From debt to freedom...

savingholmes

I must admit to being glad school uniform buying days are behind me. If you got all your brood for £200 HSL that sounds like a massive achievement. Hope c19 settles down in your area soon. It's rising here too...

crazy_cat_lady

I feel your pain with the uniform shop. I only had ds to buy for this year and that was painful enough. His is all regulation - trousers and blazer and a PE that consists of t-shirt, hoody, shorts and trousers, all with the school logo. I cannot roll my eyes hard enough at how expensive and annoying it all is.

Spendless

I'm another one glad the school uniform days are gone. Expensive and stressful! @Bluegreen143 feel your pain too, with a little one in a shirt and tie! 

I have to say I do a wry smile to myself when someone posts they've read your thread for the first time because no one ever takes to the ex!  

I suppose you have to think re income coming down due to DS2 that would have happened anyway and you'd have still had higher than current grocery bills. Let his Dad bare those costs for a while. Still not convinced some won't be back before long.

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Cherryfudge, DAL, Bluegreen143, SH, CCL & Spendless. Welcome Blah1234!

Bluegreen143 - I agree that jogging bottom  type trousers are so much better for EYFS and Key Stage 1 children. 

Unfortunately its the secondary uniform that seems to cost so much. It’s having to have certain clothes as regulation  so there isn’t the option to buy from elsewhere. We have the freedom to buy option with trousers but DS2 got pulled up for wearing the wrong type of black trousers, even though I’d bought them from a school uniform section of a clothing shop. Makes me wary of buying the wrong thing now!

Spendless - it wouldn’t surprise me with DS2. There seem to be lots of clashes from what I hear.

I had planned to go to Job 1 yesterday to start getting prepared for the new school year but ended up taxiing children quite a bit. I went in today instead. Every year it surprises me just how much time  the seemingly little tasks take. I’m glad to have made a start. I think a couple more days should be see me ready.

MSE wise - I paid in £15 of tips. £10 has gone off a debt and £5 has gone to savings. Little steps...

Honeysucklelou2

Spent yesterday feeling increasingly agitated about how little I seem to have achieved over the holidays thus far. Quite a proportion of time has been spent cleaning up after DD2’s puppies which is one of those tasks that is continuous 😒.

The various parts of the school uniform arrived yesterday so youngest DD was excited to try everything on. Fortunately everything fitted 🙂. Just need to tackle the shoe part but can’t do that until Wednesday when money is in my account to do so.

Hoping to get as  much done as possible today. I’m not exactly sure which days I’m working or not next week, as I know I’m doing 1 training day for Job 3 but unsure of actual start date. Job 2 is mainly the usual evenings so will be ticking over. I know I will have to be meticulously organised when term starts. Part of me is excited to start Job 3 and part of me is a little nervous about the busyness levels.

Spendless

Yes, I also fell foul of the trousers that don't conform bought from the uniform part of a shop[ - though that was for a girl. Son we managed with the traditional department of mens trousers/suits (though that could be pricey!). I've been buying for DD starting drama school - plain black, no logos or stripes, no crop tops and even her wanting clothes more fitted than me buying a shed load of plain black t-shirts has been less stressful and cheaper than the school uniform days. 

I don't think I'd realised that you'd been left looking after puppies (plural!). Is that going to be manageable once you start back at job1? I have an almost 2.5 yo dog and though he's toilet trained, he can still be very 'young and giddy' and requiring lots of attention at times. 

 Are you keeping job 2 as well as starting job 3 for now at least till the tourist season dies down? 

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Spendless. Drama school sounds exciting...will your DD be moving elsewhere to do that?
Puppies will not be manageable when I go back to Job 1/ start Job 3. I have asked DD2 to think about a Plan B for them or rather their care as the house will be empty all day and they still need feeding 3 times  a day. Yes I’m intending to keep Job 2 going albeit less shifts to fit in with everything. It will suddenly get quiet when the main tourist  season slows down. In November / January/ February, it gets really quiet so won’t be as much work at all.

Yesterday was fairly productive. I have the chance of a greenhouse that would fit in the back garden. It would really help with bringing on seedlings without having to get to the allotment everyday which can be a challenge when working. I just need to dismantle it from its current location, so I made  a start on that. The glass came out quite easily on the side that we have done. It will just be the screws that hold the frame together that might need a good drench in WD40 first!!

It was a busy shift last night. My boss kindly gave me and a colleague, a £10 bonus each which in addition to tips means I have £40 to bank on Tuesday, which I will split between paying off the cc and savings.

Spendless

Yes, she's moving to Scotland. We live Northern England but it'll still be a fair few hours drive, though the rail connection is better than where she was previously moving to, which was  outside London. It's a change come about only in the last few weeks, she was almost set to go elsewhere but a different offer came through that she sees as 'better' for what she's trying to achieve but for me as her Mum it hasn't come without certain ramifications including financial ones (not unaffordable, but certainly different to what was anticipated - I'm considering my own diary soon!) and then there's my concern about her being in a different part of the UK to us as we go through another winter in relation to Covid. I can completely understand you must have similar feelings about your eldest DD, however excited you are for them to be following their dream.

Greenhouse sounds like it'll be handy as well as the extra bonus - nice boss! 
 

janb5

Hi HSl-  how lovely to get the chance of the greenhouse and am very impressed you`re dismantling/assembling it yourself! Long term it will be a huge benefit to you. 

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Spendless & Janb5.

Spendless - absolutely! I am pleased for DD1, just hope that we aren’t physically restricted via lockdowns or tiers, so she can get home if needed. Hope the move to Scotland goes smoothly for your DD.

Its been a busy week thus far. I did split shifts at Job 2 yesterday and  started at Job 3 today. Well it was more of a training day with my proper work days starting next week. That works well as it gives me the rest of this week to spend the days with the younger DCs and finishing off the school shopping and the evenings to do shifts at Job 2.

Payday today for Job 1. Thankfully I have been paid for extra days that I worked at the end of term 🙂. This has coincided nicely with the number of birthdays I have in the next week (!). Some of the extra has paid for DS3’s birthday gift and will cover some of the cost of DD2’s significant birthday! The number of birthdays and significant ones in particular will mean that the debt busting will be slower in September but hoping that it will increase in October.

I got round to using £50 of Job2’s pay from last week, to save to the Help to Save account. That brings the total to £500 which feels like a major achievement! The EF is slowly inching up towards that figure, although I have a horrible feeling that legal bills may eat into it☹️.