Preparing for the biggest move of our life

bellevie

Well they covered the initial cost and whilst joking kind of made a big deal of how much the out of hours vet cost them. Its a small sole trader so no head office or management as such I can raise it with so I decided just to deal with it myself, I wont go back again that's for sure!

Mr T is the same in the car, He is plugged in but still manages to clamber everywhere, he does eventually settle down when we are the motorway, Im just on edge until he does settle down! I used to plug him into the belt using his lead, but I got a new short plugger so I am hoping that will restrict his movement a little.

Mr T was an angel up until he was neutered, he then decided to start eating the sofa! He did have the run of downstairs until that point. He is now confined to the kitchen when we are out, its a reasonable size. He scratched at the door the first couple of weeks, but now goes in willingly with his chew, a few toys and the radio. I asked my neighbours to listen out, and they remarked they dont hear a peep out of him.

I am nervous as to how he will be in the caravan, but I'm dealing with it as a trial, worst case scenario, next year he will be with a dog sitter!!

Tinkerbelle2000

The one I use is a sole trader but I know she has good insurance. My dog walker also has great insurance too but she made sure I had Mr D insured before she would take him on. He absolutely adores her, goes crazy when she comes round.

Why don't you think of using a crate while you are at the caravan. I know Mr D feels more secure and happy in it even though I don't like them. I guess it might be from how long he was at the kennels in a restricted space. When I wasn't using it his separation anxiety was bad and it took him ages to settle when I came home. Now he can see the front door from his crate and gets really excited to see us, runs round happily and settles down quicker.

I also leave the tv on for him for company lol.

Tink xx

bellevie

Just got back from a trip to my brothers. It was a horrible journey up there, but thankfully a stop to pets at home when we got there, I picked up a cage and spend the rest of the trip kicking myself for not thinking about it sooner!

It made the return journey 1000% better, well safer. Mr T was distressed and crying the whole way back.

Im now reconsidering taking him on holiday. Its a longer drive and he just gets too distressed. I called a local dog boarding place, they have spaces so I will visit hopefully tomorrow, see if I can get a feel for the place then decide.

He will have to get used to kennels as when I visit friends / family abroad I wont take him, I just had hoped not to do it this year. The more I think about it though the more I worry. If its a hot week the caravan will be an oven which means he will be on the lead for a week solid. Then I kick myself as I only booked that particular park so that we could bring him. Had I thought about it more sensibly, it might have been better to book a cottage where he could at least have somewhere cool to rest if it is too hot.

Decisions

Tinkerbelle2000

Hi Bellevie I was thinking the same about the caravan being hot. When you are at the caravan you could get one of the corkscrew things to go in the grass and he could run around then.

They are really strong as we have used one with Mr D. It comes with a wire lead so they can't chew through it.

At least that way you round be able to have the door open without worrying where he is.

Our local kennels are lovely. I think if you get a good one the doggies get quite spoilt lol.

Tink xx

bellevie

I had a look at the local kennels, the dogs mostly seemed happy tails wagging etc. I think Im swaying more towards that.
I called to see if they had any chalets left instead of caravans as they would be cooler during the day but they dont allow dogs in the chalets.

Im swaying more and more towards the kennels now, with the plan that we go out sightseeing in that area and look at some holiday cottages that I have seen as they may be a better option for next year. It will also allow me to decide if we can have a weekend abroad with our family maybe next easter - assuming he copes well.

Fairly chilled day today, after the kennel inspection we done our shop in Lidl. £26, I didn't need any fish / meat, but we did get extra carton juices, carton milk and a few tins for the caravan. I plan to spend the least I possibly can as the kennel fees will have to come out of the holiday budget. DD has had the paddling pool out, we had lunch in the garden. Feels nice not to have to rush everywhere

Only plan left is to go and see the BFG at the cinema, we are saving that for Friday which is payday, and its forecast to rain! Whilst in town we will look for DD's school shoes, she has a design in mind so it should be interesting trying to track those down!

Then my week off will be over:/ at least just for a week before our holiday starts

bellevie

Payday! And it is raining as expected so we are set to leave for the cinema in just over an hour.

I correctly predicted my pay to the penny on my spreadsheet, it did make me smile, my mileage means my pay is never the same month after month. Next month will be lower as I will have had 2 weeks off in the mileage claim period.

I have transferred some in my help to buy isa, some in my holiday childcare account and some in my general account. General never has a huge amount in it, but I can turn to it for unexpected bills etc. It was wiped out with recent car works so it will take me a little while to build it back up again.

The rest will cover rent & all other bills leaving only enough for food & petrol, school shoes & holiday budget.

No other spending plans, extra's will have to draw from one of the saving pots so hoping the next 4 weeks run smoothly!

Tinkerbelle2000

Glad the boarding kennels looked good. He will be fine in there. Just a shame it has to come out of your holiday budget. When do you go away?

Mr D has been a bit naughty today, seems to go through phases.

How was the film? I'd love to see that, just no spare cash at the moment.

Tink xx

bellevie

It is annoying re the holiday budget, but its all paid for, we will stay on site or go to beaches. Im going to bring as much food as I can so the spending should be minimal, perhaps for an ice cream if its hot, parking if we go to a different beach etc.

Film was good, I think I enjoyed it more than DD as I could understand the BFG's confusion with words, whereas DD couldn't make sense of it! She did laugh a a lot near the end when they get to Buckingham palace etc.
Im not sure what cinema you have near you, but mine have started to do family tickets starting from a minimum of 1 adult 1 child! Previously it was minimum of 3 people to qualify so it always cost too much previously. This time we had a free ticket for me following some spending at the attached mall, a few weeks ago.

I had a shocking migraine afterwards, the type I havent had for years. I always used to suffer with migraines after cinema so I stopped going for a long time, but I have been the past couple of years to children's screenings and been fine. Yesterday was a shock. I couldn't face making dinner as I felt sick at the sight and thought of food, so poor dd had to make her own ham sandwich for dinner whilst I desperately tried to make the living room as dark as possible so I could stay close to her. It wasn't an all nighter and thankfully I wasn't sick in the end!

Tinkerbelle2000

Oh no. I've only ever had one migraine and it scared the life out of me to the point I phoned my mum. Apparently she used to get them all the time. Ten gold stars to DD though for doing her sandwich. It does teach them in the long run doesn't it.

I think that's a good idea regarding the tickets. Places should realise there are a lot of single parent families so should accommodate that in the ticket bundles.

Are you counting down the days yet? I bet DD is so excited.

Tink xx

bellevie

Car was due for MOT this morning, well not due but booked in. Garage called late yesterday afternoon, emissions machine had broken so cancelled until Wednesday - thank goodness for Wednesday mornings off.
After the humongous spends on it recently I'd be flabbergasted if it failed.

Im kicking myself for spending all that money now.
I have decided after getting finance quotes that I have to get rid of it.

There is movement in our monthly budget for car finance, but it will decrease the amount I can save per month. That said, every penny saved each month so far this year has been pulled back to go on the car!

I was really torn on it to start so done a lot of talking to friends, colleagues, brother.
These are my biggest pushes:
My job would be at risk if I didn't have a car, I have to be able to drive its a requirement of the job, at 12 years old I dont know how long it will keep going.

I cant afford to keep on ploughing hundreds every few months for a new problem, if it randomly is fine for the next year and allows me to save for a 10 year old replacement - the risk of it also requiring more money spent on it is just too high - based on my experience of old cars the past 6 years! Only 1 of the 3 cars needed minimal work!

Previous to 2010 I had 2 cars on finance, first was 6 years I kept it until it was 10 - minimal work, 2 tyres, pads & disks, cambelt. Next one was 3 years old I didn't get to keep that long as DD fell ill and I left work so that was the first thing I could cut back on, that again just had a service.

I had been trying to save for a replacement, but this year so far I have spent over £1000!! £90 at the beginning something to do with the brakeswitch, £300ish when the footwell flooded, £130ish when I had to replace the cluster lights following the bulbs keeping blowing, £150 for a full service, and a further £510 for the works recommended as a result of that full service - I currently have enough to cover say 3 months finance scattered in savings accounts - so if I hadn't had to spend the above amount I would have reached my yearly savings target already - even with a service scheduled in! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

So, I made some finance enquiries and was accepted with my ideal price range, repayments proposed are exactly where I need them to be. I saw a couple of cars, one locally I have my heart set on. Its straight from a ford dealer, one owner full service history, low mileage. They offered me a shockingly low amount for my car, but another £250 on top if I get the MOT done.....so that was my plan for today!

Hopefully Wednesday will be a clean sweep and by next weekend I will be driving a stress free car!

The proposed deal is over 4 years, however if my plan to move to the cheaper area with a transfer comes true in the next 2 years I will have a lot more disposable income and will also release the deposit in this horridly expensive home which would clear the final 2 years finance.

If a transfer doesn't come up (same role same employer - cheaper location) I might by year 3 have enough saved separately to clear the final year.

Car tax, if I pay over 12 months dd as I do currently it is £3 cheaper per month than mine, but I think may pay the year when I collect so I at least have a noticeable decrease each month in outgoings. Annoyingly there would have been no change in my insurance premium, but the change admin fees will increase my payments for the next 4 months. That said Im on the 10 month payment plan at the moment, so when its renewed in Feb, it will be on a 12 month plan so insurance should drop down to even lower than it was with old car. Fuel I would expect to be the same, similar car, same size engine just newer.

DD came for the test drive, she was won over just because she had her own door -we had been opting for 3 door cars with the older lot just because they were usually cheaper.

Its not completely signed off yet, Finance are waiting for an invoice which wont happen until early next week, then I need the MOT pass to get the higher rate PX offer.

I need to update Ynab with a potential other outgoing - if this all falls at the last hurdle I will keep looking so I will keep the price quoted in my plans. My spreadsheet was updated before I accepted the quote all the way up to early next year to make sure I covered a range of 4 /5 week months, birthdays etc.

Fingers crossed for the best outcome - a good non costly car that will last me years