From debt to freedom...

Eager_Elephant

Excellent news honeysuckle!! As a single parent you should have received far more than you actually got so I think you will get your £2k refunded.

They should apply it at the time so not sure what went wrong - just after I posted to explain about it I actually had a client with a similar issue, she was also awarded notional entitlement although her debt was only £600

Mumoffourkids

That is brilliant news about the tax credits. Fingers crossed you might get some back but at least you won!!!8217;t have to pay anymore.

Honeysucklelou2

Finally paid the last £200 of this term's nursery fees. It's a relief to get that one out of the way. Fortunately it is a term time nursery so I won't have to pay again until September. We still have a couple of days to go until the summer holidays, so not quite in holiday mode yet.

Honeysucklelou2

I've had a busy Saturday again today. This one has been a little fraught as 3 of the teenagers have been incredibly stroppy - usually it's only one at a time!:rotfl: I've had to ask DD2 to clean up after the puppies 4 times until in the end I did most of it myself.:mad::mad: The ex showed up this afternoon and proceeded to spend the time fixing his vehicle. Unfortunately we have a single vehicle width driveway so although we can park more than 1 car, it means the first car is stuck until the second car gets off the driveway. At 5, I needed to get DD1 from work and found that he had disconnected the battery and was busy welding so I couldn't go anywhere. At no point did he have the courtesy or foresight to let me know what he was doing so that the vehicles could have been swapped round before he started :mad::mad::mad: .I asked if he could give me a vague estimate as to how long he would be...poor DD1 was stuck waiting for 1 and a half hours. So so frustrating:(. I hate being trapped like that.

I've done a couple of loads of laundry, washed lots of pots and pans, hoovered through and washed down the hearth and stonework around the fire. It seems to gather dust in the gaps between stones, so a wash seems to have cleared that!

The blackcurrants, harvested about 10 days ago, have been made into blackcurrant meringue pie. The recipe involved simmering 500g blackcurrants with 275ml of water and about 80g sugar. The fruit is then strained and discarded whilst the cornflour is added to the juice, to thicken it. The colour was amazing, a rich raspberry like colour. DD1 is keen to paint using the left over blackcurrant pulp...it seemed a shame to waste it:o. I've made a batch of chocolate brownies and vanilla muffins but they have all but been demolished by everyone. Back to the mixing bowl then...!

On Friday morning I was up quite early and spent time updating the spending tracker. I must confess that the busier I get at work, the more I slip at keeping up tabs on spending. To my horror the shopping at Mr T's is creeping up to Easter levels again. About £50 was on clothing and trainers to make sure that the 2 attending camp had what they needed. Even so the rest (£550) has been on food. I'm hoping I can get that down more as I'll have more time to bake in the holidays. The reality is that I'm feeding 4 young adults, 2 of whom have large appetites and 3 children plus a 12 year old boy who has just hit that stage of always being hungry. Plus myself, of course and the 4 dogs. It's striking a balance between having enough healthy home cooked food but trying to keep the cost in some sort of proportion.

Cherryfudge

How very inconsiderate of your DH! You must have been so annoyed.

Sympathy from me about feeding young adults: they are hollow-boned aren't they?!

Honeysucklelou2

I've had a whole weekend off but am feeling completely tired, not so good when I still have 2 days to go, which are going to be very full days. I spent 4 hours in the car today driving around, basically being a taxi ferrying children to and from jobs and the younger ones to and from birthday parties. Unfortunately the timings and directions didn't work out so after 4 hours, much zig zagging and goodness knows how many miles, I finally got everyone home.

The blackcurrant meringue pie was delicious and definitely the best way to eat blackcurrants!!

Honeysucklelou2

Got to the end of term yesterday. It was a relief as it's been so busy. My body clock is very much on work time and still woke at 5! A parent kindly gave me a gift yesterday of a mini bottle of prosecco with the instructions to relax in the evening. I very rarely drink, usually a Baileys at Christmas, so I thought I'd try this prosecco. Lovely drink but boy did it knock me out! I slept really well!

