Budget or bust........again

XSpender

The fireworks on Saturday were lovely but DS, 2.5, hid his eyes until they were finished. He did enjoy his hot dog though;)

Never made it to the festive lights on Sunday, went to Mr T instead. Oh joy! Doubled up my clubcard vouchers and saved a whopping £58 on christmas gifts:)

No progress made on the loft contents but we are off tomorrow and I have insisted we get some stuff on ebay and a couple of PPI forms filled out and posted. I am sure that if we start ebaying again we will get back in the swing of it. DH wants to go for a drive somewhere as well but we need to get the house straight from emptying the loft.

College tonight. Can't be bothered but there is a slim chance someone there might offer me some work tonight or an interview so I need to make the effort to go. This will be for additional work, not to replace my full time job.

On the money front things are looking OK even after spending on Christmas presents at the weekend. Well, they were until DH mentioned last night that DBIL needs a cheque for £270 for his stag party next year. I haven't got the money so it will have to be after payday on the 22nd or if he insists it needs to be paid now it will have to be w0nga.:mad:

Splashed out on a £6 pair of black trousers at A3da yesterday. They look a bit shiney but my last pair from n3xt were grey rather than black they were so past it:eek:

XSpender

Looks like we will have to w0nga the money to cover the cheque for DBIL stag party as he wants it this weekend:mad: I can afford it no problem on the 22nd when we get paid but not now!

We had a day off today. Took some of the loft stuff to the tip, booked an appointment to get my very very overdue eyebrows waxed at the weekend and got my teeth whitened. I had bought a group0n offer in August and this was the only day they could get me in before it expired as I hadn't got around to booking it before today:o. I have a couple of teeth that get badly stained and the results are good but I will probably go for the top up after Christmas.

I had to buy some 'white' food as you have to avoid staining foods for 48 hours after having it done.

DH and I have agreed to write a list of all the jobs we want to get done on Saturday afternoon and Sunday including more tip runs, some flea baying and the housework. We only have 1 more free weekend before the end of the year so we need to get our rears into gear.

We have also agreed to give the usual Friday night supermarket visit a miss after spending yesterday and today. I am having a veg box and milk delivered tomorrow and this should last us until the following weekend. This should enable us to claw back the grocery budget and we may, for the first time ever, come in on budget!

brizzledfw

wonga..yuck hun. Thats rubbish. Why didnt he mention it earlier then you could have planned. I would be very very mad.

You're sounding very industrious..I on the other hand seem to have achieved very little today...better get going and off the diaries I suppose! :-)

XSpender

DH and I have drawn up a plan for the weekend. He is at work until about half one and I am having my brows done at 3. DBIL is coming over to go for a sauna with DH tomorrow afternoon so we will have to give him the cheque then. I should be able to find some of the money but will have to borrow the rest until pay day on the 22nd. We don't have access to an overdraft or cards so w0nga is our only option. We have used it a couple of time before for emergencies and always clear it. This is one of the reasons I want to save some money specifically for emergencies.

Out list of tasks for the weekend is:

1. Plant bulbs and tidy garden
2. Make 3 varieties of soup using up veg and from this weeks veg box - minestrone, golden veg and mushroom ( for DH hate the stuff myself)
3. eBay 10 items including 4 of DS coats
4. Send off my old iPod as they are replacing them with a new one which I will sell for about £50
5. Send off all 5 of DH PPI claims
6. Make a start on clearing the loft contents out of the garage and sort into tip, car boot, £ for clothes, eBay and keep boxes
7. Check what Christmas wrap and cards I have in already (in garage too)
8. Tidy, dust and vacuum throughout house
9. Stick board back on under oven
10. Refix coat hook in hall
11. Repair cabinet drawers in living room
12. Take DS for a swim as he hasn't been since our hols in September
13. Make last 2 Christmas cakes and feed the rest
14. Make something nice for tea that isn't white!

We only have one weekend free, 1st Dec, between now and the end of the year so we really need to get some stuff done as that weekend will be spent Christmas shopping.

Best get off my behind as I am sat here in my pjs:o

XSpender

Oops haven't posted in a while.

I did manage to get 4 of DH ppi claims off and have another 3 to send. We do not think he had pip on all of them but will see. 2 out of the 4 have acknowledged our letter so will wait until the new year to hear what they say.

My ip0d was replace by apple in 4 days:T and is now on eBay awaiting bids. Haven't managed to put DS coats on and I have decided that unless a clothing item is branded I am not going to eBay it. I do not have the time or the inclination TBH so I am going to bag everything up and take it to the 40p/kilo place down the road. I made £3.85 on a couple of small bags last week and that is going in the holiday pot. They also take curtains, bedding and towels of which I have tons to get rid of.

We have booked a caravan holiday for April so my plan is to sell stuff and save £2 coins, 20ps and shrapnel to pay for it.

I have also won £50 of l0ve to shop vouchers at work and have another voucher incentive coming (probably £20 A5da vouchers) to come as well which I am planning to use for Christmas. DH says I should use them on me but there isn't anything I desperately need as I used my personal spends to get some jeans and bras last month.

I am going to keep a spending diary this month and ongoing as I want to have a better idea of where we are spending money. The food budget was close to target in November, the best result here in months.

Dad and step mum over for Sunday lunch at the weekend so I need to think about what to cook. Do not want to spend a fortune but as they live abroad I want to make a bit of an effort as I don't see them much during the year.

XSpender

Another PPI claim acknowledgement in the post today and I have sold my iPod on fleabay on a buy it now deal:D. DH has transferred £54 into our bank. Also had it confirmed that I am getting £20 a3da vouchers from work as well.

