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

Honeysucklelou2

Parkers are quite good for young fruit plants (mail order). I've seen packs of 3 different varieties for sale in our local garden centre for a reasonable amount of money.

Treadingonplaymobil

Yesterday's lists before I start on today's...

To do today
1. Make marmalade if back from client in time. Not done.
2. Browse for more budget recipes to add to our repertoire. Not done.
3. Cook the sourdough. Done.
4. More laundry. Done.
5. Some/any ironing. Not done.
6. Thank you card for the weekend. Not done.
7. Have another look/get DH to look for the growbags - I really need to see if they're there before I go into the city tomorrow, as I don't want to overbuy seeds. Not done.
8. Get back to the planners about the pre-application for the extension - need to suggest a couple more variations and get feedback. Not done.

Wow, impressively lame.

To do this week
1. More decluttering - particularly the lego!
2. Brainstorm ideas for architect - particularly in the light of the new extension information from the planners.
3. Finish planning any handmade gifts for birthdays/Christmas 2018 so I can ensure they are done well in advance.
4. Plan and book some campsites for summer hols.
5. Do birthday cards for the month and a thank you card for the weekend.

To do in January
1. Review 2017 spending and try to improve 2018 plans by being more prepared - plan big spends like holidays and Christmas now and be realistic about the cost. Done with DH before doing SOA.
2. Redo SOA once the remortgage is through. Done.
3. Make a 2018 business plan that is less frenetic than originally (I think I had too high expectations of myself, leading to much stress in Nov/Dec). Done.

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 51: Day 4

Woohoo, last day of the month! Finally I can invoice for my contract work, set up next month's budget and wipe the slate clean. Even though we did pretty well keeping money by for January, it has still been a looonnnnnnggggg month. February marks the start of our new budget with the changes since the remortgage, so I'm excited to get stuck into that too.

Need to go and get some bits and bobs today for a talk I'm doing on the weekend, then hopefully spend some time working on it.

I asked DH to look through the budget by himself at some stage this week (as I can tend to dominate with my 'this is why we need to do it like this' when we look at it together, because I have spent so much time working on it) to see if he has any good ideas. He did so yesterday, and suggested researching a sim only deal for his phone, even if only for a few months to delay upgrading a little longer, which is very good of him. Also a couple of other minor shifts, including moving DC2 to cheaper swimming lessons by the end of the summer. I think it was great for him to look through it without me there - he came home really stressed about our financial situation and how tight it is, which I actually think is a good thing, as he has never really gone through that ARGHHHHHH/LBM moment like I have, so anything that helps him get to grips with our financial reality can only be good.

I didn't notice any more thread deletions yesterday, so fingers crossed MSE are on top of the situation now. Such a shame.

Yesterday's lists were a total waste of time, so I'm pretty much recreating them today, with a few additions. Going to try my '15 minute timer on a job, then onto the next one' technique today, as I've definitely struggled to keep myself moving over the past few days. I have been so busy with work, it's really hard to keep the momentum up when I finally get to stop doing that!


Savings/Spends:
- £25.17/£8 January 'rounding down' overpayment pot (£30 per month pro rata for the rest of Jan ). Why yes that is 200% over my goal. I actually also rounded down in my business account and then moved it over yesterday to make the partnership payment - to be honest I hadn't scrolled down in YNAB to see how much it had got to. Have made a noticeable overpayment along with the monthly minimum, which is nice.
- £764.80/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal
- £4.06 on granulated sugar for marmalade - this is mostly for Christmas presents.
- £6.09 on seville oranges and lemons for marmalade - as above.

To do today
1. Pick up supplies for talk.
2. Check for seeds in wilko/poundland.
3. Make marmalade.
4. Make marmalade.
5. Browse for more budget recipes to add to our repertoire.
6. Some/any ironing.
7. Thank you card for the weekend.
8. Have another look/get DH to look for the growbags - must try to do this before I leave.
9. Get back to the planners about the pre-application for the extension - need to suggest a couple more variations and get feedback. MUST DO THIS.

To do this week
1. More decluttering - particularly the lego!
2. Brainstorm ideas for architect - particularly in the light of the new extension information from the planners.
3. Finish planning any handmade gifts for birthdays/Christmas 2018 so I can ensure they are done well in advance.
4. Plan and book some campsites for summer hols.
5. Do birthday cards for the month and a thank you card for the weekend.

