NSK; February 28 Days Later!

dolly84

MrsGSR - I always leave a £30-40 buffer in my account for those little bits and bobs that crop up and would otherwise go on the cc.

his missus - I have had metal bowls for my dog/dogs (just have one now) for years, they last forever and I scald them out with boiling water and soda crystals to clean them. I find that plastic bowls get a furry ridge where the pets rub at them when eating and that is where they can get bacteria forming. Hope it works for your cat.

Fmess - hopefully the car will save you money in the long run. I got my little car last July, we already have a family car but DH uses it for work and can get home quite late so I couldn't take the kids out or to clubs etc. I only paid £1000 for it and it is a fab little thing, tiny but roomy inside and the previous owner had converted it to dual fuel, it costs me £13 to fill the gas tank and I get 200 miles from this with a little bit of petrol which it uses until it is warmed up.

Tiptoes - I feel exactly the same, don't set in stone how much you will pay off each month as that can/will lead to disappointment when bills come in that you weren't expecting. I can hardly pay anything off in March as I have so much other stuff to pay for and it is bugging me but I will carry on and not let the whole process fall apart.

I had a bit of good news when I was emailed my mbna credit card statement, I thought the 0% deal ran out last month but it is good till October so all my debts are at 0% and I will have paid this one off long before October too.

I think today will be a spend day as I need soda crystals to do the drains and a new washing line - wow exciting stuff.

Bike ride yesterday was a trauma to say the least, going in the sunshine to mum and dad's was bad enough as DS fell off. Coming back the weather had turned to freezing rain and strong wind and it was uphill, poor DS fell off again and hurt his knee, DD cycled off without stopping and went miles past the way we were going home. I was numb with cold when we got in.

mothernerd

Sorry for the moan everyone.

Okay gained a bit of perspective overnight. A week ago I couldn't move for DS1's stuff,now I am getting annoyed by the last few boxes. On Sunday it felt great to be re-claiming the kitchen (got soaked cleaning the fridge as it was so long since I could see inside and bits stuck on needed soaking /rubbing at least 3 times).

Had 2 full days cooking and re-stocking freezer (managed to extract and clean individual drawers as I went along). All new items are in bottom 3 drawers, older items higher up and being used - when I use the last of a particular item that can go on the next batch cook list and ingredients to shopping list -trying to keep shopping to minimum as I will need to buy u/c, gloss and other things in March (shouldn't be in food budget really but have been trying to stretch food budget to include seeds etc -'future food'). Fridge is also full (favourite yoghurts on offer so bought up to the sell-by date Mar 14,supplemented by yellow sticker ones -used first) and organised.

Exercise has been done on all but 2 days (walking mostly but a little gardening and carrying boxes up and down stairs).

It is good that the house is clear enough to be able to get on with painting without having to shift furniture around (apart from beds).

Have just managed to write out job lists for 2 bedrooms and the bathroom. Some are big, some are small, some have been waiting so long I had forgotten about them- bathroom door handle (people kept getting stuck and DS3 would kick the door open to get them out,DS2 rehung the door with thicker,longer,stronger screws but never put the handle back on). Central list so I can decide where to start each day - individual lists for each room so can tick off/add to.

Problem with rooms being clear is that I notice all the things that need doing (been building up all week) and just got overwhelmed. Also still trying to do jobs that I have the materials for first (postponed spending). Only spend has been for ceiling paint as this must be done before walls and floors -and need to do 2 big bedrooms first so I can see if there is enough left for bathroom and small bedroom.

Also, it's a bit like after Christmas when you take all the decorations down and it looks so bare -doesn't feel homely at the moment. So panic over,sorry about the moaning. Just need a couple of days solid progress-and DS3's gf hasn't seen any of the work I did before Christmas or the kitchen so maybe seeing things through her eyes will help me see how much I have done and make the remainder less daunting. Sympathy for all those having car problems or struggling.

luckystarr

Hi All

not been around as been busy at work no SFD to report not done well at all this month

Starting to worry about march as have my OH car going in for MOT,car taxes and other bills such as dentist etc .. so not sure how its going to pan out next month .
Think march will be the making of me as i have to really get this being in debt sorted only got £2500 left to pay (have a car on finance but that will finish next year ).

going to start having shopping delivered as an experiment to see if i can reign the spends in any recommendations??(tried a3da before and was not impressed)

NinjaSavingKat please sign me up for March i am ready whatever the challenge

Have a nice weekend all

traveller

Hi everyone! So glad the weekend is here:j:j Been feeling a bit down lately and burnt out, hence the very infrequent posting, but hey, that's life

I cannot wait till pay day to through some money virg1ns way I'm annoyed that I may have blew my 0% with MBNA on another card though. Payment date is 26th and I only remembered today :eek: They say it reaches account within 3 working days, so i'm hoping, i'll be ok If not, I do have another card it can go on to, but It really was a silly mistake. In part, it's because I was fed up paying the beginning of the month, but they still asked for further payment because of the way their payment cycle works :mad:

I'm also annoyed at myself, that despite one of my new years resolutions being to take my 5 year old out every other saturday, i have not done this I had monday off and worked from home every other day this half term, but just managed a day out at the leisure centre with him

I'm also annoyed, that I'm getting fed up with my ex turning up later and later to pick the kids up each sunday. As i'm an early riser , by the time he turns up at 4.30 or 5pm plus, my day is winding down, so I can't get the most out of any possible ME time. What I have told myself, is as that is out of my control, I need to change my approach to it and when the kids complain about it, tell them to redirect it to him.

