To Freedom...

kirstypark

Aye, you are right, Skint. I am skint this month due to not getting my overtime - on what planet do my managers think it is ok not to pay folk?

Still, payday today and zilch left to overpay as bought a heater for the van because it was 10% off in March. And transfered a bit to the savings to make up for the flights to new york. Going to cut our holiday short next week and come home to work on the garden and the van together.

I took the headlight trims off as they were badly tarnished and priced up new ones for £28. So decided to try and scrub up the existing ones. After googling various ways to remove tarnish i can confirm that vaseline and ketchup does not work - but a soaking in coke did get the worst off. However still needed quite a bit of elbow grease.

Went shopping on saturday, with coupons, nectar points and spare change got £72 of groceries down to £25.47. Pretty impressive!

kirstypark

Added a small overpayment to the direct debit today and our balance is now 81,632. Will be nice to see it come down to 70 something. I already feel a bit more secure with the smaller figure. I think if something did go wrong and we need to get by on just one wage it would still be a huge drain.

Well, it's April. Have signed off the finances for work yesterday and can go back to being clinical again. I am going to miss the buzz to be honest, but there is going to be a meeting soon to see where we go with my new role and whether it is some bits i can keep doing. I have my dissertation to complete by next friday and then i can relax. Already stopped working extra hours and started back walking every morning, looking foward to getting garden planting started and catching up with some library books too.

kirstypark

back from our easter dance weekend and was surprised to find we didn't spend much money, although bought some meals and clothes for Mr Park at outlet village. We came across country and had a night in Durham which was quirky, loved the achitechture, but place was full of students wearing very little clothes! Climbed up durham catherdral tower and got some amazing photos and then stopped off at Beamish again because we had been forced to buy an annual pass last year and had only 2 weeks to use it again..spent the morning feeling like we were in the 1930s, just wonderful.

And came home late last night, spent the day in the garden planting and Mr Park carried on with Bella's welding - we saw about 8 old VW campervans during our road trip and can't wait to get on the road with ours.

Handed in my dissertation today :j:j:j keep my fingers crossed for a pass. and found £15 to overpay the mortgage. Been a lovely sunny day, roll on summer.

skint_spice

Good luck with the dissertation - must be a relief to finally hand it in:D

kirstypark

£33.07 paid to the money pit mortgage today. And there is not much left in the bank account for the rest of the month so it will be a challenge not to spend anything for another 2 weeks. Stocked up on food at Aldi last week, so freezer almost full.

Handed in dissertation, just have a presentation to organise this week and then it's over. Dreading the thought of that.

Managed to get Bella's windows in finally last week. That was really slowing us down as Mr P took them out to do a bit of welding then could not find new trims to fit around the 36 year old glass (and they don't make them anymore), but finally got a solution and with the help of 4 people managed to fit them.

And not wanting to pay £160 for new curtains I bought material and made them myself ( did have to buy a new sewing machine, so not quite as moneysaving as it sounds) but even including that was cheaper than buying readymade curtains and I'll be able to make new pairs every year. I did think about selling my own as there is obviously a market for that, but after seeing the quality of my work will stick to just making my own - they definately have the homemade look complete with wobbly seams. :A

kirstypark

got paid today and sent some to savings, and overpaid £237. I have left slightly more in the account because the campervan still needs quite a few bits to buy. My dad has been making a new interior for us out of someone's old bedroom furniture and i am going to have a go at sewing cushion covers for the new huge bed.

We had lost our dance slot as one couple pulled out and were struggling with the thought of no more dancing, but have been offered a slot tonight at 8. It is a pain as I finish at 5 and Mr P will have to take train into town to meet me, then hang around. but we thought we would go for a cheap meal and make it a regular date night.

Have been offered an interesting work proposal which needs a lot of thinking about. If we decide to do it then potentially would be buying into a new business and that would need funding and an element of risk taking i have never been comfortable with. But it could be exciting to take a leap of faith.

kirstypark

paid our usual direct debit today and overpaid £97, it is exciting to see the figure is now £80,800. next month we will be into the 70s! :j

Dance class was great last night and quite enjoyed our meal out, but going to look for some vouchers to make that a bit more affordable every week. OH had to pay over £5 for a train fare into my work then the meal and then a tenner for the class, which will add up over the next few weeks.

Spoke to our new manager who is happy enough for me to continue doing a bit of overtime when i need to, so will carry on with that as it really helps the finances.

kirstypark

passed my dissertation so looking to graduate in July with a master's degree :beer: I am hugely pleased and bit proud of myself especially as i was thrown into working fulltime acting up as manager whilst studying.

not much happening moneywise - campervan failed her first MOT so plans to go to our first festival next week have been shelved. Needs quite a bit doing to it, but all things Mr P can do this weekend himself.

We had very sad and worrying news about a dear freind who has had emergency surgery for cancer. It has stunned our freindship group - she is now home and recovering well, but has a long road ahead of her. We went round as a group to tidy her garden for her so she doesn't have to sit and watch weeds come up and all worked hard, then came home and noticed how messy our own gardens are looking.

Tartan_Mum

I have just sat and read your diary. I'm hugely impressed by your commitment to being MF while enjoying life and passing your Masters. Well done, truly inspirational

kirstypark

Thank you, tartan mum.

Camper passed it's MOT, and we went off to our first festival, but came home early as it was noisy, no showers and toilets were filthy. Not sure camping is for us to be honest! Mr P spent most of his time worrying that it was going to break down and looking at newer models! I think we might get a few trips this year and maybe look at selling it next year. Bit disappointed as I love it, but it is difficult to drive and after doing it up it is a definate investment.

not much other news, am on holiday this week, but no real plans other than tidy the garden, catch up with pals and have booked in a massage as a treat. quite looking forward to not doing much. Mr P is working all week so should be cheap week. Have started back at the gym to try and get some weight off.