our forever patch challenge

sammy70

What a fantastic few days we have had with this lovely sunshine:j

Lambs are everywhere! yesterday I had to call the farmer next door, as I was coming hme from work, I heard pitiful crys coming from the edge of his field, on inspection I found the tiniest pure black lamb!

no mum was near, and it was bleating up at me bless it.

I held it and it was licking my neck , I'm guessing it was thirsty and hoping to find a drink anywhere in desperation!

Anyway, the farmer turned up on his quad bike, and explained he thought he was going mad, as that morning he was sure a sheep had given birth to black triplets, but when he came to collect them to move to the other field with all the other new mums, there were only two lambs.. because the lamb had somehow ended up in a small ditch on the edge of the field, he had been driving round checking all the sheep over, but it had been missed.. he was really grateful I found the little one, and after thanking me rushed off with it to give it a bottle, so a good outcome and was lovely for me too having a cuddle (from the lamb, not the farmer! ):rotfl:

Anyway, not a lot happening money-wise, pay day for us next week, hopefully shouls be able to overpayments to loan and mortgage, and save a little in the p.bonds as usual (had a £25 win in Aprils draw too!:beer:

My small freezer is crammed, so I'm using up everything, ther is enough meals/teas to last till end April if I'm creative, as only £170 left in the food and fuel budget that has to last for next couple of weeks, and both cars need filling.. it will be a challenge.

Anyway, off to get some cleaning done, both offspring and partners are coming for tea, its my lovely daughters 25th birthday on Monday., and we are having birthday meal...where do the years go!!

try_harder

Love the story of the little lamb , thank goodness you found it and it went safely back to its mother .

Have a good weekend and a lovely day on Monday .

sammy70

Payday shuffle done tonight, heres my offerings after all money for direct debits covered=

overpaid £250 0ff mortgage- new balance £224,200

bought £200 of p.bonds

paid £550 off diy loan

£100 to xmas savings

£100 to animal feed and bedding etc account

Im annoyed to say im STILL awaiting the fencing guy to quote for the stable/finish watergate/other gate :mad:

On a cheerier note, chicken world should be finished this weekend, if we get it completed for saturday, we are going to buy the chickens on sunday :j

Overall, month 3-( April), has been a bit spendy, 4 tyres costing £400 including tracking, and £40 mot fee all for hubbys car, have really pushed the budget, i had to borrow £300 from the diy money, which i will pay back at £50 a month, very annoying, but we need transport to go to work to earn the pennies i suppose..

this month hopefully we wont have any extra unexpected costs, and i can save a little extra , im planning on keeping a tight rein on grocery spends, and meal planning. This month ive let things slip, we have been eating too many calories, i need to lose my muffin top for summer!:rotfl:

sammy70

Dry but cloudy here at the moment.

Just finished house tidy, and completed meal plan for the next 7 days

Monday/Tuesday will update the new mortgage balance after the interest is applied, and the direct debit has gone out, also Tuesday is the p.bonds draw, so I'm crossing everything for a win, that's what I love about putting savings in bonds, it gives you that excitement of a potential win, without the risk of losing your original money invested.:beer:

I'm determined May will be organised, both budget wise, and getting tasks completed i.e walling/chicken/sheep sorted etc.

We have a week off at the end of may, the bank holiday Monday on 7th, and also a couple of holiday days mid month, so we are going to plan out what we want to achieve, theres nothing worse than going back to work feeling flat because you didn't get things done, especially if you know if you got stuck in you could have completed them!:)

try_harder

Did you get your chickens sammy ?

Hope you get a win this month fingers crossed .

April has been an awful month for me too , my worst on record i think since starting my diary two years ago everything just came at once .

Its a beautiful day here today after so much rain for days ,hope its nice where you are too

sammy70

Not got the chickens yet :( hubbys perfectionist ways means he is making this run and house like a blinkin palace, and super securing the netting, million coats of wood protector.. shouldnt complain, but look like we will be sorting chooks and sheep when we are off mid month now..

i know what you mean try harder with april being expensive! i had £440 car extra expenses, daughters birthday, extra materials for chicken world, and shopping/fuel budget went over too..

Never mind, fresh month, days are getting longer and warmer at last, lets make a fresh start and do our budgeting best to stay on track this month (although hubby decided to tell me yesterday looks like my car needs 2 front tyres this month :mad::mad:)

Anyway, heres my mortgage updated details for 1st may-

Interest for may- £394.43
daily =£13.14
New balance=£224,594.43
direct debit 1st May= £1208.83
new balance £223,385.60

In the next day or so i will be getting that pesky £5.60 paid to round it to a nice £223,380

Im trying really hard to keep within budget this month, as with us having time off, salary will be less as not as much overtime will be earned, hence less to save /overpay.. lots of penny watching for us in May!

so looking forward to getting our sheep and chickens!!:T

sammy70

perfect sunny start to our bank holiday weekend here :j

The trees are nearly fully greened up, the various birds are all nesting, it is a treat to watch them in their endeavours nest building and taking food for their little ones

We have a relaxed weekend planned, general weed clearing, finishing off and putting in place chicken world, and time together to enjoy our rural nest too

Ive meal planned for the next 7 days, the grocery and fuel budget is better and on track for May after Aprils overspend.

Just need to make a small grocery shop saving this week to cover the small rounding off overpayment of £5.60!

My lovely daughter has a new job starting next week, which will help her get her finances back on track, and she will be paying back £4000 we lent her in monthly instalments, so this will go back to the diy savings too.

Right, off to get cleaning up done before hubby gets up , he worked nights last night bless him..:)

try_harder

Morning sammy i was just thinking about you and i have just realized that i missed one of your posts .I look forward to hearing about your lovely home and numerous animals.

Yes i am definitely glad to see the back of April it was such an expensive month and then i became overwhelmed with the amount of money being paid out and gave up for a while feeling there was nothing i could do then everything went to pot .Anyway i feel much more positive this month so fingers crossed it will stay that way for us both and we can keep a tight rein on the spending from now on although of course some things cant be helped

So pleased to hear that your daughter has a new job and that you will have more money coming back into the savings that will make the numbers look a lot better

Its a glorious day here today i hope it is where you are too Have a lovely bank holiday weekend

sammy70

hi Tryharder, lovely day here too, ive got two loads of washing blowing in the sunshine, nearly finished house tidy, then im going to get out in the sunshine, i love being outdoors, its a bonus when the weather is as glorious as today!

i think we just have to keep putting things into perspective when the finances dont go our way. We are at least doing something to help ourselves to a mortgage free future, unlike a lot of people who just are adding to debts for clothes/holidays/new cars , latest gadgets etc, which will have probably been discarded long before the debt to pay for them is cleared.. each to their own i suppose, but i prefer my way !

sammy70

At last we have our first chickens! We collecvted 4 hybrids, 2 black rock, and 2 sussex star on bank holiday Monday :j

They are settling in, we have had 2 teeny eggs, one medium, and 2 not quite formed eggs over the last 5 days, so they are already starting to lay-- think some at quite shocked if listening to the noises coming from the nest boxes are anything to go by!

I'm still having to pick them up and put them into the coop at night though, they don't seem to like going to bed!

The sun is glorious again here today, ive just got in from work, mucked coop out, and I'm staring chores.

Later today, as hubby is working, I'm doing May/June budget. Money is going to be a little tighter this month due to less overtime, so I will juggle accordingly