Mrs Toast's Journey to DFD

Mrs_Toast

Good morning diary,

We have changed our plans for today so it might be a SFD :jWe were going to go to the local country park and spend £2 making easter masks with the rangers. Had a chat with DSis yesterday and decided to have them round today for some painting and baking instead.

I didn't end up going to the shop for bread last night but I have decided to make cheese and onion pasties instead for lunches out of store cupboard bits :money:I do have a couple of rolls left and some bread if DS doesn't like them.

Action plan for today:

* Make cheese and onion pasties
* Clear kitchen table so the kids can do painting later
* Another load of laundry after towels are done
* Bag up penny jars to take to the bank on Saturday
* Dust living room & play room
* Try and make washing soda out of baking soda. Found a method online as it's easier then finding it in the shops. Hopefully I can make laundry powder out of it as well as some cleaners:money:
* Chinese pork chops, mash and veg for tea. Try and use veg that needs using first.

Maybe get some more knitting done too

lurvlyloz

hello Mrs Toast. sounds like a good NSD for you & the kids

Mrs_Toast

Hi Lurvlyloz, yes I was really proud of myself. DS had so much fun that he fell asleep on the sofa 5 minutes after DSis & Nieces left :rotfl:

* [STRIKE]Make cheese and onion pasties
* Clear kitchen table so the kids can do
painting later
* Another load of laundry after towels are done[/STRIKE]
* Bag up penny jars to take to the bank on Saturday
* Dust living room & play room
* Try and make washing soda out of baking soda. Found a method online as it's easier then finding it in the shops. Hopefully I can make laundry powder out of it as well as some cleaners:money:
* [STRIKE]Chinese pork chops, mash and veg for tea. Try and use veg that needs using
first.
[/STRIKE]

Got most of it done which is good. I got really tired this afternoon so sat and did some knitting before making tea. Not quite sure what my plans are for tomorrow. May go to the play barn again with a friend or go to the bank and actually empty my penny jars.

I need to check online how much it's going to cost to eat out on Saturday. It's only a carvery but with drinks as well it soon adds up.

I managed to paint 2 tin cans for seedlings today while the kids were painting and they look great. Will have to figure out how to put pictures on here.

Right, gonna finish my hot choc then go to bed. My hips are really sore today so sitting in front of the tv isn't best

Mrs_Toast

Evening diary,

Well, I've had another productive day.

* Made fruit scones & flapjacks for snacks at play barn
* Went to play barn where I've just bought a monthly pass so that was free
* Put washing machine on a clean cycle.
* Stripped DS's bedding, washed and dried it.
* Another load of laundry.
* Sausage casserole in slow cooker for when we got home.

This all made for a NSD which is number 4 for this month :j:j

I have written a meal plan out and done shopping list accordingly. For dinners we are having

Beans on toast (eating out for lunch tomorrow)
Fish pie, wedges and steamed parsnips
Cottage pie, roasted veg and garlic bread
Soup and rolls
Carrot & parsnip bake (from freezer)
Spaghetti Carbonara
Turkey pie, potatoes and veg.

Have written the list out from Tesco's site and printed it off. This way I can walk round market/high street and make sure I'm getting a great deal. I reckon I will be under budget with a few £ spare which is great.

DH has suggested we go to the play barn on Sunday as DS really wanted him to come with us today so that should be a NSD as well :j.

Really need to call Barclays online banking as I'm having withdrawal symptoms :rotfl:

Mrs_Toast

Well today was a spend day but it was all under budget. My food shopping came to £24.65 and our meal out cost us £29.32. The meal was a bit more than I'd have liked but I gave us £30 budget. We managed to get 2 free drinks by signing up to the pub's newsletter :money:

The change from our lunch out is going into the penny jar for when I finally get around to taking it all to the bank.

I think I may be using up most of our entertainment budget next week but have a few large outings while its the holidays. Once DS is back at preschool and playgroups are back on it should be less than £5 a week.

Had some bad news today. Mum & Step Dad have become unemployed so have helped them fill out the claim forms online for jobseekers. Step Dad is 65 so that creates more problems as he's been told he now has to claim his pension that he only deferred on in August.

Anyway, have printed out a load of info from this site on what benefits they can claim which seemed to go down well.

Plans for tomorrow include

* Ring Barclays
* Make raspberry buns, cookies, ginger biscuits, fruit scones and maybe a victoria sponge
* Keep on top of the housework hopefully
* Research and freebies/vouchers that would be useful to mum.

Think that will keep me busy as well as visiting the play barn. One more visit after this one and I'll be even with what I paid so anymore visits are free :T

Mrs_Toast

Hello diary,

Well the last few days have been so busy that I haven't even been able to add up my spends which isn't ideal.

Sunday DH and I took DS to the play barn and spend the last of that week's entertainment budget on cups of tea for us. Brought snacks and juice for DS

Yesterday we went out with MIL as we missed out on going out at Easter. We went to Abakhan Fabrics in Wales and got some great deals. MIL paid for tea, cake and lunch at the play barn in the afternoon which was very kind of her. I had to fill the car up when we got back but I only put in £30. I'm hoping this should last till pay day.

Today we went to the cinema to watch 'Wreck It Ralph' with DSis & family. The Kids AM showing only cost us £1.75 each and bought 2 drinks too. Bought popcorn yesterday for £1.39 from SM .

We're both absolutely shattered now but glad DS has had fun. I have updated my spreadsheet and we're doing brilliant. Just got my bill from Barclaycard and the minimum payment has gone down to £29 from £39 since Xmas :j:j. This means that I will be overpaying £100 instead of £90 this month :T:T. I need DH's card to get online to check statement so will update that later.

I will probably walk into town tomorrow to pay the bill and empty my jars so it's done for the month.

Right, off to weight watchers to help weigh in a bit. Will leave early as I'm shattered.

Mrs_Toast

Hello diary,

Yesterday was SFD no 5. We visited the library and went to the park so DS was happy. I visited the bank and for this month have managed to overpay £125.36 on the barclaycard :j:j. That did also include £13 from one of our savings pots too.

I noticed on the CC statement that I had been charged £20 interest which isn't right. I asked at the bank and they said it was because I was a few days late paying in February :mad::mad:. Rang them up and they've put us back to 0% and waivered the £12 late charge :T. I've now set up a direct debit for £40 which is the minimum I want to pay so it won't happen again.

Also spoke to our independent mortgage advisor and got some figures to remortgage. I need to ring C&G and see what they can do. I'm hoping we can still afford £550 for a mortgage as well as overpay the CCs but we'll see.

Things to do today

* Make raspberry buns and fruit scones following mum's recipe.
* Tidy up kitchen
* Do laundry
* Make chicken & leek pie for tea
* Visit play barn after lunch with HM snacks & juice.
* Sew another snack bag
* Remember knitting for play barn. Currently knitting a baby cardigan

Right, will update sig

Mrs_Toast

Well it wasn't a SFD yesterday but it came out of the entertainment budget so all accounted for. The chicken and leek pie for tea was lovely

Today we're off to see a friend and her son who we haven't seen in a while. She's being made redundant and is a single mum so is panicing a bit bless her. After that we are off to Warrington to meet my Auntie and get free fish and chips at BHS :j. I think the parking will come out of my planned spends if needed but I can get 2 hours free in Asda if I spend £5 so will do my food shopping a day early. Going to visit the market as well to see if I can save some pennies on my Asda shopping list.

Off out tonight as well to the rearranged weight watchers team meal. I am still giving myself £20 to spend and I won't stay late as struggling with tiredness this week.

Mrs_Toast

Not updated in a few days as had a very busy weekend and it's tired me out. However, it's back to normal today so only local playgroupd and DSis & Nieces round for lunch.

I will hopefully have chance this afternoon to add up my spends from the weekend. Everything has come out of budgets so not too bad but really need to keep on track.

I've worked out that if I can pay £340 onto barclaycard for the next few months, I'll have paid it off before September so will only have one cc left after baby comes. It would be lovely if I could pay all these off by Xmas which I know is possible but it's whether we can live properly as well

Mrs_Toast

Evening diary,

Well I've managed to add up all my spends I think. I may be missing something for it'll only be a couple of pounds at most which is better than normal :j

I have worked out that we've paid off £645.07 worth of debt since getting the barclaycard in October. My budgets for this month are as follows

Food £81.88/£120
Entertainment £43.95/£81.20
Petrol £30.01/£30
Planned spends £69.71/£60
Unplanned spends £97.80

It's completely obvious that I need to plan more. I can't believe how much is unplanned. However DH has a habit of coming home and saying he needs so much for activities and doesn't give me time to save/plan.

We have £225 of bills yet to come out of the joint account but there's still over £500 there at the moment. I'm hoping I can keep unplanned spends to 0 so that I can put another £100 to the CC and £100 to savings.

I'm planning a visit to the mortgage advisor at Lloyds tomorrow as our mortgage is with C&G. I'm hoping we can get a good deal but I do have a comparison from our lovely independent mortgage broker from another lender.

I've also managed to contact Barclays over my mobile banking. Apparently it was activated using my old overdraft account which I have now closed which is why I can't get into it.:rotfl:
I've ordered a new pin number for my joint account card so I can start again but that'll take 5 days. Good job I rang on a Monday.

Off to make a brew and do some knitting I think. Started on a sleeve for the baby cardigan so making progress. DH is at bootcamp so the house is quiet and I have the remote :T:T