To do in January
1. Review 2017 spending and try to improve 2018 plans by being more prepared - plan big spends like holidays and Christmas now and be realistic about the cost. Done with DH before doing SOA.
2. Redo SOA once the remortgage is through. Done.
3. Make a 2018 business plan that is less frenetic than originally (I think I had too high expectations of myself, leading to much stress in Nov/Dec). Done.

Suffolk_lass

Speaking of marmalade, I bought 2 kilo bags of seville oranges in Morries last weekend and pressure cooked them, scooping out the pulp and cutting up the peel. I strained through a nylon sieve rather than muslin and made 6 large jars -only for it not to set properly. V frustrating!. I was attempting jelly marmalade but with peel shreds and I am guessing I just removed too much pectin. I have some T&L sachets that I can add but it is the Pain-in-the-a*** bit of having to decant all of it, re-boil, clean all the jars and avoid over boiling it I could do without.

I made a slow-cooked casserole last night - put it on a 06.00 yesterday. I had leek, carrot and sweet potato to hand so added these to some reduced (YS) meat, a stock jelly and water. And that was it. Husband cooked some (wonky) cabbage when I got home and that was all. Just great and less than £3.50, even with a piece of braising steak chopped through. He has about 25% left for tonight when he gets home from his evening class (I am away).

cocalls

You mentioned a while back you didnt have time for ebaying-could your hubbie do it? Get the app on his phone and its so much quicker. It may help with his anxiety with the finances as he'll feel hes doing something extra. Do you have any old scouts etc uniforms to sell as they seem to be selling for hotcakes at the mo im trying to get my daughter a cheap secondhand brownies uniform and theyre going for practically the shop prices!

enthusiasticsaver

Good to get your OH involved. Look forward to seeing your progress for a February now the remortgage done. I know you aim to save around £300 a month for the extension and presumably this year will be drawings and planning permission. Are you aiming for next year or 2020?

Treadingonplaymobil

cocalls wrote: »

You mentioned a while back you didnt have time for ebaying-could your hubbie do it? Get the app on his phone and its so much quicker. It may help with his anxiety with the finances as he'll feel hes doing something extra. Do you have any old scouts etc uniforms to sell as they seem to be selling for hotcakes at the mo im trying to get my daughter a cheap secondhand brownies uniform and theyre going for practically the shop prices!

Sadly he isn’t a lot better on free time than me! He has the DC while I work, and does the everyday chores (washing up, bins etc) in the evenings. He isn’t the most efficient in the world, so couldn’t easily take on more.

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Good to get your OH involved. Look forward to seeing your progress for a February now the remortgage done. I know you aim to save around £300 a month for the extension and presumably this year will be drawings and planning permission. Are you aiming for next year or 2020?

Hoping for next year, but it wouldn’t be a total disaster if it was 2020 if it just wasn’t going to happen next year. Although depending on DC1’s need for privacy we might need to temporarily divide the room if not able to do it in 2019 (he will turn 10 this year, and they are two boys and a girl sharing).

enthusiasticsaver

Obviously once the cards are gone then the savings can increase but that will be a few years I think. Depends on house prices too and what they do as to how much equity you would have. Ideally a higher salary for you though would be the best help towards the extension. Still at least once you have some plans and builders estimates you will know what you are aiming for.

Treadingonplaymobil

Yes, it’s all too many unknown quantities at the moment. My aim for the year is to make a significant dent in the CCs once I’ve got a three month buffer in my business account.

Treadingonplaymobil

Having spent the afternoon backing and forthing about extension possibilities with the planners and DH, and spending too long looking on Pinterest at amazing tiny homes, I am feeling decidedly down in the dumps about how much our budget limits our aspirations for our house while our children are growing up.

I know that our financial situation is down to our decisions and obviously we have to pay for them, but so much of what we were doing (several big house moves, three years of childcare) we thought was for the best and would work out for the best. Just so depressing when I think about what we could do if we didn’t have this huge millstone.

I don’t really have aspirations to live somewhere amazing, but when I look at this place with the wallpaper peeling in every room, the damp in the dining room, the hideous 70s carpets and all the extending work to do, and know we can’t afford to get it all done any time soon, I really feel a bit rubbish about it all.