our forever patch challenge

sammy70

Cant believe its nearly payday again!

We have had a fantastic month, getting out in the beautiful sunshine.

Ive managed loads of rides out on my chunky cob, he is so lovely and makes me laugh with his character .

Its my lovely daughters 26th birthday today, we spent a lovely couple of hours this evening chatting, her walking me riding in the lovely countryside surrounding our home, we are so lucky to be here, it is really our dream home.

i need to keep my diary updated more..

i made an overpayment of £34.38 today from left over grocery money- new balance £211,640.21

its been an expensive month, two birthdays, various bits and pieces, car repairs etc..

Sooo, this pay day im going to make a decent lump tp pay to savings/p.bonds, a lump to d.i.y fund, and a decent overpayment.

Looking forward to doing the May budget, and i intend having a frugal month so we can save as much as possible for our plans.

I love spring!!:j

sammy70

payday for me today, hubby tommorow :j

Ive decided cash only for grocery spends this month, to keep me focussed on what we eat, and how much im spending.. i find i save more this way, as parting with cash always seems harder somehow :rotfl:

Tommorow night, as ive already worked out rough budget for savings and all other expenses, as soon as hubbys wages are in the account i will transfer everything to its designated account, buy p.bonds, and make an overpayment to the mortgage

This month is hubbys car mot, and horsey needs shoeing next week. i always plan for the month ahead, and try to put the cash to one side ready for anything like these, theres nothing worse then thinking everything is accounted for, transferring spare cash to overpayment/savings, then remembering an item that needs paying for that month and having to dip into savings straight away.:eek:

sammy70

All budget done for May.
£500 p.bonds bought
£300 to d.i.y fund
£240.21 paid to the mortgage, making a more neater balance of £211,400 :beer:

A very good month indeed!:j

sammy70

In bed with cup of tea catching up on diaries before hubby gets home and we have breakfast together

Its a soggy start to the weekend, but we need rain to get the grass growing so we have hay this year..

Ive fed chunky cob, and chickens, these lighter mornings now mean no more lie ins till 7 for me! at 5.30 am horsy banging on his gate, and chickens making a row demanding to be let out to roam :eek:

Good job i love them all, and i love listening to the birds singing and seeing the countryside coming alive on a morning :j

Ive done my meal plan /grocery shop for the next 7 days, using cash, and everything budgeted for that i know about, so barring any unforseen costs, Mays budget is sorted.

I need to order sand/lime/cement, and wood this month, as hubby and i are off the last week in may, and plan to start rebuilding the stone walling along one area of our land.

This is going to be a mammoth task, and i dont expect it being fully done this year, with the time needed , but hey ho, at least we are earning a decent wage, and all our holidays are coming up , we can only do our best with the time/money we have available.
Buying and renovating this house/land was always going to be a long term project, and living here is a joy wether things are still awaiting repair/replacement or not.

We might not be living everyones dream, but its ours and we love it

Hettyhound

Sounds idilic to me! It’s definitely my kind of dream. My boy and I are building a small wildlife pond in the garden, the whole is dug and the liner arrived but may not get it in today due to the weather. I’ll get the plants ordered this weekend and then I’ll await the arrival of creatures and hope the cats leave them alone

It was reading your diary last weekend that finally inspired me to start my own so THANK YOU! My fuzzy end plan involves lots of nature but maybe not a horse. My house needs lots of renovation but I’ve decided as it’s in a warm and dry state the cosmetic stuff can wait until the mortgage is clear. Good luck with the wall building

sammy70

thats lovely to hear Hetty!
Im sure you will have hours of entertainment watching wildlife in your pond and garden, we love it too.

I wil check out your new diary too

sammy70

Heres my May update

interest for April = £502.07
After Direct debit of £1246.54 taken we start May with a new balance - £210,655.54 :beer:

Its rainy here tonight, i went for a ride on my chunky horsey , got half way and storm clouds appeared on the horizon, so we turned for home.
We nearly made it home before the rain clouds caught us, just got slightly soggy but it was lovely tottling out in the countryside anyway

sammy70

A mixed day of sunshine, and lots of showers..we need rain to keep grass growing so im not complaining!:)

We have a lovely long weekend together, im snuggling up for early night as hubby working tonight then off till tuesday.

Ive joined the local library, and ive got some good books to devour, i loooovvee reading, and you cant beat a good book when its too wet to ride :rotfl: and its saves a fortune, i can get through a book in a week or two. i used to buy second hand, but i have mountains of books, and i usually only read a book once, so i thought why not make the most of our library, and any new books can be reserved so why not , and if we all use our local library it keeps them open..

my cash for grocery spends is doing well, only £1 over budget this week, i will try extra hard next week to come in under budget ..

Hettyhound

I used to read loads but then my son arrived and now I never have time or I’m too tired. I’ve got loads of unread and half read books but I won’t part with them, they are my weakness. We are currently on a library van but they have just approved plans to build a new one, probably a very rare thing in today’s current library situation. It is something I want to start up again, along with yoga practice so maybe I should aim to get to bed earlier and read, ah I can dream! I’ll put it on my mortgage free list

sammy70

Hi Hetty. I usually read for half an hour while having a soak in a nice bubble bath at the end of the day, and on a sunday morning, because im up at 6 to feed the animals, and hubby is still asleep i usually grab an hour then.

Its a lovely sunny morning, ive come back to bed for an hour after feeding the fur babies, hopefully the weather is kind for us to get outdoors and enjoy the spring sunshine.

The trees are greened up now, and some are flowering. Loads of birds with babies, and the fields are crammed with lambs, you cant help but love spring, new life everywhere you look.

Our water tank has a leak, plumber pricing up fitting one, so that is this months unexpected expense :mad:
Cant leave it though, as a new ceiling will cost more if it goes altogether :rotfl: