Today is not a NSD!

WishIwasstill25

My bill this month was £83 :eek::eek::eek: (I budget £25) went massively over my 100 minute allowance. So have switched price plans, £25.99 a month, rather than £21, but that's 2,000 mins and unlimited data and texts... I think that's worth it until I can totally redo my contract next July. Feel very unmse...

Although food shopping for the week came to less than £10.

Budgets are completely screwed up now, have to do some serious juggling, have spent a fortune out for school recently and not got it back yet, and we're off to the big smoke on Friday.

I was doing soooo well too, still love ynab, but it's not loving me at the moment. Still pay day on the 20th, and I get my 1% pay rise! and it's back dated to 1st September, so should be all of £5 after tax etc.....

Need to blitz t he house this evening, hubby has been home alone for 2 days and it's like the gremlins have been in, how can 1 man make so much mess? I do love having him home and made a special effort to come home from work early today, only for him to fall asleep on the sofa.... Oh well, it's the thought that counts.

Nearly half term everyone, keep smiling

Wish.

WishIwasstill25

Back again for a quick update...

Just been messing around on the student loans website, it looks like I have 12 months of repayments left, I'm getting a 1% pay rise which will increase my repayment fractionally, so reduce the term marginally! I'm going to make a real effort to pay this off sooner. I'm doing this because a) it's a more short term target than the mortgage. when it's paid off I'm conservatively estimating I'll have an extra £150 to throw at the mortgage. (I currently pay £160 through my wages and £40 from my bank, so have factored in the increased tax I'll pay when my loan repayment isn't taken out of my wages) c) I want to achieve something......

Going to try really hard..it's 6 months till April, and 9 months till the end of the school year, my aim, to pay it off by the end of the school year....

slowlyfading

My student loans will take ages I try not to think about them.... and my mobile bill a month is more than that - I'd be happy with that

WishIwasstill25

Tonight I've been to the 'membership warehouse' and filled the freezer with meat, over 70 bags of stuff, should keep us going till at least Christmas, the meat, along with loo rolls, kitchen roll, cat food for 3-6 months, hand wash, shampoo/conditioner, sanitary products.. And zip lock bags came to £240, which is crazy, but works out cheaper in the long run. If I assume that the meat came to £200 (which is probably a bit high) and each meat package does 4 portions (and it usually does more) that's no more than 70p per portion.... Bargain!

Spent the evening bagging it up into meal size portions, labeling everything and writing the freezer inventory. The freezers are now stacked so full I can't buy anything else....

I tidied the fridge too, so it's not looking like quite the disaster area it was. Just need to get the rest of the house straight, hubby is being a Tasmanian devil when it comes to making mess, need to get the house straight tomorrow night as it's doing my nut in!!!

SF, I didn't think about my student loan until it was small enough to feel like I could actually pay it off, it's 10years since I graduated, but only 9.5 since I started paying it back.

One more day at work, then a family funeral in London on Friday. Did lots of my planning today for next week, so feeling slightly ahead on that front.

Time to chill now.

Wish

WishIwasstill25

Currently sat on the train, heading home after a short weekend in the big smoke. (My grandma's funeral on Friday, day with hubby's family yesterday) home about lunchtime, so plenty of time to sort stuff for work next week. Hubby is still in London, heading off to next week's work tomorrow morning, and home either Thursday night or at some point on Friday.

Only 4 days of teaching next week and Friday is a training day then It's half term. (Otherwise known as work from home week)

Payday tomorrow.... So ynab will need a little tweaking and I should get my 1% pay rise.... Not holding my breath it's worth spending on anything though, will be just too small, it does mean a slight increase in my student loan repayment though. Which brings that down a little quicker.

I have managed to pay off more than normal on the mortgage this month, an extra £40 to take it down to a nice round figure, this means we will drop through another hundreds barrier at the start of the month. October is also a 31 day month, so I'll see how close I am to my target of 'less than £190 interest in a 31 month' I am. I'm hoping to reach this target by Christmas, so we'll keep our fingers, legs & eyes crossed for that.

The plasterer is calling round this evening to check how we are doing with the prep work before she starts in a week's time.

Spending the rest of the journey catching up on diaries, so I'm hoping to read lots of inspiring stories.

Have a great Sunday.

Wish

WishIwasstill25

So, my 1% pay rise works out at £33 net for 2 months.... Tax man, national insurance man, student loan man & pension man are all thieving what sits! But, I wouldn't actually change anything and would actually be happy to pay more if it meant that dentistry and adult social care were free as the nhs is.

I seem to have squared all my overspending, and have hinted to hubby that he's not put his share into the joint account, so that will make the housekeeping even better.

Sooooo tired, two late nights for parents evening coming up now, but then half term will be in sight.

Kept smiling & saving

Wish

Worry_Wart

Yeah I just try never to think about my gross salary and just remember how great it is to be in a situation where I can access education and good health care and live in a functional society. We have it so easy in this country compared to so many parts of the world, I'm happy for 1/3 or so of my wage to disappear each month. Having said that, I will be glad when my student loan is paid off too.

Roll on half term and quiet roads! Hope parents evening isn't too bad. My mother never showed up at mine and the teachers would always be angry with me the next day, like it was my fault!

WishIwasstill25

I told the children that they would get a sweet if their parents came to parents evening..... (All part of a reminder of something we are learning)

Parents evening part 1 went well, part two tomorrow night, then one more day, then training, then HOLIDAY more spending for school today, so I'll put the receipts in and should get a cheque back on Thursday...

Right.....

Time to sleep. Sooo tired.

WishIwasstill25

I've survived my first half term back at work.

Only one lot of tears and that was at the end of my first day, because the planning I had been left was so awful, since I took control things are much better.

It was very nearly a nsd, but I bought an album from iTunes for £7.99, which I've been looking forward to buying for weeks.

Tomorrow is positive handling training at school, it's not a nice thing to have to use, but for the safety of other children we need to know how to do this.

To those still with a days teaching, keep going, nearly there.

WishIwasstill25

Congratulations one and all, we've all survived an 8 seeker! And here I am, wide awake at 6:30 am on the first day of the holiday, when I have struggled to get out of bed at this time all week. (Currently suffering a little with stomach cramps, which may be the explanation)

I'm going to have to have a complete rejuggle of my budget. My car was soooo low on fuel that I was worried it wasn't going to get the short distance from work to the pump. I put £70, I budget £50 a month and not due to have filled up until 1st November, so going to try and up that pot to £70 and stretch this tank out until 1st December. I also feel I need to start budgeting a bit more in the gas/electric pot. We pay £90 a month for both at the moment , and it just doesn't feel like it's enough, I've a feeling they are going to put the dd up.

Hubby has had some of his invoices paid, so he'll get a big nudge to put housekeeping money for the last two months in!!

I've also got the cheque to pay in from work which will give me additional income on ynab.

Lodger has been here 8 weeks now, so I have recouped all the money I spent prepping her room, so from now on her money will be put into building up my 'slush fund' until Christmas. I have raided the money I'd saved for Christmas for other stuff, due to hubby not putting housekeeping money in, so will juggle again when he does. This isn't a complete disaster as I've got survey vouchers and supermarket saving cards to use for Christmas too, but quite annoying.

I did get a goody bag from hubby's job last week, which caused lots of excitement when I got home from work yesterday.

This weekend involves pretending it's not the holiday and working really hard so I really can enjoy my holiday away next week.

Wish