Enjoying the Sunshine whilst Saving for the Rainy Day

please-let-me-be-lucky

We had very very heavy rain here last night but it's been crisp and dry again today. Cold though, 1 degree! Xx

debtfreewannabe321

Our laptop has died again. I've no idea what's wrong with it! My banking, budgeting and has just gone out the window again this month!

I've had a spendy few days ds1 trip finally came out of the bank, school pics paid for, professional pics paid for and done yesterday. I need to go shopping again and I need to work out when my next lot of money is due in. I want to get through this month without using credit card or emergency fund to prop up overspends from bad budgeting (or lack of! ). I'm going to get dh to call and see if laptop company can send a recovery cd perhaps that's all it needs?!

We've cancelled some more dds that were expensive and not needed and dh will look around for alternative ones (life insurance. ..50quid!) it's needed but not urgent at the moment as he's not due to go anywhere anytime soon. And the extra 75 (25kit insurance as well as the life insurance) will come in handy for Christmas!

StressedSteph

Hi DFW,


We have had a similar month to you. We have had a few days out, a meal, broken dishwasher and lots of silly little overspends. I am trying to put a stop to it now and wait for all the spends to come out of the bank so I can get it all under control again.


The last thing we need is the get in a mess this close to Christmas, as December is always more expensive than planned.


Put a freeze on spending and get under control again. You can do it xxxx

debtfreewannabe321

Hello!

I've fixed the laptop *again*! I hope it stays working this time...

My mobile phone came to an end on the contract and i've taken another one out It's £5 cheaper than the last one and i get a new phone for free. When I weighed up how much it cost for a new smart phone and a PAYG sim it was around the same price, only I get more minutes, texts and the cost spread with this one. I just couldn't afford the phone outright (or any one like it) so close to xmas! It's here and it's great having one that gets a signal in the house :T doesn't have a cracked screen :j and I can see what i'm doing :T ....now to try not dropping it

I've got the shopping (food mainly!) under control again this month and have spent roughly £100-125 a week on food/alcohol/snacks etc. I think that's not bad considering we're on a better budget now we're out of debt we have everything we need and lots of treats which we never had before! I've been avoiding A1di though and am thinking I need to start up again there. I went shortly after my op and they were throwing things in the trolley so quickly I couldn't keep up with the one hand and I felt so panicked and hurried along that I've since avoided it Hand is better so I should go back.......am needing some encouragement I think, perhaps I might take DH with me next week!

I've started with a new family for home start and am still with my original one until next week and am also doing 2 other things for them. To be honest i'm feeling like it's too much, it would be different were I getting some payment but i'm not and currently I do around 12hours (and then some!) a week. Including travelling time back and forth it means I lose 4 days a week usually :eek:. I will let my family finish next week meaning I gain back a day. In two weeks I also finish with another group of ladies and babies so will gain back 2 days and I will only be doing 2 days a week then which is fine with me I MUST learn to say NO to more volunteering though ! The new family have baby twin boys and they are soooo cute and cuddly I love what I do I do kind of wish I got paid for it though :rotfl:

So Xmas....that dirty word.....I still am without most presents for my kids . I need to buy 2 bikes, find £100 cash (ds1) and some smaller presents they've asked for all in the next month!!! I really really am relying on DH's bonus here so if it doesn't come through I have no choice but to use CC's ...........talking of DH he might be staying on at work (:wall:) He drives me mad! I will just let him do what he needs to do and stay quiet as if I say anything he flies off the handle and he's slowly driving me insane about it all!!! He keeps forcing me to try and get a job and won't listen to me about the fact I am still unqualified for most things as I never finished my training to become a teacher (only one more year, but it's one more year paying for child care with no wage to cover it?!) and I would basically be on minimum wage with childcare costs to cover. He listens, not! SO again i'm just keeping quiet but inside I feel useless, he's making me feel like a scrounger and I'm not. I worked from the age of 14 up to 28 (until I started uni) and then have stayed at home with the kids. I want to go back to work but I don't see any point in it as we lose tax credits, lose most of the wage (if not all) to childminders and someone else is bringing up my kids. I have friends who do it but they like to get away from the kids and do the work "for themselves" i'd rather stay at home and be with my children. Hmmph anyway rant over, it will no doubt continue until I do get a job, then I'll be expected to keep house, do shopping, ferry kids around and do a full time job!

