Sashybo - Back Again

sashybo

Hi Honeysuckle & Nicnak. 👋 I have been meaning to set up a separate Christmas savings account for a while, as we have one for birthdays so it would make sense.

I have been looking at the debts, I need the interest rate on one of the car loans and the exact amount still owing ( I have a rough figure) and on the other I need the interest rate and current total but DH is locked out of the online account. He needs to phone up to get it unlocked but there is always a big queue and he's too impatient to wait. 🙄 

Both 0% CC deals are ending in September 2021 so we need to start overpaying these asap so we can pay them off before the 0% ends in case we can't get another 0% balance transfer. The smaller car loan is due to end in 2022, I was hoping to start overpaying this to shorten the term but we took a 2 month payment holiday so that amount will need to be paid before any overpayment will shorten the term. I have managed to pay an extra £80 off using survey money so that's a start. 

I don't even know when the bigger car loan is due to end as DH took it out in his own name rather than jointly and transferred it to a new loan provider to get a lower interest rate (and I suspect to borrow a bit more to cover some of his spending 🤨). So I need him to get the account unlocked so I can get the total, the term and the interest rate.

The garage conversion loan is due to be paid off in 2023, any overpayments won't shorten the term but will lower the monthly payment so this will likely be the loan we overpay last.

Looking at all of the debt makes me feel like we've gone around in circles again this year. 😩 We've taken on more CC debt to pay off the O/D and try and stay out of it but we're still going into it and now have the added CC debt. 🤦‍♀️ At least it's on 0% for now. 

We also had to borrow some money from the cash that the outlaws gave us towards financing the sunroom (no progress there as the council are slow as slow can be, planning permission has been given but no building warrant) so need to pay £750 back to that. The outlaws don't know about that though. 🤫 The money won't be needed for a while yet as there is no work going on though, so not too worried about it. 

I'm hoping that the muddle we got into this year again was mainly due to me being on SMP for 6 months and not just our terrible budgeting and emotional spending. 😳

I also really want to get new flooring in my living room as well as new couches but that's not possible until a lot of the debt is paid off. I need to use that as motivation to stop the silly spending. 

Sun_Addict

What I do re Christmas funding is shave off the oddments from any money going into my bank and any bits left over from general spending. These small bits add up over the year and by December I usually have around £600. Makes it a painless way to save. There is a Virtual Sealed Pot challenge on here that gave me the idea, worth joining. 

sashybo

We've received a couple of Christmas cards so I'll need to start writing mine soon and hopefully get them posted this week. We're making our own using a picture of the kids in their Christmas jumpers. DH just needs to edit it a bit, stick a Happy Christmas on it and print them out. 

What a palaver we had trying to get the kids to sit next to each other without wandering off and trying to get them both to smile at the same time. 🤦‍♀️ The best we could do is DS smiling and DD looking a bit confused. 😂 At one point both of them were crying, we had to have 3 different attempts at a photoshoot as one of them was always tired or hungry. 🤦‍♀️ We would NOT make good children's photographers. 😆 

Had a lazy day today in regards to housework, I did one washing and hung it up and then did my usual round of dish washing and tidying. I have a towel wash on at the moment and also chucked stuff in the slow cooker for chilli. We can have that for dinner tomorrow with baked potatoes and we also have sour cream. I found a packet of black eyed beans in the cupboard so am soaking some overnight and will cook them in the morning and chuck them in with the chilli along with some kidney beans for an hour or so before dinner.

I might try making some gingerbread men (people?) with DS at one point this week as he is quite obsessed with them atm. He always wants a turn stirring and the resulting mess makes me cringe inside. 😱 But I know he enjoys doing it so I'm trying not to mind so much. 👀 

I need to hoover the whole house and clean the bathrooms tomorrow, I always put the bathrooms off but it only takes half an hour. 

Have been trying to do more surveys, managed to cash out another £20 from PA the other day and £5 from vypr. 

Sun_Addict

Well aren’t you posh with bathrooms in the plural 🤣 I have one bathroom 😐

sashybo

😂 SA, I have an en suite and the downstairs loo as well as the main bathroom, the extra cleaning is a total pain! But it will be handy having two showers & 3 toilets when the kids are older.

Just saw your previous post, I'll have a look at the Virtual Sealed Pot challenge, thanks for the suggestion. 👍 Your total of £600 is brilliant and that would pay for everything for us so it looks like it's well worth doing. 

