Forever Home Fund

katep23

Unexpected trip to the vets for the last appointment of the day - our boy cat, who is very prone to getting ticks, managed to get two yesterday morning which didn't come out very cleanly and also had another which he had ripped out leving a big scab.

This evening when we got home he was very lethargic (most unlike him to be home at that time anyway) and had hot ears. Cue a visit to the vets, a buzz cut, removal of the remaining "bits", two injections and £104 in vet bills Still he's worth it!

Also meant I didn't get to sit through the first webinar for my course but I can get it on catch up tomorrow

Booked my first exam so that's another £108 - this learning stuff is expensive :eek:

Also went out for lunch yesterday with a friend from work who is having a really bad time so that was an extra expense but bless her she is really going through it so that's fair enough.

We have however had dinner out of the freezer every day this week and used some bits out of the larder so that's positive.

This may not be a great month for saving - I need to work out a target but it won't be much - but, as I get paid the last Friday of the month, this is only a 4 week month and 3 weeks tomorrow is payday :j And counting...

katep23

Right, running the figures in my spreadsheet I have £400 for the rest of the month (this is my money, not joint account) so, if I tighten the belt for the next three weeks, I reckon I can save £200 this month.

The only issue is we are on holiday later on in June for my birthday but we are planning on sofa surfing with friends and family so we only need to pay for food and drinks. We might actually get to use our National Trust membership for cheap days out and if we take pack ups and drinks we can keep the costs down

katep23

Poorly puss is much better so glad we took him to the vets.

Aim for today whilst it is so horrible is to do an inventory on freezers and larder and then write a meal plan.

Wish me luck...

katep23

Sooo, not a very money saving weekend as we had to stock up on duck food, we bulk buy so now have enough for 6 months.

I do love a good spreadsheet so I have a pivot table showing how many eggs were laid, the value of egg sales and how much we've spent on the ducks. So far this month, they owe us £87

Also got a few more fish for the tank which was unplanned and a few (ahem six) bottles of wine - our big vice as we don't go out too much. We didn't drink them all though (there's definitely one left somewhere )

Still on track to save some money this month and am trying to do a bit on swagbucks / surveys to bring in a little bit for the pot. Also, going to a meeting for work tomorrow so should make a couple of quid on mileage as I'll take my [STRIKE]manky old[/STRIKE] trusty diesel which doesn't cost a lot.

Habibiboo

katep23 wrote: »

Why the forever home now? It's us, 3 cats, 18 ducks, 4 cars, 5 motorbikes, a tankful of tropical fish, a garden full of plants, a 3-bed semi filled to bursting, a garage, two outhouses, a greenhouse and a shed to find a new home for :cool:

:wave:

Hi Katy ... It sounds like between this ^^ ...

katep23 wrote: »

Sooo, not a very money saving weekend as we had to stock up on duck food, we bulk buy so now have enough for 6 months.

I do love a good spreadsheet so I have a pivot table showing how many eggs were laid, the value of egg sales and how much we've spent on the ducks. So far this month, they owe us £87

And this ^^^^ your forever home could well be something of a small holding ... is that something you have in mind? What a shame they are building around your current place. Are you on an all-out house hunt yet or in the saving and keeping half an eye out phase?

Good luck either way, sounds like finding your forever home will be quite a challenge so you're definitely in the right place here with your diary, so welcome, it'll be great to hear about how your search is going x

katep23

Hi Habibiboo, we would love a smallholding or even just a house with a large garden (and preferably no immediate neighbours as ducks can be noisy ).

There aren't that many suitable properties around in the areas we are looking at within our "price range". We're trying to arrange a mortgage appointment to find out what our "price range" actually is as the amount we can borrow varies massively from one lender's website to another :cool:.

In terms of location, we are casting the net far and wide, anywhere within an hour's commute of my work, however this is prime commuter belt (Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire) so there's a lot of competition for properties.

Had to fill up the car today so that was £89 (when it stopped pumping as it hit the limit so not completely full :eek:) but will keep me going until payday so that leaves £111 for the rest of the month. This is really making me so much more aware of my spending .

katep23

Wow. this month is running away with me money wise. After filling up [STRIKE]rusty [/STRIKE]trusty diesel, we discovered the radiator is leaking so had to park it up (with a full tank ) and take my "weekend" car which does considerably less miles to the gallon and also needed filling.

Now need to purchase a new radiator and hose-thingy as well

And I forgot my road tax is due on Weekend Car at the end of the month - £285 :eek:

So unlikely to make any savings at all this month :rotfl:

Eating out of the freezer is going well :T although I haven't managed to do an inventory but had a good rummage through today and there is a lot of stuff to use up, some of it is quite "mature" shall we say so it'll be good to make sure it doesn't get wasted.

Sent off data capture form to a mortgage advisor and hoping to make an appointment to see them this week to find out what we can borrow

And we finally fitted a new curtain rail in our bedroom which looks sooo much better, makes the place much more homely. The curtain rail was a bargainous £3.50 off the bay of e!

katep23

£34 ready to go into joint account from egg sales which will help pay towards having the oil tank filled tomorrow.


Realised our underspend in April and May was not as impressive as I thought as I missed off our gym membership - oops! Still underspent though, that's the main thing.


Loaf of bread in the machine for breakfast and off to make lunch now; I might not be saving huge amounts of money at the moment but I am limiting my spends where I can.

Habibiboo

:wave:

Good news about the under-spends and bargains Kate!

Hope the car doesn't work out too expensive in all, such a pain when you're doing so well one minute and have an unplanned spend the next. Still, all the good work you're doing at least you put yourself in a better position to manage the unplanned extras, alongside still reaching your big dream.

How's the house hunting going?

katep23

Hi Hbbb :hello: house hunting is quiet at the moment but there are two interesting properties on the market. We won't go and see them until we know what our budget is in case we fall in love and then can't afford them

Chased up mortgage advisor this evening as have not heard back - if I don't hear in the next couple of days I will try and find someone else as I'm not filled with confidence by the service so far.

Two lots of good news today, the parts for the car were under £60 and when we had the oil tank filled today it took about 200L less than I thought it would so our total spend for heating over the last 12 months was under £300. Our shower and hot water are electric though and we do use the open fire a lot, burning wood we get off freecycle - I love free heat .

Must get onto my mobile provider as they have a cheaper tariff than I'm on now and I get a discount so might save a few pence there

Ugh, just gone into bedroom - they have been muck-spreading the field out the back / to the side and the window is open :doh: The joys of living on a farm :rotfl: