The 2 Year Freedom Plan & 2015 Beat The Budget Challenge

I_want_a_baby

Evening all,

Had a good day, helped out at my sons school and then did my lunchtime shift. I ended up popping round my parents after the school run and my children and I had tea there.

Tonight I started to sort out the kids toys (with them), we found one and a half bin liners full of toys they would like to donate to children who don't have much. I then dug out half a bin bag of my clothes, some toiletries, two bags of nappies we no longer need, a rocking toy, some bedding and some household items.

I still have a few more toys and their clothes to go through.

All of it will be donated to a local woman's refuge.

I also found three items of clothing I will try and sell as I think they are worth a try before donating.

Feeling really pleased at both being able to help those less fortunate and also clearing some space in our home!

Off to bed soon, three more days until payday :-)

IWAB x

I_want_a_baby

Morning,

My decluttering and organising is currently in overdrive!

My living room floor is currently piled high with items to give away.

I have 8 items on ebay - 2 with bids :-)!

I also have four items on a Facebook selling site, 2 have sold so far which will bring another £6 for the tin.

I've instructed the hubby to go to the local shop to try and get the two newspapers to give £5 off morrisons and £10 off aldi shops.

I've received my payslip from my new lunchtime shift which should cover the nursery fees paid out.

I've also started sorting through some Christmas stuff and I think it safe to say I have enough cards and wrap for the next couple of years!

All good here.

Payday tomorrow and hopefully some financial updates :-)

IWAB x

I_want_a_baby

Forgot to say!

At the end of this week we are getting the roof sorted on our rented out house. They are taking the tiles, felt and batten off and then replacing the batten and felt with new and putting the original tiles back on.

We have been quoted £1500 and we saved this up last winter so that's not a problem.

However...

I currently have £1300 ish saved up in an online saver for the debt repayment and the £1500 is currently in a 4% monthly saver.

If I can manage to up the debt savings to £1500 tomorrow on payday then I can pay for the roof from the online saver and leave the debt repayment money nicely tucked in the 4% account.

I'll report back tomorrow x

I_want_a_baby

Morning all,

So have sold another two things on Facebook last night. This means this morning I should add a total of £17 to the tin instead of £6!

No more bids on ebay items yet.

Received our new cot mattress and Moses basket mattress that I'd ordered yesterday. Unfortunately I should have ordered cot bed size! So trying to sell the mattress on rather than pay to return it. Once I've sold it I'll reorder the right one!

This morning I need to do errands, pick up some fresh stuff from morrisons (using voucher), get a battery for my watch, pay a cheque in and collect a tesco order (Christmas shopping).

Then I need to do my final stage of decluttering as I have about 10 bin bags full to go tomorrow. I have tried to sell some of this in the past so will just be happy to see it gone and have some space.

In face I need to write down the weekends plans as it is quite busy!
Husband is clay pigeon shooting in morning tomorrow, we need to drop off charity donations, collect a three week old 2 seater sofa and armchair (for £30 bargain!), visit the Christmas tree festival at the church, make mincemeat on stir up Sunday and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things!

In fact I might try and do the aldi shop this morning too and get a bit organised to make sure I make use of the voucher.

Off to get ready,

IWAB x

I_want_a_baby

Afternoon everyone!

Well what a busy weekend!

We painted the hall and the living room. Got all the pictures put on the wall and put our decorations up! We also collected the bargain sofa and chair and got rid of our donations :-)

I managed to do our banks yesterday and updated all our spreadsheets after payday.

I made up 6 envelopes with cash inside as budgets for various events during the month and also for food.

Last week £3.71 went into debt savings from save the change and after payday I managed to transfer £144.48 into debt savings too!
Also the second regular payment of £300 came out.

This means the totals as they are now are:
£12777.00 starting debt
£600 regular payments made
£1508.75 savings for debt repayment.
£10669.25 debt still to pay. (83.5% to go)

This also means that when the roof on our rented house is finished I can use £1500 from this account and not touch my regular saver with a nice interest rate :-)

I've done a meal plan to the 12th which will include limited shopping. I've also done a meal plan to the 4th of Jan so that I can ensure my Christmas food shop includes proper food and not just rubbish!

I've also cancelled one Christmas meal that I was meant to attend as I wasn't really looking forward to it and then I thought why pay £40+ for a night you don't really want to go to!

Anyway I am feeling really organised. Four things on ebay sold and I used that money to buy a few essentials we need for the baby which was good.

Off to relax with a brew before the school run now :-)

IWAB x

roomontheend

Wow, good going on both money and house front.

I_want_a_baby

Just a quick update from me:

Did a food shop yesterday, stuck to the list and bought only essentials with the exception of 2x loafs of bread for freezer 30% off. A kilo of beef mince 30% off and a pack of tea cakes 30% off.

Clip purse balance is now £10.88 to last until Friday 12th for food.
Envelope for postage and other bits holds £7.99 in change.

Food budget for week from 13th -18th when sister and husband arrives is £30

Food budget for week from 19th - 2nd when sister and husband leaves is £95 for evening meals, lunches, breakfast and lol rolls etc.

Then have another food budget of approx £100 to cover Christmas treats, Christmas dinner, Christmas baking, alcohol and special drinks etc.

Also have an envelope containing £30 for Christmas activities. This will probably be a trip to visit Father Christmas at the local small shopping centre and then a few pennies to put in buckets at various collections/houses with lights on.

I've also been shuffling money around my budgets/pots and have managed to save the following:
Cover paternity pay £245/£500
Baby things needed £130/£170
Car repairs £156.35/£240
Emergency fund £0/£200.

I am hoping to be able to save a bit more from both the fuel budget and the Christmas budget but will have to wait until the 31st to confirm.

I've also joined the not buying it 2015 thread over on old style!

IWAB x

I_want_a_baby

Well my son is off school sick today with a tummy bug and daughter is tired and whingy so turning the negative into a positive it can only mean one thing - a NSD!

While they are led up poorly on the sofa I intend to do the following:
Light the fire and catch up with the washing
Start writing Christmas cards
Wrap at least 3 peoples presents
Write a shopping list for the next two meal plans (with the exception of fresh stuff that I can only add at the time). This will help me check that I can afford what we need and also that I have space to store it all.
Check and update banks. (Add car service payment & fuel put in car)
Change my bedding.
Prepare tea so it's not a mad rush later.

I think it that was what I achieved today I would be very happy, let's see how much I can get done whilst looking after the children!

I will report back later.

I_want_a_baby

So mid morning update:

Fire lit
Wet washing hung to dry
Load of washing in machine
Written 1/3 of Christmas cards
Shopping list written for the Christmas meals meal plan

Will plough on...

lucielle

Making good progress.
L