8.8 years

Octobergirl

Survived and enjoyed the half term hols.....8 weeks until christmas:)

Lots of meat in the freezer, so a frugal £38 weekly shop at Mr m's, (£10 off voucher ). I also filled the car and got £5 off, hopefully this should last the month.

I've done the majority of my christmas shopping, had a rare family visit into town today and picked up a few bits for mil ' stocking as we're staying with her this year.

Unfortunately Dd banged her head this morning, she now becomes concussed each time she does it, which always results in drowsiness and vomiting. So, it was a short and sweet shopping trip, £25 spent on jimjams for the whole family, managed to get out of prim@rk before the vomiting started:o

Followed by a lovely lazy afternoon, in our new jimjams watching the simpsons. 8 weeks to lose 3 stone.....:D

Octobergirl

So, during the past month I have;

Been diagnosed with Crohn's disease:(
Had the damp /patio/kitchen walls sorted:T
Discovered the cowboy builders have built over the damp proof course at the front of the house too:(
Spent £520 on repointing:eek:
Had the shower fixed:T
Had my tax credits cut by £100 a month
Spent a small fortune on Christmas presents:(
Broken my boy's heart by putting him on the 'nearly nice' list from PNP santa:o
Spent an age writing a letter from Santa to mend boychild's heart.

Our savings have now dwindled to £1250
But, out mortgage is under £65k:T

Octobergirl

We're having a nice gentle run up to Christmas, won some pantomime tickets for next week, got a day at splashland booked in and spending some time with the in-laws. Found a pool 10 miles away with fantastic disabled facilities, so my New Years resolutions are;

Take children swimming once a week
Couch 2 5k
Pilates x2 weekly
Big Dog walk everyday
Refocus on budget-need to stick to it
Better meal planning
Crack DD's sleeping
Resume paleo
Goal: size 14 for summer

Octobergirl

We had a fantastic Christmas with family. Four days of parties as they have open house for the whole period, the kids loved all the hustle and bustle. We saw santas sleigh (satalite) which was magical. 15 for christmas dinner, a great sing along in a quaint old pub on boxing day and topped it off with swimming in the snow at alton towers.

The kids got far too many presents, but everything was Mse, half price or ebay. I think I probably spent £900 :eek: so over budget by £300, but worth every penny and that includes £200 petrol.

Next christmas, I need to be more realistic and will budget for £750.
I've already bought lots of lovely presents in the sales and spent £50, but that's 4 presents sorted.

A week left of the hols;
Paddington at the cinema
Build a bear with gift vouchers
Pantomime - free tickets
Museum - free tickets

Going to refocus on my weekly budget, especially food
Fitness pal for food planning
Exercise, couch 2 5k, Pilates
Swimming with kids
Fundraise for speech therapy.

Octobergirl

A lovely week, pantomime, Paddington at the cinema and museum today with friends.

Bought a beautiful sideboard and matching display cabinet on the bay for £120, which makes our front room look very grown up and reminds me of good old pre-kids days. Money very generously given to me for a christmas present.

Had a torturous visit to ike@, not a clever move on a Saturday ,however got a storage unit for boychild, who has the box room and nowhere to put his toys. Spent the evening building and rearranging, it looks great in there now but £70 spent and not budgeted for.

So far this week;
1x Pilates session
3x runs couch 2 5k

Octobergirl

A major budgeting/ spreadsheet session this morning, which has shown me that I'm not being as careful as I thought. I've had to up my weekly budget from £130 a week to £145 to be able to realistically stick to it.
£65 food, household
£15 petrol
£3 medicine
£7 haircuts x 3
£15 outings/activities
£20 me
£5 dog
£5 kids clothes
£10 carer for brownies

I've had to reduce savings by £50 a month to cover this, which leaves me putting £50pm for emergency funds, but still overpaying the mortgage. I've extended monthly categories to include a house, birthdays and dentist budget and increase the Xmas budget to £900. I need to reduce the milk bill by £5pm, renegotiate landline/broadband. Not much wriggle room and I think we're going to be clobbered in April with a big reduction in credits.

Octobergirl

Week 2

1x 5k run
£120/£130 spent of budget

Muser1

Hey!

Happy New Year.

How's the c25k going?

I'm getting so fat I think I might give it a bash. Also want to be a size 14 by summer. I used to dread becoming a size 14 now post kids I dream of it!

Octobergirl

Happy new year Muser!

The c25k is not going this week.....blaming it on the snow, time of month, dodgy hip and anything else I can think of as a legitimate excuse. I used to love running, now it's just a chore, I'm carrying around my 9 year old daughter in excess weight:eek: I would love to be a 14 by April ( got holiday booked). Zero will power:(

Octobergirl

Money saving
Changed my landline phone/broadband package which saves £150 a year
Can't change my mobile til July, thinking of going onto pay as you go.
Got my amazon £5 voucher today.
No carer for brownies tonight so £10 saved.

Mse buying
Weekly shop and envelope filling today managed £163/£150 last week
Bought boychild's birthday present on ebay, new to us bike for £21 & tyres £13.

Other frugal
Used all the sad veg at the bottom of the fridge to make a yummy veggie lasagna.