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

Savertobe

Creating me time

Reading your diary is exhausting in itself I'm glad I don't try to put so much into each day.

Given your new enterprises I'd have thought giving your self a day asap to spend on yourself (facial, nails, exercise etc) should be on your agenda. It will keep you sane - even if it means egg and chips for tea! They won't die.

Treadingonplaymobil

Savertobe wrote: »

Creating me time

Reading your diary is exhausting in itself I'm glad I don't try to put so much into each day.

Given your new enterprises I'd have thought giving your self a day asap to spend on yourself (facial, nails, exercise etc) should be on your agenda. It will keep you sane - even if it means egg and chips for tea! They won't die.

Surely you mean organic eggs and homemade chips? :rotfl: :rotfl:

You're absolutely right - I have been limping on in a state of semi-stressed out knackeredness since January (when DC3 should have started more hours at preschool but couldn't), and I really feel like I need to take the chance to slow down a little, take stock. Facial might be a push (last time I had one I fell asleep halfway through ), but I might indulge in some weekday surfing.

Treadingonplaymobil

Pleased to see the DFD has so far only dropped back one month. I know it will get further away this month unless i have some shock earnings, but it's good to know it hasn't completely got away from us yet.

Cherryfudge

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

Week 30: Day 4 It's funny, nowadays I can really see the correlation between being short on time/energy and the increased desire to shop - I've mentioned it before, but once again I have really had to resist the urge to buy things that would be useful if I had lots of time (books and equipment for random new hobbies, nice house stuff, relaxing bath things). I understand now that what I am trying to buy is the illusion of free time, not the actual thing.

You have such insight - that's me to a T! :rotfl:

Good luck to DD with her longer hours, and tell the spider she's only welcome if she does the laundry.

EssexHebridean

There is also the point that when you're feeling run down/low on energy/generally knackered you['re less able to resist the urge to make purchasing decisions that actually, if you were on top of your game, you would laugh in the face of. Sometimes it pays to remember - things don't have to be perfect, they don't have to even look perfect to others, they just have to be good enough.

Treadingonplaymobil

Ah, the bliss of six whole hours of out-of-the-house childcare! NINE YEARS I've been waiting for that.

Didn't achieve a whole lot, just had a (moderately, for me) relaxing day and got some bits and bobs done.

MSE food stuff - made Columbian black bean stew for dinner, such a cheap recipe. I do it with dried black beans (a bag from Sainsburys cooks to roughly double the quantity needed for this recipe, so I make double and freeze). Also made flapjacks for the DCs school snacks - I add all sorts to this recipe, loads of milled seeds, dried or fresh fruit.

Less MSE stuff - bought insulated lunch bags for DC3's packed lunches. Was going to make some simple cotton bags but I just could not be bothered, so splashed out a tenner on two bags. Good enough, right?

to do today
1. packed lunch for DC3. Done.
2. clean the dining room. Not done.
3. bake sourdough. Not done, didn't have enough starter so have fed it up for tomorrow.
4. bake flapjacks. Done.
5. make a quiche. Not done, didn't want to turn the oven on especially after I forgot to make it when I made flapjacks this morning.
6. batch cook columbian black bean stew. Done.
7. redo stoozing snowball calculator. I know our DFD will have dropped back, and I need to calculate, face the music, and update signature. Done.
8. email my parents with ideas for DC1's birthday present. Done.
9. catch up on the many work bits on my list. Mostly done.
10. give out invitations for DC1's birthday (only two!). 50% success rate!

That list is looking rather longer than I intended for my first day of peace in seven weeks!

to do this week
1. plan DS1's birthday party. Done, just need to give invitations out.
2. get the house tidy and decluttered ready for new term at school. Not exactly done ready for the new term, but at least I've made a start.
3. start a list of camping supplies that need replacing/repairing for next year - will be much better to do that in stages over the winter than in one big spend next May.
4. have a look at last month's food spends and see where improvements can be made.
5. make some packed lunch supplies and freeze for DC3, who will now have lunch at preschool 3 days a week.

to do this month
1. keep the total spend for the month below £3,500 (last month was miles better than the previous average £3,900, going to try to repeat the feat).
2. get my new website finished and launched (crosses fingers, toes and eyes).
3. just work as much as possible and make some money back to recover the enormous shortfall that faces us this month!

armchairexpert

Black bean stew looks like just the sort of thing I'd adore and my family would hate. I might make a batch for my own work lunches.

