Boarding the Bus of Positivity (for 24 months of travels!)

Chocforever

Don't be jealous. That was an average day. I made a real effort to cut down on the unhealthy snacks about 18 months ago and whilst I knew things had slipped a bit, I hadn't realised that I have almost gone back to eating the same junk. It is on top of reasonably healthy meals and a decent fruit and vegetable intake so it could be worse, but it can't do anyone any good to be eating that amount of sugar and fat day in day out. I really need to put some thought into healthier alternatives. People always say to me that I should eat more cashew and brazil nuts because they are nutritious. I don't mind eating some, but there is a limit on how many a girl wants to eat in one day. I'll have a think when I go to the supermarket later this afternoon.

debtfreesomeday

Nice and sunny here this morning, debated going out for a walk with Ds but too much washing to do and he's now gone down for a nap. He's at nursery for 1pm today too. We went for a 45 min walk yesterday (drove to a free car park first rather than paying £3 to park!), and I did 15 mins on the wii fit just before Ds's bath time, so it's a start. I shall be furiously hoovering and cleaning later when Ds is at nursery and shall get on the wii fit again if I get time.

This morning I've chased up a £24 refund from mr S over something we received back in december. Finally got an e-voucher this morning.
I've also booked the car in for its MOT. Boo. It's 4 years old now and we've been lucky enough before now that nothing has needed doing, but I have a feeling the brakes may need some attention. We only have £200 in that savings pot, so are desperate it won't cost any more than that.

One load of washing has been done and second is on. I was going to hang it all outside to dry but it's freezing out, even though the sun is shining, so it's in the dryer and on the airer instead.
This afternoon I need to drop 4 bags of stuff off at the charity shop; make a (low fat) lasagne for tonight/freeze a couple of portions; grease the hinges on the bedroom doors as they keep squeaking and waking Ds if he's not fast asleep and I need to sort all of our recycling out, oh, and do loads of ironing and pick Ds's prescription ip. A big list for this afternoon!

debtfreesomeday

Well I didn't get a lot of the stuff done that I had planned, as a frazzled friend and her new baby dropped over for a cuppa. She is having a hard time being a new mum and I sure know what that is like so more than happy to provide tea, a change of scenery and take the baby off her for an hour.
I did clean the kitchen, Hoover downstairs, sort the washing and drying and pick the prescriptions up. The rest of the jobs will have to wait until the weekend.

I also want to look at the budget planner on this website after hearing Martin Lewis on the radio today. I think it will be a good tool for us to utilise as we're still going over budget every month.

Chocforever

Wow, you have had a busy day. It's nice that you can support a friend with a new baby - it must bring back memories even though it is only 11 months ago.

I've had a very busy week and it has been quite emotional with a friend's death. Not entirely unexpected, but sobering when it is someone my age.

I have so much to catch up with this weekend too. I think it will be an early night for me tonight so I will hopefully wake up full of energy tomorrow!

debtfreesomeday

Sorry to hear about your friend chocs xx


Well, lots of bits and pieces to catch up on, but how much I write depends on how long ds naps for, so will try and write quickly!

Firstly, I made a huge oversight and completely forgot about our car insurance which expires in a month. Could've kicked myself when I got the email reminding me. We don't have the money saved to pay it in full like we have done for a few years now so will have to pay it in installments which will leave us with even less money every month.

I've also had to transfer £100 from the car MOT savings to the main bank account as we were over £200 overdrawn. This means we only have £100 towards the mot, if anything else needs doing it will have to go on the credit card.

Back to the overdraft... I got completely confused with dates and everything this month and thought we were still due our child benefit and tax credit payments, but when I checked, they'd already been paid early in January. I don't know what I'm doing this month.
Because of this, yesterday I printed off the budget planner sheet from MSE and filled it all in. Thankfully, if we stick to the budget we will have money left every month. Just.
I have allowed for monthly payments towards Christmas and birthdays and factored in small sums for treats, such as £20 for eating out a month and £12 towards saving for a break we're going on nearer Christmas. Hopefully, by adding these things in, we won't feel deprived and overspend. We really need to get in control every month. I will set up an e-saver to transfer the various bits in monthly.

We also received £250 in gift cards for telco from a mobile phone deal hubby had. I opted for 20K clubcard points instead which we intend to use for days out with Ds and maybe car breakdown cover when that needs to be renewed in September. Unfortunately, tesco failed to put a stamp on the letter so we had to pay the postage plus an unpaid item fine. Tesco have been sent a rather abruptly worded email from me about this! We almost didn't bother picking the letter up, thinking it would be junk mail.

We have used about £90 of the cards so far, stocking up on nappies in the baby event, groceries and household bits we needed. The remainder will go towards next month's grocery budget so we free a bit of cash up to pay towards the overdraft.

I realised we are paying about £15 a month interest on our credit card, so am planning on applying for another 0% one as soon as I receive a replacement existing credit card. I had to re-order one as I need the card number to transfer the balance and I cut it up a while ago. Unfortunately it doesn't tell me the number on any statements.

Yesterday I had a major early spring clean and clear day, so the house is feeling much tidier and a bit less cluttered. I have started another bag for the charity shop and have put as couple more bits in the eBay bag. I'm going to list all the eBay stuff next month now.
I also found lots of Ds's clothes in the next size up that had been bought when on sale/ given to us etc. and stored away. I found 5 packs of bodysuits in size 18/24 months, way more than we need, so 3 of the nice colourfully designed ones have been allocated as Christmas gifts for the 3 little boys we give to who will be at a suitable age by then.

yesterday in tesco, I found a few bits in the toy section for 2p, 4p and 44p! Some little night garden figurines at 2p, bags of marbles at 4p and some trading card pack things for 44p, reduced from £10! The figurines I will give to a friend's little girl when I see them next and the other bits have gone in the attic for when Ds is older. At that price, it was too good to miss!

Dfsd

sugarcube84

we all forget sometimes no matter how carefully we keep control of our finances. I have just been out and bought vests that size, i have been putting it off for a bit but now he has broken his wrist his cast wouldnt fit through his old vests as the arm hole was too small. Thats the biggest the bodysuits go up to and i got really teary in the supermarket at the thought of him wearing big boy vests, he is growing up too quickly!!

Chocforever

Yes, I agree Sugarcube, easy to lose track, particularly at this time of year what with being paid early. For me, 31 December is a cut off date in my mind and I rarely consider planning for the next year until January arrives. As I started my diary this year, I discovered a few double bookings in January and February from agreeing to do things without checking whether I had any availability. Things will settle down next month no doubt.

Wow, the £250 in giftcards is great. It is nice to have things like that to free up some slack in the budget.

A combination of that January feeling and the cold weather mean that I seem to be getting through less cash than usual which is good. I have also had a result with buying antihistamines from a shop on Amazon. I take antihistamines year round and one particular drug works well for me. The cheapest I could get them for was £4 for a month's supply. Boots etc sell them for much more than this; even the unbranded versions. Anyway, I saw the very make I normally buy on Amazon for 69p per box! There is a downside which is the £3 postage charge, but even so, buying a few packets at a time soon adds up to a good saving. The shop's reviews were mostly good. So I tried it out with 4 months worth of pills and they arrived today without any problems and with a long expiry date. I will definitely use them again and probably buy at least 6 months worth at a time.

I know it is supposed to be warmer today but I am absolutely freezing. I think I will be snuggled up on the sofa with a fleecy blanket watching a DVD tonight.

Take care x

debtfreesomeday

Oh sugarcube, shame you bought some vests already, I would've happily sent you some, we seem to have so many! Sorry to hear your little one broke his wrist too, poor little thing. Hope he recovers quickly. I didn't realise that was the biggest vest size to be honest, our boys are getting to be big boys already! Ds is one in a few weeks, looking back now, time has flown even though times have been a real struggle. We simply wouldn't be without our little man, he is amazing; even on hard days like today!

That's a huge saving with the antihistamines chocs, great find. It's definitely worth ordering in bulk at that price.
I know what you mean about the weather today, I think the grey drizzle seems to seep into the bones today. Keep warm xx

debtfreesomeday

Just managed to transfer cc balance to a new 0% card for 20 months. That'll save us some money in interest.

debtfreesomeday

Another terrible night with Ds screaming, burning up and obviously unhappy. Took him back to the doctors again this morning which was pretty pointless, asked again for more advice regarding the side effects of his meds as we're at our wits end and so tired, but I got the 'it will get better, he'll grow out of it' line again. I'm so fed up with it all I could cry buckets today.
On top of that, my mum has investigative surgery tomorrow and we're all anxious about what they'll find.

I really hope 2012 gets better for my family soon, so far it's pretty terrible.