Right gotta go again, only been in for 40 minutes today, school run, am picking up friend's kids too and then making dinner!

I will try and get on here more often as soon as my HS duties ease off a bit. This week i'm busy every day doing something with them now so will only have the hour before school run to sit down (which I usually use to do housework or shopping or dog walking :cool:) I feel like i've neglected you all, it's not purposely and I hope you are all well xxx

please-let-me-be-lucky

Nice to have you back, but you just make sure you aren't spreading yourself too thinly. It's like me with Beavers, I enjoy it but it's too much work for a volunteer role, something has to give (preferably not your mental health!!) Xx

Eager_Elephant

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

Hello!

I've fixed the laptop *again*! I hope it stays working this time...

Hi DFW - glad you fixed the laptop, I love and hate technology in equal measure (but the hate usually comes from when DH or DS has fiddled with something they shouldn't):rotfl:

My mobile phone came to an end on the contract and i've taken another one out . I just couldn't afford the phone outright (or any one like it) so close to xmas! It's here and it's great having one that gets a signal in the house :T doesn't have a cracked screen :j and I can see what i'm doing :T ....now to try not dropping it

What you need is an otterbox case - they are quite expensive but are one of the best cases around for people who are clumsy!!! DH had one on his phone when he dropped it and nothing happened to it. DD has one on her kindle and no matter how she treats it, it has never been damaged. It is a case and a cover for the screen and is really hardwearing - I get ours from Amazon but they do have their own website, if you go via Amazon make sure it is a proper otterbox as there are some rip offs that are not as good.

I've got the shopping (food mainly!) under control again this month and have spent roughly £100-125 a week on food/alcohol/snacks etc. I think that's not bad considering we're on a better budget now we're out of debt we have everything we need and lots of treats which we never had before! I've been avoiding A1di though and am thinking I need to start up again there. I went shortly after my op and they were throwing things in the trolley so quickly I couldn't keep up with the one hand and I felt so panicked and hurried along that I've since avoided it Hand is better so I should go back.......am needing some encouragement I think, perhaps I might take DH with me next week!

Great going with the food shopping - I agree you should go back with DH in tow. We only have a Lidl but 3 of us pack as we go and it's tough keeping up, sometimes we sweep it all in the trolley and pack by the car:rotfl:

I've started with a new family for home start and am still with my original one until next week and am also doing 2 other things for them. To be honest i'm feeling like it's too much, it would be different were I getting some payment but i'm not and currently I do around 12hours (and then some!) a week. Including travelling time back and forth it means I lose 4 days a week usually :eek:. I will let my family finish next week meaning I gain back a day. In two weeks I also finish with another group of ladies and babies so will gain back 2 days and I will only be doing 2 days a week then which is fine with me I MUST learn to say NO to more volunteering though ! The new family have baby twin boys and they are soooo cute and cuddly I love what I do I do kind of wish I got paid for it though :rotfl:

I used to be the same when I volunteered at Homestart, you feel so grateful you don't have problems like these families and then before you know it you have committed all your spare time to them. I think 1 family is enough especially as you have young children of your own.

So Xmas....that dirty word.....I still am without most presents for my kids . I need to buy 2 bikes, find £100 cash (ds1) and some smaller presents they've asked for all in the next month!!! I really really am relying on DH's bonus here so if it doesn't come through I have no choice but to use CC's

Could you cut back on the food shopping to be able to afford Xmas without using credit cards? Did the Xmas money get swallowed up by another bill?
Luckily I save £100pm for oil and xmas so I am determined that this will be my first year without using a credit card.

