Getting there...slowly.

beanielou

Glad you had a good time

girlatplay

Thank you both

So, back to reality with Monday morning. The weekend spends will be covered fine. I have other money hidden away if we get a bit threadbare by the end of the month.

Nothing big on this week. My friend is on lunch on Friday this week. We are going to her parents' for lunch on Sunday which will be lovely. I am really looking forward to it as we get on really well. When LMG and I were on holiday in 2010 they were staying near us. We met up for a day and it was brilliant! They are the same age as my parents but we just seem to click. That is the only thing I will need to spend money on (flowers for Mrs D). We will either stay in for lunch (Mrs D is a FANTASTIC cook) or go out. If we go out I will obviously offer to pay our share but I can hear me getting shouted down already!

Only some groceries to get this week and we will be sorted

girlatplay

Went to the supermarket unarmed (without list) on Monday. Spent a lot on not a lot £16.66 left in the budget until Sunday, 4 nights' tea to make. Luckily I had the sense to buy lunch items so it is only tea items we need. Planning of a short list to take this afternoon is in progress.

I'm going to rethink the grocery budget plan in the new year. I know I can do better than this and I will!

I am still waiting for the £100 transfer bonus from the new bank. They have until Saturday (45th day after account opening) to put it in my account.

Everything else is just ticking along

girlatplay

I spent £16.76 on the balance of the grocery shop. 10p over. I'm not too worried about that as I can juggle.

Ordered some things from Amazon for LMG's birthday and found myself buying her Christmas present whilst I was on. I was worried they may run out before Christmas and I know she really wants it. It is a food mixer. She loves to bake. They only had two left in the colour she wanted and I just couldn't take the risk of not being able to get it later. It is not cheap though.

Money/finances are a bit mixed up at the moment as I don't have Christmas shopping money yet. My sis and I empty our joint account at the end of November/start of December as neither of us have many to buy for so it is quite doable then. Because of that though, I have had to buy the mixer for LMG from other money.

I also ordered stuff that my parents and sis are giving LMG for her birthday. They will give me the money, there is no problem there but it went on to the cc and the bill is due this weekend. All the items are already cleared on it. It's fine, I will use other money to cover it and pay it back when I get it, it's just that my brain doesn't like it :rotfl:

I was supposed to be having lunch with the friend today. (She text me and told me it was my turn but actually it was hers! Hmphf! I got it sorted though ). I ended up cancelling anyway as I am a bit busy at work and I thought it would be easier to stay in the office for smoothness between work, lunch and work again. Plus, last night's tea made 4 portions. I really wanted to use it up so better that I use that today and she pays for lunch next week when I will be even more skint!! We are seeing her on Sunday for lunch with her parents anyway.

I got a little bit of money from CSA which is good (not had any for a few weeks). That will go towards covering what I need in the meantime.

I have a full £40 in the grocery budget thanks to juggling.

Going to get my bridesmaid's dress taken in and up tomorrow. 7 weeks tomorrow for the big day. I'm so glad I had the savvy to pay the whole amount for the overnight stay upfront. The lady said she would take a deposit but I asked to pay it all, which I did. Means I don't have to find it in the budget now. Feeling very pleased with myself about that

mummytogirls

Hi GAP,

You are sounding very organised money wise and Christmas wise!!! Its my DD1s birthday in November and I just can't start thinking about Christmas until after then!! I understand why you have bought the mixer now though.

Have a nice weekend x

girlatplay

Oh, thanks mummy but...

Well, the money stuff has gone completely to pot. I don't know if I'm coming or going. I have completely fallen off the control wagon

I bought LMG's mixer like I said. That is fine. I also picked up a couple of bits for her stocking. Her Amazon wishlist is brilliant! (and very, very long :cool:). I uplifted money from the Christmas account to cover them. I got a subscribe and save order delivered which I knew about but hadn't really allowed for. I have also ordered tealights for my mum and sis (from a friend who does P*rtylite). I was at B&M at the weekend and picked up some good bargains on stuff like washing up liquid and toothpaste which was within budget but also saw sugar at 2 for £1 which is perfect for the tablet for the wedding favours so picked up 4 (which is what I need). Didn't get to the supermarket at the weekend so went last night and ended up spending £43 altogether. £4 of that was on tins of condensed milk (which are down to £1 each now) for the tablet favours. I put £10 of petrol in the car that wasn't budgetted for.

I do realise that I am very lucky to be in a position where although I have lost track a bit, I can easily cover it all with pot shuffling and, if the worst comes to the worst, emergency fund. I like to have control though and I don't feel right without it.

LMG's birthday bits have arrived which is great as some of them weren't expected until the end of the week and I was concerned that they might not arrive on time.

Saturday there, was the 45th day from account opening of my new account. The £100 switching bonus wasn't in my account yesterday morning. I called them and they said they would look into it. It was in my account this morning :j:T I have transferred that to the house deposit account. I am only just under the £500 mark now but I don't want to take any more from any pots because of this whole Christmas money malarky! I will definitely be over the £500 on Wednesday next week.

Good (?) news, I got a 2% payrise. I will walk away with about £25 more per month than what I get at the moment. Not huge. Better in my pocket though.

Oooh, nearly forgot, I asked about the spider spray . Neither of them could remember what is was called or were it was from but the general consensus was Lakeland (I have linked what it might have been). My sis says her m-i-l to be got her some from B*tterware the last time but she couldn't remember the name of that either. She says it is great stuff and only had about 3 spiders in total last year, which is great in comparison to the 3 spiders every 6 days that I seem to be getting at the moment!

beanielou

As you say you are in the lucky position that you can cover your small overspends.

in_need_of_direction

Hi gap, where are you getting the reduced price condensed milk?

girlatplay

Morrison's INOD. They have permanently reduced the price (according to their shelf ticket).

in_need_of_direction

Typical. No morrisons in ni!