DancingInTheRain

How about trying these as an alternative to gingerbread men/people? 😊Nice & easy, just turn the gingerbread non-gender specific items 😉 upside down & decorate. I'm an awful baker so just bought some from the supermarket, along with some icing pens & the kids loved it. (Not my photo by the way, found that online. Mine looked a bit less professional...)
Ooh, also jealous of your bathroom situation, especially with the thought of living in a male dominated household - one bathroom just for me would be lovely! 🤣 Xx

sashybo

Ah good idea Dancing, I would be very impressed if any of my stuff turned out like that photo. 😂 Icing pens are also a good shout, I will definitely look for those, DS would be in heaven. I think I pretty much have all the ingredients to make the non gender specific biscuits ( 😂) so should give it a bash. 

I also found a recipe online for beer and rock salt soft pretzels which look amazing, it's quite a simple recipe, it's just having the time to do it (as ever). I love the big fresh & soft pretzels. 😋 

I also just remembered that I can make cheat's puff pastry mince pies soon as I'm pretty sure I have a block of frozen puff pastry and a jar of ready made mincemeat. 😂 Looks impressive but is minimal effort. 🤣

Maybe by the time the boys are bigger, you'll have your own bathroom Dancing? Something to consider if a house move is ever on the cards?

I must admit the shower in the en suite is mine and the one in the main bathroom is DH's for the moment. I'm thinking DH & DS can share the main bathroom shower and DD & I will share mine when the kids are bigger. The bath is generally used by the kids for now, occasionally me and very, very occasionally DH as his legs are really too long to get comfortable in it. When DH & I moved in it seemed like overkill having 3 toilets and 2 showers for 2 people but it's amazing how quickly you get used to it and become spoiled!

beanielou

Only one for me too!

Willowtree222

Wow, didn't realise they are upside down gingerbread people. That's amazing.
I tried a few photoshoots with DD when she was younger, that was a disaster too. She hated having her picture taken. 
I was laughing at the mess comment. DD was crafting yesterday and the whole of the living room floor has something on it. I have cleaned up as best I can but will need to hoover again this morning. I don't mind as I know it is her learning how to do new things and she loves doing it. x

sashybo

Hi all, I did manage to actually hoover the house and clean the bathrooms the other day. DS followed me about the whole time touching everything he wasn't meant to and DD sat crying at the bottom of the stairs because she wasn't upstairs with us. 🤦‍♀️ DH put the stair gate on as DD is starting to try and climb the stairs, so she was extra raging.

I had to stop and start a few times to go and give her a cuddle then change her nappy and then to put her in her cot for a nap. DH was too "busy" editing and printing out the Christmas cards, he just tunes her out and it really annoys me that he doesn't just go and check on her. 😠 It wasn't like I was having fun upstairs and ignoring her. 🙄 

Anyway, it got done and I sorted dinner out. DH finally finished the christmas cards so I divided up the list between us and sat and wrote my half. They're all ready to post (thank you secret post panel 🙏) except for a few that I can hand deliver as the people live nearby.

DH......hasn't written one card. 👀 I even wrote the cards for his mum and dad's friends in their village (that I don't really know but have met a couple of times and have sent presents/cards for the kids) so that we could get the box with the outlaws presents all packed and sent but he hasn't written their card yet so it can't go. 🙄 At least he has printed out DS's nursery photos so they can go in with the presents. 

Yesterday I made spiced carrot and lentil soup for lunch and a parmesan and sun dried tomato loaf in the breadmaker. We had a cheese and tomato gnocchi bake for dinner, all with ingredients we already had in the cupboards. 😀 DS of course refused to eat any of it apart from the bread! 😩 

DS managed a whole afternoon at nursery without being sent home. 🎉 Potty training continues slowly, he actually did try to use the potty yesterday after dinner (missed a bit so half of the pee was on the floor but at least he realised he was peeing and needed to use the potty). He also wet himself a few times before that and came to tell me he was wet so there is a bit of clicking happening in his brain.

The day before he did another poo in his pants (FML) but then tried to sit on the potty so he is slowly getting the idea which is still progress. I think he's stopping himself pooing because he doesn't like the feeling in a nappy now but then he doesn't want to do it on the potty or the toilet. 🤦‍♀️ Then he ends up getting a bit constipated which isn't good either. I might need to phone the Doctors again to get more of the laxative they prescribed last month.

We haven't attempted any gingerbread people/animals yet, I need to check if I have enough golden syrup and build myself up to withstand the flour flying everywhere. 😱