It's not just about debt anymore. It's about living better too.

PiggyBankShaker

So pay day came and pay day went. Transferred all the money needed for bills etc including all the extra trips and photos that both the school and nursery have timed so thoughtfully (not) and got DS some much needed some new shoes too. Made a £300 mortgage overpayment and transferred £250 to the ISA. Also, paid £170 to the kids saving accounts. After having done all that I was left with the best part of £1400. :j

So… I decided to splash out on a very expensive bottle of whisky for ATSIJS. We haven’t bothered with birthday or Christmas presents for about 6 years, so I thought “For the first time in ages we have money, and neither of our jobs are in jeopardy, so why not?” I put Amazon vouchers towards it which covered 1/3, but even so it was still obscenely expensive. It just means it’ll be another 6 years before he gets another one! :rotfl:

Other than the whisky, I’ve spent two months being very frugal. I’ve also done well on the mystery shopping throughout November, making about £126. My aim is to not let my current account drop below £1000 between now and the 18th Dec when I next get paid. There’s no reason not to manage this. I just need to by two weeks train travel for work and pay my DDs. I think we’ll be paying for Christmas from December’s pay.

My Mam continues to do well. Second dose of chemo under her belt and no signs of ill effects. Fingers crossed she keeps strong.

AllThatStuffIsJustStuff

You do know I can read this, right? Or are you just getting in early with how expensive the whisky is so I know I need to get you an equally lavish gift too? If that's the case you need to (a) not take all my money for savings when I'm next paid in December and (b) tell me what you want

Things are really good financially atm. I'm genuinely excited about the prospect of getting the kitchen sorted next year. Hopefully this year's will be the last Christmas party we host in a half baked kitchen.
Even so I'm really looking forward to Christmas. We're doing the decorations tomorrow and I think the kids are only marginally more excited about this than I am.
And I'm mega looking forward to the party. Response is positive so far. Hopefully we'll get more than the four people who came last year lol. I'm looking forward to lots of this sort of stuff:
:beer: :j:santa2::rudolf::beer::xmastree::xmassmile:

:xmassign: everyone

PiggyBankShaker

AllThatStuffIsJustStuff wrote: »

You do know I can read this, right? Or are you just getting in early with how expensive the whisky is so I know I need to get you an equally lavish gift too? If that's the case you need to (a) not take all my money for savings when I'm next paid in December and (b) tell me what you want

Lol ha ha. Yes I know. And you know I don't have a taste for 'lavish' either. But yes I think a present this year would be nice. :rotfl:

Piquant_2

I'm glad you're mam is doing well with her chemo, still a difficult time for you though. I'm pleased you sound upbeat and the budgeting is going well.

PiggyBankShaker

The last two year I have done a 'Review of the Year'. Here's this year's one:

Money = Good

I have had no new credit this year. We paid off the remainder of the credit for the French door and window. The only credit that we have now is the 0% Credit card that ATSIJS has with £2842 balance. The 0% ends in June 2015.
Our savings stand at £3550.
I overpaid the mortgage by £1287.67.
We made an extra £1174.97 through mystery shopping, freelance work, cash back etc.
However, we will over the Tax Credits £1100 next year due to overpayments from this year.

Work = Good

I spent the first two months of 2013 in a job that I hated. It had made me quite ill. So I spent the next six months on JSA and the following month with no income at all. We survived on ATSIJS salary.
I started a new job at the beginning of October and it is brilliant! The pay is good, the conditions are good, my colleagues are nice, and the prospects are okay.

Home = Fair

Some good progress has been made. The playroom and the bathroom both had work done on them and are looking good at the moment. We also painted the outside of the house in it looks lovely now. No progress elsewhere really, but plans are in place for work in 2014.

Family = Great

I think ATSIJS and I are a much stronger couple than we have been in previous years. Our marriage is good at the moment and we seem to be on the same wavelength, which is good. The kids are doing brilliantly. We couldn't ask for two better kids. Definitely 10/10 for them! My Mam is not in the clear yet from the cancer but hopefully things are going well there. Relations with the in-laws remain as strained as ever. But I don't actually think they will ever improve.

Other = Good

My mental health was awful for the first six months of the year. But it has been very good since. I have lost almost two stone and started running again. I plan to try and lose a bit more in 2014.

We took the kids to Belgium for the Grand Prix, which they loved and we also managed a weekend away in a cottage too. Both breaks were lovely.

I took an archery class, which I enjoyed and started a Portuguese course too. It is very interesting and rewarding.

Overall I think I would give 2013 an 8 out of 10!

Northern_Lassy

Good stuff, lovely and positive x Happy New Year xx
:beer:

Piquant_2

You sound in a really good place right now PBS! I'm so pleased for you!

Happy new year

Piq

PiggyBankShaker

Hi Piquant and Northern Lassy,

Happy new year to you both! May 2014 bring you all you desire!

Thanks for your kind words. I really feel that I / we turned a corner in 2013. If things stay the same as now for the next 12 to 18 months, we'll be in the most solid financial position since we met 7 years ago.

On the other hand, today I feel bleurgh. The weather is awful, windy rainy and so dark! We made a lot of decluttering progress the last few days and whilst I should be enjoying it, I'm instead feeling guilty for resting today instead of doing more. I've had a lovely two weeks off and I'm feeling down about the prospect of going back to work on Monday. It also doesn't help that we're smack bang in the middle of the financial month. Pay day seems a long way off. Basically, I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself. I guess I need to give myself a kick up the bum.

PiggyBankShaker

So I've added up all the extra income we're likely to make this month....

ATSIJS listed 5 things on ebay today. I've got one more item to list tonight. If they all sell (hopefully!) they should fetch about £85 before fees.

ATSIJS also invoiced for some work he did last year (about £50 I think). He is in the middle of another job that he can invoice for before the end of the month for £150.

We have about £35 cashback to come.

I keep checking all the mystery shopping sites but still nothing at the moment.
I have expenses to claim for work, but I don't know how much yet.

The only expense I have between now and pay day is my monthly rail ticket for work and whatever food we need before ATSIJS gets paid on the 15th.

Roll on pay day!

PiggyBankShaker

I spent about an hour yesterday doing my work expenses. The total for December is £174! And that's all out of pocket expenses, not mileage. Should get that reimbursed next week hopefully.

I finally have a mystery shop! It's £29 for a double visit. But I won't receive the money until end of February. Still every little helps.

Pay day is the 24th and its seems ages away.