend here for his first ever sleepover..... Not ideal when the 2 year old is being sick, but nevermind.

DH has decided to build his new back in the lounge. Grrrrrrrr

My annoying cat didn't like going out in the snow and has peed on the front door mat. Stinks, smell won't go, so have spent £30 on replacement mat. I had to get a certain one as I have a patch cut out of my wooden floor where it fits.

DH and I have both got colds..... The sort where you are constantly hungry, this won't help my food budget!

I'm optimistic for a good nights sleep but with sleepover and poorly toddler I shan't hold my breath....

Have a lovely week! L

lulabelle1

Well, what a week.....

DH and I developed stinking codes and have been feeling terrible for most of the week.

We took DS1 sliding at the snow dome yesterday, it was fun but very poor value for money, we only managed to get 5 turns each so it's not something that I shall be spending money on ever again.....

We went to Nando's afterwards and I'd been collecting tokens in my little book, so it only cost £15 for the three of us which I didn't think was too bad at all.

Haircut today, £42, ouch!

Bought a new bag the other day - been searching for this one for ages and finally got it so very happy. I'm selling three that I already have to fund it. One sold already and the money banked and the other two are on eBay - I'm hoping that they will do well. I should get enough from selling the three to pay for the new one and have a little bit left over which is great.

Shopping and lunch with a girlfriend tomorrow, really looking forward to it, but need to get lots of sleep tonight in prep as I'm exhausted.

lulabelle1

Sold the other 2 bags over the weekend and have received all of money. As it stands, once all of the fees have been paid etc I have £150 left after the new bag has been paid for. So, feeling very happy with myself. 6 months ago I would have just bought the new bag and not even considered selling any of my others to pay for it, so it's a step in the right direction.

Saturday was lovely, had a nice mooch round the shops and a lovely lunch. Picked up a few things I'd been needing but no indulgences so to speak, so another big tick.

Got paid the rest of my salary today but it's a bit messed up and wont right itself until April which is very annoying.

Moved the money around but holding back on the mortgage op until the end of the month once I've been paid my expenses and have received the money from PayPal for my bag sales..... Will just do the op in one go rather than transferring it in bits and pieces.

DH has almost finished building his new bike which means it will shortly no longer be in my lounge...... I'm away on business from tomorrow until Thursday night and hopeful that the completed bike will have been moved to the garage in preparation for my return. My lounge will hopefully once again be a lounge and no longer resemble a workshop.

Ds1 has asked to do tennis lessons after school, he has no other clubs at the moment so will send in a chq for £15 tomorrow and hope he gets a place. This will cover until the end of term - £3 per week. We need to consider starting swimming lessons again too as its been a year or so since he had them.

Hope you are all well, L x