Mortgage free by 45

Allotrope

So I haven't updated this well, but although I'm struggling to be very frugal (Decembers a hard month to do this) I am still much more aware of my spending.

Today I'm going to persuade DD to clean my car for her pocket money instead of taking it to the car wash, and clipper the dog myself instead of paying £35 for a groomer to do it. It doesn't look nearly as good but I won't be as sad when he rolls in a cow pat either.

I'm also planning to investigate my pension paperwork as I haven't done this since I switched careers, and earn some Swagbucks... have a great Monday everyone!

Allotrope

A reasonable day today. I did spend £12 on mcds but tried to make up for it by making a huge pasta bake which covered dinner tonight and lunch on Wed.

News on my house today. It's subsiding and I was waiting for a decision from the council on whether we could remove three trees in the garden under TPO as probable subsidence cause. The council have agreed and the insurers are arranging it.

I started sorting out my paperwork today:

- chased down the kids savings (which are minimal....changed the address on the child trust funds and saved the premium bonds numbers on my phone - my youngest won £25 back in 2013 which I've written and requested is reinvested.
- wrote to NS&I to find out if I have any premium bonds. Thought I had a hundred or so but can't find a certificate so hopefully that'll produce something
- in my paper sorting I found a cheque for £13.85 from the DVLA...it's over six months old (Apr this year) but I'll have a go at cashing it anyway!

Tomorrow I'm meeting my sister for lunch so will need to spend on a meal out and need to get Christmas pressies for my DDs. I'm also planning to set up YNAB for starting in January as my current budget tracker is irritating me (might help if I actually recorded anything in it, rather than just spending...pen and paper may suit me better....)