I'm going to buy a ski lodge.......

daisystar

Crikey, on page 10, its been a while!!


Right, a new month is upon us and its time to get straight. The last few months have battered us financially but its time to look forward. DH's pay increase has come through which is fab, so we started a new budget last night, it needs a bit of tweaking but should be finalised over the weekend (we know how to rock a bank holiday )


Part of the new plan is to meal plan monthly, hurrah!! I've been waiting for this as I think we can be more economical with offers and leftovers. We are also planning a HUGE batch cook over the weekend so that the freezer is full and my days will be easier during the weekdays. So I'm going to spend tomorrow night going through some recipe books and foody mags (old ones, I promise!!) for inspiration.


Baking is also on the menu, I need to bake enough to ensure I don't turn to chocolate treats when the hunger is upon me (as it often is these days), which will hopefully mean I spend less but also ensure I'm having somewhat healthier treats.


Other plans include joining the PAD thread - I've started today, completing and sending my CPP forms back and starting DS2 on cloth nappies - I've not done this yet as I figured I'd be a bit overwhelmed with the washing in the early days but I can probably cope with it now, hopefully the washing machine can too!! Can't beat a cute cloth bum


Finally, I'm aiming to update on here more too, I find it so helpful I just don't know where my days go at the moment!! I'm still enjoying reading everyone else's diaries during the night feeds though, it really does the time!!


Right, off to attempt an early night now, hope everyone is looking forward to the bank holiday weekend

brizzledfw

Great to see you posting..we miss you!!

You sound really focussed which considering the tender age of your LO is AAAmazing... well done

Meal planning will help enormously I am sure. Go for it

daisystar

Awww Brizzle, thanks! I miss this place too when I can't get on. Yep I've surprised myself a little bit with maintaining focus while the little one is so tiny, but really he is yet another HUGE motivator to get ourselves sorted However, my resolve and plans do crumble if I'm found near a food shop when sleep deprived and hungry!! :rotfl:

Today I had a very small spend in a cafe as I had to feed baby Star when I was out This won't happen very often but it was an exceptionally busy day today, and I had to find somewhere to house me and the kids. To make up for it we had the cheapest pasta tea EVER and I made a small PAD (I'm already addicted )

The meal plan isn't yet done so thats tonights job, the plan is to go tomorrow so I'd better crack on :cool::cool:

Enjoy the lovely long weekend everyone!

daisystar

Ugh, just when you think you're making inroads...... It was my first week of having our car this week as DH now has a company car. It hasn't started on several occasions so we took it to the garage to get the battery checked and lo and behold, it needs a new battery And because its a pretty decent big car, of course the battery isn't cheap - £200 before vat and labour :eek: Whats even more irritating is that we are swapping it for a car that is much cheaper to run in a couple of months, and spending so much on this car wasn't part of the plan :mad:

Ah well. To try and take a positive from this, DH pointed out this morning that if this had happened last year it would have sent us into a complete panic, now its annoying as its another setback but we know we can cope with it. These things are sent to try us eh?!

Chrysalis1976

Ah cars are so frustrating, our last one cost us so much money that in the end we said enough's enough time to change. Rubbish that it's so near to you changing anyway!

Keep going, hope the brood are well.

C x

daisystar

Ah thanks Chrysalis, they can indeed be money pits can't they? I haven't had a car for the last two years after we decided I wasn't going back to work, then DH got a company car two weeks ago so I was soooooo excited to get to use our car, but I haven't managed yet as its still at the garage!! I'm looking forward to getting it traded in for something cheaper to run and repair

The meal plan and 'big shop' went well, and we have been batch cooking like crazy the past few days/nights. I slow cooked a chicken on Tuesday which has also given us risotto and singapore noodles, and a pack of mince has made a basic bolognaise recipe which will be used as spag bol, lasagne and converted into a chilli. Tomorrows job is a slow cook chicken and bacon casserole which will last 2 nights. I'm just about to go and bake blackberry muffins as I need healthy-ish treats to be in the house as I spent £4:eek: on chocolate today, I'm completely addicted and too sleep deprived to fight it!! They're also good for toddler Star's lunchbox tomorrow at pre-school

PADs are small but I LOVE that it happens everyday!!:D And the payments will get bigger as the days and weeks go on.

Looking forward to the weekend, we're going out for coffee and cake for the first time in aaaaaages for an elderly relatives birthday, and then some very close old friends are passing through my town and stopping for breakfast, they live miles away and we don't see them much at all. I can't wait!!

Hope all is good with everyone else, Friday tomorrow!! :j

daisystar

Errrr..... the rent from the council doesn't appear to have reached our account I've allowed an extra day for the bank hol but still nothing......I shall investigate.

daisystar

Morning all.

I'm feeling a bit low today with everything. We seem to be taking 2 steps forward and then straight back again with money. Our car has just cost us £360 and then failed to start yesterday :mad: This means yet more expense and that we won't be able to go in it on our hols next week, as we have no time/means to get it fixed before then. We will instead go in DH's company car (thank god we've got that) which is much smaller, and as its at least an 8 hour journey with the littlies it may be very hard work. It also means I might not be able to drive it, DH will investigate this tomorrow at work.

In addition, due to a 'processing error' at the council, our rent hasn't been paid :mad: It is now 2 weeks late and they are unable to tell us exactly when we will get it. This means we are using my overdraft for living expenses and incurring daily charges. Also, they can only guarantee our rent up to 12th May (they pay it after each 4 week period, not before) and can't tell us why. After investigating with the guarantor it seems the fella is moving back in and they are doing a joint claim, however no-one has informed us and now we don't know where this leaves us with the tenancy agreement etc....

Its also been a spendy week as I've needed 2 outfits for the wedding and other ceremony we are going away for - as I've got a 2 month old I don't fit into any of my clothes so have had no choice but to purchase

At home things are a bit shaky too - DH seems to be struggling to cope with work and the reduced sleep at home (though I reckon the sleep thing could be much worse) and I think toddler star may have developed hayfever. He is really struggling and its affecting our days quite significantly. I am trying to hold it together and stay positive and energetic for everyone but today it is hard.

Thank goodness for the PAD thread, this has kept me checking in as I only have to write one line so thats do-able during my busy days at the mo. It has also made me feel like I'm at least doing something constructive every day which helps.

What a miserable update, eh?? It helps to write it down and I know this will pass, its just hard feeling like all our hard work and sacrifice is for nothing at the moment. The dream feels very far away.

daisystar

In my grump I forgot to say - I have a glut of onions, of all things........any idea what I could do with them? I should add that I greatly dislike onions, so all I can think to do is chop and freeze them to prepare for future cooking :cool:

Chrysalis1976

Sorry to hear things are difficult at the moment, trying to think of some positives for you:

* thank goodness you have another car to use for your hols, not ideal but we try and break down long journeys with good music, games and finding funny places names along the way. might be a bit difficult with your little ones but you get the idea.

*arrgh to the non payment of rent, people don't realise the knock on effects of late payments, I have this issue with my expenses every month. how will the guarantor moving in affect the tenancy?

*hope your hubby feels better soon, maybe your holiday will help and you can get an opportunity to have a good chat if that's helpful.

Look after yourself too, we spend so much time looking after everyone else that we forget ourselves.

C x