Time to Take Control

mandz1

Hope you have a lovely day, enjoy it.
Hope it all goes well for you and Other Half (soon to be DH)
Enjoy your last night aswell before the big day, pampering sounds lovely

wannabee_in_credit

Well people, I've been and gone and done it!:j
I'm now officially :jand legally:j Mrs WIC.
We had a fantastic day and it was worth all of the stress, tears, planning, fretting and every single penny we spent. I have no idea how to add a photo in here otherwise I would do, but I just lost my first attempt at writing this post trying to do it.
Anyway, back to reality with a bump. I desperately need to be on the mse bandwagon and I have to get back to my frugal ways. No more thinking 'That's for the wedding' as an excuse - I'm all done and dusted. Need to look after our gift money that was given for a family holiday and plan what to do with our vouchers as well. The kids both have birthdays this month and Christmas is now looming large. I'm almost panicking about it.
I think I'm going to need some help so I'll get on here and start joining in with challenges and things again. And stop spending here there and everywhere.
I may need your help people :o
:beer:

newroadahead

Congratulations honey I am so glad you had a wonderful day.:j:j:j

Its also great that you have money for a family holiday. You have managed to save money for the wedding so maybe think of ways of putting money aside each month.

Wishing you all the luck in the world :D:D


Love


NRA xxx

Keeping_Motivated

Congratulations :j:D

If you can save all that for a wedding then xmas etc should be a breeze with focus :A

Jazee

Congratulations Mrs WIC

mandz1

Glad you had a lovely day. And ...

Congratulations:happylove

wannabee_in_credit

Thanks all for the well wishes.
It's been back to earth with a bump this week really. Back to work Monday and non stop work, work, work. And to top it off I've got no internet access at work at the moment and no laptop at home until the weekends. So it's been quiet from me because I've been busy, not because I'm neglecting my mse duties.
I've had quite a good week cash wise - went to the bank Monday to change my name and had to hand my card over and wait for a new one. I took £100 out in cash to tide me over, and I still have £82.51 to do the weekly shopping and get some petrol with. I'm afraid I caved in earlier in the week and had a KFC with hubby and kids, before he decided to take himself off on a road trip around Wales for a few days before he goes back to work.
But I have full shopping list and am going back to Ald! tomorrow - I'd been lured back to Sainsburys for the past 3 weeks (because I do really love it as a treat) but the bank will no longer allow it (not if we want to eat next week as well anyway).:rotfl:

wannabee_in_credit

Hmmm, so much for wedded bliss.
He got back from his little jaunt on Monday morning and since then we seem to have argued non stop.
I'm so pleased he's feeling better from his depression but I am seriously starting to wonder if he's bipolar - he's swung so far the other way.
He hates work, hates his job and doesn't want to be there. At the moment he's gone back part time and is bringing home just about £300 a month. I need £700 a month from him just to make ends meet (he pays 1/3 I pay 2/3, but we are on a very tight budget). He tells me his savings are almost gone but then goes off on holiday on his own for 4 days, and wants to spend £50+ a fortnight going off to football matches. I've tried to explain that we can't afford this and it seems to have degenerated into hell. Me trying to control him and spoil his fun, me being unreasonable because I asked him to spend some time with the kids etc.
We've barely spoken since he got home. I know he's stressed but he's being really unfair to me and the kids. I can't make the books balance and he's off spending like there's no tomorrow.
Oh, and he lost his wedding ring. After 8 days. Fell off in the hire car while he was away. Which also upset me.
Anyway - I have written him a long letter (he doesn't do face to face talking well) trying to explain things from my point of view. Here's hoping that it will make a difference.

wannabee_in_credit

Hello!
Well, the wedding is well and truly over and doesn't my bank account know it! It's horrid to see how much money I spent on one day - although it was a truly fantastic day. The wedding gift money we got is all allocated as well. We spent £500 having the bathroom done (it's so lovely having a shower after 7 years without one at all) and I have booked us a weeks holiday in Scotland over Easter next year. We're basing in a caravan park so that there will be evening entertainment for the kids but we're planning getting out and about a bit. I've pushed the boat out a little and gone for a gold standard caravan - it's our honeymoon isn't it - and my kids have been raised on cheap holidays from the Sun etc. So a little upgrade was in order.
It was my daughter's birthday last week, and my son's coming up this week. After that, operation frugal Christmas is ON! I've started making flavoured vodkas (blackberry, ginger and cinnamon and jelly baby) which I'm hoping to give as gifts and I'm experimenting with some home made chocolates and cakes. I always spend a fortune at Christmas, but this year I don't have much money saved. Thankfully neither of the kids seem to want a 'big' present so it could be doable for us. It's all about the feeling and the company etc. And my daughter has just sorted through a load of stuff she got last Christmas and still hasn't even opened. It's got to be about quality things that I know they will want and use.
Hope everyone is well - I don't mind admitting I've been really struggling with moneysaving the past few months. I have no money at all left and it's not payday until Weds. I'll be lucky if the car gets me to work and back it's so low on petrol. Gah!
Still, gotta keep getting back on the wagon.

wannabee_in_credit

Wow, I've been neglecting my diary somewhat... I'm still on here browsing around every single day but I don't seem to get the time to get on and catch up.
Still struggling a little to get back to frugality but I am doing so much better than I was this time last month. I've had a couple of sneaky supermarket visits midweek, and a couple of sarnies at work when I couldn't be bothered making packed lunch, but I am getting back into the swing of the MSE life.
Both of my kids have had their birthdays - I spent less than £20 on each of them and neither of them noticed that they weren't overrun with useless presents, or a big fancy party. My daughter was absolutely thrilled with the box set of books I bought her and my son loves his toy toolkit. All these years I've been spending a fortune only for toys to go completely untouched until we dig them out next Christmas to donate to charity.
I'm debating this year whether or not to put some toys and clothes onto ebay and try and make a few quid. I've never been a big ebay seller because I always think nobody would want my old junk and it can get quite expensive to post stuff. I wonder if there's anything to be made on hand me down clothes and new toys that are unwanted. Then I wonder about doing a car boot sale to try and get rid of some of it but I've never done that before so a bit nervous of what I'd need to do.
I have started thinking about Christmas though, and saving a bit of money... I have blackberry vodka on the go, cinnamon and ginger vodka and jelly baby gin. Plus I've discovered the joy (and de-stressing nature) of knitting and am making lots of ruffle scarves. And I've got the goods in for the infamous snowman soup as well. I've talked to my sister about spending on each others kids and we've agreed to limit to a tenner per child (plus my youngest niece's first birthday two days before Christmas). The kids don't want anything much - except a laptop/notebook. I wish I knew enough about technology to be confident picking something up second hand...
Also, I've started discussing with hubby that after the big fat wedding we should limit pressies to each other this year. I suggested £20, and think he's gutted because he wants me to buy him a half season ticket for the football which is closer to £200, but I don't think I can find that money this year. I think it'd be fun to see how much I can get for £20 for him (already thinking homemade Baileys).
What I have managed to do is to get some more exam marking. That's fabulous and means I must have done a good job in the summer because they've asked me to do more. It's for the November series which means I should get a nice big chunk of cash right on Christmas. A bit too late for pressie buying for me, but handy to know that it's coming.
I'll have to crack open the sealed pot and the £2 jar soon so that I can see how I've done with those this year. It was all for Christmas and I'm starting to buy so I might as well open them up. Probably half term.
Hope everyone is doing well - thanks for still reading. :T