Sorry for the moan session:o I promise, that's my lot

It's lovely to see how well the group are doing! I'm so determined that if I do have any more debt by the years end there will be no more than 1.3k left. So I completely understand the ocd attitude to trying to keep to set amounts

Anyway, take care everyone and keep going :T

apple_muncher

We had a lovely time up in London yesterday. Probably spent the most money on ...ice creams! The grand total came well under what I'd budgetted . We took the tube to Westminster, crossed the bridge and wandered past the Eye to the playground, then on to the carousel. We had realised by this point that we were well underdressed for the wind! But could do nothing about it by then so had to keep going. cwe then crossed back over the river and along to Trafalgar Square where we stopped for lunch in a (whisper) coffee shop, bought dd a book and made some wishes in the fountains. Dd was up for visiting the National Gallery so in we went, out we came and headed through St James' Park to the Palace and along the main road to Victoria and home.

A very successful day!

Until we were 200 yards from home.

Dd was walking along a wall - done it 100s of times. And she fell off it onto the path - about a 4 foot drop. Cue screams. Rushed her home and she seemed shaken but ok, amazingly. She dropped off on the sofa, with me monitoring every breath, for about an hour. She then had Ca1po1 and we trundled off to A&E. Over 5 hours later we were back. She was extremely lucky to have no head or neck trauma and we were told that should it ever happen again, to call 999 and keep her immobilised. So what did she have? A broken collarbone. But with no 'tenting' of the bone or swelling over the break. All in all, one very very fortunate bouncy child! And 2 relieved parents!

She slept fairly well and is being dosed up today. She's so stoical and is thrilled to find out just how much she can do that doesn't hurt her, as well as realising all the limitations: no scooter, climbing, running! And it certainly hasn't impaired her vocal chords!

Half term has ended without too much damage financially. The car is due its MOT, and house insurances are due soon too. Dh is on the case.

Should be back at work on Mon, tho I'm playing it by ear as regards dd. Tues, she has to go to the fracture clinic, so will miss school anyway. Mutterings and musings.

Sorry for wittering on so much. Note to self: learn to be brief!


To those who have said they may not join in in March: PLEASE DON'T GO AWAY! Join, lurk, read, apply what you can. And hang in there. We are here to support each other, so please don't be alone.

traveller

Apple Muncher- So glad DD is ok

apple_muncher

traveller wrote: »

Apple Muncher- So glad DD is ok

Thank you traveller. She is a MUCH better patient than I would be!

dolly84

apple muncher - :eek: to your daughter's fall, glad she is OK.

I have spent today as predicted, £1 on a washing line, 80p on soda crystals, £1 on sponge scourers and £4 on a pair of mauve jeans for DD for summer (reduced from £18). The jeans were not a planned spend but we are picking summer bits up as we see them as she will need some new clothes and sandals.

[Deleted User]

Glad the mini-muncher is ok applemuncher, what a scary end to a lovely day!

I have kicked the zombies into touch today.

1) Told a mate who rang yesterday and asked me out for coffee today, can only go if we use our JL cards for a freebie as budget is so tight...or you are very welcome here and I'll bake. She really wanted to try new cafe instead and kindly bought my sandwich - we are on very different pay grades and she most often comes to me for dinner after work, so I didn't feel too guilty. Was glad I had been honest and upfront about it as previously I would probably have gone along with it then regretted spend later. Got me out into the sunshine and we had a nice long walk inspecting storm damage near a nearby river too.

2) Have agreed to rent our house out over Easter for a week, which covers the cost of our accommodation on our holiday (slightly earlier - shame times don't coincide exactly, they just overlap a bit). It means I'll have to find somewhere to sleep for 5 nights (DD will be with ex) and we will have to super blitz the house and sort all of those annoying jobs out beforehand, but that will give me some focus. I am pretty sure I can stay in a mixture of work accommodation and with friends. This takes some pressure off the holiday fund, although the cash wont come in until after the trip. If I can pay for big costs in advance without using credit as planned, this will be a buffer for paying off spends whilst we are away. I am happy :j

Tea-lover_2

Hi all sorry havnt been on in a while have been busy PASSING MY DRIVING TEST :j:j::D I'm so happy. Glad I got it first time cos it cost me £125:eek: had the money set aside tho so my budgets are still looking ok, although I wasn't able to save much this month. Still have the £100 that I saved last month and havnt dipped into it (unlike me) so I'm very pleased about that.
Now that iv passed my test I can go to a few different shops for my groceries so am hoping to save by going to lidls, butchers and veg shop instead of getting it all in online delivery. Also will save on the kids bus passes for school. Was able to take the girls swimming over half term too, it feels great having my independence

Well I'm off to read back on the thread, hope everyone is having a good weekend xx