Today I have a trip to the cinema to sort out so that DD4 can celebrate her forthcoming birthday with her friends.

I need to make a list of household jobs that I need to get done before September, as I don't get chance to do such jobs in term time. I have noticed that all the fencing needs a coat of something Cuprinol like to prevent any rotting. I need to paint some rooms as well, so will perhaps need to break the jobs down into weekly chunks so that it feels manageable and not too overwhelming. Top of the list will be more hacking down of the weeds at the allotment and hopefully a late sowing of runner beans. I know they won't harvest until Late Sept/ Oct but worth it to try and fill the freezer. I hope to get a decent walk in everyday as my fitness levels are really bad at the moment, lack of time being a factor. At least walking is free...!

Kitten868

What a brilliant update to come back to! So so so so pleased about HMRC! Just hoping you can be refunded too. You had pretty much paid half of it. And happy holidays! Don't spend it driving kids to work! Xxx

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Kitten868. I'm trying to think carefully about the mileage I'm doing not least because the car has done about 117k.

Yesterday was a beautiful day here. I took the younger children to meet up with my DSIL and nephews at a beach at the other side of the county. It was truly stunning and so lovely to splash in the warm sea. The colour of the sea was an amazing blue green...it could have passed for somewhere abroad. On our return home, we couldn't resist stopping off at our usual beach to have tea and ended up watching sunset and playing games. It really was the most relaxing and enjoyable day.

Today has been a little spendy as it is DD4's birthday. We had a celebratory breakfast that did include fresh blueberries, a real treat! She wanted to go bowling which we did, the ex paid for that and I paid for the fish and chip dinner that she wanted at the end of the day. DD1 helped me to create a flamingo cake. I popped into a supermarket to look for a cake but felt it best to try myself. The cake looks rustic and homemade but you can tell it is a flamingo!!! DD4 is a complete Paddington fan so we're ending her special day by watching Paddington 2.

Tomorrow DD4 has a cinema trip with a couple of friends ( instead of a party), so tomorrow will be a little spendy again. We have a 3 day break from birthday cake before we do it all again as DS2 celebrates his birthday on Tuesday. It's that time of year when 4 of my children and 1 nephew celebrate their birthdays over the next 6 weeks!

Honeysucklelou2

I had a productive couple of hours last night. I decided to take out my 3 clothes drawers, tip everything out and sort through, making sure that I rolled each item carefully before replacing it in the drawer. The result was a small pile of clothes for recycling, that I know I won't wear again, the finding of 8 payslips that I'd stuffed in the drawers and a letter from my pension company. The pension company has moved from paper correspondence to online and this letter was a last paper letter dated in 2015. I spent about half an hour registering on the pension site and checking the current state of my pension. It made for sobering reading, not to mention some confusion. I think the pension contributions I made before having my children are on an older pension system and the payments over the last 5 years are on a new scheme. Either way, it made me realise I need to be saving far more which I can only do by clearing my debts, so that debt payments can be diverted to savings.

I wrote out a list of household jobs yesterday, that I could do with getting done before September. Some are simple jobs like sweeping pathways, others will require more time and effort. I think the best way
I can do it is to tackle one job a week so it doesn't become overwhelming.

Yesterday was a little spendy as we went to a soft play venue for the afternoon. My lovely nephews are visiting for a week, but staying with another family member. Unfortunately one can't be near dogs so limits them visiting our house. Soft play was a best option for a wet afternoon.

Today we are packing up a picnic and visiting a local NT property. We have family membership so getting in will be free as will parking. I made some rock cakes and carrot & orange muffins in preparation for the picnic, so just got to do sandwiches, fruit and carrot & cucumber sticks. I'm asking every child to find their water bottles, so that I'm not having to spend out.

Tomorrow Will be spendy as it's DS2's birthday although I hope not too spendy. On our return today we'll need to harvest the blackcurrants as the bushes are loaded!