Banishing the black cloud

maggiecon

two days left of the budget and I am down to £0 again. Looks like I will have to dip into next weeks pot, I just need to get a few bits and pieces to keep us ticking over such as bread and milk. I think £10 will do it.

I was accepted onto a course designed for helping women set up their own business. I spent two hours at it today and left early, they started by saying the first thing you need is a passion for what you do, which I don't have. I was only going to do it to make some additional money. Also the amount of stress my debts are causing me with a steady wage coming in, makes me think I would be a nightmare if I didn't have a steady income and would be constantly stressed. I am not sure what to do now.

Hubby had to leave work early yesterday with a really bad bug and hasn't got off the sofa since. So that's two days pay we loose this week, I am not sure if he will be fit to go tomorrow either.

Spent all day yesterday pricing car insurance, the cheapest quote I could get was £343.38 with a possibility of £35 cashback through Quidco. That's £50 cheaper than last year, even after hubby received the 3 penalty points in the post.

maggiecon

Last day of my weekly budget and I am £15 over:( Not to worry it just means I have £15 less to spend this week.

I have worked really hard all week to build up my freezer with meals and I can now confirm it is packed full of dinners. I have had a few disasters along the way, but that's to be expected with my cooking :rotfl:

Freezer meals for this week ;
Tonight Meatballs and tomato sauce
Thursday Chicken Enchiladas
Friday Sweet and sour chicken
Saturday - I might make something fresh and of course extra for the freezer
Sunday - A nice Sunday roast
Monday - Cottage Pie with frozen mince and leftover potatoes/veg from Sunday
Tuesday - Something from the leftover Roast
Wednesday/Thursday - huge Lasagne from the freezer.
Friday - Chicken Fried Rice from freezer

So that's 10 nights of dinners planned with only cooking at the weekend. Interested to see how it goes. If it is a success I think I might invest in a good size freezer (second hand of course :money:) and try for a months worth of dinners. Ok maybe that's a bit adventurous, maybe two weeks worth of dinners first.

I seen an add on the tele last night for M&S new frozen dinner range might get a nosy and see what they have and try and replicate them.

If this does work I can see my grocery bill being a lot lower this week, well that's the theory lets hope it works.

I haven't gotten around to ordering the oil heating yet as I am not sure if the oil tank is safe (just moved in this summer and the house is falling apart) So I have been filling a 5 gallon drum at our local filling station. It works out at 59.9p per litre where as 500 litres for the oil tank is 51.8p per litre which is a saving of £40 for 500 litres. But then I find with the gallon drum I can see how much I am using and I am trying to be more economical with it, and it is easier to just find £15 per week in the budget rather than trying to save up for a big fill. Not sure what to do. I don't really have the money at the minute to get a plumber in to look at the oil tank because I am still trying to get the electrics sorted. :mad:

maggiecon

I just checked my bank account and there was £60 lodged, when I rang to find out where it came from it, they told me it was a cheques from my ex.

My daughter refuses to speak to him at the minute, basically because he is nuts, and she has eventually realised this. He will not leave her alone, he is following her home from school and asking her why she wont spend time with him. He even started texting one of her friends when she was staying with her for a sleep over. Hubby is going mad because he thinks he is up to something, which I am in no doubt he is, but I don't know what. If he tries to take me back to court he wont have a leg to stand on because C is so afraid of him they wont make her spend time with him.

the whole thing is really stressing me out as I am so worried about how it is affecting C and I don't want it to impact on her and I really don't know what to do next. Do I send him a text and ask him to leave her alone which I know he will ignore anyway. How do I give him back his £60 as I don't want it. I have done fine for the last 14 years without child support. And finally how do I make sure C is happy with all this going on. I finished with the !!!!! 13 years ago and he is still trying to mess with our lives. :mad::mad:

maggiecon

Got another letter from my solicitor last night, ex-tenant is still trying to push for a claim, they also applied through the tenancy deposit scheme to have their deposit back (their deposit was £300 and they owed £700 in rent!!). so 5 months after getting rid of them they are still a complete torture. Need to make an appointment with my solicitor to sort this and my ex out. Like I said at the start of this diary its about taking control again. No more letting people walk over the top of me.

I should take a leaf out of my daughters book, her dad has been a complete !!!!! and she said enough is enough and she doesn't want to see him anymore, she said she is happier just being with us at the minute. I really admire her for her ability to take a stand no matter how much he is pressurising her.

On the money saving front, I made cottage pie last night from the freezer with some leftover spuds that were lying in the cupboard. Hubby commented on how nice it was and how easy it was to prepare. He now thinks batch cooking is a great idea. Another thing I love about it is you can change your mind very easily, eg I had originally planned to have meatballs last night but didn't fancy it so just took something different out of the freezer. We are converts. I am going to experiment with some more recipes, would like to try some pasta dishes but I am worried they would turn mushy. I also want some vegetarian options too, as I like to have meat free nights at least twice a week.

maggiecon

Done my groceries yesterday for the week and they came to £22!! result. I still have to buy stuff for dinner tomorrow and Sunday, I have budgeted £20 for this as we want a roast but this is still a big reduction on my usual weekly spend.

Hubby went back to work yesterday and was sent home as they have no work until Monday, no wages this week. But the silver lining means I get my bedroom painted today

maggiecon

Just a wee update to say I paid £230 to HMRC - another debt off the list :T:T:T

Puzzcat

:T Well done :T

PennySaving

Terrific news!

NoOneAround

Fantastic news! x

maggiecon

Thanks folks it feels great to score another debt of the list.

I have just written a list of bills that I need to pay over the next 5 weeks, it's not good. I think my emergency pot will take a severe bashing.

Tax 2 cars £99 each
Blinds for house £265
Accountant £384
Car Insurance £350
Brothers bday £40
Mums Bday (60th) £200
Speeding Fine £60
House Insurance £200
TOTAL £1699!!

My batch cooking escapades are going well. Although I paid £14 for a roast in Mr T's on Saturday and there was hardly anything left after dinner to make a leftover pie. The frozen soup is great and is lovely at lunch time. I will definitely make large pots of soup in the future.

I have nothing left of my weekly budget, but I did spend £40 in Homebase as I needed another two pots of paint for my bedroom, I just need to get to Thursday without spending.