I gave myself a budget of £20 this month (started Monday) for food and teas at work and have spent nearly a fiver already:eek: need to get a grip in this as I am not putting anymore in the purse.:mad:

I am hoping I can transfer £125 for the iPod and all the vouchers I have won this week to the savings account for the caravan. I will then use all the vouchers for Christmas instead of cash.

Planning a food shop tomorrow as I should finish early. I will visit ald1 as it is on the way home and then nip in to sains. Must try and do a meal plan and defrost some meat for a turkey mince shep pie for tomorrow night. I have cancelled my veg box as I haven't used all of last weeks yet:o

XSpender

Spent £93 at ald1 last night. This included some beer and 6 bottles of wine and everything I needed for the meal I am cooking for my dad on Sunday. The wine is to fill the wine rack in my kitchen and won't all be drunks at once!

Off to toys are us tomorrow to spend my vouchers and use my 20% off voucher and get DS presents. Also need to do some college and course work completed and have a good clean up before dad gets here.

DH has been offered a promotion at work from 1st Jan. it depends on an acquisition going through by then which is 98% sure. He does not know what the package is yet but it is a lot closer to home which will save about £100 month in diesel.

I have seen a secondment at work I may go for. It will be a pay rise, about £2000 pa, but I think I will enjoy it. There are some other candidates that have just finished a secondment who will go for it again but I do have experience in this area.

I feel that I am starting to think about moving house. I live in a small 2 bed semi but would like a 4 bed house, well 3 decent size rooms. I want the space so that my parents, both divorced and remarried 25 years ago, can come and stay as dad lives abroad and mum lives 100 miles away. I would love a proper dining area and a bigger kitchen.

I have been thinking about moving further away from the city so I can get more house for my budget. This will work out well if DH promotion goes through. Our IVA started in 2008 but was settled in full in 2010 so will still be on our records until 2014 i think. We would also have to clear our secured loan and save some money as a deposit and to cover moving costs so it is a few years off yet unfortunately. I am hoping we get a payout on the PPI claims which will kickstart us in to saving to clear the secured. I am just dreaming at the minute:o

brizzledfw

Its good to have plans....acts as an incentive to push yourself on the MSE route..

Have a great weekend with family

XSpender

We have had a lovely day with Dad and step mum although they got stuck in flooding and were over an hour late and we had started to get worried.

2 big parcels from DD to hide somewhere for Father Christmas:eek: We went to toys are us yesterday and got over £127 of toys for DS for £61:D. They are still in the back of the car with another toy we got at Mr T 2 weeks ago. I don't know where to put them all now DS is old enough to know what is going on.

My food budget is taking a beating after a visit to marksies yesterday afternoon. Got the turkey crown for Christmas and the dinner for 4 for £10.

Must get my eBay parcel sent off tomorrow or will be getting poor feedback:o.

I don't have a lot of college and work course work to do over the next 2 weeks so I am going to:

1. eBay DS coats
2. Sort out garage. It's still full of everything we took out of the loft.
3. Take all unwanted clothes, curtains, towels and bedding to the place along the road that buys it. Money made is to go in my holiday savings tins
4. Decide on what everyone is getting for Christmas and write a list. I can't afford to buy much more this month so it will have to be done on the 20th Dec:eek:
5. Write a shopping list for Christmas food and drink. Will use my £20 Mr A vouchers towards the booze that I won at work.
6. CPD assignment
7. Measurement module
8. Finish decorating living room
9. Write all Christmas cards

No doubt more stuff will get added.:o

We will probably going to visit DDad in September abroad. Have costed flights, car hire, airport parking and 1 nights airport hotel stay at about £600 for the 3 of us as we will stay at my Dads. DH and I fancy getting the train to Paris for a couple of days/1 night as DH has never been and has always wanted to. My plan is to book everything in the new year with DH bonus and then we have our spending money to save up for over the rest of the year.

XSpender

XSpender wrote: »

1. eBay DS coats - need to find them (see no. 2)
2. Sort out garage. It's still full of everything we took out of the loft.
3. Take all unwanted clothes, curtains, towels and bedding to the place along the road that buys it. Money made is to go in my holiday savings tins - planning to do this Saturday afternoon
4. Decide on what everyone is getting for Christmas and write a list. I can't afford to buy much more this month so it will have to be done on the 20th Dec:eek: - just about there but stuck on my DM and have a bit more money than I thought, not much but it should cover the family presents £60 in ISA and my personal spends I will get back later on in the month
5. Write a shopping list for Christmas food and drink. Will use my £20 Mr A vouchers towards the booze that I won at work. - made a start on this
6. [STRIKE]CPD assignment[/STRIKE]
7. Measurement module - printed it out so far:o
8. Finish decorating living room - might wait until after Christmas
9. Write all Christmas cards
10. Policy presentation module
11. Put up Christmas tree and deck
12. Complete job application

No doubt more stuff will get added.:o - yep, 3 so far

Not achieved much this week.

I have made some progress with one piece of college work this week but it is not one on my list. I have decided to apply for a secondment at work so that has kept me busy preparing the application.

I ordered 2 presents online last night and DH and I are going Christmas shopping on Sunday. I have never left it so late to finish my shopping. DS just needs stocking fillers and a couple of other bits so that's one weight off my mind.

I need to work late at least 3 nights next week to make inroads in to the college and course work in case I get through to interview stage for the job and need to prep for the interview. I can't do much at the weekend as I have a hair appointment and a night out at a Christmas do with the girls.