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

armchairexpert

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

We used to do this, but our budget has been so tight the past few months that there haven't actually been any personal spends pots, so it has to come out of another category. We have family spends, but as you say, I don't want DH's lunches to mean less money for the family entertainment kitty! Hopefully from next month things will be a little less grim on that front.

What I'm suggesting, though, is to take that grocery budget of £500 and reduce it to £400 and give yourself £50 each to spend. And see if that doesn't act as an incentive to make lunch/forgo the expensive juice?

Treadingonplaymobil

armchairexpert wrote: »

What I'm suggesting, though, is to take that grocery budget of £500 and reduce it to £400 and give yourself £50 each to spend. And see if that doesn't act as an incentive to make lunch/forgo the expensive juice?

Ah, but then we both spend £50 on clothes or treats and still have the usual overspends to tackle. DH and I are not good at leaving money un-spent if we think we have it available. I'm sure you've never noticed. :rotfl:

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 28: day 4

Ended up watching two films with the DC yesterday (couldn't get them to agree on one) and ended the day feeling decidedly sluggish and lethargic. I hate sitting for that long doing nothing, it makes me feel awful. And meant that yesterday's lists were a bit of a write off too.

Seriously running out of time to get on top of everything I wanted to get done before we go away, may have to let some bits fall by the wayside (boo).

Talked to DC1 about his birthday party, and have agreed on taking two friends to a trampolining place, which will be waaaay cheaper than an actual party (even though it won't be super cheap), so I'm pleased. Now I need to find the nearest one and figure out how to transport everyone there etc. But only two party bags, and no decoration or games, hurrah!

Discovered yesterday that only one DC needs new school shoes, although that good news was offset by the fact that one also needs walking boots and one needs casual shoes. Sigh.

to do today
1. batch cook macaroni cheese.
2. make quiche.
3. make sourdough.
4. send a card to rich relative who sent a whole load of virtually unworn Boden hand-me-downs for the DC.
5. gather paperwork for tax return.
6. defeat the ironing mountain.
7. packing list for holiday
8. library with DC
9. check school uniform and order anything needed (including shoes) for collection on Thursday.

to do this week
1. plan DS1's birthday with him (this fell by the wayside last week). Planned with him, now I need to do the research myself.
2. tax return - I have a feeling this needs to be done to apply for the 30 hours funding for DC3. No idea how I'm going to fit it in!
3. dry out the tent if DH brings it home wet (although the weather is looking positive at the moment!). Yay, it came home dry!
4. uniform and shoe shopping for the DC (weep).
5. check any other supplies needed for walking holiday (I think we have everything we need though).
6. Start a list of camping supplies that need replacing/repairing for next year - will he much better to do that in stages over the winter than in one big spend next May.

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. Well that's not going to happen.
2. Find ourselves with more than £228 in the savings account on 31st August. Ha. Ha. Ha.
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. Ongoing.
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). Again; Ha. Ha. Ha.

quintwins

I'm really far behind, been potty training (and being sick) so Havant had much chance to sit and read but I think you did really well with your shopping considering your away you.

Treadingonplaymobil

Well that's pants: DH's work have failed to pay his pay rise AGAIN. This is the third pay he has had since the payrise was agreed when he hasn't received it. It means we can't pay off that CC as easily as I was hoping, and it's just irritating to know he's owed that much money! He works for a big company (2,000+ employees, part of a larger group with tens of thousands of employees) so there's plenty of HR/payroll people, it just shouldn't be this hard to get the money he's been promised!

quintwins

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

Well that's pants: DH's work have failed to pay his pay rise AGAIN. This is the third pay he has had since the payrise was agreed when he hasn't received it. It means we can't pay off that CC as easily as I was hoping, and it's just irritating to know he's owed that much money! He works for a big company (2,000+ employees, part of a larger group with tens of thousands of employees) so there's plenty of HR/payroll people, it just shouldn't be this hard to get the money he's been promised!

Oh wow I'm sure your livid! :mad:

redofromstart

Infuriating - Might not be HR though, sometimes in big companies it is because the line manager hasn't filled in the right form, with the right signatures and sent it to the right place.

Treadingonplaymobil

redofromstart wrote: »

Infuriating - Might not be HR though, sometimes in big companies it is because the line manager hasn't filled in the right form, with the right signatures and sent it to the right place.

It has been the line manager's fail for the past two months, so no doubt it still is. Ridiculous.

redofromstart

A polite email to line manager, noting content of original discussion and time delay, asking if there is anything he can do to facilitate the process, copied into local HR might work? I then used to kick backside behind the scenes and get the manager to fill in the form (or to sign the form I filled out for them). Annoys me as it undermines any motivational value of the payrise in the first place.

Cherryfudge

That's dreadful, completely unacceptable.