...........talking of DH he might be staying on at work (:wall:) He drives me mad! I will just let him do what he needs to do and stay quiet as if I say anything he flies off the handle and he's slowly driving me insane about it all!!! He keeps forcing me to try and get a job and won't listen to me about the fact I am still unqualified for most things as I never finished my training to become a teacher (only one more year, but it's one more year paying for child care with no wage to cover it?!) and I would basically be on minimum wage with childcare costs to cover. He listens, not! SO again i'm just keeping quiet but inside I feel useless, he's making me feel like a scrounger and I'm not. I worked from the age of 14 up to 28 (until I started uni) and then have stayed at home with the kids. I want to go back to work but I don't see any point in it as we lose tax credits, lose most of the wage (if not all) to childminders and someone else is bringing up my kids. I have friends who do it but they like to get away from the kids and do the work "for themselves" i'd rather stay at home and be with my children. Hmmph anyway rant over, it will no doubt continue until I do get a job, then I'll be expected to keep house, do shopping, ferry kids around and do a full time job!

Aren't DH's :eek: ? I agree that if you got a full time job you would also be a full time housewife and that's not fair.
I do work (prev part time and now full time) but I am not maternal at all and I can't think of anything worse than being at home all week so I was happy to pay a childminder:rotfl:
I can totally see why some mum's do want to stay at home but it's just not for me. I am lucky (sometimes) that DH will help with some of the housework and so does DS.

Right gotta go again, only been in for 40 minutes today, school run, am picking up friend's kids too and then making dinner!

I will try and get on here more often as soon as my HS duties ease off a bit. This week i'm busy every day doing something with them now so will only have the hour before school run to sit down (which I usually use to do housework or shopping or dog walking :cool:) I feel like i've neglected you all, it's not purposely and I hope you are all well xxx

Hope to see you back here soon

grannyx2

Busy, busy bee. Don't forget to take care of you x



Granny x

debtfreewannabe321

Thank you Lucky, EE & Granny :lovethoug

Lucky I am definitely going to practice saying NO from now on. I feel like I have to say yes to everything I wish I were more like my friend who is quite happy to say No to everything :rotfl: I stand behind her open mouthed at her bluntness :rotfl:

EE thank you for the tip...I have amazon vouchers from TCB so i will look at that case :T I am the definition of clumsy ...technology...the laptop broke because of something important that ds1 deleted :mad: he's banned from playing games on here now!

Granny, I got my wish, I've had yesterday and today off volunteering like I had been promised to do....DD was ill on Weds night and they have to have 48 hours off of school after a sick bug! Guess what? I'm bored already :rotfl:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well I got my xmas pics back today, most came out ok, all of ds1's pics are a grimace at best and I hate my pic being taken anyway so didn't like any of mine but ds2 & dd look cute :rotfl: I guess most will be of them on the prints I get for my money. I might choose one of the 5 of us on a xmas card just because we all have xmassy jumpers on and silly hats
I've asked my 2 sisters for help cos I only have a few days to decide for the cards :eek:

I need desperately to go upstairs and get all the presents out that i've already bought and see what i need and what I don't need. EE I was saving £90 a month for xmas & birthdays and most of it went on birthdays in July & October (my kids ) I have got lots of little things in and DD has every frozen soft toy, dress, shoes etc she could possibly want I know I will need at least £200 for the two bikes though (main pressie and is a NEED as we use them for school run nearly every day and they've both outgrown their current ones) and some cash for ds1. DH is due the bonus so I didn't bother cutting back on anything in November to account for me being short........it's just they are really taking their time paying it and i'm a panicker :eek: i'm sure it will all turn out fine (my fingers are crossed anyway :rotfl:)

Heating has been on all this week as everyone is full of cold or ill it goes on at 7am and goes off when kids go to bed (if nice enough during day i've switched it off but dd been on sofa for 2 days now so it's been on all day) i'm really trying to limit usage so we're not hit with a huge bill come spring!

debtfreewannabe321

Oh and i've just had to pay an energy bill for 2 months for the rental house back from 2012 for £114 :eek: I had no proof it was occupied or more to the point where that tenant is now and have had to pay up I hope these bad tenants get their karma for all the grief they've cause me (and many others just like me!!!!!!!!!!)

Dolphin1

:wave: Long time no hear, hope everything is good in the DF(W) household?

Dolphin1