New beginnings, New start ...

Olivia-Louise_2

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

Evening

I hope little one is ok??
Fab going on the uniform shopping! I am so slack with that area I will leave the shoes until last minute though as I had one year that I bought them too early and DS1 outgrew them in the holidays :rotfl: it's obviously stuck in my mind as i've always waited until the last few days now to get them

Good going on the free meat deal! We've got no Mr M here sadly so I always miss those deals xx

Lucy5781 wrote: »

Agreed, OH and I not worrying about his DS's uniform until end of August, he's not back to school until 8th Sep and is likely to gain a shoe size, if not need bigger clothes too as he'll be away for a week with his grandparents. They have bigger meals than us and when he came back after a week in February his shoulders were so broad and he was all long arms lol He's gained at least 1cm since April already!

Thank you, baby is a pain as ever back and forward and more appointments than days it seems!

I'm quite lucky my kids take forever to grow! DS is 5.5 and just gone into 4-5 the uniform is a tad too big but I wasn't buying more 3-4 he can grow into it and DD similar she's 3.5 just going into 3-4, so plenty of growing room

Shoes DS hasn't changed sizes for over 12 months!! He was a 9 last August, and he hasn't really made 9.5 this time, however she advised to buy that half a size bigger as the fit was better/would last.

I had to get it sorted before it comes to the end of August and panicking where the moneys from/there's no uniform left!

I'm hoping to sort them a few basic clothes out this week, as well as some jeans for me seeing my only pair that are only a little big have now got holes All the others are ridiculous and I will pass them onto my mum who is a few sizes bigger than me.

Also saved my Amazon vouchers from surveys and nearly at enough to get the kids new beds that will be a huge weight lifted. I have paint et so I'm going to start decorating with what I have at night when the kids are settled. Otherwise I can't see it ever getting done!

parsniphead

I have just read through your diary Olivia-Louise and wanted to say hello and that I think you are doing amazingly with what you are having to deal with. I hope the little one is well and you get some answers soon.

I'm surprised by how much you have paid of under the circumstances and think you should be very proud of what you are achieving. Keep up the good work.

Ali

Nintud

Hi Olivia-Louise,

I've just read through your diary from start to finish. I'm astonished that OH hasn't given you any money for the littlies. Some men deserve a virtual slap. Has he kept in contact with them?

You're doing really well on the debt front. Be gentle with yourself, you've had a heck of a lot of stress lately.

(Subscribed)

Olivia-Louise_2

Yes he is in contact with them, more than I suspect he will be once things have settled with the baby. Home again from another hospital stay.

I've found a house that is perfect! Just perfect for everything, school, hospital, town, size. I love everything about it. Its a similar price to here other than I need the first months rent and deposit upfront, while paying my rent on this house.

I've spoken to the estate agents and its £175 fees can be paid to hold the house until the 10th October (the current tenants arent leaving until the last week of September I got info from a friend to try and jump in first before it was advertised )

So I need the £175 ASAP He is calling me Tuesday to confirm a few things and I have a viewing Friday (not that I really need one lol)

Then I'll need £1200 + Moving costs on the 10th October! so 6/7 weeks!
I CAN do this! It will be tight, but so so so worth it in the long run.

I'm more determined now than ever to get rid of this debt and get a new home!

Olivia-Louise_2

On the money front still no maintenance and now hes off "sick" :mad:

Anyway I have done our food shop, paid our bills and rent.
I'm £200 in credit now on my Electric and £90 on my gas (I was clearing debt) Im not sure weather to let it build up or just change the amount I pay now? Any thoughts?

Debt Totals

Friend £900
Dad [STRIKE]£305 £280 £500 £430 £330 £300[/STRIKE] £200
Mum[STRIKE] £150 £50 £0[/STRIKE]
Fine [STRIKE]£185 £165 £340[/STRIKE] £300
Council tax [STRIKE]£1220.85 £1103 £1011 £1000 £900 £350[/STRIKE] £200

So total now [STRIKE]£2610.85 £2448 £2626 £2495 £2295 £1890[/STRIKE] £1600

This has gone really slow the last few weeks as the hospital stays just cost so much money! I need to knuckle down and get it done!

Olivia-Louise_2

So I now have a new bank account, all in my own name!

I have to start surveys again.

Food shop came to £50.02.. This needs working on I've seen people do it way way cheaper Although it includes everything from food cleaning toiletries and baby things, I'm sure it could be cheaper

Tonight I am suppose to be sitting working a real budget out now things are a bit more settled even if I have no maintenance coming in still

mooomin

Olivia-Louise wrote: »

Food shop came to £50.02.. This needs working on I've seen people do it way way cheaper Although it includes everything from food cleaning toiletries and baby things, I'm sure it could be cheaper

Work on it bit by bit. Try lowering next week's budget by a fiver and see how you get on.

Look at recipes that can be stretched out for a couple of days. We always know there's more month left than money when I start making batches of chilli and bolognese Investigate "rubber chicken" which is when you start with a roast chicken and use the meat to make a couple of days worth of meals.

I'm pretty good at knowing when I'm likely to get good reductions in my local shops too. If you have a freezer then yellow stickered stuff is a good buy. At least half of what's in my freezer has been YS!

Check your local poundshop and see what they have that is cheap compared to the supermarkets. For me it's cereal bars and some cleaning stuff. Farmfoods have some good buys for things like eggs and frozen veg too.

It's doable!

ChopinonaBudget

Olivia-Louise wrote: »

Food shop came to £50.02.. This needs working on I've seen people do it way way cheaper

Do you meal plan? I've started doing that and it makes a massive difference. I check the freezer and cupboards, and meal plan as many meals as possible out of there before writing down stuff that actually needs purchasing. My grocery bill has gone down by two thirds (I'm not kidding) and my food waste is cut dramatically too as I'm actually using stuff before it goes off and has to be thrown.

I splashed out on a pretty little magnetic fridge meal planner / shopping list combo whatnot from paper chase from £8 to make this much nicer to do, and it keeps me a bit more motivated, but then I'm a right sucker and I like stuff like that

mooomin

ChopinonaBudget wrote: »

I splashed out on a pretty little magnetic fridge meal planner / shopping list combo whatnot from paper chase from £8 to make this much nicer to do, and it keeps me a bit more motivated, but then I'm a right sucker and I like stuff like that

I have one of those too I use the shopping list bit more than the meal planning, but with Christmas coming it's time to get back on MSE planning ways!

ChopinonaBudget

mooomin wrote: »

I have one of those too I use the shopping list bit more than the meal planning, but with Christmas coming it's time to get back on MSE planning ways!

Oh I don't think about Christmas until after November 7th (September is my daughter's birthday plus the end of my low-earn months) and November 7th is my Mum's birthday. I cent be thinkng about two dates at once!! :rotfl: