XSpender Speeds it Up - £0 to £60k in 27 months

Frugalfamily3

Hi Xspender. Just caught up with your diary. Well done on the saving and paying off bills. Impressed

XSpender

Frugalfamily3 wrote: »

Hi Xspender. Just caught up with your diary. Well done on the saving and paying off bills. Impressed

Thank you:)

Went to see a house today. Put in a cheeky offer, waiting to hear back but not holding out much hope as ours isn't on the market yet. It was one of the smaller 3 beds we had originally decided we would go for. It is definitely big enough and I wouldn't get sleepless nights worrying about the mortgage if one us was made redundant.

It is a project in an area where it will get snapped up quickly.

It will be going on next week so this weekend will be a massive declutter and deep clean. That makes us sound like we live in a hovel :rotfl:

XSpender

After sleeping on it DH and I decided that the house we saw yesterday isn't right for us. It is too much work and I feel that the back is overlooked too much so we have withdrawn our offer.

This afternoon we went to see another house, 3 bed semi of the small kind that our friend has recently purchased (and we thought to small for us )and fell in love :happyhear It has 6 more rooms than we currently have how can that be too small :rotfl:

It is cheaper than the dooer upper but is done so minimal spends on cosmetics required and some internal joinery. Fabulous area, very close to the primary I would have loved DS to attend and to another, both outstanding so if we move DS may change schools.

I have made a start on decluttering and deep cleaning the downstairs as the valuer is coming to take photos on Friday ready for it to go on sale asap.

Our small budget this month is being squeezed but that was always the plan and if our offer is accepted it will give us more incentive to save.

RoaringTwenties

Hi XSpender, finally managed to get onto your diary! The potential house sounds exciting, keep us updated on developments And well done on the bill paying & OPing :T

XSpender

The seller accepted another offer on the house but DH and I are not that disappointed surprisingly, I think we were wooed by the house's interior when we had already discounted this type of house as been too small. We would have probably wanted to move again within a few years whereas if we go for the style that is £30k more we get what we want and would be happy to stay longer, or for good.

Our house is still going on the market on Friday and we will keep looking.

Received an unexpected refund from Sky so that will be going to an OP as will the interest on the CA I still haven't transferred over.

DH has taken a couple of days off this week to get the house sorted and ready for Friday's photos. We have done most of the sorting out and deep cleaning but the kitchen still needs painting and then deep cleaning.

The deep cleaning of the house has made DH and I realise that we don't do enough around the house as it shouldn't be this grubby. Half the time I think its because he doesn't do much so I have got into the habit of not doing much either.

XSpender

Ooooo I've got another medal.:D

OP has been made, TCB still isn't ready to pay out and budget is getting super tight. I have £68.30 left in my uber frugal jan food budget but haven't really been uber frugal and have 16 days left which is two weekends shopping. :eek:

Sorted out a massive pile of laundry that just needed putting away and have done all the rest of the washing leaving a couple of baskets of ironing to do.

Need to get off my butt and dye my hair and pack my case for my night away tomorrow but said butt is stuck to the sofa.

Oh, and my fitbit has developed the same fault as before and is not charging :mad:

XSpender

DS has been physically assaulted by another child at school, it's not the first time this child has hit DS but this time it was particularly bad and it doesn't appear the other child was reprimanded in any way.


Tomorrow we will be arranging a meeting at school to see what is been done about it, I mean, he's 5 for gods sake :mad:

Suffolk_lass

XSpender wrote: »

DS has been physically assaulted by another child at school, it's not the first time this child has hit DS but this time it was particularly bad and it doesn't appear the other child was reprimanded in any way.


Tomorrow we will be arranging a meeting at school to see what is been done about it, I mean, he's 5 for gods sake :mad:

That is really hard. After we moved when DS was in year 8 another child took to homophobic bullying, standing behind him in queues and making sexualised thrusting movements to ridicule and isolate him, and verbal abuse and shoving. This went on for months with ineffective or dismissive responses. It got to June (he had moved there in the last week of the Autumn term) and I told him that the next time the child touched him sexually he was to punch him as hard as he could in the face. That happened and the child punched DS back. They were taken out of class and the aftermath was that the boy was suspended until the end of term. All was quiet then until late November when it started again. I wrote to the Head Teacher and set out the history of bringing it to their attention and their ineffective measures to address it and said if they did not take steps to separate them I would simply report it to the Police as sexual assault with no duty of care by the school. That worked. Although the imperative to keep them apart waned over time and we found ourselves explaining the background to new teachers over the next three years until he left.

It probably sounds very aggressive to anyone who has not seen the impact that bullying has on their child's confidence, personality and development. The school has to have an effective bullying policy and they must take it seriously. I found there was far too much protection of the perpetrator and little consideration of the victim in our case. It made DS permanently wary of getting involved in things and as a 23 year old he still insists on being a background person, not really taking his life in hand and driving himself, so as not to draw attention to himself. He is 23. At least he has a lovely girlfriend after several years of not committing to relationships that might hurt.

So my advice is really go for it. Find out what their bullying policy says, what their escalation policy and practice is, and how they publicise it and then make them accountable for it.

On another occasion at the previous school, DS brought use of drugs in school to my attention and I conveyed a message to his teacher that they must act within three days or the authorities would hear from me, rather than them. There was an immediate "raid" episode and the dealer was permanently excluded and the drugs policy was issued to every parent within three days.

Sorry if this sounds a bit ranty but the point is that you must ensure your child is properly protected when in their care. End of.

SL

XSpender

Thank you so much Suffolk lass for taking the time to share your DS's story. The child that attacked DS has, I believe, behavioural as well as other problems, and will lash out at other children unprovoked and be disruptive in class. His parents will always make him apologise if it happens when they are there, as it had to DS at a party last year.

DS is a happy, confident and sociable child, it hasn't effected him as yet but this is why I am keen to nip it in the bud. We have spoken to school and they are investigating. We are not the only parents to have raised our concern about this child's violence towards other children.

I did have a look at their bullying policy but I am not confident it is being dealt with well on a day to day basis by the classroom teacher.

XSpender

2 weeks to payday and it's all gone quiet moneywise, trying to hold on to what is left of our squeaky tight Jan budget. Feb will be a little more relaxed (but not much;)) and I 'should' get my annual bonus. I say 'should' because we only know we are getting it when we open our pay slips:eek: One of my team is paid differently and his annual bonus is about 20% of his annual income and he has no idea if he is getting it until then either:eek::eek:

DH is at work this morning, footie this afternoon then a night out tonight and then I am away with work from Sunday tea time, we are like ships in the night this weekend.

Tasks for weekend:

DS swimming lesson Done
Ring EA to retake an external photo for sale details Done and details dropped off so goes on sale Tuesday
Accept party invite for DS
Keep house clean and tidy as it was yesterday for photos (it looks like someone else's house :rotfl:)Done
Make a big dish of GF enchiladas, eat one portion and freeze the restDone
Make a GF loaf, freeze half Done
Make GF peanut butter cookies and a double chocolate banana cake (so much for losing weight this month!) portion and freeze Cake made, half frozen and blondies made
DS maths homework Done half so far
DS spelling homework practice
Washing Done
Ironing - currently all hidden in the back of car for EA photos;) Done a bit and put 1 basket away, DH can do rest
Pack bag as away Sunday night with work (but back late Monday )
Get a set of house keys cut as DH set given to EA for viewings
Book 2 places in a night time trail run for Feb
Go for a run and possibly a swim at gym
Avoid spending any money other than race entries £6 on 2 light bulbs for living room light fitting, £2.94 on tin foil