£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

Suffolk_lass

The upside is that you had the savings in place to cover the car bill.


I agree you don't want to stop having friends for lunch but have you considered asking everyone to bring one dish? It's a less obvious way of asking them to contribute toward the cost - especially if it is usually you that hosts

PurpleFairy26

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

OMG went for the hobnobs. Best. Recipe. Ever.

I'm wondering if 4:30am yoga cancels out 7am hobnob breakfast...

Definitely. Today I had a gin and tonic cupcake for breakfast (and no yoga to counteract it ) so don't feel the slightest bit guilty. everyone needs homemade hobnobs in their life. They're a definite staple here.

warby68

I think you're doing exactly the right thing with your food spending - working out exactly where the money goes and which areas you feel are non-negotiable.

The grocery bill is a significant one for a family of five and getting it to something realistic and sustainable is important so you are not overly deprived nor chasing a totally impossible frugality. It will probably be the main plank of whether you are under or over budget overall for a while.

Are you hosts more times than you are guests ? If so, then perfectly fine to 'go halves' at something or for the guests to bring a contribution. If not, the reality is the hosting isn't really costing much as you are getting it back on the occasions when you are guests.

Slightly off topic, but I've noticed a fair bit of upward pressure on grocery prices lately with some of my regular buys which haven't changed for ages suddenly having 5-10% increases applied. Pretty hefty rises really

armchairexpert

It sounds to me like the season ticket is a no brainer, honestly. £10/month for not having to sit in traffic and being able to read on the way into work, and way less wear and tear on your car, and lower insurance premiums? AND he builds exercise into his commute? Run do not walk to the rail station! That's a bargain!

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 26: Day 6

It's Friday, we're packing for another weekend camping, which means today must be headless-chicken-impersonation day! So much to do. Forecast a bit grim for today, but nicer on the weekend.

DH is going to start with monthly tickets, as we're not sure how it will be in the winter time, and all my calculations were done on the price of a monthly ticket (the annual would work out almost exactly the same journey for journey, as his office closes for 2.5 weeks over Christmas, thus making almost an entire month's worth of the annual ticket worthless, and he can just drive for the extra 2 weeks of that month if we go monthly). Not worth it until September as we're away for the last week of August, but he'll start then. I'm hoping he'll enjoy having a bit more 'me time' too.

I have another playdate this morning (weep), but only two of the DCs' friends, not adults and half a dozen children, and not for lunch. Will bake another batch of hobnobs and we can take whatever biscuits are left camping with us.

Still peeved about the car, but it was an issue that would have become unsafe if we'd left it. MOT due next month too!

to do today
1. pack for camping.
2. bake hobnobs.
3. more laundry, more ironing. I can actually see the bottom of the laundry basket!
4. clear emails - lots of little things on there that need five minutes thought each.
5. do a little more weeding.

to do this week
1. as much work as I can squeeze in - any extra earnings will really make the difference this month!
2. trip to the camping shop for gas, possibly sleeping mat, anything else that crops up as we unpack and clean everything. Not needed!
3. car service - panic about the price and wish I'd been better about saving. Done. £317. Sob.
4. I'm sure I'll add more to this list as I work through my bullet journal lists today.
5. Ooh, talk to DS1 about his birthday party - he seems up for taking one or two friends on a day out to a trampoline place or climbing wall, need to discuss further.

to do this month
1. Pay some extra off the MBNA card - I'd like this card gone asap. More than the £15 I managed in July would be nice.
2. Find ourselves with more than £228 in the savings account on 31st August.
3. Keep that overall spend figure down below £3,900 (baby steps!)
4. business planning and scheduling, so that I am ready to start making some immediate profit in September when DC3 starts preschool.
5. think outside the box with the food budget and keep a close eye on anywhere it might be going wrong.
6. Try not to need the child benefit money to balance August’s money, so it can go towards Septmber’s (it is paid four weekly, which is currently falling towards the back end of the month, so I have balanced the budget to work without it, and will aim to put it towards September’s income rather than August’s. We’ll see).

cocalls

morning TOP

another early riser here.

re train tickets dont forget many of the train companies do cashback which you can get if you do monthly tickets. i know transpenine do cashback and nectar points and i think (but check this) you can buy tickets from any site and you dont have to use their trains so its worth checking who does the best cashback.

GeorgianaCavendish

warby68 wrote: »

Slightly off topic, but I've noticed a fair bit of upward pressure on grocery prices lately with some of my regular buys which haven't changed for ages suddenly having 5-10% increases applied. Pretty hefty rises really

I've noticed this too, I'll be even more on it with MySupermarket now!

quintwins

I'm not gonna lie, I had to put my car parts on my credit card so your doing better than me! It pretty much wiped out all the overpayments I've made this month so far but it had to be done and atleast I'm no worse off I guess.

enthusiasticsaver

Cars are often the cause of budgets being broken. As the cars get older repairs get more and more expensive as they are usually more frequent. We always used to build in an amount for depreciation as well as maintenance and repairs so there was money to replace the car (or most of the money) when eventually we decided it was more expensive to keep it than get a new one. Difficult when you are in debt but substantially upping the monthly budget amount is probably something to work towards.

JoJoC

Sorry to hear about the rotten car bill - there's always something that needs doing and it's horrible when the bill turns out more than expected. At least you didn't need to put it on the credit card, that's a bonus.

I suppose you'll just need to focus on building back up that cushion so that you're not left financially vulnerable.