Congratulations on having three in childcare! It's a game changer, but I agree with those who say don't try to fit too much in. It's okay to want your evenings back for leisure and not spend the extra daytime hours just making everyone else's lives more comfortable and still not getting any free time. ASK ME HOW I KNOW.

Treadingonplaymobil

armchairexpert wrote: »

Black bean stew looks like just the sort of thing I'd adore and my family would hate. I might make a batch for my own work lunches.

Congratulations on having three in childcare! It's a game changer, but I agree with those who say don't try to fit too much in. It's okay to want your evenings back for leisure and not spend the extra daytime hours just making everyone else's lives more comfortable and still not getting any free time. ASK ME HOW I KNOW.

This made me :rotfl: ! I think it's going to take a few weeks to settle into this new routine and figure out how to balance my time - I had my old routine down to a fine art, and this is quite a change.

My kids are pretty unfussy, which is great - they'll eat all manner of lentil/bean based stuff. And favourite meal for one of them is butterbean soup, possibly the cheapest meal known to mankind.

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 30: day 5

The preschool giveth, and the preschool taketh away - only 3.5 hours childcare today, and none tomorrow (DC3 is going mon-wed full days, and half a day on a thurs). I think that's probably quite good for the first week back though - DC3 was noticeably tired yesterday after a full day!

Pleased that I haven't had to do a top up shop this week beyond buying four onions yesterday. We really need some fruit, but if we can limp through to the weekend (we have frozen stewed stuff and a couple of tins, just no fresh fruit) I'll be pleased. Will mean that the week's shopping came in at only £37 including top ups (actually £52, but £15 was on nectar points and money off vouchers, so I only actually spend £37). My entire MS list today seems to consist of batch cooking food, but I do feel increasingly like I'm actually managing to make all the cooking from scratch part of the MS process, rather than an extra (as in, I'm cooking stuff that is saving us money and we're only eating that, not cooking stuff and then we're buying expensive stuff on top of it). This is good, as the food thing is important to me (as we've discussed at length before). Also pleased that I've managed to create the first two packed lunches out of what we had in the house rather than buying special fancy bits and bobs.

work stuff - picking up. I have a client booking for two weeks time, and one for October. Not enough to dig us out of our dire finances, but better than nothing - I think I'll make around £125 for each one, although they could stretch into more income depending on how long I'm needed for. Also a provisional booking for late September, but one that only has a 50/50 chance of coming off. Will be another £200 if it happens. And meeting someone next week to discuss a work opportunity, which won't pay well as she is another tiny business owner, but is in an area I really really enjoy, so will feel more like playing than work. Also I should have a first draft of the website today, the getting-online of which is going to occupy a lot of this month, but I'm hoping it will have a positive impact on income once it's up. It's going to involve a whole new skillset for me (writing for myself rather than other people, photography, having a coherent and useful social media presence) so it's a lot of change, but it has the potential to really grow.

to do today
1. packed lunch for DC3.
2. clean the dining room.
3. bake sourdough.
4. make pudding for family meeting tonight.
5. make a quiche.
6. plan dressing up costume with DC3 for next week - would quite like not to spend any money on this, so need to think it through.
7. Balance the couple of credit card spends I have already made this month.

to do this week
1. plan DS1's birthday party. Done, just need to give invitations out.
2. get the house tidy and decluttered ready for new term at school. Not exactly done ready for the new term, but at least I've made a start.
3. start a list of camping supplies that need replacing/repairing for next year - will be much better to do that in stages over the winter than in one big spend next May.
4. have a look at last month's food spends and see where improvements can be made.
5. make some packed lunch supplies and freeze for DC3, who will now have lunch at preschool 3 days a week.

to do this month
1. keep the total spend for the month below £3,500 (last month was miles better than the previous average £3,900, going to try to repeat the feat).
2. get my new website finished and launched (crosses fingers, toes and eyes).
3. just work as much as possible and make some money back to recover the enormous shortfall that faces us this month!

Savertobe

Well done on the spending front. 37 quid looks like a winner. Going food shopping myself now!